by keepsmiling » Sat Sep 27, 2003 3:58 pm
Prowland - you are sooo right and I admire what you've done with your son.
LPotter - Hang in there. I didn't have funds to put my son in private school so, what I did was demand that the school system follow the instructions that were listed in my son's report at the time of his diagnosis. I also insisted at the first IEP when he was six that the school NOT pull him out of his classroom and make him feel different than his classmates. What resulted was that the regular classroom teacher decided that SHE didn't have time to do anything special for my son in the regular classroom (which only requred "checking and rechecking" instructions, using eye contact, etc.) and that if he didn't go into a special class, she would only fill out weekly reports on his progress. Miraculously, by the end of the school year....she thought he was doing "fine". And, that she didn't think he needed special support any more. Hmmmm. At that point, I realized that my son would be better served by some good old fashioned "home support". I got on the internet and researched REL and techniques for helping him, I read books, I read and re-read his diagnosis report and instructions. And, I tried to educate my family and my son that all people have a different way that they learn. Then, I worked on trying to show him what HIS was. The best teacher my son had was his third grade year. She was previously a Special Ed teacher before teaching regular ed and all I had to say was, "My son has been diagnosed with MILD REL". She nodded her head and said she's worked with that before. It was an excellant school year and most important - my son enjoyed the year with her. The worst year was in fourth grade....when the teacher called me in to a conference with her and it turned out to be the principal, her , the reading specialist and the special ed specialist with my son's father on conference call. But, both my ex-husband and I were able to stand strong and tell them that there ALREADY has been a test and diagnosis. There are special instructions....and, if they're not willing to follow those simple istructions themselves....don't count on us to fund more testing and special costly supplements. We already do that. The school system let our son down early on and NOW is not the time to try to start testing again. However, I DID offer the school a deal that IF THEY wanted to take him to his appts and pay for the testing this time....I'd be happy to let them do that. They declined my offer , or so I thought at first. My son ended up with B's and C's....never the wiser of our conference. The teacher (unknown to me until afterwards) DID end up calling in a Reading PHD from the local university to test his reading skills. She wrote up a report that she found he was reading SILENTLY at a sixth grade level (two grade levels above). It was only his verbal skills that lacked. Which supported his initial report and diagnosis. The teacher updated me afterwards and said that she NOW understood what was going on. So, hang in there. Gather your BEST information around you and use YOUR judgment on making decisions for your son.