My thoughts on the pinchy aproach to learning needs.

Ropefree

Banned
yHi everyone,
I am very disturbed by the fact that when it comes to using what is known to support children learning to cope and thrive with learning issues that are part and parcel to the disorders we are here to discuss schools are not doing it and the federal laws that are SUPPOSE to protect these learners by giving them are applied to avoid doing so.

You do know what I mean.

What would be the point, do we imagine, when there ARE meathods and specialists who DO KNOW and use these for children of priviledge of withholding these KNOWN tools, skills, meathods, systems that are all of them a result of the investment by now generations of people who value the right to life and the means by which a democracy is protected:education.

My family has carried the learning issues that my child is now having and it is sheer cruelty that instead of spending the money that the school DID already recieve because he was in those "Special Education" classrooms, and sesseions with lets be frank, general and not specialist educators?

I have had the experiance of the Special Education director in the meeting offering the meathods while the teachers (2) declined each.

As my son is not benefiting from his above average/superior range cognitive and comprehension for example in all subjects that require writting. This piece has been gone over and over since the orignal testing made clear that the deficit in his proformance in schooling all pivots on this one skill.

And if you will look at the fact pieces for the ADHD learner this matter is fairly common and IT IS SPECIFICLY WRITTEN OUT OF THE LAW!

SPEACH AND LANGUAGE are included. Writting is NO WHERE.

It reminds me of the Roosevelt years when the discussion of plumbing was in the senate. The ney sayers who did not want plumbing standard in new construction argued "if the poor have plumbing, how will we tell who is rich and who is poor?"

It is also the train of thought behind the idea that in the treatment of cancer that the effective science be available to the cash paying elite and the insured recieve only the low cost, more hazarous, and less effective old meathods because these are 'cheaper'.

Somehow in a garden planet where the abundance of nature and the techknologic avancement of food preservation led to a economic model that calls that heft of a bumper crop "profit" we are confronted today with a perverse thinking process where once SOMETHING is known rather than share the advancement and reveal in our colective oppertunity here on earth IT IS HOARDED!

The Captiolist will holler "COMMUNIST"! BUt give me a break with that redoric. What what what 'value' is that to withhold from the balance sheets
what by sheer effort catipults an age from wallowing in a MANMADE privation?

Plumbings primary benifits were in creating an environment that was not nearly as prone to diseases in these high population years.
Pursueing the medical science THAT WORKS BEST then allows to strive even further to the next "Yureka!" to create a cure.

ANd desisting from the long standing habit of pretence that the commonly found disorders that inhibit learning are so ding dangy "special" that when it comes to LETTING the educational specialists and the KNOWN means for giving these children the lifelong means for academic excellence that then imbues society with more compitent adults is utterly a reflection of humanities perverse membership.

That is what I am thinking about today as the means that the wealthy families in my county compell the District to give their children that is withheld by the education attorney JQ.esq from the children in this county who are in families whose parents are disabled from working and whose health was the sacrifce at the alter of the capitolist, the 'insuring' industry, and the use of the disability act to withhold and neglect people.

When do we stop throwing people under the bus? We do it to children and we have heaps of folks who are just happy as pie that it is the status quo.
These meathods ARE hoarded. It is a sad and sorry testiment to the intentionally retarding practises that the Disability Act aplied to schools was intended to stop. And low and behold the interpertation of the law is specificly applied to keep it just that way. Amazing.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
AMEN! You are SO RIGHT about the withholding of services. Schools will tell you that your child needs to be medicated, but won't suggest an IEP - you have to know about it ahead of time and ask yourself. It's all out there, but if you don't know about it, forget about finding out. I had to Google my difficult child's behavior many, many times to find this site and find out about a neuropsychologist - hasn't happened yet, but we are working on it! But no one told me until I found this site...

FYI - thanks to all of you on this site. So far you've helped me retain my sanity through all of this...
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I was told by the State Dept. of Public Education that my kids are entitled to a Free and Appropriate Public Education, but that doesn't mean (and this is the way she put it) that we can expect the school to make every child work 100% to his potential--it is impossible. That isn't what FAPE means apparently. I feel the teachers are doing a great job with my kids--one is Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and one is Learning Disability (LD). They do what they can, but they aren't going to be able to make my kids get straight A's. And an attorney will not help me if I can't pay him (and I can't). That's just the way it is. In a perfect world every child with a high IQ would get straight A's and every child with an average IQ would at least pass and every child with a below average IQ would still pass because the chld would get so much help, but it just isn't like that. Teachers have many students with disabilities and some of them make it to their potential and some don't. in my opinion we can't always blame the schools--and trust me I am not fan of many things the schools do.
My sister is an aide in a very VERy wealthy district and, trust me, not all of those kids are getting great services. They THINK they are because the teachers make it look really good when the parents visit and they give glowing reports. But it really isn't all it's cracked up to be. It is very interesting having a sister who works with this school district and directly impacts the children. This is one of Illinois richest school districts too.
One last thing: A child with stand alone ADHD, fair or not, is not going to get the strict attention a child with autism has. It just doesn't work that way.
I'm sorry you are unhappy. I have been unhappy myself. But I'm on my fifth kid and I know the routine by now. And I do fight HARD!
 
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AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
MWM - I like the point you make about wealthy districts. Actually, no one ever mentioned to us the right to a FAPE. I found that acronym in a book after biomom put easy child on Concerta and husband and I were scrambling to learn everything we could about ADHD.

One of the things I do like about easy child's teacher this year is, if he has a suggestion that he thinks might help easy child, he will email us. It doesn't always work, but the contact we have with him has resulted in better grades - and easy child's almost reading up to his grade level now! (Last year, at the beginning of 3rd grade, he was reading at K level.) This teacher is working with the child - and us, too - even though he has 26 other children. I understand from some of the other parents in the class that this is the case with their children, too. (This is an awesome teacher!)

Last year, teacher told us he was better off medicated.

I think it all depends on the individual district/school/teacher...
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Those rich school districts are getting the trimmings of a good education. Frankly, my daughter went to that rich school district and they were so focused on the straight A kids who were taking college courses in high school (with no help) that they had little interest in my daughter's Learning Disability (LD) problems (this is my older daughter). I think my younger kids are getting better services. But FAPE *does not mean* that the teachers are obligated to make every child work up to his maximum potential. Apparently they have gone to court on this and it has been ruled that this goal is impossible. So FAPE doesn't mean that the child will do absolutely as well as they possibly could. I understand it. There are many kids with special needs, not just my two. My autistic son is exceeding MY expectations, and I'm pleased. He is always on the honor roll, BUT he is a very hardworking, highly motivated kid who refuses to let his disailities affect his grades. Not all kids are as motivated and you can't force a child to do his best. Part of it falls on the child. We can't spoon feed every child who has a disability. We'd have no time for the other kids.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Last year, teacher told us he was better off medicated.

I think it all depends on the individual district/school/teacher...[/quote]

Um, if a teacher tells me about drugs, I ask her for proof of her medical degree. They can get into big trouble for forcing medication. They know squat about medications. They are educators, not doctors. THAT riles me up and, after it happened once, my response guaranteed it wouldn't be brought up again ;)
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
True - even when I went to private school, the teachers couldn't always do everything for every child. They still can't. husband told the "medication" teacher that easy child had done much better without medications in the past and that he didn't want to hear it from him, since he wasn't easy child's doctor (similar to what you said!)

I think my real issue with this is an experience we recently had. husband arranged with difficult child's school (middle school) that if difficult child started feeling out of control, she could go to the vice principal's office and vent to him. A week went by and she started complaining that he hated her. Then she started getting demerits - two to four at a time - for leaving the classroom abruptly (which had already been arranged), yelling at the VP (again, arranged), etc. Suspensions. Then the expulsion hearing where they said she had drugs, paraphernalia, tobacco, had attacked another student, attacked a teacher... Umm... Every time she gets demerits or a suspension they send home paperwork to sign. Neither of us ever saw this paperwork and the school could not produce it. The school had and has no interest whatsoever in working with her (or us). They did not expel her but she cannot return to school (HUH?). She's in a PHP right now that she hates, but she's willing to try. Her teachers, during the P-T conference, stated to her (I was there for this one) that "you're going to fail". No "unless..." added. Six weeks into the school year!

I'm glad easy child has his IEP in place already, because I have a feeling it will protect him a bit from the stuff difficult child has gone through at the middle school. I hope.

Caveat - not saying difficult child is blameless, far from it!
 
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