New School Year Anxiety
I find myself getting more and more anxious as the new school year approaches. I live in a rural area with teachers in the later stages of their careers. So every year it is the same thing, educate the teacher on what they should already know. Jerrod is in a class of 22 with 4 boys on the spectrum,that is close to 25% or 1 in 4 and the national average is 1 in 150. I know that the accomodations for all of the kids are scary big but I just want a year with fewer "stupid" fights. I know positive attitude is everything but I'm already anticipating battles. Who even thinks about teaching cursive when as of April the kid is over a year behind in reading. See what I mean about stupid. Any words of wisdom are appreciated.
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I worry
I worry about it everyday!!
IEP
Do you have an IEP for your child? I found it very hard to get one, I mean it was this past Dec, Gabe only made it to school about 7 days of which 4 he was sent home early. They didn’t have one person other than me in the room that dealt with Gabe more then six months so it was easy for them to argue I couldn’t really prove this has been an issue over six months. What about all the other teachers that were aware of what's going on? Not one was in the room. Unfortunately for them I am a little OCD with my documentation and had every child study due to his behavior, every note the teachers have sent home since Kindergarten, Report cards stating the behavior challenges with me. Without this I believe they would have denied special education. A great website is Wrightslaw.com for information on rights of kids.
IEP
Yes we have an IEP and I am the nightmare parent. I have the same documentation and the next step is a lawyer if thing head south. Simply because I'm tired of having to do the same educating year after year when most of the specialists do not change.
IEP fix
I had to send a formal IEP complaint letter to the Department of Special Education, School, and anyone else I wanted to inform. This made a world of difference! I would be happy to send you a copy of what I wrote so you have an idea what to say and how to do it. I must have really scared them because the next IEP meeting everything was explained in FULL detail to me. I was asked many times if I agreed and what my thoughts were. If you already feel like you’re not apart of this team you should consider this. His care is important and only you can speak up about it.
Been there done that!
I'm posting blogs that I feel are helpful when it comes to school districts and teachers. We have been blessed with teachers who really wanted to create a change in my son's life. However, I have experienced the battle field you cannot surrender. I will continue to post strategies that were effective for my child. I'm actually in the process of putting together some information together that you could present on the first day of school. Give me a few days and I will post it. I am available to speak to you personally if you have any questions..
1st day info
Can't wait to see what you put together. I was toying with doing the same sort of thing. So I will probably steal your ideas. Thanks!