J
jillmbooth
Guest
I'm going to try to give you all 6 yrs of background info condensed. difficult child is currently 11 yrs old and supposed to be entering 6th gr.
Kinder- diagnosis'ed with adhd school refused to provide sped services despite hiring an advocate and bringing dr in on the ard meetings.
1st gr- became increasingly anxious, developed tummy aches and behavior became more of a problem. School still refused services so I removed him to homeschool. We tried that for 1.5 yrs.
2nd gr- I paid for a full battery of tests. Dr. said he was severe ahdh, mood disorder, odd. Re approached a different school and was given services under OHI.
3rd- had more problems with transitions, talking back, refusing to do work, emotional breakdowns. We made it through though.
4th- BAD yr. difficult child began to hide instead of going to class, run from teachers when upset and refusal to complete work. School called an ard in Nov and told us this "was not the school for him" that he needed a behavior service class. So we moved on to school #3 in January. Bad idea. He was bullied by the other boys, we never saw any homework or classwork, the teacher would not send behavior reports home despite us begging him to do so. He was suspended multiple times. he moved up to a level 4 by the end of the year.
5th gr- same ole same ole. Bumped down to a level 1 the first week of school because that was their policy at the beg of each yr. He is getting worse and falling further behind. ARD meetings are worthless. In dec he was restrained by 2 huge male teachers. held to the floor and the school police were called. Because he threw hand sanitizer at the teacher. I was threatened that he would go to juvi the next time it happened. That evening I noticed he was covered in bruises...head to toe. His therapist called CPS on the teacher and school. I kept him at home until our issues were addressed with the school. Meanwhile we had to hospitalize him 2 times. He had his medications adjusted and this was the first time we were asked about having hime tested for Aspbergers/Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). After another ARD (where XISD called in their lawyers) we once again were promised they would follow the IEP. Over the next few weeks he was gradually put back in full time. The school reassesed him and did an FBA. He was observed by Xisd psychologists. I went ahead and scheduled a full battery of tests with a private neuro psychiatric testing center (tests to be done in June). Finished out the year with the IEP not being followed and the school not setting up our end of the year ard to tranistion him to middle school.
by the end of June I was calling asking about our ard. Was told everyone would be gone till AUG 10 and we would have to do it after that date. Never heard from them until we called and threatened. I am prepared with my private testing that clearly shows, severe attention problems, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified and Learning Disability (LD)'s. Ard meeting scheduled for the 19th (school starts on the 24th)
We went to the meeting and immediately were told he did not qualify for Learning Disability (LD). Despite his math being at a 1.3 gr level and across the board being at a 4th gr level. Working memory and other scores were simple terrible. There were decrepincies all over the place. They were attempting to get us to sign papers changing him to ED and putting him in the behavior service class in his middle school. Our test results were shown...they disagreed and the arguing insued.
I refused the BSC class and ED label. They refused our test scores until they had a comittee review them and I informed them he would not be starting school until proper placement is determined. We are trying to get him in a contained Autistic classroom for austistic spectrum disrders. We were told it was full. If that isn't possible I want Xisd to pay for a specialized private school. The ard was tabled until 9-2-09.
I'm at the end of my rope. I'm not equipped to homeschool him because he is so difficult and we can not afford these private schools. The cheapest I found was $1700 a month WITH financial aid.
Mt husband says we will go to due process if we have to, but we cant afford a lawyer. Meanwhile my son is the one who is suffering and falling behind even more.
What can I do from here? Any suggestions for some important things I need to know before the next ard? Anyone know any good Texas advocate or attorneys? All of the attorneys I found on the net seem to work for Xisd.
Thanks,
Jill
Kinder- diagnosis'ed with adhd school refused to provide sped services despite hiring an advocate and bringing dr in on the ard meetings.
1st gr- became increasingly anxious, developed tummy aches and behavior became more of a problem. School still refused services so I removed him to homeschool. We tried that for 1.5 yrs.
2nd gr- I paid for a full battery of tests. Dr. said he was severe ahdh, mood disorder, odd. Re approached a different school and was given services under OHI.
3rd- had more problems with transitions, talking back, refusing to do work, emotional breakdowns. We made it through though.
4th- BAD yr. difficult child began to hide instead of going to class, run from teachers when upset and refusal to complete work. School called an ard in Nov and told us this "was not the school for him" that he needed a behavior service class. So we moved on to school #3 in January. Bad idea. He was bullied by the other boys, we never saw any homework or classwork, the teacher would not send behavior reports home despite us begging him to do so. He was suspended multiple times. he moved up to a level 4 by the end of the year.
5th gr- same ole same ole. Bumped down to a level 1 the first week of school because that was their policy at the beg of each yr. He is getting worse and falling further behind. ARD meetings are worthless. In dec he was restrained by 2 huge male teachers. held to the floor and the school police were called. Because he threw hand sanitizer at the teacher. I was threatened that he would go to juvi the next time it happened. That evening I noticed he was covered in bruises...head to toe. His therapist called CPS on the teacher and school. I kept him at home until our issues were addressed with the school. Meanwhile we had to hospitalize him 2 times. He had his medications adjusted and this was the first time we were asked about having hime tested for Aspbergers/Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). After another ARD (where XISD called in their lawyers) we once again were promised they would follow the IEP. Over the next few weeks he was gradually put back in full time. The school reassesed him and did an FBA. He was observed by Xisd psychologists. I went ahead and scheduled a full battery of tests with a private neuro psychiatric testing center (tests to be done in June). Finished out the year with the IEP not being followed and the school not setting up our end of the year ard to tranistion him to middle school.
by the end of June I was calling asking about our ard. Was told everyone would be gone till AUG 10 and we would have to do it after that date. Never heard from them until we called and threatened. I am prepared with my private testing that clearly shows, severe attention problems, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified and Learning Disability (LD)'s. Ard meeting scheduled for the 19th (school starts on the 24th)
We went to the meeting and immediately were told he did not qualify for Learning Disability (LD). Despite his math being at a 1.3 gr level and across the board being at a 4th gr level. Working memory and other scores were simple terrible. There were decrepincies all over the place. They were attempting to get us to sign papers changing him to ED and putting him in the behavior service class in his middle school. Our test results were shown...they disagreed and the arguing insued.
I refused the BSC class and ED label. They refused our test scores until they had a comittee review them and I informed them he would not be starting school until proper placement is determined. We are trying to get him in a contained Autistic classroom for austistic spectrum disrders. We were told it was full. If that isn't possible I want Xisd to pay for a specialized private school. The ard was tabled until 9-2-09.
I'm at the end of my rope. I'm not equipped to homeschool him because he is so difficult and we can not afford these private schools. The cheapest I found was $1700 a month WITH financial aid.
Mt husband says we will go to due process if we have to, but we cant afford a lawyer. Meanwhile my son is the one who is suffering and falling behind even more.
What can I do from here? Any suggestions for some important things I need to know before the next ard? Anyone know any good Texas advocate or attorneys? All of the attorneys I found on the net seem to work for Xisd.
Thanks,
Jill