gifted self contained but no LD self contained

Your son’s classes are larger than ours in suburban Mass., but our entire system uses inclusion, NO resource rooms or gifted programs exist at all, and I think it is the wave of the future, in the eyes of the administration. Our anxious LD son survived thanks to a private tutor since 1st grade(he went to middle school 6th grade today), lots of one-on-one at home to do his homework, and it was certainly made easier because he is quite bright. Our special ed. parents group has many parents of more inpaired children and they want to have their children included in regular classes. Our family survived because our younger son, entering 4th grade today, is very bright, and needed no help at all at home. We got to know parents of kids similar to our LD son, and shared homework tips, ways to work around the teachers to make things easier, and did the endless 4th and 5th grade projects together. I read with my son every day for 1/2 hour (usually we alternated pages) then I would read him his social studies or science text book to get him going on his homework. He read the literature selections with his tutor, and also with us. Still he survived, improved in reading and had time for soccer and Scouts. I am glad I didn’t waste my energy on trying to reform the school.

I think you explain well why the disparity exists here. The parents of kids with more severe disabilities want inclusion. Those with LD often think (and often can) survive with school support (minimal as it is) and tutors. It is only a subset of those kids with LD who can not and that is often not obvious until several years have gone by.

Two years ago I tried fighting the system here for an adequate LD reading method. In the end, I pulled my son out part time to homeschool. At that time, I decided not to fight anymore (it would have been due process) but devote my energies to remediating my son. Last year the teacher changed, as well as methods, and he made more progress, although not nearly what I had hoped. Now I am very concerned that he cannot be remediated enough, even with private therapy, to function in a regular classroom. And I see few options, at least within the public school system. I think it is because parents like you and I have made the choices we have. And certainly, if I was sitting in your shoes with a son who was making it, I would feel the same way you do.

Maybe I am just feeling down today. I went to the tutor who the neurologist recommended yesterday with my son. Much of what she is doing we have already done without tremendous success. Well to be fair, we have taught him to read—we just can’t seem to get him to internalize decoding. He tests like a whole language kid, which he is not.

There are differences in approach—she uses a more OG approach and teaches some rules, for example, while we have mostly relied on PG’s ruleless approach. She also has him retelling what he reads and hears which I thought was an interesting way to work into writing. She is training me to work with him—and wants him to work for 45 minutes a day with me. With three kids, and a job, other therapy, and homework, it feels overwhelming. And I think the worst part is, I am not sure it will be effective. We hired a LIPS trained tutor this summer which was a total flop. I guess I am beginning to feel like we may be fighting an uphill battle that we can’t win and that the idea that this child can function in a regular classroom is a total myth. And I look around and say what then, and see no options.

Beth

>>Or maybe is it because we are so overwhelmed with coping with our own child that we have little energy left for activism.<<

I dropped out of almost everything to be there for my son,
and I used to be PTO president and head of the bond and levy
committee for the district.

Parents in our district formed a district level committee for
special services kids. The head of special services attends
their monthly meetings as does a school board member.

It helps to know the special services director on a first
name basis (from my district bond and levy days).
;-)

Anne

Beth I think the reason the parents of gifted children have more time to go to the functions you talk about is because they are not worrying “is my child going to make it and get to be someone some day.” The parents of LD students have to worry about whether or not their students are getting basic skills, they alot of time wind helping their child to obtain these. It takes a lot of work to get our kids through the day and it leaves very little time for anything else. I have 3 kids. Most of you on the board know very well about my 2 boys with exceptionalities, but I also have a daughter, the level of energy for her is much more different then for my boys. My daughter walked and talked at 8 months of age, she could read by the time she was 2, loved exploring her enviroment and learning. I had to spend very little time helping her to get the basics down, she just did it. She can do her homework with little or no assistance. My boys on the other hand take a lot of work, help organizing, doing assignments and just plain ole getting through the day. Top that off with working full time and I have little time for other activities such as meetings. We are VERY fortunate in that we still have self contained classrooms for students who are significantally behind. They also have programs for the very gifted students. What our district does poor at though is meeting the demands of the “average” student. It is almost like there is a problem with being average. My oldest son who is no longer in self contained classes finds his regular ed classes to be very difficult—but the LD classes were too easy, there is no in between. My daughter was tested for the gifted program but only scored a 102 on the OLSAT so did not qualify. On the group achievement tests and the ISAT she scores anywhere from the 89th to the 95th percentile. She finds her classes very boring and unchallenging. I think they both fall somewhere between the lines the school has drawn. Why should the school strive to work with these students when their test scores won’t effect their profile much. If they help the lowest kids bring their scores up, and help the highest get even higher scores then their profile benefits. Just a thought.

Oh Beth, do I hear you!!!! And you know what my feeling is on this, we have been told that we should lower our expectations for our LD kids. Gifted parents are not give this baloney.

LD parents are led to believe that the schools are doing everything they possibly can for our kids and on top of that, everything they give us should be considered a GIFT!

My goodness, 34 children in a classroom, I WOULD be concerned too! I wish I had some useful advice. But I think you are on to something about the LD parents uniting together and making more noise. I know in our school, the gifted parents are a united front and make lots of noise. In the case of our LD parents, its more of a shame issue and you don’t call attention to yourself because you could then be blamed for bringing the scores down with your incapable kids.

I had a parent tell me that she would not want my LD kid in class with hers (who in my opinion, this kid has several unidentified issues) because her kid would pick up my kids “bad habits.” She had no idea that our school was full inclusion and was outraged that disabled children were in the classroom with her own. She wanted to know how her kid would get what he needed when the teacher had to pay so much attention to my kid.

As much as I wanted to bop her in the nose, I have to admit that I agree because I do not think that inclusion works for every child. Mine needs self-contained for reading, spelling and math.

I contend that inclusion WILL come back to haunt us.

34!!! Ridiculous! The most unbelievable thing to me is that to improve our schools here in Florida (and we are in the bottom five), we try to emulate the “successful” Texas system (which is also bottom five).

Are there no McKay schools near you, Beth? Even a mediocre parochial school would have (a lot) less children per class. Although they usually aren’t able to offer LD services, you probably are being forced to do a lot of supplementing anyway. (We were spending 2 hours a night on homework, and both my son and I would end up in tears.) We are so grateful to have found the school that my son atttends, which is specifically for LD kids. The amount of worrying we’ve done for this school compared to the public school is practically incomparable. Night and day. I spend four hours a day driving to and from this school and work, but it’s less time than I would spend driving to therapies, tutoring, and worrying.

I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but 34!!! That’s just appalling. These wonderful kids do take more time, and it’s exhausting. Do yourself as many favors as you can. :-)

Another Florida Mom!!

There are McKay schools but not terribly near us, although you are right—I am driving all over for therapy anyway. The biggest thing for me though is that I was only somewhat impressed with the one nearest us and certainly didn’t feel really good about it. My other two children are in a parochial school—a very good one at that—and they do have some services now. The school is only 5 years old. I didn’t try to get him in—it is difficult—because the work load is much greater than public school. But there are fewer students in each class.

I can’t see doing middle school here so need to figure out some options soon. Of course, I have to get through this year first!!

Beth

“gifted classes at the expense of special ed”???????????

Get real……..gifted education is part of special education..period.

Ah … yes. But are gifted children and their parents put through the wringer to get their educational needs met?

In my district the answer is no.

>>But are gifted children and their parents put through the wringer<<

The biggest problem my friend and her two gifted children
had was getting door to school bus service and they got it…

(and I still don’t get that!)

Anne

Try having a gifted Lder. I honestly feel like being gifted presented more problems for my kids then the LD did,up until a certain age. Then my wonderfully inept Florida school just couldn’t figure out how to teach my gifted LD kids.

I think it really depends on which side of the fence you are sitting,both issues can be very hard to get their needs met. Someone said down the line of these responses something about how desirable an “average” kid is. IN the arena of
public school these are the kids who,never question authority,never have the nerve to tell the teacher they are wrong,don’t ask for help. They are less maintenance. Don’t ever kid yourself into thinking gifted kids are not as irritating to the reg ed teacher as the LD kid is:-) Both are out of the box,and both are high maintenance.

Again Beth,you know how I feel about the McKay,it saved my kids and their parents lives! We drove 40 minutes one way to get them there, it wasn’t easy,but it has been worth it. I can’t say we haven’t had to drive to therapies,we had to do this after school!,but at least we had help paying for them;-)

At our previous school there was no such thing as “gifted” classes and there was an LD class (that sometimes teamed up with the non-LD classes for certain projects). In fact, they didn’t have gifted programs, but would occassionally pull-out the gifted and high achievers for various workshops. I liked this because my daughter (a high achiever) was able to participate in some really neat language arts and math workshops. Also, other groups would be in their own workshops participating in equally neat projects that matched their abilities. Looking back at this, I really think this was an excellent way to handle this. Also, I think it was really positive that they didn’t seperate anyone and yet still were able to cater to different abilities.

One thing that always impressed me was how nice these kids were to each other.

Beth, I think you might make a great homeschooler. You’re such a great parent. Have you ever considered homeschooling? (With the help of outside tutoring).

1. Do private school for kids w/LD.

2. Accept situation and rally for mod’s & accom’s so he can get through the work and learn to write in reg classroom. (BTW, I like kids learning to write and having that experience in the regular classroom—as long as they are not treated like “mainstreamed.” Inclusion requires modified assignments/grading at the kiddo’s level. Mainstreaming simply says: “You can be here, as long as you can do the work.” Lots of classroom teachers confuse the two models. This is the easiest route, but will take some advocacy to get them to give proper mods/accoms.

3. Hire an advocate (preferably with a reputation for toughness) and look for the words “full continuum of placement options” in your state’s plan. It should be available on line. Call your Parent Information agency for a list of advocates for-pay. Schools get away with this because only parents of severely impaired children are screaming—and they are screaming for inclusion. Now, in some instances this is most appropriate; however, the law affords a “full continuum of placement options.” If you cannot find one, email me privately and I’ll find you one. They range from about $35/hr. Not sure about Florida rates.

You don’t have to be confrontational to take this step. You don’t have to file for due process, either. You do have to look “prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to assure that your child is receiving his legal rights.” This may mean going to mediation.

I know some dandy advocates who are certified teachers. (Confidentially, this may be one of the reasons that school districts would rather have me on their payroll than “on the loose…” I’ve been known to make ‘em squirm even before I was a certified teacher. Just think what I could do now with credentials. ;-))

Hi Beth,

I think there is something to that retelling what you hear out read. I found with my dd during PACE that if she repeated things out loud vs. silently in her head, she remembered much better. Like the Auditory Memory exercise and the lesson you had to create a visual-image link to remember a list of words.

I also found with spelling words, we practice both writing them down and then verbally spelling them. She is getting much better on the verbal side - not quite like a normal kid, but getting there.

My theory on this with my child is that it’s somehow linking the visual image with the words/thoughts.

I can relate with you on the whole emotional rollercoaster we seem to be on. We have such good days and then she’ll have a really bad week with reading and I wonder if she’ll ever learn to read without making so many mistakes and how will she ever get thru harder grades at school etc. LD kids get such a rotten deal when it comes to school!

Anyway, hang in there - you’ve come so far. Our neurophysch told me once that it’s ok if they are behind - the key is if they are progressing or not.

I remember you saying that this is your dilemma. I just cannot imagine the amount of stress that goes along with tyring to get needs for children with both issues met.

My guess would be that the best way to guarantee progress or appropriate education in such a case would be to get out of the public school system all together. This is probably a no-win situation with them.

You are very lucky to have the private school that you found available to you.

I like the “have me on the payroll instead of on the loose. ” That’s great!!!! Keep their feet (or is it hand) to the fire.

Now I think a really gifted kid would be very hard to raise. But you know it seems to me that most the “gifted” kids I know seem pretty ordinary to me—not much different than my above average but not gifted daughter. In these parts anyway, it seems like everyone has a gifted kid. I can think of five coworkers right off the bat who have kids in the gifted program. They can’t be that prevalent, if you know what I mean.

Do you know anything about the McKay schools down in my end of Florida? They all seem really expensive–in the neighborhood of $15,000.

Beth

I’m doing more kids good by working in school teaching reading/writing/math than going around fighting teachers/administrators who just want to do what they’ve always done (and get what they’ve always gotten: illiteracy).

Sadly, the ed system usually finds a way to win the big legal battles—even if they are dead wrong. They hire big money legal teams with tax-payer dollars and have huge insurance policies to pay for it all. It’s the inclusion cases that they’ve lost…does this answer your question about why inclusion is so popular with schools????

I fought and fought for parents and gained little. At least by teaching, I can chip away at literacy in my little corner of the world.

Writing is one of his big issues. We choose his teacher because she is the head of the writing efforts in 4th grade here. She came to his meeting about possible retention (we were for it, they were against). She didn’t think his writing was that bad. Still, can you give me ideas about what kinds of accomodations/modifications I ought to be asking for?

We hired an advocate two years ago. My experience is they aren’t going to do what they aren’t going to do. We got a great IEP and then they proceeded to try and implement it using the same ineffective program that he had not learned to read with the year before.

Beth

It is amazing that despite IDEA clearly stating that schools must offer the full continuum of services that as a nation as a whole we are not. It really makes you wonder how one can get the school district to give a child what the child needs when nationwide they get away with not following one of IDEA’s basic mandates. This is why so many parents on this board go elsewhere and pay for remediation out of their own pocket or get training to do the remediation themselves.

When my older son was in 5th grade he moved to “watch and consult” and was not receiving any direct services though he still had an IEP. Before we moved into 6th all parent’s of 5th grade students with IEP were invited to a meeting at the middle school where they unveiled their new program “inclusion a shared responsibility”. What this meant was all incoming LD IEP 6th graders would be serviced in the regular classroom no pull-out offered. It didn’t seem to matter that none of the IEP’s were written to match that model. I was fit to be tied. Along with a friend I went to a board meeting where the Special Ed. Dir. Was giving a presentation on the model and she stated that most of these students have been on IEP’s for years and don’t need the level of services that they had at the elementary level. I stood up and said that if they didn’t still need remediation they would not still have IEP’s. The program was implemented and our Elementary Special Ed. Teacher was on gag ordered (imy interpretation) not to express her opinions.

The program started within six weeks it was realized that it was not working that kids needed more help then inclusion allowed (almost nothing) and a before school class was offered to any LD 6th grader with an IEP. I did what I could expressing my opinion of the model by writing a letter in the spring and copying the superintendent on the letter. I decided I wasn’t up to fight the battle for every child. The next year they had pull-out but the teacher and aid also went into the classroom. To allow the teacher and the aid to go into the classroom the grouping of pull-out children was larger then it had been two years ago. If a child needed help but not remediation then the model worked but if the child needed remediation they were only going to get it if they fought for it or they paid for it on the outside.

I do belief that if LD parents in the same school district banned together in a proactive, positive manner they can made a difference. It is just so hard to get this under way.

Helen

1. Ability-level grading or just pass-fail.
2. Shortened assignments. (Not too short—just right. Achieve flow.)
3. No deductions for spelling errors.
4. Peer tutoring assistance.
5. Extra writing conferences w/teacher 1:1
There are more, but I’m too tired tonight to list everything. Hope others jump in.

In the best of worlds, the classroom teacher is using differentiated instructional techniques so that he’s not trying to keep up with instruction that is ahead of his level of needs. In the worst of worlds, he just gets the same instruction everyone else gets—no flexible skill small groups.

As my 18-year-old dyslexic would want to say, “The whole thing just sucks rib-bones!”

FERPA works against parent collaboration.

If I remember right Beth is in the largest school district in the state. This comes with some very highly paid attorneys on retainer,and a district that isn’t afraid to fight the good( or I should say the Bad) fight. I certainly can give you some names in Florida,but then as Beth has said,getting the damn IEP Implemented is like pulling eye teeth. Sue, And as you stated farther down the line,you became much more effective actually teaching kids rather then fighting windmills,correct?

Now with that being said,yes,what they are doing is a violation of the law,more specificly your kid is not recieving a free and appropriate public education.Well,I guess I don’t have to tell you that,but the fact is,very few,a pitiful few are recieiving one of those down here in Florida. Check out how big the support groups are now. They are dwindling,they are tired,they can’t make a difference,hard to fight a mountain forever. Even administrative law judges are partial, due process hearings are going on for 5 or 6 years,mediation is being done by school district employees.The McKAy can get you out of the public schools,but it WILL terminate your right to a free and appropriate public education.

The only way I see to being able to effect change is at a much higher level then your neighborhood school. It needs to be at lobbying the DOE,the senators,legislators,etc. When THEY feel us ESE parents have a strong enough voice,THEN the tides will turn. But doing it at the risk of your kids needs,is totally unrealistic.

Yes this is true,the gifted program has become some what of a status thing,BUT don’t be mistaken there are state laws protecting gifted kids,why? Because some are being treated badly. Some are not getting their needs met.

IN regards to your McKay question. The amount of money you will get to pay for your son’s education depends on his Matrix of services number. A number of 254 will give you 13,000 in my district,higher in yours. The matrix number is determined by the services and accomodations on his IEP. THIS might be a reason to fight for the IEP.Once your in a private school your have NO RIGHT to an IEP,which then gives you NO WAY to get the things on the IEP.Very important to prepare for leaving the public school. Because as I said before your terminate some of your childs federal rights.

Oh Beth, I am sorry to hear this. I think 34 is too many with all average kids…which never happens, of course. You know that I worry about Anna making it through the NC testing system, but she has a class size limit of 22 all the way up through high school at her school. I guess I didn’t realize how exceptionally good that is.

I personally do not think you can make a change in the entire system that will be significantly favorable to your son long term…he’d be out by the time things changed! I also don’t think a child can take school all day and then homework AND extra tutoring or therapy. Tooooo much! At least with homeschooling, you can focus on what is important and forget the rest. Are there any small private schools that may have combined graded classes where he could have an individualized curriculum? (hard to find, I know) I haven’t seen a public school LD self-contained class in YEARS. But I’d question if it would be any good, anyway. More of nothing still equals nothing. There are relatively few Susan L.s, Victorias, Sues, Anityas, Shays, etc. out there.

“Or maybe is it because we are so overwhelmed with coping with our own child that we have little energy left for activism.”

That’s it for me, definitely. Life is busy and I can only do so much. I think you have done all the right things to help him survive in that environment. But your son and my daughter just may not fit their box. And if that becomes apparent, then I think we need to take them out to spare them from having their self-esteem killed. I’m just waiting to see.

Your friend,
Janis

That’s interesting—I called one school and they told me most McKay scholarships were for about $5000–a very long ways from $15,000.

Can the school tell me his matrix number?

Beth

I’m meeting with his teacher today so you give me a good start. I think the main thing to stress is that he has to be taught where he is at. I am so tired of trying to get him to do things that he isn’t ready to do.

Beth

Oh Geez, feeling ok kiddo. LOL

The thing is that you can fight the school but if the school has ineffective programs what are you fighting for.
I look at alot of this like a good business negotiation. I want the best they have to offer. I know that there are ways to negotiate for things. They may not ever give you everything but you have to ask and sometimes ask again. It doesn’t help to shoot yourself in the foot in a negotiation. You have to be smarter than them. Sometimes that means a cool calm and deliberate approach. I always try to keep my eye on the prize, whether that is getting the best teacher, more therapy or just having them recognize his strengths.

I do think that in time I will go after getting some things changed over there. I just don’t have the energy now. I do believe that if I can establish myself as someone who knows what she is talking about I can convince those around me that another direction is what is needed.

I do worry about all those kids going into that ridiculous reading recovery and failing because IT is ineffective.

Dea,

I had not thought of the “outloud” part of being generalizable but there was something intuitively pleasing about the process.

I know we have come a long way but it seems like we just keep dealing with new things. We were at Neuronet yesterday and the therapist told me, correctly I think, that we have dealt with most for which I originally came to her. His auditory processing is much improved. He localizes sounds now. But he is like an onion, we peeled off one layer and found new problems underneath!!! We have been dealing with visual issues that are more right brain oriented and have affected reading comprehension, math, ect. These seem far more resistant to remediation and progress has been very slow.

Beth

Well, I do get what I want within the contraints the school has. The problem is what I get is so little, next to the contraints. I get to handpick his teacher, for example. They are taking him out for resource room during science or social studies so that he can get double language arts. They are letting him use a computer for writing. They got him Cowriter. I fought to keep him on an IEP for OT even though he had improved so much the OT wanted to dismiss him. And so on.

For the most part, the things I am able to get are things that do not cost money. But ratios are too high in resource room (one group last year had 17 kids in it) and the class room. Good intentions and good people can still only do so much.

I looked into even mediation a couple years ago. I talked to a private therapist who had participated in cases. She told me that my son could get more than he was if we went through it, but that he would not get what he needed. All my research fits exactly what Socks is saying. We have county school districts here and ours is the second largest in the state. I think we are third largest in the country. The people in the district office know me by name (and there are 250,000 students) and I had three of them at one IEP meeting a couple years back. My opinion is that they are completely useless, incompetent people. I had one threatening to take me to due process when I questioned the way they were going to implement his IEP. There is no reason why they couldn’t be doing more effective programming in the district.

We now have a new resource teacher who has broader training. Unfort., even with her, the resource limits are a real problem. She used to teach in another district in Florida and she has told me privately that she can’t believe the resources in our school. And we are one of the county’s A+ schools!!

Beth

In my mind, this is when you say, OK he’ll just muddle along in public school and we’ll supplement at home and hope that he makes good progress(which can happen thanks to maturity and tutoring), or you take him out and educate him privately. Maybe once in a great while a parent really wins over a school system, but most of the time they just wear you down.

Yes, you are right—if I stay, that is. I just find it frustrating that we can never catch up and it seems to get worse every year. I practically have to teach him myself. I am also going to look into private options this year.

I spoke to a parent yesterday whose son was in a self contained classroom for several years. Here they seem to be mainly used for autistic children and hearing impaired children. Her son is now mainstreamed in 5th grade and is most likely (varying diagnoses) a high functioning autistic. He outgrew the self contained class, even though, like my son, he struggles in the regular classroom.

Beth

The matrix number ought to be somewhere in the school files on your child. It should be not more than a phone call or fax away. If not, raise a ruckus. It can change, depending on the number of services your child gets. My son has a matrix score of 251, which is minimal, and we get about $5000 towards a private school that costs about $13,000 per year. This is the site where you can find information about McKay:

https://www.opportunityschools.org/home.asp

By the way, I don’ think that they list every single school that takes Mckay, so if there’s anything in your yellow pages under “Schools, Private”, call and ask.

The deadline for this year has passed. Like you, our motivation for really becoming proactive in the search for a private school was middle school. It would have eaten my son up.

Janis,

I know. The tutor wants me work with him 45 minutes a day. Then Neuronet is another 20 minutes. And then there is homework. Soccer starts in a few weeks. And we just found him a cub scout troop because we are concerned about social issues as well.

I haven’t started the reading therapy. I think it just makes me tired.

I meet with his teacher today. I am going to try to negotiate for no homework unless language arts or math. He can listen to social studies or science on tape (I am meeting with someone from Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic on Friday about books on tape.) But really social studies and science are mainly reading activities so what is the point.

And none of this busy work kind of stuff. He had to do a diarama (sp?) of his family. So he brought home this box and was doing drawings of people. He got mad this morning about the ones he had made (his sister had helped him with a couple) and tore them up. Said they looked stupid. His drawings were perfectly adequate but used square shapes in them like a younger child. He is perfectionistic so knows they aren’t as good. Now isn’t this a good use of all of our time?

I think he would be better of in a small private school with combined graded classes. Know of any?

Beth

I agree SAR. Only if IDEA is changed will things really change. And only then if the funding is increased to provide more early intervention services and lower caseloads and proper training and materials.

Janis

Beth, I totally agree with the elimination of all non-essential homework. You know I’ve been on that one, too. I informed the teacher that she would not be repeating math homework done last year (since she is repeating). When the paper comes home, I just write “skip” and initial it!

There are many small Christian schools out there that might provide a better environment. (You’d just have to choose one with fairly generic Bible lessons that were non-denominational sort of like the parochial school, if that was an issue). Some of them are rigid on the curriculum and some may be more flexible. I have a friend who is a public school teacher who took her hearing impaired child out of public school and put her in a school like this so that the child could go at her own pace in math, which oddly (for a HI child) was her weakest area. There was some negative social stuff at the public high school, too. I think they may have been afraid she would not be able to handle the exit exam either. She is in a multi-graded high school class so each child is doing their own curriculum with individual help from the teacher. They may be doing some courses by video, not sure. I guess it’s a bit like paid homeschooling, for those who don’t want to homeschool or can’t. I think sometimes we must find a place that our kids will be safe and valued and not made to feel like the square peg in the round hole. I still think Algebra is pretty unessential for the majority of people, yet my state requires it for a hs diploma. That’s a killer for many LD kids.

Janis

Just read about your good day in your other post. Hope all these other posts for this subject turn out to be unnecessary and your son continues to have a great year.

The art project is familiar scenario at our house. I have a 6 year old daughter who is a perfectionist but hasn’t developed the motor skills to control a pencil as well as she would like. For these home art projects we photocopy appropriate-sized photos in black and white (using lighter tones), and then she cuts them out, colors them, and glues them where she wants them. (Beginning Graphic Arts!) We haven’t had one yet that wasn’t adorable, and more importantly, she’s so happy with them.

Jousting at windmills is a perfect phrase for how I felt as a parent advocate.

One of the biggest problems are the many teachers who were not taught using current practices and don’t want to change. That’s why kids don’t make progress in pull-out and we see articles from Sharon Vaughn named “The broken promise of special education.” She especially talked about kids being in pull-out and not making one iota progress. Why? Teaching methods. That’s what I saw as a advocate, too. And parents cannot dictate teaching methods.

The only ones that affect teaching methods in a big way are the institutions of higher learning that certify teachers initially and through grad programs. Some of them are stuck in a big pedagogy loop.

///

I would read the statute itself,before I would go to the opportunity.org site.

They have not updated it since the last revision of the law. I know hard to believe,but it is true.

What the statute states is the parent must write a letter of intent to participate 60 days prior to the first warrant( check) is issued for your child. The warrants are issued four times through out the year,so this would mean 60 days before the next check,one could apply to recieve a McKay. I know the school districts,even the DOE does not tell you this,BUT I personally know of three students who are being placed in October for the McKay.If you want accurate info call the choice office at the dept of education.

Now I would definitely check your CUM file at school for your “matrix of services” form,this will have your matrix number and will probably be following the last IEP.Before I started asking for the number I would go and get the number myself. MANY parents have had numbers changed before the matrix makes it to the DOE. Unfortunately the DOE has had big problems with districts not wanting to “lose” funds. The simple truth is, if they were using the students state funds directly on him,then they would not lose the funds,because they wouldn’t have the kid to educate,correct? BUT if they recieved state funds that wouldn’t necessarily go to the student,well,good for them,gee…
Bottom line go and find your number yourself.

Again my point is why getting services on the IEP BEFORE requesting a McKay is important. It will increase your matrix number.

And until you’re the one with the gifted kiddo, it’s hard to tell whether it’s really happening. HaVing a program on paper — or even in the classroom — doesn’t mean anybody’s needs are being met necessarily except perhaps the person waving around the “see, we have a gifted program” piece of paper. (Other places that’s not true, of course.)

Your main goal is to find a way to show the teacher that, given the chance, the kiddo can demonstrate real knowledge but that the whole handwriting and/or writing process issue is a real obstacle to that. Then you have to balance the need to develop and demonstrate the content knowledge with the need to keep learning the writing skills.
And the bottom line is to figure out how to meet *his* needs first, and then as many as possible of the teacher’s demands within those constraints.
(By the way, I have this brother who, I can honestly tell you, wrote horribly in middle school. Started with a sentence or two with unconnected pronouns somewhere towards the end of his ideas, wandered around a while and then stuck a period at the end. It took lots and lots and lots of work and rewrites but eventually he became a writer, had an ‘underground’ paper that was good enough so they made him editor of the college paper.)

This makes sense. What is CUM file? How do I access it?

Beth

And maybe there is a chance. Mel Levine’s book “The Misunderstood Mind” was sitting on her desk. She asked ME if I had seen the PBS special. She was lending out her taping of it to other teachers.

Beth

That’s a good idea. Last year I found pictures on the internet to illustrate for him. He traces well and that has helped. I told his teacher at conference about the trauma at our house and she told me she wouldn’t send things like that home again. He doesn’t fall apart the same way at school and he is more able to see the range of abilities of his classmates. At home, he seems to think everyone is Picasso.

Beth

The CUM is short for the cumulative file at the school. It is the educational file. It will have the IEP and along with the IEP should be the “Matrix of services” form

So do I just ask to see it and then do I have a legal right to take it and copy it or can I ask them to copy it? Just don’t want to be blundering around over these details, in case anyone gives me grief.

Beth

You have a right to review and receive copies of anything in your child’s cumulative (CUM) file until he/she reaches the age of majority. (Then, unless deemed incompetent, you have no right to a copy of anything and all rights transfer to student.) In most states, you must give notice and school has about 10 ten days to clean it up, but sure all is there, etc.

A letter asking to view and copy the cum is usually an eye-opener that something is a foot. Puts people “on guard.” (I think that is a good thing!) You would call and then document with a letter asking for a time to review the file. Then, you would ask for copies right then of anything you wish to receive. The school personnel will copy them for you.

I think every parent who is a strong advocate for their student needs to look through the cum from time to time. JMO.

Copies of documents are covered under two laws. IDEA,Parental safeguards section states that you have a right to copies,AND FERPA,states you have the right. I would request that a time be given for you to go into the school and review the CUM file,once there look for the Matrix of services form,if it isn’t there then ask for it. Once you do this in Florida,they will know basicly why you want this. The person sitting with you to review might not,but the higher up administrator that this person will mention this to will. Now here is a side thing that has cause big confusion for parents. As of 2000-2001 school year the funding criteria changed. The school used to have to formulate a matrix every year with every IEP annual,but this has now changed and it doesn’t have to be formulated but every three years OR when services have been added to the IEP.In regards to the McKay,the statute states they must formulate a matrix number as prior to the 2000-2001 school year,which means the 1999 funding criteria. What a lot of parents are told is there is no longer a matrix,WRONG,there is. And especially if your kid had an IEP in 1999-2000 school year.The other thing they might say is that the 251-253 kids recieve the same amount of funding. This is true for a public school kid,but for a McKay they must have a number. I know how confusing this sounds. Feel free to email me and I would gladly walk you through it. If you can’t get through via email,come to my chat on Sunday nights and I will whisper my phone number to you. But for right now you need to know how much funding you have to work with. So simply ask to see the file,and look for it.

I could not agree with you more. Not only is it good to review the CUM,to me it is necessary to have a complete copy of the cum for effective advocating. In chronological order it can really give you an idea on what hasn’t been done,what hasn’t worked,and what should be tried.