School wants to put son in "more structured program"

dispooka

New Member
I am new to the boards. My son has what was formerly known as PDDNOS and is/has been in a regular classroom since kindergarten- he is now in 4th grade. The schools complaints regarding his behavior are that he has trouble waiting his turn to speak and blurts out, has difficulty staying in his seat, and sometimes argues with the teacher before complying.

The program the are suggesting is a Leveled program and seems extreme to me to recommend for the type of issues he is having. Am I off base here?
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
If you can share a bit more about your son and the school, maybe I can tell you my opinion. My son, who is now 21, was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified and a Special Education classroom for reading and math launched him to heights unknown, helping to make him the wonderful young man he is today and giving him confidence I never dreamed he'd ever have. I'm not sure what a leveled program means though or what your son is capable of. I also don't know if he has any friends. My son ended up with a group of friends, a mixture of high level academics and Special Education kids. It was an interesting mixture.

When he was in regular classroom he had an aide. By the end of high school, he did almost everything on his own and his Special Education classes taught him the coping skills he needed to live on his own today. In his classroom were a mixture of different types of children and he became like the leader, helping the lower functioning kids and developing a strong sense of empathy. By high school, he was mainstreamed. He is doing quite well for somebody with a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified diagnosis and is definitely a very happy, even-tempered, confident young man, although he does requires a little bit of help. He does have a job and does it well. I could go on and on about this particular child and, although all kids are different, I feel his teachers and school intervetnions and his own grit and never giving up helped to make him the young man he is today. And, yes, he had horrible tantrums when he was young, but there is no shadow of that little boy in the man.

Not all kids learn best in a mainstream classroom. That doesn't mean they can't shine :)
 

dispooka

New Member
So the program they want to put him in has primarily behavior disorder students it. They start at one level and have to "earn" their way back to the regular class.

More about my child, he is on grade level for reading and substantially above grade level for math. Neither his learning or the other students is impeded by his behavior' It seems like the teacher gets annoyed by him. He has never been suspended or sent home for any behavioral issues. We think this is a resource issue, as there are other iep students in his class of 28 ( including 1 other on the spectrum). Before we discuss removal from the class, I think we need to discuss a shared aide for the class.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I would absolutely FORBID putting my child into a behavioral class. Your son is not a behavior problem. He has a neurological difference and no behavioral plan will change that. I like your attitude. No, no, no. Absolutely no. My son was never in a class for behavior problems.
 
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