Getting Started - New to All This

[barbe7198]

Hello all. For those who know me from the primary boards this first paragraph you can skip. I have a 5yr son...difficult child. He finished his first year of school this year...k-4. We also just started with the whole diagnosis of his problems a little over a week ago. Right now the diagnosis is ADHD, ODD, gifted and rule out Early onset BiPolar (BP). They put him on .1 mg of clonidine to treat ODD hoping with that to rule out BiPolar (BP). Now that he is taking full dose...started day before yesterday, he seems to be doing better but for now it is just a wait and see.

Anyway, what I was wondering is what do school systems offer at this age that might benefit him? What do i need to know about this? I am really very ignorant of all of this and just want to do everything that is best for him. Also, maybe some kind of program that is good for the summer as he is craving interaction with children his age away from home. He is in Tae Kwon Do twice a week but that doesn't seem to be enough for him....he is always on the go.

Any suggestions?

 

[Sheila]

Children with-ADHD, ODD, bipolar, etc., sometimes have behavioral or academic problems in school. Even though a child may have a disability(ies), s/he's still entitled to a FAPE (Free and Appropriate Education). For children that are eligible for special education, the guiding Federal Regs is IDEA. Each State also has regs that should closely parrallel the Federal Regs.

Many people think "special education" is only for mentally retarded children -- not true. It's for any child with a disability that adversely impacts their education.

Following are some beginner urls.

Questions Often Asked by Parents About Special Education Services https://web.archive.org/web/20070713051830/http://nichcy.org/pubs/ideapubs/lg1.pdf

A Guide to IEP by Office of Special Education Programs @ www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html .

Be sure an check out the Special Education Archives also. Another resource that may be helpful is www.wrightslaw.com .

Should you decide to pursue this, editing this sample letter and sending it to the school district via certified mail will get the ball rolling

Welcome