He had an IEP and recieved disability services in school. I could write a textbook on the perils of advocating for a child in the public school system. They told him if he would act right then he could go to the resource room for math. That is when I had a full neuropsychologist evaluation along with SPECT imaging done on him. Disability Rights helped me at that point, but as he matured through school the DAEP placements kept coming. He developed a "bad" Spencer persona. It is interesting, though, that most people and teachers dearly love this child and know he has a heart of gold when he isn't on drugs.
When we went to get help for him to get help from DARS the lady told me he had to be drug free. Well there you go - he wasn't going to give up pot. I understand their point - with limited funding they want to pick the applicant with the most ability to make good of the assistance.
Now with people in law enforcement they just see the number of times he's been jailed and can't see beyond that. To me that speaks volumes of his impairment. I have co-workers with children impaired like mine and said that I have to protect him at all costs. What they don't understand is I don't have the money or even legal ability to do that. He
He is not adopted. We lived in a home that had toxic mold when I was pregnant with him that I believe contributed to his neurocognitive impairment - on top of strong family genetics for learning disabilities and mental health issues.
Thanks for the encouragement and kind words - in the end that is what has gotten my by this last year.
