LD and DH ?s

What state are you in?

A child with an IQ of 150 and a learning disability is likely to be incredibly frustrated by being placed with low IQ children, which is what I assume the DH label means. For gt/ld kids it is more important to develop their gifts than it is to remediate their weaknesses. Of course, remediation and accomodation are important for any one with LD, but too much focus on disabilities and too little fostering of giftedness is known to adversely affect gt/ld children. JMHO, but I suspect that your son would benefit more from receiving 90 minutes of gt enrichment than he does from 90 minutes of resource. Check out the article “Diamonds in the Rough” listed in the “What’s New” section of this web site. My son attends one of the gt/ld classes describes in that article and it has made an incredible, positive difference in his life. I hope this helps.

Andrea

We are in Ohio.

i wish but they dont start gifted till 6th grade here a little in 5th but not much a 40 min meeting weekly that is all.I really think that his school has never had to deal with someone like him and have a parents like us to fight for something.My son has even corrected his reg. ed teacher while she has tuaght science class.She has had him do bullentin boards for her having to do with space.He is to start getting OT for his fine motor skills and some sensory issues as well but no definite date when it starts that was a 2 year fight to get.

I am a Special Ed teacher in Ohio. The term LD is used when a child has average to above average intelligence but has a significant discrepence between IQ and acheivement. The term DH means the same as Mental Retardation. These studnets have an IQ below 80 as well as acheivement in the below 80 range. I can get the official definition of LD and DH (now called MR in Ohio) if you would like? Have you talked to the child’s Special Ed teacher? Let me know if I can help in any other way.

I teach a resource class in California, and I don’t have one child classified as MR or DH, so I’m quite surprised to hear that your son is the only child with LD in his Resource Class. This is certainly something that should have been discussed with you at the time the placement was made, the peer group a child is placed with is very important. No question it is going to affect his self-esteem, and you should probably call a new IEP, now that you know, and ask for a change. He has needs that are defined not only by his learning disabilities, but by his giftedness, and what are they doing to address that? It doesn’t matter if he’s the only or the first child they’ve had to deal with like this, he still deserves a “free and appropriate” education, that’s what federal law says, and if they can’t offer that, they have to pay for it somewhere else!

Don’t expect a lot of help in finding new alternatives though, you’ll probably have to do most of the legwork. Get on the phone, the internet, whatever is available and find out what other schools near you might have a program that is appropriate for your son. Even if you have to go to a private school, if it’s more appropriate for your son’s learning needs, then ask the school to pay for it. Of course, they will fight you, but if you’re determined enough and willing to do the legwork to back up your case, it sounds to me like you’ve got an excellent argument for it there. There’s a lot of help and information out there on the internet for you, many other parents have succeeded and you can too… the bulletin boards here are a great place to start, so ask away!

Sharon

At our school there is a MH class too they are only included in specials nothing else with the reg. ed students for the main part 2 are included part of the day with classes though these kids really need a lot of guildance and direction.The students in the DH class with my son stay in this class for all subjects and go with their reg. ed class for recess,lunch, specials, field trips .They are working several grade levels below average mosy of them in his 3rd grade class are 1st grade level work.My son is above grade level in Math, science, social studies,and he comphrens much above his grade level I was tol he schooul be able to do high school level work last year but he stuggled with 2nd grade work.His main problems are writing he reverses letters even in cursive ,he has to refer to charts on how to form letters and numbers correctly.He only reads by sight has really no phonic skills but if he does phonics only sheets usally gets great grades just cant apply them when he is reading.He still is on grade level in Reading but we read his story to him several times a week and he listens to it on Cd rom in school.He did work with a Ld interventionist for 30 mins a day all the school wanted to offer with her was not enough to do spelling ,writing skills,phonics.Since then I found out she works with others longer who goes to a DH class too.I feel I will have to call a meeting soon since his ADHD dx is being change to early onset Bipolar disorder.He has no behavior problem in school so far and says he know he has to behave in school.This is what he gets upset about in this DH class the students dont behave or respect their teacher like he does and it irrates him.I just was under the impression this was a LD class not a Dh class and I had to find out thought the grapevine my son is the first high IQ student this teacher has workrd with no wonder he is so upset about being in this class.

i do wish there was a school around here to help hiim but I have done lots of searching the closees one is 2 hours away and he still is so young with some pther problems too.He is no behavior problem at school but has just had his ADHDdx switched to Early onset Bipolar disorder and this fits him so much better than the ADHD did.We are starting new meds next week for t .He also has Tourettes and it is under control.He is really atttached to me and I have to walk him to his class everyday so he will go to school.

I have talk to her some but she seems to just say he fits in with his writing and she dont think he will learn to read by phonics and that when he falls below grade level in reading she will have him for that too.Well he has a visual perception problem and confuses lots of words and on my opnion he dont read on grade level he just compensates with his high level of comphrehension.She does Saxon Phonics with the class and he nissed the first 15 lessons this year and on his homework I have totell him each night what letters are vowels and tell him what most of the words say.He cant sound it out.He is very bright and that is how he gets by with his knowledge and that was written on his evaluation last year byt he school psychologist.

Ohio has rather a reputation for being a lousy place for special ed — even without being something they’ve “never seen before.”

LD In Depth on this site (click on the button at the top of the page or go to
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/gt_ld/gifted_ld.html) has some good articles on GT/LD issues;

http://www.gtworld.org/gtspeclist.html will give you access to a parent’s e-mail list that’s very supportive, especially when you hear for the ninetieth time that nobody’s ever seen anybody like your kiddo before.

It sounds like the DH class is not a great placement — unless he could craft his own “GT” program and do independent learning in there (maybe with a few trips to the library).

What major city are you near? Have you taked to anyone in a SERRC near you?

We are near St.Clairesville,OH in a small town.Columbus is 1 hr 45 mins away Canton 2 hors away too.

Do you know what the local SERRC center is? Off the subject, are you near Newcomerstown?

hi,
I am currently a senior at a high school and i am hopefully planning on becoming a special education teacher for LD children. I am planning on teaching for elementary around 4th and 5th graders. I was wondering if anyone is a teacher in this category. I would really like to talk to you and i am very interested in learning more. Please email me at [email protected]
thanks
~lena

No i dont and Newscommertown is about 1 hr 30 min away from here.

You might see if there is one near you. It stands for Special Education Regional Resource Center. They would be able to help you get what is best for your child.

Do these service centers help parents.How do I find out where they are located it is worth a try.Why dont the schools or teacher tell you about these places?I know my sons teachers in the past did not know what to do with him.

Speaking as a teacher, I’d guess that perhaps the teachers themselves don’t know. They don’t often tell us what’s out there. I am very familiar with what’s available in Florida, where I teach, but that’s only because I was mentored by a 30 year veteran. I did my internship with her, and she has been kind enough to let me pick her brains when I run out of ideas and/or resources. Check out www.wrightslaw.com . They are working on a state-by-state listing of resources. Good luck to you!

Heather K.