I’m looking for guidance, hope you folks will share your thoughts with me. My son, just entering High School soph year, very bright, was determined by the school system to have LD. Last year he was put on on IEP which was never implemented, despite seemingly constant TEAM meetings — don’t ask. By the end of the year, with his grades around C-D, the TEAM recommended that the following year (which is now THIS year) we increase IEP support so that DS is in the “Integrated Program.” This means that he gets Learning Center support 4 times a week, and also learning aides in his classes who will be able to monitor what’s going on in class, what the assignments are, etc. Seems like a good thing, BUT…
Over the summer DS really seems to have shaped up. He’s on different meds, which have made a difference, his motivation in general is up (he’s re-enrolled in karate, for instance, and is really working at it), and he seems willing to apply himself to schoolwork. Back in school, though, he’s been assigned to — let’s not mince words — “dumb” classes, not with the smart kids who’ve been doing well in school all the way through. The school’s reason for this is that, in assigning learning aides to classes, they need to put the aides in classes where there are several Integrated Program kids. If DS were put in a more advanced class, he would probably be the only IP kid in the room, and they would not (they say) be able to assign a learning aide to be there for just one kid.
My question is: should we try to get DS out of the IP program, and into higher-level, more stimulating classes with other smart kids who would keep him on his toes, or give him the extra IP support, albeit in the “dumbed-down” classes? I realize that I could argue to the TEAM that DS’s IEP should be individualized, and that if DS needs both higher-level classes AND IP support, he should be given that combo, regardless of what makes business sense for the school…but I don’t want to waste another school year fighting with the TEAM and not getting ANYthing at all done for DS.
Hope you can help me wrestle with this — thanks!
Re: Gifted/LD IEP Dilemma
Based on a 30+ point difference between verbal and performance IQ’s, the school determined that he has NLD and needs help with executive functioning such as organization, note-taking, etc. I and an independent neuropsych disagree, but there clearly is SOMETHING going on. Waddaya think?
Re: Gifted/LD IEP Dilemma
Okay,let’s see if I can make things even more confusing? I totally understand your dilemma. I have two kids ahdh/LD/gifted. My oldest had a 35 split between perfomance and verbal IQ,he isn’t classified as NLD,but heck who knows. It doesn’t matter what LD he happens to have. It matters about what he needs. You still do not say if he is having trouble reading,writing,spelling,math,etc.? In my boys cases,it seemed important enough to them,to have stimulating classes,they were happier. Know what I mean? It really doesn’t matter if the kid gets an A in slower classes,if he is not happy.And if he was in classes that he liked,and got a C,would this be okay? The important thing is to give your kid what he needs most. Does he need,to feel good about getting good grades? Or does he need to feel challenged? I will say this though: Being in a class of kids who also have learning issues,who possibly need more support from the classroom aide then your kid does,might not be a better ride anyway. My kids never got the remediation that would have really helped them because of being pulled out of class to a resource room of other kids who needed the teacher more,or at least this is what was said many times to me. I think either way you do it,there will be a fight to get your kid what he really needs. As much as time is wasted trying to save money by the district,you would think it would much more cost efficient to appropriately serve these students so they don’t need it as long?
Re: Gifted/LD IEP Dilemma
I found this book so encouraging -
LEARNING OUTSIDE THE LINES by Jonathon Mooney and David Cole.
Mind, the first chapters about their schooling will break your heart.
But the rest of the book, where the two young men descrbe how they
took hold of the situation and demanded that their needs get met - that
is really inspiring.
My 12-yr-old dyslexic son has been put in his first advanced class, Honors Math.
He is *so* proud.
I would ask your son. What does he want? Can you sit down with the
team and let him speak to them?
I have this site where a boy addresses his dyslexia, might give him a hint
about how to format his requests.
www.dyslexic.com/kyleindex.htm
My question for the educational establishment and them that control the
money is ‘how many other bright, innovative thinkers are you going to
throw away?’ We have evidence stacked ten ways to Sunday that shows many
brilliant minds are not wired up ‘normal’ but, those that survive the educational
system, go on to do amazing things. How many have they snuffed out because
it is just too bothersome?
(done ranting before I run out of soapbox….)
Re: Gifted/LD IEP Dilemma
Anne! I almost died when I read your post! I had the pleasure of meeting Jonnathan mooney. He wrote me after posting here on this BB. Being the kind of pushy parent I am,I asked him to a conference I put together for my job,and to visit my boys school. He did. I will never forget his visit:-) My two guys go to a school specificly for LD/GIFTED/ADHD etc. He came a day early for the conference just to go and visit the students. Some of the high schoolers still e-mail him. He is a very special person,and if you liked his book,you MUST hear him speak. He is an inspiration,and a pleasure to know.
For whoever doesn’t know about this book,learning outside the lines,I agree,you must read this book! BTW,Jonnathan Mooney,graduated with honores from Brown University,with a degree in literature. He says,he picked this major after his advisor told him his eval scores said, he couldn’t do it. He is very dyslexic,stills reads on a 3rd grade level. Has trouble spelling,like me! He stands as a public beacon of todays learning disabled. It can be done,and BOY is he doing it well! I have been told he is speaking at the LDA national conference,wherever this is being held this year.
Re: Gifted/LD IEP Dilemma
Just had to chime in…I haven’t met Jonathan but have a signed copy of his book thru a friend who also arranged for him to speak at a function re ADHD. This book is a MUST for anyone who is working with a “bright but not performing” kid, whether dyslexic, ADHD, or WHATEVER. Mooney and Cole are the FUTURE…I bought this book thinking I’d want it for the future (my son is just Gr. 3) but I found this book immensely helpful to me to understand accomodations, modifications, and the NEED for “individualized education” that is often NOT met by the so-called “IEP”.
Re: Gifted/LD IEP Dilemma
I second the rave reviews. This book is so good because it combines both the hopeful message as well as the helpful hints. I just got the book on tape from RFBD so my 11 year old can listen to it. (There’s a bit of swearing in the book, but it’s all done with good humor, and frankly, my son has heard it before.) I think this is one of the must-reads for parents of kids with ld.
Re: Gifted/LD IEP Dilemma
Thanks for the good advice, and also for reminding me of this book, which I’ve been trying to get my son to read for quite some time. The “Book on Tape” idea is something I hadn’t thought of — what a great idea! Thanks!
Get him back with the smart kids (my opinion anyway )
Okay, this is free advice that’s probably worth the cost — if some of it clicks, fine — if it just doesn’t ring a bell, it’s a “your mileage may vary” situation. In my part of the world (Virginia’s where I’m thinking of) this is what I”d do.
If you can, get them to say in writing/ on tape/ something you can hold them to that yes, they agree that he should be in the advanced classes, b ut gosh golly gee they “just can’t” assign an aide. “Just can’t” isn’t a viable (legal) excuse if they acknowledge that it’s what he needs for an appropriate education. (It’s not good enough for them to say that would be better — they need to acknowledge that it is what he needs.)
YOu may well not be able to do that. However, let’s not mince words, the expectations in those classes are lousy and there are just an awful lot of chances for bad peer influences… and NLD kids are pretty notorious for being the ones who really screw up the social situations in high school — especially the “testing the limits” kind. It’s the LD kid (especially NLD) who will be the one who gets talked into putting a keg of beer in his car and showing up in the parking lot at the prom, and of course getting busted. (Sometimes the kid can even be set up to be perceived as a “ringleader” by a clueless admin, a pretty painful irony). But even if your less academically challegning classes are attended by average thinkers who are the cream of the crop character-wise… your kiddo will then not be challenged and in fact all that academic stuff he’s relied on to get positive feedback for… he’ll fi nd out the rules are totally different in that setting. It can be like getting the rug pulled out.
So even if you have to give up on some of the support (but don’t give up easily, and think creatively about ways to get what he needs from somebody, some time, even if it isn’t any kind of standard “accommodation” — a buddy system or checking in with a teacher he just happens to get along with for support, or the school secretary for that matter, and don’t forget all the various assistive technologies like e-mailing assignments to yourself from the library at lunch)… I would get him back on track for all the obvious reasons and a few more. He needs good feedback for being “on track” — and meds changes can mean he’s just plain capable of more.
This is a tough question and probably not one that is absolutely clear re. caselaw. I can sit here and tell you with a straight face that enough bright, nonhandicapped teenagers do not make good grades in high school (I have been dealing with this for two years myself). Indeed, my son should receive pretty much all A’s in honors classes, but he has failed and received D’s. So what do we do? I keep mine in honors classes and work like the dickens. What kind of LD does your son have? Is is primarily ADHD or is there a reading disability……….what have you got?