LD left to Flounder in Mainstream

It would help to know what are your son’s issues? How is his reading? His writing? His math? ? How is he doing with homework? With tests? What’s hardest for him and what’s easiest?

There are things that could be done (if they will do them) but what they are varies depending on what the underlying issues are.

I also need to add how much it bothers me that they say “he has to be responsible for himself now.” He was not in pull-out classes because he was irresponsible, was he? He was in pull-out because he had diagnosed learning differences.

Clearly all accomodations have been taken away and equally clear is that some need to be put back in. Help us to know what his learning differences to make good suggestions.

His IEP needs are listed as :
Needs to develop study and organization skills (Misses homework assignments and doesn’t bring home correct texts)
Needs to continue to work on his written expression.
Needs to continue to work on problem solving skills(Really has difficulty here)
Needs to improve listening skills. (Hearing on the borderline for state eligibility)
Needs to improve math computation skills. (Multi steps are very difficult for him and we have found cards with directions are very helpful)
Needs to be able to read presented material and demonstrate comprehension (Cannot find the answers in the text on open book tests, doesn’t really understand what the question is asking him to find)

Tests are the worst for him.
He has never been in pull out classes yet, but I know that is where we are heading and in my heart..he doesn’t need to be there. We are so willing to help him at home to be successfull, but not sure how we can help.
MO

I don’t have much to offer except my sympathy and understanding. My 5th grade NLD son is now reaching the point where they cannot offer him enough direct help in the classroom.

In our case, we all talked it over, and he is being pulled out just during “health” to start with. This seems like a good compromise, as he won’t miss regular academic teaching in the classroom, and he doesn’t like the class anyway. The other choices were music or art. He loves his music teacher, and while he’s not very good at the art stuff, he likes the teacher, and she seems to encourage him to use that visual-spatial part of his brain in a fun and non-stressful way.

Hopeful that will be enough for now. Good luck finding the answers for your kiddo!

Karen

“Nothing I have put on the table has been accepted thus far..and I don’t know what to ask for.” Why has the school rejected your suggestions? There is something called “Prior Written Notice” which the school is obligated to give you for EVERY one of your suggestions that they turn down. They must state a reason for turning down each idea and propose an idea which will address the problem. If they don’t provide you with PWN, then send a complaint to the state for each one of your ideas they turned down. The school cannot just reject your ideas, making you come up with more and more ideas - they must make alternate suggestions.Go to http://www.protectionandadvocacy.com/not99nap.htm

Good luck.

I have a 9.5 year old daugther who has dyslexia and dyscalculia. It took at least 2 years to sort her out… she was left floundering in Year 2 age 7 and they did SATs in that year and their answer was but she was trying!!

I just felt that the first 2-3 years from year 1 to year 2 was lost completely. Now from Year 3 (she is now in Year 5) she gets private help from a tutor but nothing at the moment supposedly as she is coping in the mainstream. I know that my problem is not as bad as yours but over hear in England we I am sure not backed up enough by our Education/Laws etc to help Special Needs kids…. you have laws that help you according to the different states - am I right. Good luck keep trying your are the only ones that can and keep having a go at the school teachers/heads special needs people and just go on nagging and they will want to get rid of your problem then … good luck

janis

I have been there. Don’t fall for “we are too busy” from the school. They have to provide reasonable accomodations. But, also realize the majority of the work will have to come from the home. Independence cannot be forced on kids before they are ready. We are now fighting the battle in high school for our 15 year old. I can tell you what was done for our son “D” in elementary and middle school. Due to trouble with writing, the teachers had copies of their notes made for our son. “D” dictated his answers to essay questions to a teacher’s aide. An agreement was made that all work that would normally be expected to be done in class would be allowed to be taken home for completion. “D” was allowed to type all his work since his handwritting is not readable. “D” had extra time for homework completion to allow for one weekend, he also had extra time for math (time was taken from recess, and lunch periods). “D” was allowed to audit Spanish so it was treated as an elective instead of a course grade. He was allowed fidgets at his desk to help with restlessness. We required all text books to be brought home. Written assignment had to be given him, it was not acceptable for him to copy assignments from the board or overhead projector. The teachers would usually just jot down the assignments on a 3X5 card. He required intensive support from home in learning how to express himself and study skills. I would empty his backpack every night and go over every piece of paper. We would put papers in a special section that had to be turned in. For most LD children, the school can’t and or won’t give all the help that is needed. It has to come from the home. For years I spent 2 - 4 hours a night working with him. It tooks a toll on our home life, but life is not fair or easy. Different techniques were used at different times for different courses. We would go over together each paragraph and tape or write the important points. Sometimes I would tape the important points and he would listen to them on tapes at home. We used books on tape. We would read together. His sister would do his assignment that involved coloring, cut and paste. These activities for “D” area no value added. If “D” grade was a border line, the teachers were great at letting him do extra assignment to bump the grade up to a C-. Some teachers were great at letting him do assignment over until they were right. Assignment were easy to track because at our school teachers are required to record assignment of their telephone voice mail at school. It wasn’t until 7th grade that a measure of independence was achieved. By the end of 8th grade with occassional laspes he was functioning independently except for essay work. He graduated from an academic intensive charter school with a C+ average. He scored very well on the state standard testing. Overall it was worth it.

Wow, you just described our evenings perfectly!
It is comforting to hear that all you have done (What we are also doing) was effective and very much worth it.
You hear from the school that he needs to be responsible for himself and are made to feel anything else is in error.
We need to have him empty out his backpack and go through each piece of paper as well. I don’t have a problem devoting our evenings to helping him as we always have, as long as it is the right thing to do.
I worry that maybe it is too much for him and we should give in and let him be placed in resource room for several periods. I am certain that is where he would end up without our support.I worry that his self esteem suffers and that he is too stressed out.
Your story is very comforting to me. Thank you!
MO

I think your instincts re. your son are right on.

There does seem to be a transition for l.d. kids between 5th and 6th grade. The kids who get direct help with organization, study skills, and note-taking strategies do vastly better than the children who don’t get the direct, targeted help.

Our son gets the help through a good, sophisticated tutor. She is rare, in that, most tutors work with younger children on developmental kinds of issues and learning. The needs of a middle school student change in several ways. Our tutor has invented many of the methods she uses for helping older students.

I shall ask her to tell me whether there is a good source of information or material to which she can refer you. I’ll post it when I get it.

Carol

P.S. Our tutor also advises our son’s teachers about the best ways to teach him, accommodations he needs, and strategies to make the subjects accessible to him.

There are lots of things that can be done with the list of his needs.

I’ll get back to you.

Carol