I tried posting this as a reply to the actual thread but, it didn’t seems to bring the thread back up to the top, so I’m just posting this again as a new message. Also couldn’t find the url for the original thread or I would have posted it. Hope this is not too confusing. Actually probably won’t make much sense unless you remember the original thread from last June or go back and find it. Sorry. There’s a question at the bottom for you even if you’re not interested in the update.
Hello to all,
It has been almost a year and a lot has happened. Most of it not good. First of all I must say that my daughter has decided not to continue at the local college, it’s just too much of a struggle, too little help, and a losing battle at this particular school. She began her college experience with taking placement testing on the Friday before her first class on Monday, with the deadline for scheduling her classes and paying tuition at 4:00 that day hanging over her head. Needless to say she didn’t do well and ended up in remedial classes not only for the Math but for English as well. They placed a requirement on her that she take all four remedial Math classes, pass out of each one with a C, then retake the placement exams. She was only required to take one remedial English class. The next hurdle was the Disabilities Office itself. She was not qualified for assistance without going through their evaluation process, which was going to cost us about $600. that we didn’t have. This in spite of the fact that we had the evalucation results from the end of her Junior year in HS. The end of her first semester she had a very severe case of tonsillitis and missed a couple of exams. It was an extended illness and she ended up with IC in the English class and had to retake it second semester. The math class she just plainly failed. The other 4 classes she passed with A’s. The beginning of second semester, we found out that her beloved voice teacher had terminal cancer. We lost her a few weeks ago. As soon as school was out, we had her tonsilles removed and at this point we do not know how her voice will be effected. She struggled for two semesters, much frustration and many tears later, I agree with her… it’s just not worth it. She’s working on some recordings and getting an agent, deciding if she wants to go to New York or Nashville or if she wants to try a vocational school of some sort. She is eternally optimistic and I know after all this she will never give up. She doesn’t look at this as giving up, just deciding on another path.
The most interesting thing to come out of all this is that she and a friend who is a Phyc. Major at Emory Univ. here in Atlanta have gotten together and developed an idea for assistance for LD families in our County. These two kids are really determined to make a difference for others and I’m so proud of them I could bust. They are beginning with research and that brings me to my other reason for posting this. We need to know what you all think. We have this site as a resource, but what do you all think would be the most helpful “local” information to make available for parents, students and maybe even teachers. I have my own ideas, but I don’t always think the way others do, so it would help to have some input from you guys. We are talking about a website (since I do webdesign and hosting I will be donating that myself) but it would be aimed at just our County, so that we could be very specific about what information we gave people. They are talking about local meetings and a newsletter as well. Any thoughts that you all may have on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
If any of you are interested, Sarah has an on-line resume. It even has a couple of sound clips. I did this site right after she started at the college and haven’t updated it since, so it’s not current or complete. Just thought you might like to meet her.
Lastly, I want to thank all of you here for the help and encouragement you gave us last year. It really meant more to me than I can say.
Paula