I took a class this summer about special education law and I require some feedback from educators about one of the case studies I worked with from the book Case Studies in Special Education Law by Mary Konya Weishaar.
Here is the background information to help answer the two questions that I need some feedback on.
Student, Terrance:
-difficulty reading
-IQ of 74
-age appropriate listening skills
-weak writing skills
-weak decoding skills
-lives with single mother and older sister
-lives below poverty level
The issue addressed was discipline of a 10th grade student, Terrance. In 9th grade he began to experience behavioral difficulties. At one point, he became involved in a verabal altercation with the physical education teacher. He was sent to the office and suspended for 5 school days. Despite the problem behaviors, Terrance made average grdes in all his classes. One day, in his 10th grade year, Terrance was in the hallway walking to the cafe for lunch. He had just lost his lunchroom priviledges because he had used inappropriate and abusive language directed towards his special education teacher. He was therefore told to walk to the cafe, get his lunch, and return to the classroom to eat. Terrance had walked down the hallway talking loudly about how he had been mistreated by the teacher. The principal overheared Terrance and confronted him. Terrance began to scream, yell, and verbally intimidate the principal. The school police resource officer was called and removed Terrance. Terrance was searched and a small amount of marijuana was found in his pocket. Terrance was suspended from school for 10 days, with a possibility of expulsion. An IEP meeting was held within the 10 days and it was determined that would be placed in an interm alternative educational setting (IAES) for 45 school days. The IAES was determined to be home tutoring daily for 2 hours. An expulsion hearing was held and it was recommended to the board of education that Terrance be expelled for bringing drugs to school. The board decided to expel him for the next school year. Ultimately, Terrance was placed in a private day treatment facility where his learning disability and behavior problems could be addressed.
Here are the two questions.
1) If Terrance had engaged in similar behavior outside of the school setting with a shop owner, what would have happened? What are the differences between this scenario and the same scenario in the school setting?
2) Is it possible that Terrance could have a learning disaiblity? Why or why not?
Thanks so much for your help :)
Yes it is possible and probable Terrence is LD. Most people have atleast a very minor LD. Most have it so minor it is not really noticeable.However, this example in my opinion is interesting for several reasons.
I went to school where some idiot did just that. MULTIPLE times. Brought weed to school was caught smoking it. After the 8th time in Lexington MA, (my junior year of highschool) the kid was allegedly expelled till his daddy a renowned lawyer in Boston threatened to sue. The first 7 times the kid got a 1 to 3 day period of suspension. (So much for the no tolerance policy.) The last time after being expelled he was actually back in class all of just under 7 days later. This case no LD was involved. But if schools are going to let parents pull that kinda crap well… Then maybe it ain’t LD students we need to worry about but schools lacking in backbone.
Having LD, is NOT an excuse to be a belligerant jerk. It is NOT an excuse to break laws. It is grounds on which to demand a smaller class or to take a test orally rather than written and provide the same answer for the same credit or to ask to have the time restriction removed from a test.
Pardon my language but being a belligerant asshole is just not ok for anyone. One must treat others with decency. Such behavios are in many cases more often a sign of lack of discipline at home which is not uncommon in single mother households in which mom works full time plus to make ends meet and still doesn’t succeed. I would personally say that these behaviors are more indicative of the poverty factor.
1. Marijuana is easier to get in bad neighborhoods which ofcourse happen when large groups of those living in poverty live in close proximity.
2. Lack of discipline tells you no one is there for him. There is always a reason a good parent has a messed up kid. Lack of manners and proper behavior indicates a lack of parent in most cases in my opinion.
3. Low reading level does NOT necesarily indicate LD. It can also indicate lack of proper education which is again not uncommon in poverty stricken areas.
4. The only real indication of LD in my opinion is the IQ score. It is lower than that of Bush Jr. We all know Bush Jr is entirely drooling and idiotic and completely unable to manage anything. Therefore this indicates that the kid in question, was one of 3 things, LD, (in which case such a low IQ bears witness to that in that the ratio between the various IQs so to speak were sooooo different that the average came out to a super low IQ. At such a low IQ however, that kid should not be even able to tie his own shoes therefore, we know he is either one of the spanish drooling inbred rulers of the middle ages or a fictitious example if infact his shoes were tied and he could actually tie his profanity tyrade at the principal into functional cohesive sentences.
Last point i would like to make is this, those with LD are frequently misunderstood. It can be frusterating. What is more, the impoverished and the disabled alike are much more commonly subject to abuse. Authority figures have been abusing people since…. the beginning of time. Just look at the ancient Kushite empire. (slightly south of Egypt along the nile, finally reaching their greatest heights in Meroe in what is commony called the meroitic period.) They, had a gross thing for human sacrifice when the king or authority died, sometimes hundreds or thousands were sacrificed and laid to rest with him. Indicating, the disparity between the ranks of people that can exist when the set up includes rulers and surfs. The french revolution didn’t happen for no reason either. Neither did the boston tea party or the following war. Today in america, the most abused population is that population known as ‘disabled.’ That they ignored the outcries of this child that he had been mistreated is at the very least gross negligence on the part of the school in this example. However, demanding he calm down and stop the profane rude statements while he explains his issue is completely within reason.
I would say the indicators here for the vast most part indicate the sad fact of good old american poverty which needs to be abolished.
But then, what do i know? I am learning disabled, multi lingual, and an archaeologist. Not an educator.
The only difference i can think of here, is that i don’t think in most schools for a first offense they would get the police involved and would instead handle it through the education system as opposed to the legal system which seems more likely to happen should one get caught by a shop keeper off school property. Off school property is the real world. School property is sort of… Practice space for the real world. Though the penalty may be harsh i think in general the governing body of the school would handle it as opposed to the legal system. But again i am just a dyslexic epigrapher not an educator.