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school help


michele

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We finally got our meeting to discuss my sons MFE. The dumb school started this process in April of 2008. I took him for the tests twice over the summer to the spec ed office. They finally got the scores together to go over today. I requested the testing results three times prior to the meeting. Finally I had my husband call and he went to get them last Fri. The meeting was very finely tuned to support what they were pushing for. He will only get 5 days a week of Title 1 Reading help and once a week of OT at school for thirty minutes. They tried to show his tests were all within normal range. However he was very low in areas of visual motor 3% for his age and visual discrimination. They spent like ah hour and a half going over the tests but when I went to talk about the TS symptoms and how they affect his performance at school they cut me off and said time up. He does have an IEP for OT but they would not add on any accommodations for the classroom right now because they were all in agreement that he is doing so well and they would never tell he has any neurological issues. They really act shocked about his behaviors at home. I am so happy for them that he is so great but here he cries and says it is so hard. I am glad his title 1 group will be small at three kids, also his class teacher is patient, warm and accommodating to him. I tried to explain some of the symptoms of tourettes but they really weren't interested. The dysgraphia and visual motor problems are common along with the fine and gross motor delays. I kind of feel bad for his teacher because she was playing along with their charade and she is the one who will be stuck overseeing everything he does because he needs alot of one on one. But she only said good things about him and how well he is getting along. I thought he would get tutoring for Math and Reading but they can do the title 1 without an IEP so they went that route. Have others here had success getting IEP's done for content areas? They even pulled his last years teacher's notes in and read his suggestion for title 1 although he had said he was slow with concepts and the last one to pick up on things. Plus his report card was very low wth checks in Math and phonetics. guess they proved their point that this is all he needs for now. I brought a parent advocate who just sat and listened. At least the school knows I am keeping close tabs on things. I had my binder full and tried to give a presentation. I had handouts and books but they never gave me a chance to show anything. I thought it was funny here I am giving suggestions for accommodations I'd like to see and the psychologist is like maybe he is too stressed at home because you are trying to make him do too much work after school! I was like no, I break it up into chunks and stop if he gets restless. Just because I tried to say he is different at home they have to point the finger like it is something we are doing wrong. Also I love the part where they always try to minimize things to a typical boy age 6 behaviors. I said we can bring down his sister as a reference to his anger at home if you'd like.

 

By the way we started in with a family psychiatrist Dr. He is going to help us to say no to Andrew's demands and wants in stores etc. He said we should cut out all material buying completely. He believes he is manipulating us alot. Andrew can really hound about things so it will be a rough road ahead of us. Last night he kicked the car windows because I wouldn't stop at Mc'Donalds. Then I had to listen to him scream for twenty five minutes. He is strong willed. The psychologist said if he can hold it in at school then he must be acting up for us. What is your thought on this? According to TSA this is common for TS kids to hold it in and then unleash on family. Thanks for listening. I am glad the meeting is over. At least it was peaceful and they know I am advocating for him. How much success have others here had at getting help?

 

Michele

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Michele,

 

I'm no psychologist, but I am a parent, and I would disagree with TS kids holding it in and unleashing it at home and say that ALL KIDS hold it in and unleash it at home (granted, your little guy may have more to hold in, and thus unleash). When my second grader started pre-school I was in disbelief at the reports of her angelic behavior because I pictured her tossing herself on the ground and pitching a fit every time things did not go her way. Her teacher explained to me that it is normal for them to hold it together at school and then let it out in their safety zone. She said that the only kids she ever worries about are those who behave monsterously at school and then the parents come in and say, "Oh, I can't believe this. He is such a sweet little angel at home."

 

Tami

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It sounds like you were rushed out based on time. Maybe you should consider scheduling another meeting. I know that sometimes IEP meetings are done over a few different sessions because everybody can only be there for so long and they have to continue on another day. If you feel your son needs accommodations because of his TS then I would push for it, especially since TS is now under other health impairment.

 

I don't think that your son is just acting up for you at home because he's able to hold it in at school. I was a perfect angel at school, rarely talked, and never got in trouble! However, I was always very naughty at home. I became so stressed from how the other kids treated me at school that I would come home and throw huge fits about how nobody liked me, I hated school, etc. When I was in junior high/high school which was over 5 years ago, I received an IEP. My IEP was not based on my test scores because I took the tests, but my scores weren't low enough. I qualified under other health impairment for my TS. I received a lot of help. I got a study hall in the resource room, took a P.E. class in there because P.E. was horrible for me, took h/s English & some math in there. I had a really good teacher who fought for me. For me it really helped my self-esteem and my love of school came back to life. Personally, I don't regret having any of those classes in the resource room because I don't believe that I would be graduating as a special education teacher in 2 years if it wasn't for that teacher and her classroom.

 

Carolyn

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I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!! I sat through a 1 1/2 hour meeting for my son yesterday. They explained all of the test results FROM LAST MARCH, and at the end told me that he does not qualify for ESE services! YET his short term memory recall is 16 points below his IQ and his long term memory is 28 points below his IQ. This means he can learn it but won't retain it! It took two years to get him tested and they waited until he had EVERY possible intervention in place!

 

I don't know about Ohio, but I can tell you what I see in Florida! They put "tier interventions" into place to make children try to be successful in class before they classify them. My son is on the third tier, which has the most interventions. They then test their academic progress while they are giving them interventions. For example, when they tested my son's academic success he had 3 reading interventions in place plus parents who help a LOT at home. Most of his tests came out only 10 points below his IQ. WELL, to qualify as learning disabled TWO of the academic tests (and one of the cognitive tests) have to be 16 or more off from your IQ. He had ONE academic that was 24 points below his IQ....and they said it didn't make sense because this was the test that tested the most basic concepts. (HMMMMM....does that make sense that he does not qualify when he scored the lowest on the basics???? :D ) So, my son has two cognitive out of wack and one academic out of wack....but because it is not the other way around, he does not qualify??????? UGHHHHHH!!!!

 

I believe that all of this is so that the federal government does not have to give the school money for the ESE classification?????? So, they have made it a LOT harder for them to qualify for services! :wub:

 

Now, someone told me that there are two options:

 

1) Parental rights say that you can dispute the test as invalid and demand the school system pay for a private testing

2) Try and go for a classification of "OHI" - Other health impared - This would be the tourette's/tics/ADHD/medical issues creating an issue with classroom learning.I don't know which one I am going to go after, but I think that this is ridiculous. My child is in the 2nd grade and now all of a sudden doesn't remember some of his letters and most of the letter sounds. He had it down last year....and he is not learning disabled?

 

UGHHHHHH.....sorry to vent! I have a 504, but I too want the ESE services because they can be the difference between graduation and burn out in high school!!!

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