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this is gonna be aweful....
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<blockquote data-quote="InsaneCdn" data-source="post: 457642" data-attributes="member: 11791"><p>That's school-admin-speak for "you're new to the school, so we won't do much for you until we've had a year to do our own evaluations" OR "that program is already full with kids who were here last year, and the cut-off date for apps was last Jan, so... try again next year".</p><p></p><p>Yes, if it gets bad enough, they WILL make room. Maybe.</p><p></p><p>One of your challenges is that - unless there's something new in Ontario - for the most part, in Canada, we don't have the legal strength behind IEPs and other such docs. Oh, there's policy and procedure at the ministerial level (provincial), but no real "laws" that benefit complex kids like ours. And especially... no concept of a behavioral IEP. </p><p>So often, schools make behavior to be "the" problem, but won't make the changes that are necessary to get different behavior.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The Canadian way to handle this is political, not media, and not legal. Its the political level that sets policy and procedure - and the political level doesn't like being made to look bad because "some handicapped kids" aren't being treated even reasonably. It takes time and effort - but you cannot do it on the basis of one kid. You <u>need the other parents</u> who have kids with issues, to be on-side as well. Meet together, form some sort of an association (even if not registered) - "Parents of Challenging Kids in Northern Ontario", or whatever. Brainstorm the common problems, come up with a creative list of possible solutions, document the negative outcomes - short term and long term - if these kids' needs are not met. By presenting in a group, they have less ability to hid behind "confidentiality issues". Its not "one kid's story", its statistics.</p><p>You have to start with the school board. They will tell you there isn't much you can do. But you have to go there first, before you'll get anywhere going to the ministry of education. </p><p></p><p>I'm not sure if the Ontario Ombudsman has managed to gain authority to intervene in schools yet, or not - I do know that office was trying really hard to expand their mandate. They would also be useful to pull into the debate if you can.</p><p></p><p>The group approach will generate some press - but it won't be about the kids as much as about this group of parents who are trying to change the school system. Numbers matter - even if its only 20 parents, its 1000x more impact than 1 or 2. Trust me... a group of 20 parents hardly fits in most school-board meeting rooms. And yes, ALL of you should show up. Every time. There is impact in numbers.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, life goes on... be prepared to need a Plan B and a Plan C,D,E, etc. Really. The school system will throw as many left curves at you as they can get away with. You may need to have difficult child home for some period of time - but NOT formally home-schooled - in order to force the issue. But it has to come after things blow up pretty badly. I hate going there... but often you have to.</p><p></p><p>Good luck!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="InsaneCdn, post: 457642, member: 11791"] That's school-admin-speak for "you're new to the school, so we won't do much for you until we've had a year to do our own evaluations" OR "that program is already full with kids who were here last year, and the cut-off date for apps was last Jan, so... try again next year". Yes, if it gets bad enough, they WILL make room. Maybe. One of your challenges is that - unless there's something new in Ontario - for the most part, in Canada, we don't have the legal strength behind IEPs and other such docs. Oh, there's policy and procedure at the ministerial level (provincial), but no real "laws" that benefit complex kids like ours. And especially... no concept of a behavioral IEP. So often, schools make behavior to be "the" problem, but won't make the changes that are necessary to get different behavior. The Canadian way to handle this is political, not media, and not legal. Its the political level that sets policy and procedure - and the political level doesn't like being made to look bad because "some handicapped kids" aren't being treated even reasonably. It takes time and effort - but you cannot do it on the basis of one kid. You [U]need the other parents[/U] who have kids with issues, to be on-side as well. Meet together, form some sort of an association (even if not registered) - "Parents of Challenging Kids in Northern Ontario", or whatever. Brainstorm the common problems, come up with a creative list of possible solutions, document the negative outcomes - short term and long term - if these kids' needs are not met. By presenting in a group, they have less ability to hid behind "confidentiality issues". Its not "one kid's story", its statistics. You have to start with the school board. They will tell you there isn't much you can do. But you have to go there first, before you'll get anywhere going to the ministry of education. I'm not sure if the Ontario Ombudsman has managed to gain authority to intervene in schools yet, or not - I do know that office was trying really hard to expand their mandate. They would also be useful to pull into the debate if you can. The group approach will generate some press - but it won't be about the kids as much as about this group of parents who are trying to change the school system. Numbers matter - even if its only 20 parents, its 1000x more impact than 1 or 2. Trust me... a group of 20 parents hardly fits in most school-board meeting rooms. And yes, ALL of you should show up. Every time. There is impact in numbers. Meanwhile, life goes on... be prepared to need a Plan B and a Plan C,D,E, etc. Really. The school system will throw as many left curves at you as they can get away with. You may need to have difficult child home for some period of time - but NOT formally home-schooled - in order to force the issue. But it has to come after things blow up pretty badly. I hate going there... but often you have to. Good luck! [/QUOTE]
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