RE: A milestone.

[Guest guest]

Congratulations to your son, and to you! And by all means, brag! We love to

read the good stuff, as well as the not so good.

Sharon H.

Mom to , (14, DS) and , (10)

South Carolina

A milestone.

My son, who happens to have Down syndrome, just finished high school

at age 18.

Fifteen years ago my wife and I went to the Director of Special

Services in our local school district and requested that our son be

placed in regular classes with his non-disabled peers in his

neighborhood school 100% of the time with no pull outs for special

services - beginning with preschool.

That year we enrolled him in the nursery school that his two older

brothers had attended - with supports provided on site by the school

district. Since then, he has, with very few exceptions, been in

regular classes with his non-disabled age peers. English, Math,

Social Studies, Gym, Art, Science, French, Algebra, Geometry,

History, more English, Personal Finance, Foods, Shop, Chorale,

Drama, and assistant manager of the varsity football, hockey and

baseball teams with seven varsity letters for his contributions.

He can hold his own in a discussion of " The Odyssey " , the Vietnam

War, the U.S invasion of Iraq, the NHL lockout or WWE Smackdown.

(Yes, I am a parent bragging about my son - please indulge me.) He

is proficient on his PC. He knows how to navigate Windows

applications, go to Internet sites of his choosing (especially ESPN

and professional sport league sites). He likes to experiment in the

kitchen. He can't be fooled.

We've worked hard with the local school district. The district has

worked hard with us. Over the years we have developed a positive,

constructive and mutually respectful relationship, though we had two

due-process proceedings in the early years.

Next year, my son will be taking two classes at the local community

college (Principles of Coaching and Public Speaking) and working

part time. The school district will be providing a tutor to help

with the college classes and a job coach for the employment

experience. My biggest concern in this PPT season was getting the

house ready for his graduation party and trying to guess the weather.

I address this post to all the parents who are seeking quality

inclusive education for their younger children with Down syndrome.

Inclusion works! Stick to your guns.

And enjoy the summer.

[Guest guest]

Hi, I tried this with my son, Jordan, until 3rd grade. Jordan is still

learning ABC's and 123's I have to move him to the STEPS (SPED) program

for 4th grade. He was unable to do the work required and with 4th grade

class size going to 35 students I did not think he could handle it. He

had issues with 19 regular students.

Good for your son though... sometimes inclusion works and sometimes it

does not.

~ Thanks!

Kim

<My son, who happens to have Down syndrome, just finished high school

at age 18. >

[Guest guest]

At 15:22 2006-06-24, you wrote:

>My son, who happens to have Down syndrome, just finished high school

>at age 18.

>...

>I address this post to all the parents who are seeking quality

>inclusive education for their younger children with Down syndrome.

>Inclusion works! Stick to your guns.

Thank you so much for sharing. Our son was fully

included in Pre-school (and one semester in

Kindergarten in Alabama US) with out any big

problems. A year ago it was time for Swedish

Kindergarten. We wanted inclusion, but got...

well... mainstreaming? (I not sure I use the

right terms...) It has not been a bad year for

him, but for us parents. We have had a big fight.

We know it's right for him, but if it's this hard

now? That's when stories like yours come in and

help us stay on track. It is really good to hear

that a fight don't need to ruin future relationship.

The first grade teacher might be good and really

go for inclusion. So next year could be a good one.

Yours

in Sweden

Mamma till tvillingarna Xerxes (DS) och

Zacharina, födda 990129 och lillasyster Majken född 030513

(Mother to the twins Xerxes and Zacharina, born

1999 - 01 - 29 and little Majken born 2003-05-13.)

--

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[Guest guest]

My wife and I are gratified by the replies we've received from

families who are inspired by Nick's latest accomplishment.

Likewise, we would like to recognize in turn those families here in

Connecticut whose pioneering efforts inspired us when Nick was

younger, especially the Jordan, Lomonaco, Gray, and Bradeen

families. We hope their accomplishments will not be marginalized as

subsequent generations of students succeed in school, employment and

community activities.

Several parents asked how exactly Nick's educational program was

implemented. We would like to try to answer some if those questions

here.

Nick attended the neighborhood schools in our local public school

district, except for his first year of pre-school at age three when

he attended the local private nursery school that his two older

brothers had attended.

The general-education curriculum was modified for him. Depending on

the individuals (read personalities,) the modifications were made by

the general-education teacher, the paraprofessional aide or the

special education teacher. From the beginning we requested that the

district hire an independent consultant to assist with Nick's

program. The consultant did an in-service training for Nick's

teachers at the beginning of the school year, attended team meetings

and IEP meetings, observed Nick in classes and made recommendations

to the team.

Nick had a 1:1 paraprofessional aide assigned to him until his

sophomore year in high school when he came to a meeting of his PPT

and told us that he no longer wanted an aide with him full time. In

the beginning the aide was with him all the time in all his

classes. By fifth grade he attended some classes without his aide

while the aide produced modified worksheets for him. In high school

an aide attended only a few classes with him and worked with him 1:1

in study halls.

The team would discuss the amount of time that his aide needed to

spend with him and where that time was needed. We attended team

meetings and would express our concerns when we felt that the aide

should leave him more space. Ultimately he told us when he didn't

want an aide around him.

He did not have a tutor aside from his paraprofessional aide and the

special-education teachers who would work with him after school or

during study halls.

I don't believe that any of his teachers changed their teaching

styles substantially. Lectures are difficult for him. He usually

falls asleep. Peers and his aide helped to keep him focused, i.e.

wake him up. The science teacher would sometimes drop a rock on

Nick's desk. His history teacher would drop a book. Some teachers

had a natural interactive style that served to keep him engaged.

English and math have been the most difficult subjects for him. In

some cases, where the focus was on the content of the novel, we had

him watch the movie version (The Odyssey, The Outsiders, Romeo and

t, Of Mice and Men.) Sometimes we read novels aloud with him

by having Nick read a paragraph then we would read two or three.

For math we allowed him to use a calculator. The district bought a

laptop PC for his use starting in sixth grade. A consultant was

hired to recommend software packages.

I've now exceeded 500 words in this post, which I consider the limit

for message boards, so I'll leave answers to the remainder of the

questions that we received to a later time –

- except to say that the key ingredient to Nick's IEP has been an

unwavering determination to make it work.

Best regards to all.

>

>

> My son, who happens to have Down syndrome, just finished high

school

> at age 18.

>

> Fifteen years ago my wife and I went to the Director of Special

> Services in our local school district and requested that our son

be

> placed in regular classes with his non-disabled peers in his

> neighborhood school 100% of the time with no pull outs for special

> services – beginning with preschool.

>

> That year we enrolled him in the nursery school that his two older

> brothers had attended – with supports provided on site by the

school

> district. Since then, he has, with very few exceptions, been in

> regular classes with his non-disabled age peers. English, Math,

> Social Studies, Gym, Art, Science, French, Algebra, Geometry,

> History, more English, Personal Finance, Foods, Shop, Chorale,

> Drama, and assistant manager of the varsity football, hockey and

> baseball teams with seven varsity letters for his contributions.

>

> He can hold his own in a discussion of " The Odyssey " , the Vietnam

> War, the U.S invasion of Iraq, the NHL lockout or WWE Smackdown.

> (Yes, I am a parent bragging about my son – please indulge me.)

He

> is proficient on his PC. He knows how to navigate Windows

> applications, go to Internet sites of his choosing (especially

ESPN

> and professional sport league sites). He likes to experiment in

the

> kitchen. He can't be fooled.

>

> We've worked hard with the local school district. The district

has

> worked hard with us. Over the years we have developed a positive,

> constructive and mutually respectful relationship, though we had

two

> due-process proceedings in the early years.

>

> Next year, my son will be taking two classes at the local

community

> college (Principles of Coaching and Public Speaking) and working

> part time. The school district will be providing a tutor to help

> with the college classes and a job coach for the employment

> experience. My biggest concern in this PPT season was getting the

> house ready for his graduation party and trying to guess the

weather.

>

> I address this post to all the parents who are seeking quality

> inclusive education for their younger children with Down

syndrome.

> Inclusion works! Stick to your guns.

>

> And enjoy the summer.

>