Frankly I think you need to get a second opinion from a child psychiatrist as soon as possible.
Concerta rxd but the doctor says he doesn't have ADD or ADHD? Then why give him a stimulant? Pardon me but this makes no sense to me based on my understanding of the use of drugs like concerta and current thinking on diagnosing attention problems.
It is entirely possible that the Concerta is contributing to DS's aggression and difficulty with self-control.
How long has he been on the Concerta? Have you seen any improvement in problem behaviors/moods since he started it?
Have any other medications been tried in the past? Do have an opinion about what diagnosis
you think your son should have?
Typical treatment for PTSD is therapy and SSRI's NOT stimulants. Here's a link to the Dept. of Veterans Affairs info on treatment of PTSD. If anybody has an idea how to treat PTSD it's them.
If you want to discuss diagnosis and treatment I suggest you start a new thread on the General board asking about this.
Re: school district
FYI - You could have taken that IEP right back and said you wanted to rescind your agreement and done so right then and there. There is tremendous pressure in IEP meetings for the parent to go along and just sign so that withdrawing your consent right then is really hard to do. Best strategy for this is to avoid it. See rule #6 Never sign the IEP at the meeting.
Rule #1 you can always withdraw your consent to any part or all of the IEP at any time.
Rule #2 you can call for an IEP meeting at any time. They HAVE to convene one if you ask them to.
Rule #3 you can always sue them for what they did last year if you can show that they failed to provide FAPE. They are the ones who are responsible for assuring your child received FAPE - not you. And there may be procedural violations like not giving you prior notice that they were denying your request for the summer program.
Rule #4 go into every meeting with the SD as if you will be going to due process. Record every meeting, take someone with you, etc. There's lots of good advice about this at
www.wrightslaw.com.
Rule #5 you and the SD
do not share the same goals. They are serving hundreds or thousands of kids and their goal is to provide the minimum level of services necessary to meet the letter of the law due largely to budgetary pressures. You are focused on ONE child and your goal is to maximize the services/benefits that he receives. Hopefully you and the SD can meet in the middle with a minimum of disagreement while behaving politely and respectfully when in each other's company.
Rule #6 NEVER sign the IEP at the actual meeting. Tell them you want to go over it with your spouse or that you want to sleep on it or whatever you like but take it home with you instead of signing it right then. That will prevent little scenarios like the one you described.
I don't mean keep the IEP for weeks, just take it home, sleep on it, review every detail on every page and make sure it is accurate, the baselines and goals are appropriate and measurable, make sure that any notes detailing the meeting are correct or include all important points (like the summer program thing). I can guarantee you that you will find at least one thing that is wrong or not included or mis-represented on that IEP that you want them to fix or change.
My son's most recent IEP was so bad that I went through every page with a fine tooth comb all the way down to subtest scores and dates. I ended up with a 7 page list of errors, omissions, and mis-representations that I wanted corrected. The SD was not happy and I imagine that someone got a reprimand because some of the errors were just so bad they would have left the SD open to damages if I had chosen to go to due process as well as giving me ammunition for procedural violation complaints.
Rule #7 Before the meeting breaks up, read through every single page so that anything that is obviously mis-stated or left out (like the discussion of the summer program and your request for that to be included in the IEP) can be included or fixed right then. Do NOT let them just hand you the signature page. No No No.
If they don't want you to read through it right then or to address your concerns because they have scheduled another meeting that needed to start 10 minutes ago or someone has to leave then tell them you want the meeting continued to the following week and you will not sign anything today.
Do not be afraid to ask for the meeting to be continued. I made this mistake once (just forgot in the pressure of the moment that I could ask for that) and lived to regret it. Don't be nasty, just business-like.
It is totally unrealistic to expect the SD to be "on your side" or to do what is "best" for your child. What is best is a very subjective thing and that's why lots of people end up going to court over the content of IEPs.
My advice is that you get an advocate to help you (as in now). See the wright's law website for more info on why you probably need an advocate and what to look for in one.
Generally there should be a manifestation hearing when a child with a disability is at or approaching 10 days of suspension. Look this up for your state (google it with your state in the search window) so you know what the deal is - if things don't change at school or with your son's medications in a positive way you will probably be needing this info. Sooner rather than later.
The principal may be helpful - I sure hope so. My experience is that things like suspensions are not done without the principal's express approval. So you may find that she/he is not much help.
Best wishes.