Update on Grace & her placement

March 14, 2010

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to update all of you on the situation with Grace I had written

about a few weeks back. We met with her teachers, both the TDH teacher & the

regular ed teacher, this past Wednesday. The regular ed teacher did a little

presentation, taking us through a typical day in her classroom, stressing the

large amount of independence needed from her students & especially how hard the

math program is. Without saying so, she pretty much seemed to me like she was

saying Grace wasn't capable of doing it. I told her that was the impression I

got from her & if she felt that Grace wasn't capable of completing the day with

the amount of independence required then she should be provided with an aide.

Her response to me was that the district didn't feel they should provide aides

because of 2 reasons: 1) the student wouldn't be learning independence, they

would just be becoming dependent on the aide & 2) if they gave us an aide, then

every other parent of a special needs child would expect one as well. She said

there was nothing she could do about it that I would have to contact the direct

of special education directly to discuss it with him. I did tell her that I

concede her point about the math program, that I didn't feel that Grace was

ready for that level yet, however, wasn't she required to modify the program for

her or couldn't she be taken out for that portion of her day? She didn't seem

to like that. I was cautioned that if I insisted on full inclusion & for

whatever reason Grace couldn't handle it then too bad, they couldn't put her

back into the TDH room because her spot would be filled. Not sure if that is

correct or even legal so I wasn't sure how to respond to that.

Grace's TDH teacher was very helpful & seemed to share our goals of getting

Grace more included. We agreed on getting her into the regular ed room EVERYDAY

versus the 1hr twice a week that she's getting now. Plus she is requesting

Grace enter a program for 3 & 4th graders (Grace is only a 1st grader but I

don't see why she can't be in this program because it would be so helpful for

her) called Lunch Bunch. Once a week the kids have lunch with the speech

therapist & focus on conversational skills, which Grace truly lacks. Her TDH

teacher was also very receptive to the communication form I took in & said she

would agree to fill it out daily.

So we are making baby steps. This was just a conference, not the actual IEP so

I will see how these steps are implemented prior to requesting an IEP meeting.

Thanks to all for your support, knowledge & ideas! It has been so helpful & I

will keep you posted as to how it goes with Grace

Shalanna in OH, mom to Grace 8 DS & Jay 5 1/2

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