what do you think?

[Guest guest]

In our final installment of this 3 part IEP meeting, we had an

interesting discussion about different options for 's placement

(although we had no interest in changing her placement, one of the

administrators did!) In any case, we seem to be going back and forth

about " meeting the State Standards " and if will or will not be

responsible for meeting them, and if not (because she has modifications)

then how will she be graded. This is what we were told about modified

regular ed classes:

" If she has modifications, then it means that the curriculum is being

changed so significantly that there is no way she can meet the State

Standards, and hence we will have to either grade her Pass/No Pass or

indicated that this was a modified grade. "

We have argued that modifications don't HAVE to mean not working towards

the standards, but they argue that this is always the case. I have

given numerous examples of how modifications could be done more

carefully and still preserve more of the objectives of the assignment

(rather than just slashing out part of a worksheet with a pen, or

cutting the writing in half) but this takes time and thought, which seem

to be problem.

Much of this discussion got started when I said that we wanted to make

sure was prepared for high school, as we wanted to see how

she'd do on the diploma track. From then on out, it's been a struggle.

So, in discussing the continum of services, we listened to their

description of the Special Day classes (both now, and in HS.) We were

told that the SDC students were diploma track because their curriculum

met the State Standards. Hummmm, so they can cut down the work load for

SDC and still meet the standards (by cutting out all these silly

projects and such), but it is impossible to modify regular ed work and

still meet the standards? I think not, but this is the first IEP that

we've had an administrator so focused on State Standards, and

documenting if she meets them or not.

Is this familiar to any of you? I was under the impression that if

took her 230 credits at high school, in whatever classes were

offered (general ed, Resource, etc.), she was eligable for a diploma

(well, there is still the exit exam, but that's unclear what they are

doing for students with IEPs.) Although we are a year away from this,

with the amount of time we need finish an IEP meeting these days, we'll

be starting on her HS transition meeting at Christmas!

Thanks,

, mom to (15) (13 DS) and Sammy (11)

[Guest guest]

I think this idea, however the intention, could be very dangerous to people if

one was to test positive without follow up testing to confirm a positive result.

Most county health departments offer a rapid test for free and follow it up if

any positive results with the blood test to confirm. They also have

trained professionals to counsel anyone that is being tested, positive or not.

While I do favor the idea of people knowing their status, I think this idea

hasn't been thought all the way through.

Even if there were an 800 number in the test instructions, who would read it

that far after seeing POSITIVE?

[Guest guest]

Not to mention that they are also asking if we approve of something that they provided virtually no information about.

How does it work? Does it use proven, peer reviewed methods? What testing have they done and from that, how accurate is it?

Why is my HIV status important to their questions posed on this site?

Looks like a marketing fishing expedition to me.

- Mike

From: philzao [mailto:philzao@...] Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2012 3:18 PM Subject: Re: What do you think?

Vern, I couldn't agree more. I find this very ill-conceived. I see parents marching their kids to the drug stores, universities requiring the test as part of the admission process, social networking and dating websites stipulating it or " recommending " it. Same with potential employers, people who are dating, angry or suspecting spouses and partners marching their cheating counterparts to the drug stores, prisoners, or anyone at the wrong end of the balance of power without any support if they test positive.I see suicides, overwhelmed local ASO's, federal, state and local governments, bankrupt ADAPS, drug shortages and drug prices skyrocketing b/c of the demand.I also the loss of the freedom ( because of pressure) to test when individuals are unable to deal with the information... whether it be financially, professionally , medically or spiritually. People need to be prepared to be able to absorb and productively deal with this diagnosis. The results can be disasterous without counseling, support and privacy. Depending on who marched you to the drug store, or who someone's partner may decided to tell, there is a potential for blackmail, humiliation, and grave breaches of privacy. Phil>> I think this idea, however the intention, could be very dangerous to people if one was to test positive without follow up testing to confirm a positive result. Most county health departments offer a rapid test for free and follow it up if any positive results with the blood test to confirm. They also have trained professionals to counsel anyone that is being tested, positive or not. > While I do favor the idea of people knowing their status, I think this idea hasn't been thought all the way through. > Even if there were an 800 number in the test instructions, who would read it that far after seeing POSITIVE?>