Home Schooling

[Tattoomom]

http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Pennsylvania.pdf

 

http://www.elc-pa.org/pubs/downloads/english/oth-homeschooling%207-08.pdf

[philamom]

Hi. My husband and I have decided to pull Dd 11 out of school- 5th grade. She is in a really bad spot right now (will give details later- dealing with a severe, severe phobia - she has tried to harm herself).

 

I will not have the school's cooperation! Can someone please help me with details on how to go about this. I will need help as I don't think I'm smart enough (or patient enough) to teach the 5th grade curriculum. I am not smarter than a 5th grader

 

I am lost- please help.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

If the school district gives you any problem, PM me,and I'll give you the name of a very good education lawyer nearby.

I'll take you up on that - I can tell there is going to be problems!!

[philamom]

I just wanted to say thanks before the forum goes offline. I didn't have a chance to read all the posts/links yet - went to the doctor and then for a blood draw (long afternoon). I think we may be dealing with strep again.

 

I'll post when we're back up again. Have a nice weekend. Thanks again!!

[philamom]

My daughter has a severe fear of people vomiting at school. She also at times has the extreme fear of herself vomiting. We have been forcing her to school, with limited tools to address it, and it has made things extremely worse. In the moment, she would rather jump in front of a car than be forced to go to school. The psycologist she is seeing is using distraction methods (that person may look like they're going to throw up but they're really just bored or tired...exc) and reward systems to get her into school. It is not working- period! She is being tormented with sitting in her class, looking at different kids to see if they look sick. She places kids into different categories- ones that look like they feel sick, ones that have mentioned they threw up in the past, new kids- she doesn't know their story-- it consumes her day and she can no longer focus on school work. The school gave her an index card to place on the teachers desk which allows her to leave the classroom for a short break. On Thursday, she told me that she uses it all the time to go the bathroom to break down and cry. But she can now no longer hold the tears in until she leaves the room and is breaking down in front of the class. This is not going over too well with the other 5th graders. We also have to walk her into school and to the classroom hysterically, just to get her in. Each day, the more we force her, she is doing less time, and the issue is getting worse. The school wants us to force her! There are some very few times during the day (for now) that seem to be ok. She can handle 2:00-3:40 because they move around the classroom and are enganged in hands on activity- oh, and recess is at 3:15-3:35. She can handle special because they leave the classroom. But even getting her in for partial hours is not working.

 

Here some details on how this came to the surface this time. Four weeks ago she had IVIG (getting them for some time now). She was doing pretty good. The day after the last infusion she threw up in the middle of the night. Its been years. We've been dealing with a fear of her vomiting off/on through the last few years. It went ok that night- it was only in her bed so no big clean up. I kept my cool and it was no big deal. The next day she said she realized it wasn't that bad. The next few days (before school started) she went to a lot of gatherings with kids. She then started with some physical symptoms again (same as in the past- gerd, problems swallowing pills, daily headaches, daily stomachaches), so we are working on figuring out what caused the return of those symptoms as well. The symptoms are there when she's not in school as well, so it's separate/additional to fear of vomiting. The first day of school she was kind of excited and walked in by herself. But the school was 90 degrees with no ac and many of the kids were complaining of feeling sick. We forced her in the next 3 days and she stayed with only a few phone calls. After 4 days of being in school she came down with a sinus head cold and everything escalated. Then partial days. Now she now cries herself to sleep the night before any school day (2-3 hours). Anxiety begins at dinnertime. She was crying yesterday about tomorrow. We realized over the weekend we need to address the vomiting fear before addressing the vomiting fear at school.

 

The school will not be helpful. Last year (4th grade) my daughter started with a flair right before the beginning of school year. A month later her d-nase & liver functions were very elevated. The doctors took her off antibiotics. Then she had erythema nodosum. More blood test showed positive ANA (and one time= positive DNA DS), extremely high sed rate, high c-reactive protein, low rbc/wbc, low iron. End of December she tested positive for lyme by culture. They sent us a picture of the spirochettes in blood. She was sick with joint pain, very pale, vertigo, and also the physical symptoms mentioned above. We finally got her back on abx starting end of Feb and took 3 months to get to full strength. She was on complete homebound tutoring Jan- March, backed by a 504 and doctors notes from three doctors. She was also dealing with the fear of (herself) vomiting and could not leave the house. When she started back on abx, her symptoms slowly got better and she started back to school- part time at first, then full days. By June, she was doing better, and even performed in a school talent show, solo. So there was clearly a difference.

 

At the same time that she started back on abx, she was evaluated for an IEP by a school psychologist she never met before. I mentioned that I doubted she would need it, since she was moving forward to attending to full days. I knew it was only a matter of time. But the district insisted. Well, the school psychologist basically diagnosed my dd with somatization disorder. She called all our doctors to disagree with their diagnosis. She got the district's doctor involved in the calls as well. It was crazy- we had doctors notes and labs to back up her diagnosis. Anyhow, I don't see them being helpful this year. They feel I need to force her in and keep her there all day. They will let her call home at lunch.

 

Sorry, for the long rambling post!

Edited September 23, 2012 by philamom

[PowPow]

Will she do CBT/ ERP?

Can you homeschool and take her to USF's program?

From what you say- school is just tormenting her now. If I were you (easy to say, right?) I would pull her out, get in to intensive therapy and take it from there.

We already homeschooled pre-PANDAS, and have been to USF (with great results) so take my advice with that in mind

 

I have not read thoroughly this whole thread, but I wanted to add that by using K-12 you may be setting yourself up for more public school oversight than you are comfortable with. (maybe not, depending on your state, I suppose)Also, if academics are an issue, it may be difficult. I have several friends who use it and feel it is a lot of work.

Edited September 23, 2012 by PowPow

[philamom]

philamom-

 

I guess the question is, is this temporary (like 6 mos to a year, until things get under control) or permanent?

 

The reason I ask is, our school has a homebound ed program for ill students. My daughter was able to do this for half of her 5th grade school year, due to ocd/ pandas and school avoidance issues. While I wish we could have gotten appropriate help sooner (USF that summer fixed our problems!) our homebound program was a blessing. All of her classroom teachers came once per week, after school to tutor her. This way, she kept up with the same curriculum as her peers, and kept up relationships with teachers from the school. In sixth grade she went back to school with NO problem. Since your school is in support of you- if this is something that sounds appealing- you might see what program they have.

 

Good luck!

dcmom-

I would love to use the homebound program, but used it last year and I think they will now fight us on it.

 

Last year, dd was taken off abx in the fall. She missed many days Sept-Dec due to physical symptoms. She was receiving some homebound tutoring while also still in school. Over the Christmas break she got worse. The Gerd symptoms caused her to constantly swallow the small amount of bile (or I guess vomit) that worked its way up. So she started with a severe fear of vomiting and couldn't leave the house. She didn't return to school and received complete homebound tutoring. She went back on abx end of Feb (took 3 months to get to full strength) and symptoms slowly decreased (physical and fear). She started back to school part-time end of March and slowly went in more hours everytime we increased her antibiotics. If we increased her antibiotics to quickly, she got physically sick again. By mid May, she was doing pretty well. She ended with full days in June. But as I said in my previous post, they placed a somatization disorder label on her.

 

During the summer she was doing pretty good. No real signs of fear of vomiting (with her or other people). Then late July, she was in the back of my car with a friend who said she felt like she was going to vomit. My daughter started to panic and was in flight/fight mode. I was on a major highway and was unable to pull over - she was flipping. The girl was fine - car sick - never vomited, and I was able to finally pull over and have dd get in the front seat. It took 24 hours before she would get near her friend again, but we were in NJ where her friend lived, and she knew she had only a few days left to visit with her (until next summer). I then realized this still had to be addressed. But, the fear at that time didn't really take off (I guess since friend lives in NJ- though my daughter did play with her a few times after the incident before we left to come home), so I pushed it aside thinking I would address it after she was in school for a while. Big mistake.

 

I read some of your posts on the subject. What you said really resonates with me. I am forcing her to school right now, and like you said about your daughter "throwing her in the fire, without giving her tools to deal with it". It's hearbreaking.

[philamom]

Will she do CBT/ ERP?

Can you homeschool and take her to USF's program?

From what you say- school is just tormenting her now. If I were you (easy to say, right?) I would pull her out, get in to intensive therapy and take it from there.

We already homeschooled pre-PANDAS, and have been to USF (with great results) so take my advice with that in mind

 

I have not read thoroughly this whole thread, but I wanted to add that by using K-12 you may be setting yourself up for more public school oversight than you are comfortable with. (maybe not, depending on your state, I suppose)Also, if academics are an issue, it may be difficult. I have several friends who use it and feel it is a lot of work.

I am calling them tomorrow. It took a little convincing my husband. Dd's therapist is very good. But the way we are proceeding with therapy now, it will take months before we see progress. Right now, the focus seems to be more on getting her to school than the vomit itself. The distraction tools and coping methods that she learned to use in school, are to try and refocus her thoughts. It's clearly not working. But the therapist is aware that ERP is eventually needed - she just wants to keep her in school at the same time, and then move onto exposing her to vomiting sounds, so forth. But this is once a week appointments.

[tpotter]

OMG...this sounds like the same school psychologist who started all our problems when ds was in 6th grade. I wonder if she changed districts? PM me her name. I am just truly curious, because this is virtually what the school psychologist did to us.

 

Also, here's what finally worked for us (besides a 3 year due process case that you might not end up needing to do.) After settling on the case (after 3 years), the district started up again, so we took them to mediation.) I read 5 letters out loud from 5 different doctors, explaining the disorder, and how it affected my child in school. I also had our psychologist come to the meeting, and present in person about my son's school phobia. I spent about 1 hour just reading from the doctors' letters. Didn't say much else. The district did a little retort, I stood up to them. The mediator finally took the district to another room, and a few minutes later, DS got what he needed.

 

My suggestion...get those letters from the docs (you'll have to offer to pay them for their time). Get the private psychologist to come to the meeting (again, I paid him by the hour). Try mediation. It's far cheaper and easier than fighting this, and you need help to get your daughter the education she needs.

 

Oh...also sounds like DD picked up some infection. Maybe strep, a virus, or something else?

 

Good luck.

Edited September 23, 2012 by tpotter

[kos_mom]

Philamom.

 

Not much new advice to offer here, but I am a bit outraged that a school psychologist dx'ed somatization disorder. A psychologist is not qualified to do this--read the medical literature. It is a disorder of exclusion and all medical options need to be excluded before it can be given. Further, somatimization disorder is pretty much an adult dx and mostly is made after someone is 30 or so. In children, they usually speak of conversion disorder--and your DD's symptoms are not at all typical of that disorder. The prognosis for somatization disorder is rather bleak--probably because most of the patients who get it actually have a medical disorder that has not been properly dx'ed.

 

I would try to get this dx out of her records if it is in there--it could haunt her later. You have lots of medical backup that what is ailing your DD is indeed something else. Many school districts have a parent ombudsperson that you can complain to--getting the faulty dx out of her records would not be a big ask, even if you are facing lots of resistance on the homebound program. I used my District's ombudsperson when the school implacably would not let my DD switch a class that was giving her great anxiety to another class. Once I got this person involved, I could not believe how quickly the administrators moved--it was a much bigger gun than I would have thought.

 

If you can possibly swing it, taking your DD out of school and taking her to USF looks like a great option. Even better, you seem to have a competent therapist already in place at home to continue treatment. Beyond that, I agree with Tpotter's suggestion of mediation.

 

Ko's Mom

[philamom]

Philamom.

 

Not much new advice to offer here, but I am a bit outraged that a school psychologist dx'ed somatization disorder. A psychologist is not qualified to do this--read the medical literature. It is a disorder of exclusion and all medical options need to be excluded before it can be given. Further, somatimization disorder is pretty much an adult dx and mostly is made after someone is 30 or so. In children, they usually speak of conversion disorder--and your DD's symptoms are not at all typical of that disorder. The prognosis for somatization disorder is rather bleak--probably because most of the patients who get it actually have a medical disorder that has not been properly dx'ed.

 

I would try to get this dx out of her records if it is in there--it could haunt her later. You have lots of medical backup that what is ailing your DD is indeed something else. Many school districts have a parent ombudsperson that you can complain to--getting the faulty dx out of her records would not be a big ask, even if you are facing lots of resistance on the homebound program. I used my District's ombudsperson when the school implacably would not let my DD switch a class that was giving her great anxiety to another class. Once I got this person involved, I could not believe how quickly the administrators moved--it was a much bigger gun than I would have thought.

 

If you can possibly swing it, taking your DD out of school and taking her to USF looks like a great option. Even better, you seem to have a competent therapist already in place at home to continue treatment. Beyond that, I agree with Tpotter's suggestion of mediation.

 

Ko's Mom

Thank you for the info (never heard of an ombudsperson) and thanks everyone for the links. I have to admit, I know absolutely nothing about the process of homeschooling, about my rights regarding homebound programs -I'm little overwhelmed right now.

 

Regarding the IEP- I never signed off on it. The school psychologist mailed me three copies (even received one on the last day of school). The report stated that she suffers from physical ailments from PANDAS & lyme, but also somatization well above the clinically significant range.

 

edit- how do I find out who our ombudperson is?

Edited September 23, 2012 by philamom

[Mayzoo]

Am I correct in feeling somatization disorder is the new fangled term for hypochondriac?

 

Philadelphia ISD + Ombudsman in google came up with this link and I hope it helps: My link

 

Not sure if this is correct or not, but here is a name and number (these state they are for the accelerate program, but I hope this person could get you to the right person if this is the right district that is):

 

Ombudsman NW Accel

2111 Eastburn St,

Phila PA 19138

(215) 924-8950

Julita Byrd

 

OR:

 

Ombudsman S Accel

2715 S. Front St,

Phila PA 19148

(215) 334-5290

Beverly Jones

 

From this site: My link

 

 

If you are not in Phily ISD, then try google with your school ISD name + ombusman.

Edited September 23, 2012 by Mayzoo

[kos_mom]

A hypochondriac is one who thinks minor aches and pains may be symptoms of a more serious medical illness. Someone who has a somataform disorder has physical symptoms that interfere with their daily functioning which have no discernible medical cause and which are not attributable to another psychiatric disorder. Thus, anorexia nervosa is not a somataform disrder because is already a psychiatric condition.

 

The symptoms are real and often what is called "pseudoneurologic"--the person is not making them up or malingering, but they are said to orginate from the mind, not an organic cause. For example, it can be demonstrated through long term EEGs that some seizures are not epileptic or occuring from a glitch in brain electric circuitry; they are deemed to be psychogenic instead. (Interestingly, perhaps the largest group susceptible to psychogenic seizures are those who actually also have epilepsy.)

 

Psychogenic or psychomatic disorders are terms often used along with somataform disorder or conversion disorder. We all know about these and sometimes experience them--a stress headache or heart burn, for example. Somataform disorders, however, require the symptoms to have been present for some time. A number of doctors thought the girls in LeRoy had a conversion disorder--in that case a mass conversion disorder where the psychogenic symtoms supposedly spread among the group of girls. (Dr. T said combination of Pandas and Lyme.) Ulcers were long thought to be psychogenic--that is, brought on by stress--until it was discovered most were actually caused by a bacteria. MS was long called "the faker's disease" until MRIs came along and showed demylineated sheathes in sufferers' brains.

 

The somataform dx in Philamom's DD's file could be damaging because 1) most people will think it means her DD is making it up (even though somatization by definition means she is not faking), 2) even if people understand she is not faking, it is a psychiatric dx that will lead school officials to believe it needs to be treated through whatever their view of dealing with psych problems requires--counselling, tough love (ugh! but isn't what they seem to be doing now) and NOT medical care, and 3) if there is any leakage to her medical record it could set her DD up for years of having doctors dismiss any symptom she has as psychogenic and not pursue proper medical evaluation.

[philamom]

Thanks ko's mom. I will look into it.

 

Mayzoo- located in Philadelphia Suburb.

[Mayzoo]

Thanks ko's mom. I will look into it.

 

Mayzoo- located in Philadelphia Suburb.

 

Maybe this one will help or they may help you find the find right person: "If you are unsure of which neighborhood school serves your home or apartment, you can call the District’s Ombudsman Call Center at (215) 400-4000"

 

http://phillyschoolsearch.com/2011/07/15/tips-for-parents-moving-to-philadelphia/

 

If you find none of those phone numbers help, let me know when we come back online and I will keep looking.

[momcap]

Is there any way to connect with other homeschoolers in your area? I had to homeschool DS for most of grade 2. The best resource I had was other homeschooling parents. They invited me to their meetings, helped me with legal paperwork that the school would require, informed me of my rights, and directed me to lawyers that specialized in this type of thing. They helped me find great curriculum, and in general just supported me along the entire journey. They had already been there and done that, so any questions I had they were prepared for. I informed the school district that I was homeschooling with the goal of getting DS back to class when he was able. The district actually worked with me and didn't require all the legal stuff I was dreading.