Guest guest Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 Sorry to hear you're down, Wendi. What's an IEP? Inger > You know what is really depressing? > When you get your child’s IEP in the mail, read it and realize you, a 37 year old, can’t do half of what your 4 year old in preschool is supposed to be doing... the short term goals, expected for him to achieve by the end of December... and HE is considered delayed... > THAT is depressing. > Where the heck were MY teachers?????? > Wendi > (who was already down *before* I read the IEP) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 Wendi, I suspect it probably looks forboding. However, if you could see a teacher's lesson plans for " normal " children, you would see they are just as complicated and just as expectant. The good news is that most of the burden for teaching your 4 year old will fall on the teachers themselves. The bad news is that it WILL have to be a cooperative effort between you and and the school. The worst news is that it more likely than not will be extremely stressful for your AS pre-schooler. Personally, I hate the entire public and private school system in the US. To be blunt, I think everythig is bass-ackwards in terms of priorities and expectations. There is a school in England that was founded by A.S. Neill called Summerhill which I happen to think would be perfect for As children. It's drawn loads of fire from critics who believe a rigid educational system is called for, but it my thorough review of all the pros and cons in my education classes (yes, I studied to be a teacher), made me feel I would have thrived in such an envrionment. The opening webpage http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/pages/ for it reads this way: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction to Summerhill Summerhill School is a progressive, co-educational, residential school, founded by A. S. Neill in 1921; in his own words, it is a 'free school' though this does not mean, alas, that it is state funded. The freedom Neill was referring to was the personal freedom of the children in his charge. Summerhill is first and foremost a place where children can discover who they are and where their interests lie in the safety of a self-governing, democratic community. There are two features of the school which people usually single out as being particularly unusual. The first is that all lessons are optional. Teachers and classes are available at timetabled times, but the children can decide whether to attend or not. This gives them the freedom to make choices about their own lives and means that those children attending lessons are motivated to learn. Many people suppose that no children would ever go to lessons if they were not forced to. At Summerhill, it is rare for a child to attend no lessons at all – at least, after the initial shock of freedom has worn off. The second particularly unusual feature of the school is the school meeting, at which the school Laws are made or changed. These laws are the rules of the school, made by majority vote in the community meetings; pupils and staff alike having equal votes. These two features are central to the school, but they fail in themselves to capture its essential nature. Needless to say, epithets like 'the school where kids do what they like' similarly miss their mark. What they omit to say is that Summerhill is a community. It is a community where most of the 100-odd members are children, so teaching is a part of it; but it is not the most important part. The most important part is building and maintaining an environment where members of the community can co-exist in harmony and in personal freedom. The community atmosphere at the school is very strong. To an extent it must be, wherever 100 people live in close proximity for over half the year, if there is not to be unbearable strain in their relationships. But it is fostered at Summerhill by the fact that all the inhabitants are considered equal members of the community. All are equally entitled to citizenship of the school – teachers, big kids, and little kids alike – and this is reflected in their interactions with each other. There is an ease of manner between equals that cannot exist in a hierarchy, however friendly and informal. What makes the equality real rather than mere rhetoric is the meeting. Everyone knows, for instance, that a member of staff has no sanctions against a pupil that the pupil does not have against the member of staff – and that a teacher bringing a case against a pupil is neither more nor less likely to succeed just because of the relative status of the people involved. Here, everyone has the same status. The result is a strong feeling of solidarity with Summerhill in all its diverse members. And they are diverse: besides the age differences, Summerhill is an international community. Many nations are represented including France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Switzerland, US, Korea and Taiwan; the UK accounts less than half of the pupils. Of course, everything in the garden is not always rosy. Sometimes a pupil with an urge for rebellion – usually a newcomer – will behave in as destructive a way as possible, deliberately breaking as many of the community's written and unwritten laws as he or she is able, and generally wreaking havoc. It is interesting that these rebellious children are generally those who have recently arrived at Summerhill from a more 'conventional' school. They seem to be rebelling against the unfair and authoritarian structure they are coming from; when they were there, rebellion was not possible. Obviously, they can be disruptive, but they usually settle down and begin to enjoy the freedom of Summerhill in a more constructive way. A visitor who recently stayed at the school has written: There may be bullying at Summerhill, but I have not seen it. It may be that the older kids set themselves up as kings over their juniors, but I do not perceive a hint of it. What I do see is children of eight jumping unexpectedly on the back of fifteen-year- old boys, and being carried round with perfect good humour; younger kids upset by some sudden reverse being comforted by an arm round their shoulder from an older kid; kids sitting in odd corners talking eagerly about the matter of the moment, with entire disregard for whether their interlocutors are their own age, or younger or older by a year, three years, or six years ... It would be stupid to suggest that they do not all have their own special friends, but I do not think any of them have any special enemies. -------------------------------------------------------------------- About the only thing I do not like about this setup is that peers and teachers have an equal vote in everything, and so if you are not liked, I could see that being held against you. Studies of Summerhill graduates show that the graduates themselves are neither more or less successful than those graduating from other public or private schools. But the one difference that had been noted is that Summerhill graduates are all very happy with themselves and their lifestyle choices, having spent the majority of their years there in partaking only in courses and activities that were of ineterst to them. How AS children would get through such a program is open to debate, but I've read extensively about the school, and it seemed to me that I personally might have done well there. What does this have to do with your children? I don't know, except to say that if the IEP is too demanding, perhaps a different atmosphere and environment could be cultured in your home. There is always hope Wendi, and as I have said, we will be here for you if you need us. Tom > You know what is really depressing? > > When you get your child's IEP in the mail, read it and realize you, a 37 > year old, can't do half of what your 4 year old in preschool is supposed > to be doing... the short term goals, expected for him to achieve by the > end of December... and HE is considered delayed... > > THAT is depressing. > > Where the heck were MY teachers?????? > > Wendi > (who was already down *before* I read the IEP) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 > You know what is really depressing? > > When you get your child's IEP in the mail, read it and realize you, a 37 > year old, can't do half of what your 4 year old in preschool is supposed > to be doing... the short term goals, expected for him to achieve by the > end of December... and HE is considered delayed... > > THAT is depressing. > > Where the heck were MY teachers?????? > > Wendi > (who was already down *before* I read the IEP) Hi Wendi, don't be too disheartened, there are many things that my 10 year old son (he has high functioning autism) can do (socially and other) that I cannot. For instance he has a problem sitting on a bench when we're out if their is already somebody on the bench, even with quite a big space, but he can do it; whereas I cannot bring myself to. I always find this a little awkward when I ask him to sit down outside if he is eating something (e.g lunch on the go) and he complies and yet when the stranger asks me if I'd like to sit down, I cannot and have to eat standing rather than sit in close proximity to a stranger (I have trouble being in close proximity to most people with the few odd exeptions). He has also become more able to handle crowded areas than I have; I sometimes wonder if one day he will become my strenght as I try to be for him - he is certainly teaching me so much! I keep thinking though, 'if he can do it - why can't I?' Depressing, but true Greebo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 “Individualized Education Plan” – the long term and short term goals they set for a child in special ed to meet by certain dates. But my point is, I am not able to do some things expected of a 4 yr old in special ed – now... at 37 yrs old.... I am not able to do them. I don’t mean they are expecting too much from him (they are, which I have to rectify, but that wasn’t the reason I wrote)... I’m upset because that means I’m functioning in some areas like a 3 yr old. Wendi -----Original Message----- From: Inger Lorelei Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 1:51 PM To: FAMSecretSociety Subject: Re: Depressing Sorry to hear you're down, Wendi. What's an IEP? Inger > You know what is really depressing? > When you get your child’s IEP in the mail, read it and realize you, a 37 year old, can’t do half of what your 4 year old in preschool is supposed to be doing... the short term goals, expected for him to achieve by the end of December... and HE is considered delayed... > THAT is depressing. > Where the heck were MY teachers?????? > Wendi > (who was already down *before* I read the IEP) Remember, we're all in this together. It behooves us to be supportive of one another and to participate fully in all this group has to offer. Zoologist Administrator FAM Secret Society Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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