TerryJ2
Well-Known Member
... went very well. It was interesting and even kind of fun. (After all, "it's all about ME!" aka MY SON.)
difficult child's social studies/history teacher represented all the teachers (the rest will be filled in later today), the assistant principal was there, two counselors, and the Special Education dir.
difficult child accidentally on-purpose forgot his belt today (they have a lax dress code, but boys have to wear belts no matter what, to prevent the butt sag you see so often). I brought the belt to the meeting and once we were seated, there was a bit of a silence. I held up the belt and said, "Who should I give this to?" They all smiled and the counselor said she'd take it and give it to him. "And make sure he puts it on," I added. They all laughed.
Score 1. Show and tell.
The Special Education dir was a bit bureaucratic ... kept telling me they had to decide whether he qualified for a 504 much less an IEP, and it sounded doubtful to me, but I realized that we had never met, and she was trying to explain things to me so I put myself into Mr. Spock mode instead of Scared Mom mode and things went very well.
Last wk, difficult child's old school mailed me a tuition refund of $65 ... and 2 pp of excused and unexcused tardies and absences. You don't have to actually read the list of dates and times. It's the sheer breadth and width of absences and tardies that makes an impact. I guessed that, along with-the psychiatrist's note, stating that difficult child is being treated for ADHD, ODD and Asperger's, would fill in any blanks the staff had (the old school and I had already provided a lot of background info in the past wk), and speak far more eloquently than I could.
When I handed out the sheets, a murmur went around the table and the history teacher said, "Wow."
Score 2.
They immediately started to check off boxes and speak their lingo, and then asked me questions about what leads to what, how does he react to crowds, noise and lights, would I be comfortable with them assigning a same-age kid to help him with-assignments, and having all teachers check and initial his agenda (are you kidding?) The asst principal had a laptop and typed as we talked. Turned out he was actually typing in the components we needed and when we finished, printed it out on the spot.
Score 3.
Mostly, I like--love--the individual teachers' emails and websites and the ability to see every class assignment and test grade every single day. Way more advanced than the old school. No waiting for phonecalls, no listening to difficult child's lies, just b&w words on a screen, simple and straightforward.
The new plan starts tomorrow.
The counselors walked me over to the school nurse's ofc and introduced me. They briefed the nurse on difficult child's absences, explained his gluten allergy, and how gluten will give him a 1 degree temp. The nurse said that as long as he's not throwing up, he can come to school. She came up with-a plan: If she calls me, he's really sick and needs to go home. If he calls me, he's probably faking and just wants to yank my chain.
Score 4.
Fingers crossed!
difficult child's social studies/history teacher represented all the teachers (the rest will be filled in later today), the assistant principal was there, two counselors, and the Special Education dir.
difficult child accidentally on-purpose forgot his belt today (they have a lax dress code, but boys have to wear belts no matter what, to prevent the butt sag you see so often). I brought the belt to the meeting and once we were seated, there was a bit of a silence. I held up the belt and said, "Who should I give this to?" They all smiled and the counselor said she'd take it and give it to him. "And make sure he puts it on," I added. They all laughed.
Score 1. Show and tell.
The Special Education dir was a bit bureaucratic ... kept telling me they had to decide whether he qualified for a 504 much less an IEP, and it sounded doubtful to me, but I realized that we had never met, and she was trying to explain things to me so I put myself into Mr. Spock mode instead of Scared Mom mode and things went very well.
Last wk, difficult child's old school mailed me a tuition refund of $65 ... and 2 pp of excused and unexcused tardies and absences. You don't have to actually read the list of dates and times. It's the sheer breadth and width of absences and tardies that makes an impact. I guessed that, along with-the psychiatrist's note, stating that difficult child is being treated for ADHD, ODD and Asperger's, would fill in any blanks the staff had (the old school and I had already provided a lot of background info in the past wk), and speak far more eloquently than I could.
When I handed out the sheets, a murmur went around the table and the history teacher said, "Wow."
Score 2.
They immediately started to check off boxes and speak their lingo, and then asked me questions about what leads to what, how does he react to crowds, noise and lights, would I be comfortable with them assigning a same-age kid to help him with-assignments, and having all teachers check and initial his agenda (are you kidding?) The asst principal had a laptop and typed as we talked. Turned out he was actually typing in the components we needed and when we finished, printed it out on the spot.
Score 3.
Mostly, I like--love--the individual teachers' emails and websites and the ability to see every class assignment and test grade every single day. Way more advanced than the old school. No waiting for phonecalls, no listening to difficult child's lies, just b&w words on a screen, simple and straightforward.
The new plan starts tomorrow.
The counselors walked me over to the school nurse's ofc and introduced me. They briefed the nurse on difficult child's absences, explained his gluten allergy, and how gluten will give him a 1 degree temp. The nurse said that as long as he's not throwing up, he can come to school. She came up with-a plan: If she calls me, he's really sick and needs to go home. If he calls me, he's probably faking and just wants to yank my chain.
Score 4.
Fingers crossed!
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