Our family relocated to southern California from northern California over the summer. My 12 year old son was diagnosed with a learning disabilty in May 2004, only weeks before the end of his 6th grade year. Although I had very little knowledge of the special education process, we put together an IEP that I felt okay about.
My sons LD is a visual processing deficit. He has always stuggled with writing, being unable to copy from the board to his paper. He struggled with maps and puzzles. Refused to do written work or work that was assigned that had too much information on the paper. He is horribly unorganized and tends to be a loner. He is very nice and polite, but doesn’ really know how to read people and tends to be a little closer to others than he realizes…not inappropriately, but it may make others uncomfortable without knowing why.
My son had a very big difference in his verbal and performance scores. The district psychologist from up north gave him two scores instead of a full scale score. She also classified him as gifted with a learning disability.
When I enrolled my son in his new school, I was able to provide them with copies of the evaluatios and IEP. I did not have his school records, they had to be requested. He was assigned to all regular classes with english in special ed. I emailed back and forth with the special ed (SE) teacher a bunch, we finally decided to have his new IEP in mid September. About a week prior, I asked for a copy of his school file, well they didn’t have it. I was told that was not a problem, we were still on for our meeting. I suggested it might be better to wait for the IEP meeting, but I would like to meet with him. We met and he told me that he felt my son didn’t have much of a problem. When I asked about the difference in the WISC III scores, he told me they just give full scale scores, they don’t ever give seperate scores. He also said he didn’t think the IEP that had been written was any good, that if he had written it it would have had much more detail.
So, last week my sons file gets to the school. Our meeting is scheduled for Monday the 18th, on Friday the 15th he emails and tells me I am welcom to come to the school and make a copy of whatever I want out of the file for $0.15 per copy. I was so mad, he had been telling me for 6 weeks he’d copy it and I could pick it up. I asked a number of questions regarding how I was suppose to pick it up on such short notice, what if I didn’t have the financial means, etc. He told me we could cancel the meeting a reschedule for Novemebr 20. I just laughed and told him to keep the meeting for 10/18.
I got to the school for our appointment and it was all okay, the VP was there and a number of the other teachers. They had no idea of my sons disability even though the SE teacher told me he sent each of them info about it. When I started asking questions rearding the test (TVPS-R), the test my son had struggled with, the SE teacher asked if I even knew what the test was. He then proceeded to tell me he himself took the test and he was in the 4th percentile in the same section as my son. He looked at the other teachers and laughed an snickered. I was shocked. I was pretty intimidated after that, and although I tried to bring things up, he just said, no he wouldn’t agree to this or that. The meeting ended by him saying we were going to just stick with the IEP that was written up north. Right away, I brought up that he had said how bad it was, he said it was fine.
And that was it. What do I do?? :shock:
Well, the meeting was scheduled for 10/18/04, almost 2 months after school here started. My son was doing okay in a couple classes and failing science.
Special ed teacher
Thanks for responding.
Do you think my reaction to his comments is inappropriate? I was so surprised he would have the nerve to say the things he said, I did not know what to do.
I have considered writing a note to the VP who was there and being very pleasant and just mentioning in passing or something. I worry that anything I say will be taken out on my child… You never know, the stories one hears are pretty bad….
Re: Was special ed teacher offensive....?
I’m not familiar enough with the school process to comment on that experience, other than to say the sped teacher sounds like a jerk and the relationship at this point sounds adversarial rather than cooperative.
However, my advice is to take your son to a developmental optometrist for evaluation, since the type of problem you describe is often the result of undiagnosed developmental vision delays. Regular eye exams do not test developmental vision.
For more information on this topic, see http://www.childrensvision.com . To find board-certified developmental optometrists, see http://www.covd.org . Also, you may want to check out http://www.homevisiontherapy.com , which is an inexpensive way to get vision therapy if it is needed. The software isn’t ideal for all types of developmental vision delay, but is very helpful for some common types.
Most people find that direct remediation is much more effective than anything a school can do. Also, it is often harder to get help when the student is older. Most school remediation is focused on early elementary school grades.
Nancy
Re: Was special ed teacher offensive....?
I would have had the same reaction. My child has different difficulties so I can’t help too much. Take a look at the LD In Depth for non-verbal disabilities and read up on it and ask other parents on the Parenting Students with LD. My child is in 6th grade and I know which people are going to advocate for my child and who isn’t by their past responses. The principal at my child’s school doesn’t believe in phonics after 3rd grade and the special ed director concurred. Well neither have teaching reading experience as I found out,so I asked for an opinion from a speech/ reading specialist in the school district that was familiar with my child’s difficulty. I refused our end of last year IEP and it still hasn’t come together as I am waiting for the speech/ reading specialist to finish her evaluation. Keep your e-mail responses and be sure to be pleasant, you will need to be sure they are actually carrying out the IEP. It’s probably a good thing the other school did the IEP. I would be afraid of what the SE instructor would have come up with on his own.And yes, do get outside remedial help with the difficulties.
Re: Was special ed teacher offensive....?
Thanks for great suggestions. The VP was really nice. She tried to talk during our meeting, but he interupted her…I lost count of how many times. I will keep trying. :roll:
Re: Was special ed teacher offensive....?
I would write a “letter of understanding” to the vice principal and the SE instructor, and to anybody else further up on the chain of command that you think would be useful. (The VP you like might be far enough, since s/he could show it to other powers that be; however, this guy’s behavior is pretty off the charts and you never know, they *could* be looking for documentation so that they can reel him in.)
Your SE instructor *could* be a candidate for special ed himself, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn’t mean that he should be laughing at your child’s needs.
My letter would be to the tune of:
Dear VP and SE INstructor (their names, of course),
Thank you very much for participating in my son’s IEP meeting last ____. After thinking about it, I have some concerns. Mr. __ , you stated that you would not agree to several aspects of the old school’s IEP, including ____; however, you then said that it was “fine” and signed that you agreed with it. I trust taht this means that you changed your mind, and will be complying with the IEP.
I am also concerned that because you made reference to the ____ test and that you had scored in the fourth percentile on a section that my son also performed at that level. Your snickering led me to believe that you found this amusing. While I admire your tenacity at conquering challenges you may have faced, I would hope that you would respect that each person is different, and that my son’s challenges are very real and not a source of amusement (though we do try to keep a sense of humor).
[Here I would insert anything that the SE and/or VP should be *doing* in the immediate future, per the IEP, or anything that they should be responding to you about.]
Again, I thank you for your time and contribution to my son’s educational plan, and look forward to continuing to work together to help him achieve and succeed at ____ school.
Re: Was special ed teacher offensive....?
It sounds to me like you need the expertise of an advocate. I live in So. California, and the way it’s set up; one must [b]know their rights [/b]so they can request services their child needs; the school will not offer them.
Through the State Department of Education, you can request a copy of a book called “Composite of Laws”. In it, you will learn of all the services your child is entitled to if he has a need. If he is not a “special needs.” child, you will have to pay $25 for this invaluable book. If he IS considered “special needs” (autistic spectrum, learning disabled, etc), then you will receive the book for free.
Although I encourage people to exhaust all their resources before hiring an advocate, I have seen first hand the benefits of having one. I begged the school to help my daughter who was not comprehending. I was willing to quit my job and work directly with her each day if the school would give me hands on/visual curriculum that would coincide with the concepts they were teaching her in class. They told me there was nothing they could do. They told me that her achievement test scores exceeded her IQ scores, so she was doing MORE than we could expect her to do. through sheer luck, I found my way to a wonderful advocate, who suspected that my daughters IQ score was off (they had her at borderline MR at 71). My advocate arranged for private testing, and it turns out her true IQ score is 99. I learned that my daughter didn’t understand the directions on the WISC test. She was tested very thoroughly (with reimbursement from the school), and my advocate gets the credit for these services:
1. Received 360 hours of LindaMood Bell Visualizing and Verbalizing program
2. private Occupational Therapy services,
3. private speech and language,
4. social skill training groups,
5. an aid to assist the classes she is in.
Wow! Going from the school saying “nothing more can be done” to receiving all this help!! I am pleased to say that after all this, my daughter has grown tremendously in academics. Although she still struggles, she is not the same as she was just last year.
Kathy
Re: Was special ed teacher offensive....?
Are you involved with TASK? I just found somethng on this group and requested information… NOONE will even set foot in an IEP in So. Cal without an attorney or an advocate, I wish I had known this. I do now!! I am grateful that I at least “set the record” or precedent or whatever it is…for the future.
TASK
No, I am not involved in TASK. My daughter didn’t get properly diagnosed until age 11, in 5th grade. I tried to receive help from the Regional Center, but they turned me away (I suspect it was her age).
I have an advocate who comes to all my IEP’s; she tape records them, and chimes in when the school tries to take away or deny help. The last IEP I went to, the school came well prepared and wrote up an excellent IEP. See what accountability does?
Kathy
P.S. Does TASK really help people?
I second the getting to know the School Psychologist
Kristin,
It is hard to get an IEP from a previous district, but this should not have been a problem if the evaluations were done recently. Yes, the teacher was a jerk and inappropriate. Sometimes in meetings, it is to your benefit to clarify answers to your questions by saying, ” So what you are saying about my child is that the testing shows……”. I don’t think that people truly understand how their attitudes change the meaning behind what they think they are saying.
I am a high school sped teacher who just got a 504 for a kid who has visual motor weakness from another district where he failed most of his classes last year. Fortunately, we have a great school psychologist who I consulted with and we decided to do a full eval. on this student b/c when he was younger the WISC scores looked to be leaning to Non-verbal learning, which sounds like your son.
I think it would be great for your son to have a school psychologist evaluate his scores and to recommend modifications/accommodations. Plus, since the Sped teacher appears to have already discounted your concerns and previous testing, an advocate would be good to have for your son. Good luck and keep us posted.
In the meantime, find a study buddy or a student with good notes in Science and check out the non- verbal disabilities at
http://www.nldline.com/
Beacon
Re: Was special ed teacher offensive....?
Kristin,
There is a Federally funded organization that has representatives in each state. They are there to help folks in your position. The national website is http://www.napas.org/. You can go there to find help in your area. I checked the California website and they are in Sacramento. Not sure how close that is to where you live, but I imagine that they have advocates all over. I’m not sure how they work in California, but in my state (and they get lots of work with the crappy schools in this state) they will provide advocate and legal services at no charge. They will attend the meetings with you and help you work up an IEP that is appropriate for your child.
Hope this helps!
Well, the SE instuctor sounds like he doesn’t know what he is doing.See if you can talk to the school psychologist about your son and get that person on your side.My paperwork says it is a right granted by federal law to be able to obtain copies at a reasonable cost unless the fee would effectively deny you access to the record.It seems 15 cents would be high especially if you are doing the copying yourself, but then I don’t live in California.