4sumrzn
New Member
yesterday. And, what we thought they were going to say...they did. They wanted to suggest moving difficult child to the Medically Handicapped unit starting next school year. The special education supervisor, along with the school psychiatric, Special Education teacher & principal all thought she would benefit with the placement. I asked them all to give me their individual opinions & reasons as to why they thought she would benefit more there. It's almost as if there are so many "good" reasons to do it....it's making the decision for us. BUT, it's also making us nervous not knowing if it would be the right decision...ya know??? We have a tour of the facility (within a different school in the district) set up in a few weeks....to meet the teacher, aides & children.....see them in action. Some of the positives that were mentioned are:
-they focus daily on life skills
-the class in limited to 8 children, 1 teacher & 2 aides
-the therapists & psychologist work many more hours with the children daily, compared to the amount of time bouncing around weekly that difficult child gets now
-all of the therapists & psychologists are the same through high school
-transportation would be limited to all of the children in her class only, seat belts & an aide on the "special needs" bus (difficult child has been getting many referrals 2-3 times a week)
This is just such a scary decision. We wanted to give 1st grade a try this year hoping for her to learn to be a student & possibly be mainstreamed into some classes with her aide. It hasn't worked well so far & she spends most of the day in Special Education room with her aide because she is not capable of "being a student" (only way to put it). We are also dealing with her being made fun of daily. She's been coming home with all kinds of words........"I'm crazy", "you're dumb", "I don't like you" & the latest..."stupid retard" (that one made me cry). Thing being....she doesn't understand these are hurtful words & laughs right along with these brats calling her the names! I witnessed it myself last week when she was getting off the bus. I'm not exactly sure how much that would change in the MH setting, but have been told the the students are very understanding of the children in the unit there.
Oh, another positive (which the schools don't know this-not that it matters I guess).....one of the aides was our babysitter for easy child full time for 6 years after he was born. She's wonderful & started her position there after easy child went to kindergarten.
Anyway......anyone have any insight on what to do? Obviously it's our choice & difficult child can stay where she is at next year. I don't feel that the school is giving up on her at all...they have been trying very hard with her. But, obviously see more than we do in an educational/learning setting.
We only want what is best for her....but, how do we know what that is when it comes to this decision. Follow our gut feeling?????
-they focus daily on life skills
-the class in limited to 8 children, 1 teacher & 2 aides
-the therapists & psychologist work many more hours with the children daily, compared to the amount of time bouncing around weekly that difficult child gets now
-all of the therapists & psychologists are the same through high school
-transportation would be limited to all of the children in her class only, seat belts & an aide on the "special needs" bus (difficult child has been getting many referrals 2-3 times a week)
This is just such a scary decision. We wanted to give 1st grade a try this year hoping for her to learn to be a student & possibly be mainstreamed into some classes with her aide. It hasn't worked well so far & she spends most of the day in Special Education room with her aide because she is not capable of "being a student" (only way to put it). We are also dealing with her being made fun of daily. She's been coming home with all kinds of words........"I'm crazy", "you're dumb", "I don't like you" & the latest..."stupid retard" (that one made me cry). Thing being....she doesn't understand these are hurtful words & laughs right along with these brats calling her the names! I witnessed it myself last week when she was getting off the bus. I'm not exactly sure how much that would change in the MH setting, but have been told the the students are very understanding of the children in the unit there.
Oh, another positive (which the schools don't know this-not that it matters I guess).....one of the aides was our babysitter for easy child full time for 6 years after he was born. She's wonderful & started her position there after easy child went to kindergarten.
Anyway......anyone have any insight on what to do? Obviously it's our choice & difficult child can stay where she is at next year. I don't feel that the school is giving up on her at all...they have been trying very hard with her. But, obviously see more than we do in an educational/learning setting.
We only want what is best for her....but, how do we know what that is when it comes to this decision. Follow our gut feeling?????