Today, when I brought my third grader to his new class I found out that the school has completely eliminated pull-out resource. He had 2 hours last year and one hour was spent 1 on 1 trying to teach him (with only some success) to decode. I spoke with the new resource teacher who told me resource starts next week and she will be in the regular classroom an hour a day. My son’s IEP says 2 hrs resource - of course when I look back it doesn’t specify pull-out since it wasn’t an issue last year. His annual IEP is in October.
Then his 1 on 1 aide which last year he had 1 1/2 - 2 hrs per day, said I should tell her specifically how to help him in the classroom. She knows I sent him to a private center for LMB this summer. I didn’t have great expectations since it was only a few hours a week but he seems to actually have regressed in his reading. Anyway - that’s a side story.
I called an advocate recommended by the law firm I saw a few months ago regarding the summer school. She said the co-teaching model is where LAUSD (L A Unified) is headed and there really haven’t been cases tried yet demanding pull-out.
I’m just asking for empathy from you all!
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Thanks Janis.
My son is burned out at the end of the school day. Otherwise I might accept that his real learning has to take place after school. He saw an ed therapist once a week for part of last year, and had vision therapy once a week. I can’t see him handling more. He takes meds for ADHD during school hours. I won’t medicate him further due to appetite problems - even though this seems unrelated to the meds.
I have a good feeling about this resource teacher, but I can see she’s going to have her legs cut off. At an IEP for private summer school the last resource teacher (who giddily went back to general ed) got scolded later for agreeing with me that my son needed 1 on 1 help. His general ed teacher also spoke up, clearly nervous - she may have gotten read the riot act too afterward. So sad.
Re: need support for 1st day back to school
Amy,
I know your son is tired after school. Maybe this will be helpful: I worked with my dyslexic son for about 25 minutes before school, 4-5 days a week last year, and about an hour on Saturday. I knew that the resource teacher had no training, and really had no idea about appropriate remediation. I used SPIRE materials (evaluated somewhere on this site by someone who knows alot more than I do!). They are authored by Sheila Clark-Edmand and are newly available from EPS. I had an independent tutor test my son at the beginning and end of the year. His reading accuracy improved more than 2 years worth, and his reading rate, although still far behind, improved as well. I’m convinced that any determined parent can do this if desperate. good luck.
Re: need support for 1st day back to school
Congratulations, Peggy! I think when there’s a will, there’s a way. Some parents even take the child out of school early for a few months (or years) in order to do therapies. It’s never easy, but rarely will the school remediate.
But Amy, they cannot do that to your child without changing the IEP and you don’t have to agree. If his scores are below grade level, then you have every right to expect pull-out remediation. But as I said before, it matters whether the resource teacher knows how. Find out what reading programs she uses.
Janis
Re: need support for 1st day back to school
Or, if you can do it — just take him home early or bring him in late. Seriously, the reading skills will benefit him more int he long run than what he’d get at school — and it would send a message.
Re: need support for 1st day back to school
Form #8 Page 3 should have the location of service, as well as, the amount of time required. These have to be followed, make sure it’s there. For example, mine says Resource room or speech room, etc., Then speak with the special ed supervisor, then send a letter of confirmation and get a lawyer.
There is not enough information to support or deny inclusive classroom helping LD students. You usually don’t find this until middle school.
Make the system work for you.
Good luck.
Re: need support for 1st day back to school
Shel, unless you are in the same state or even school district as Amy, her forms won’t be the exactly same. But it should have the location of serivce on there and the specific amount of time he is to be served outside the regular classroom.
Janis
Re: need support for 1st day back to school
Janis, unfortunately, you are correct — maybe that is something that needs to be lobbied for. Consistancy is something we need for our kids, it should be top (government) to teachers than students.
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Hi. This is going to be my final attempt to get back on this board. I wrote several lengthy replies and was unable to submit.
Anyway. Thanks everyone.
First, congrats Peggy for being to remediate your son yourself. Believe me, NOT every desperate parent can do it.
I’m interested in hearing more about experiences bringing your child in late or pulling them out early from school to get tutoring/go to an ed center that knows what they’re doing.
My son’s IEP does not specify where RSP services take place - nor does it say for speech. Both have been pull-out up until now.
They are asking for lawsuits, Amy. And that IEP has to say where that 2 hours is to be done. It has to be specified whether it is in the special ed. room or regular classroom.
If I thought my child needed remediation and that the resource teacher knew anything worthwhile, I’d fight this very intensely. Your child has an IEP..thats”INDIVIDUALIZED!!!” and they can’t say, “We’re not providing that kind of service anymore”.
BUT, if the resource teacher is really not trained in effective methods, then continue to get the therapy privately and don’t worry about it. I do not have much confidence that one-on-one aides do much in the long run.
Janis