#$%^#$% administration! ( and good news at the end)

[buddy]

All year they have said that they are going to have Q go swimming with mainstream kids at the same time daily so he can have a sensory break that way. He does great swimming and it was the biggest socially appropriate thing we did all year.

So, after the seizures started they said they just needed medical clearance to start it, and of course i agreed... had to make sure they had stopped. Q was so mad last time we went to the doctor because she said she just wanted to make sure that things are really good.

So today she told him, OK you are cleared to swim. doctor and I discussed doing our presentation with the kids in the class about his disability. I got to school and told the nurse the good news, and the idea and she interrupted me and said he is not going to go swimming.



What??? Well the principal, vice principal, and sp ed admin decided it was too unsafe. WHAT???? He has gone swimming in that school for two years without incident. We jumped thru all the hoops....


Q was so excited to get the clearance...his suit has been sitting in school since week one of school.

I was so pi55ed off I ran out of her office saying that is just wrong. I asked when they started having meetings about his schedule without me?? OMGosh I am so angry

I called our law advocate and she said HE77 no! That is discrimination on the basis of his disability. She said, you realize this is NOT about his safety. They just want to cover their you know whats and dont want to risk him saying or doing anything inappropriate with around other kids.

She said she was going to call the sp ed director and tell them they better fix this or she will drive me to the court house and personally help me file a civil liberties law suit.

OK, my pit bull is on the job now.

I felt much better, but I admit I just bawled. I was so happy at the dr. and when we were alone I sarcastically said, yeah he can until the principal finds a way to say no.... and she looked at me, I said... I KNOW, I am being paranoid..... YOU KNOW WHAT??? NOT PARANOID, JUST VERY INSIGHTFUL!

____________________

the GOOD news?? I got his county waiver plan for 2012 and everything I asked for was approved. The FM system, the eeg biofeedback, teh ave, personal support, Integrated Listening Systems (ILS), my parent pay, horseback riding private and the summer/spring group sessions, mileage for that (if my mom drives), etc.

ALSO we had our psychiatric and neuro appointments, he is doing so much better. And after school we went to the counseling appointment and she did a feelings/social skills kind of game with him and she said he got silly when he didn't know what things meant, but he did really well when she guided him back. She said when asked on one question what it felt like to be really mad he said it felt like his body was going to blow up.

VERY interesting.... I believe him too!

 

[klmno]

I don't blame you!

I'm wondering though- what if you said you would be there as a chaperone or to watch what a great swimmer he is or whatever- they can't refuse on the grounds of safety then, can they? If it's not an activity that they are letting other kids do and they are 'so concerned about his special needs"?

 

[buddy]

I actually offered that way back when we first were talking about it. AND by the way this was all sp ed admin's idea from the very beginning, not MINE. We just got on board and super excited because it is true. They said, no thanks, we can do it all etc. He is not even going to get undressed in the locker room, He was going to get dressed in the regular bathrooms by his room and so no changing with other kids....

THe lawyer said the same thing only saying that if I offer that , she is sure they will say no to that too...any road block.

And that is another thing. They do family fun nights and we always go and swim. Does that mean we can't do that anymore either. NO, this is NOT about safety. It is about power and control and being just mean.

 

[klmno]

Yeah- there's no sense in that amount of excuses and refusal. I can see getting it cleared with the dr but after that- it sounds like BS. I'm glad you have someone looking into it.