Re: Need some upcoming ARD advice

January 7, 2011

Good Advice Tommy! I had to get over being liked a long time ago. I never wanted to become a " B " but unfortunately that's the way they set it up, so a parent has to decide if they are going to just go along and watch their child's chances at a future slip away or they are going to defend their child's right to be taught to not just read the words (Hell, I can read Spanish phonetically, but if I can't understand the words, it does me no good), and far too many schools have the attitude that these kids futures don't matter.

Parents need to know that all many schools care about is getting them to twenty-one and getting them out, having pocketed the special ed funds they provided while they were there.It is common practice to give work to these kids that is often below their intellect and trivial. Sometimes a parent might have to advocate for years to get them to raise the level of work or to get them to put a child in inclusion. The " gate keepers " can be masters at manipulation. If you ask for a service such as being put in inclusion with an aide, they DO NOT want to have to pay for an aide, so they will say things like " Well, that wouldn't be fair to little Tommy. " They will turn it on you the parent, but always remember that no matter how much they say they care, they do not see the big picture. They do not think about post graduation. Once the kid is out on the street and unemployable, they never give it a second thought.

Regarding the 504 kids and being given a 70 no matter what. First I can give you a perspective as a former teacher, but this was years ago when they had " Content Mastery " students. They never told us ANYTHING. They never had an in-service about the laws --whatever they were at the time. All we were ever told was " Here are his modifications and you CAN " T give them below a seventy. " But in addition to that, we were always told that even for neuro-typical kids that we COULD NOT give any child below a fifty, which made no sense to me as I thought any child ought to get what they earned, but they told teachers that their computer wouldn't compute the grades below the minimum.

Even as a teacher, I can tell you that I was trying to figure out what had changed as kids were all different from the days I went to school. They couldn't sit still. Many couldn't focus. I HATED whatever class came in after lunch --Talk about hyper! All pumped up from junk and sugar!!! Now I know that back then in the eighties, we were beginning to see changes in these kids due to an increase in vaccinations and environmental pollution and junk diets.

Back then ADD and ADHD were what was beginning to be talked about. There was very little autism. I saw only one middle aged man in the eighties with autism. What gets me is how quickly most people " normalize " these conditions and how few say, " Wait a minute; this isn't right. What is going on here? "

Now back to grading. You are right! This is a big problem and a rampant occurrence for special needs kids. They throw the IEP in a drawer and give a child busy work. They put great grades on the reports, and too often it is very late in the game when a parent figures it all out.

Amass the real data that will show few skills and little real progress over the years, and then give 'em hell. I'm at the point where I have little faith a public school will provide a FAPE to a child that produces real progress, so it is up to parents to amass the paper trail that will either win one for them in a private school or win one for them in a private home school!

The sad part is that then when a parent stands up for his child --Most want to stand up for all and change things for all, but if the paper trail is good enough, a school is not going to want to wind up in DUE PROCESS where the outcome winds up a matter of record that is open to the public to see, so they will settle in a resolution meeting on in mediation where the records are sealed and the parents are barred form telling the nightmarish story. This makes it possible to only change things one child at a time. But if enough parents finally catch on to the very thing regarding grades and achievement that you have described and hold these districts accountable for it, then hopefully they will STOP doing it.

You will have to become a " B. " You will have to realize you are not going to be liked and will probably be hated --After all, you will show they broke federal and state laws and failed to provide a FAPE for your child. The Catholic church hated Galileo so much for proving the planets revolved around the sun rather than the Earth that they put him under house arrest for the rest of his life. It took the Church 400 years before it conceded Galileo was right and exonerated him for " heresy. " Look at what they have done and continue to do to Dr. Wakefield for telling the truth. Fighting for the truth is the road less taken. It is the hilliest and rockiest of roads, but taking that road makes all the difference in the life of your child.

Know that often in advocating, districts will push you to the very limit leaving you no choice but to file for DP. In some events, once they realize you are not afraid of DP, they will concede. Sometimes they will take it further. They like to see if they can intimidate parents with the prospect. Often when they see that you are not afraid to take it as far as you have to in order to get FAPE provided to your child, they will back down and concede. Be resolved and show no fear however far you have to go, but go in prepared with a paper trail and concrete, substantive data.

Hope this helps.

January 7, 2011

I don't think I made myself clear, I am not afraid of no one liking me, not in the least, I am hesitant to totally alienate my son's school personnel, you see, I'm in a unique situation, my son according to the school has tested out of remdial reading, he has no actual basis or documented need for that resource. He's in it because of one diagnostician that "clued" me in on the whole parental request have to be signed and in writing before it's acted upon, he was the one I spoke to when my son failed his drivers test for the fifth time, and I approached the school with this "disparity" of results. He put my son in the reading 180 course, purely on his say so.

believe me, setting down with my son, attempting to help him study for the drivers test, watching him read the question, after fifteen minutes passing finally turning to the page with the answer to the question, another five minutes, I point out the paragraph, he didn't see the answer, casually tapping the sentence, hoping to draw his eye, realizing he hasn't seen it, or made the connection. I'll always remember the cold feeling of horror that ran through my soul, that total shock and sick horror, when I finally got just how badly I failed him, by believing his report cards. I am angry, and would love nothing better than going in the school and tossing a few hand grenades into a few offices, but I've got two years before he reaches 12th grade to fix this, and if I loose the good will of this diagnostician that got my son into another program by glimpsing at my paper realizing that it was a to do list, looking me in the eye and telling me to sign it and give it to him, I somewhat bemusedly said sure, signed it gave it to him and got my son tested for pragmatic speech, that same day, after casually chatting with me about it for five months, I got the "clue".

the system is sick, however there are a lot of good people in it that do try to help our kids, before we start kicking tail and taking names, lets not kick the wrong tails.

Joyce Re: Re: Need some upcoming ARD advice

Good Advice Tommy! I had to get over being liked a long time ago. I never wanted to become a "B" but unfortunately that's the way they set it up, so a parent has to decide if they are going to just go along and watch their child's chances at a future slip away or they are going to defend their child's right to be taught to not just read the words (Hell, I can read Spanish phonetically, but if I can't understand the words, it does me no good), and far too many schools have the attitude that these kids futures don't matter.Parents need to know that all many schools care about is getting them to twenty-one and getting them out, having pocketed the special ed funds they provided while they were there.It is common practice to give work to these kids that is often below their intellect and trivial. Sometimes a parent might have to advocate for years to get them to raise the level of work or to get them to put a child in inclusion. The "gate keepers" can be masters at manipulation. If you ask for a service such as being put in inclusion with an aide, they DO NOT want to have to pay for an aide, so they will say things like "Well, that wouldn't be fair to little Tommy." They will turn it on you the parent, but always remember that no matter how much they say they care, they do not see the big picture. They do not think about post graduation. Once the kid is out on the street and unemployable, they never give it a second thought.Regarding the 504 kids and being given a 70 no matter what. First I can give you a perspective as a former teacher, but this was years ago when they had "Content Mastery" students. They never told us ANYTHING. They never had an in-service about the laws --whatever they were at the time. All we were ever told was "Here are his modifications and you CAN"T give them below a seventy." But in addition to that, we were always told that even for neuro-typical kids that we COULD NOT give any child below a fifty, which made no sense to me as I thought any child ought to get what they earned, but they told teachers that their computer wouldn't compute the grades below the minimum.Even as a teacher, I can tell you that I was trying to figure out what had changed as kids were all different from the days I went to school. They couldn't sit still. Many couldn't focus. I HATED whatever class came in after lunch --Talk about hyper! All pumped up from junk and sugar!!! Now I know that back then in the eighties, we were beginning to see changes in these kids due to an increase in vaccinations and environmental pollution and junk diets.Back then ADD and ADHD were what was beginning to be talked about. There was very little autism. I saw only one middle aged man in the eighties with autism. What gets me is how quickly most people "normalize" these conditions and how few say, "Wait a minute; this isn't right. What is going on here?"Now back to grading. You are right! This is a big problem and a rampant occurrence for special needs kids. They throw the IEP in a drawer and give a child busy work. They put great grades on the reports, and too often it is very late in the game when a parent figures it all out.Amass the real data that will show few skills and little real progress over the years, and then give 'em hell. I'm at the point where I have little faith a public school will provide a FAPE to a child that produces real progress, so it is up to parents to amass the paper trail that will either win one for them in a private school or win one for them in a private home school! The sad part is that then when a parent stands up for his child --Most want to stand up for all and change things for all, but if the paper trail is good enough, a school is not going to want to wind up in DUE PROCESS where the outcome winds up a matter of record that is open to the public to see, so they will settle in a resolution meeting on in mediation where the records are sealed and the parents are barred form telling the nightmarish story. This makes it possible to only change things one child at a time. But if enough parents finally catch on to the very thing regarding grades and achievement that you have described and hold these districts accountable for it, then hopefully they will STOP doing it.You will have to become a "B." You will have to realize you are not going to be liked and will probably be hated --After all, you will show they broke federal and state laws and failed to provide a FAPE for your child. The Catholic church hated Galileo so much for proving the planets revolved around the sun rather than the Earth that they put him under house arrest for the rest of his life. It took the Church 400 years before it conceded Galileo was right and exonerated him for "heresy." Look at what they have done and continue to do to Dr. Wakefield for telling the truth. Fighting for the truth is the road less taken. It is the hilliest and rockiest of roads, but taking that road makes all the difference in the life of your child. Know that often in advocating, districts will push you to the very limit leaving you no choice but to file for DP. In some events, once they realize you are not afraid of DP, they will concede. Sometimes they will take it further. They like to see if they can intimidate parents with the prospect. Often when they see that you are not afraid to take it as far as you have to in order to get FAPE provided to your child, they will back down and concede. Be resolved and show no fear however far you have to go, but go in prepared with a paper trail and concrete, substantive data.Hope this helps.

January 7, 2011

Joyce,If those are the "real" results of your son's education, then it seems obvious to me that the district's IEP isn't working and something else needs to be done. That does not mean that some of the staff are not trying to help, but in my experience, these people don't get angry when the parent takes action; they understand that without their parents' help, these special needs children will never move forward.You should consider looking into the Due Process route. Let me know if you're interested.Tommy I don't think I made myself clear, I am not afraid of no one liking me, not in the least, I am hesitant to totally alienate my son's school personnel, you see, I'm in a unique situation, my son according to the school has tested out of remdial reading, he has no actual basis or documented need for that resource. He's in it because of one diagnostician that "clued" me in on the whole parental request have to be signed and in writing before it's acted upon, he was the one I spoke to when my son failed his drivers test for the fifth time, and I approached the school with this "disparity" of results. He put my son in the reading 180 course, purely on his say so. believe me, setting down with my son, attempting to help him study for the drivers test, watching him read the question, after fifteen minutes passing finally turning to the page with the answer to the question, another five minutes, I point out the paragraph, he didn't see the answer, casually tapping the sentence, hoping to draw his eye, realizing he hasn't seen it, or made the connection. I'll always remember the cold feeling of horror that ran through my soul, that total shock and sick horror, when I finally got just how badly I failed him, by believing his report cards. I am angry, and would love nothing better than going in the school and tossing a few hand grenades into a few offices, but I've got two years before he reaches 12th grade to fix this, and if I loose the good will of this diagnostician that got my son into another program by glimpsing at my paper realizing that it was a to do list, looking me in the eye and telling me to sign it and give it to him, I somewhat bemusedly said sure, signed it gave it to him and got my son tested for pragmatic speech, that same day, after casually chatting with me about it for five months, I got the "clue". the system is sick, however there are a lot of good people in it that do try to help our kids, before we start kicking tail and taking names, lets not kick the wrong tails. Joyce Re: Re: Need some upcoming ARD adviceGood Advice Tommy! I had to get over being liked a long time ago. I never wanted to become a "B" but unfortunately that's the way they set it up, so a parent has to decide if they are going to just go along and watch their child's chances at a future slip away or they are going to defend their child's right to be taught to not just read the words (Hell, I can read Spanish phonetically, but if I can't understand the words, it does me no good), and far too many schools have the attitude that these kids futures don't matter.Parents need to know that all many schools care about is getting them to twenty-one and getting them out, having pocketed the special ed funds they provided while they were there.It is common practice to give work to these kids that is often below their intellect and trivial. Sometimes a parent might have to advocate for years to get them to raise the level of work or to get them to put a child in inclusion. The "gate keepers" can be masters at manipulation. If you ask for a service such as being put in inclusion with an aide, they DO NOT want to have to pay for an aide, so they will say things like "Well, that wouldn't be fair to little Tommy." They will turn it on you the parent, but always remember that no matter how much they say they care, they do not see the big picture. They do not think about post graduation. Once the kid is out on the street and unemployable, they never give it a second thought.Regarding the 504 kids and being given a 70 no matter what. First I can give you a perspective as a former teacher, but this was years ago when they had "Content Mastery" students. They never told us ANYTHING. They never had an in-service about the laws --whatever they were at the time. All we were ever told was "Here are his modifications and you CAN"T give them below a seventy." But in addition to that, we were always told that even for neuro-typical kids that we COULD NOT give any child below a fifty, which made no sense to me as I thought any child ought to get what they earned, but they told teachers that their computer wouldn't compute the grades below the minimum.Even as a teacher, I can tell you that I was trying to figure out what had changed as kids were all different from the days I went to school. They couldn't sit still. Many couldn't focus. I HATED whatever class came in after lunch --Talk about hyper! All pumped up from junk and sugar!!! Now I know that back then in the eighties, we were beginning to see changes in these kids due to an increase in vaccinations and environmental pollution and junk diets.Back then ADD and ADHD were what was beginning to be talked about. There was very little autism. I saw only one middle aged man in the eighties with autism. What gets me is how quickly most people "normalize" these conditions and how few say, "Wait a minute; this isn't right. What is going on here?"Now back to grading. You are right! This is a big problem and a rampant occurrence for special needs kids. They throw the IEP in a drawer and give a child busy work. They put great grades on the reports, and too often it is very late in the game when a parent figures it all out.Amass the real data that will show few skills and little real progress over the years, and then give 'em hell. I'm at the point where I have little faith a public school will provide a FAPE to a child that produces real progress, so it is up to parents to amass the paper trail that will either win one for them in a private school or win one for them in a private home school! <347.gif><330.gif>The sad part is that then when a parent stands up for his child --Most want to stand up for all and change things for all, but if the paper trail is good enough, a school is not going to want to wind up in DUE PROCESS where the outcome winds up a matter of record that is open to the public to see, so they will settle in a resolution meeting on in mediation where the records are sealed and the parents are barred form telling the nightmarish story. This makes it possible to only change things one child at a time. But if enough parents finally catch on to the very thing regarding grades and achievement that you have described and hold these districts accountable for it, then hopefully they will STOP doing it.You will have to become a "B." You will have to realize you are not going to be liked and will probably be hated --After all, you will show they broke federal and state laws and failed to provide a FAPE for your child. The Catholic church hated Galileo so much for proving the planets revolved around the sun rather than the Earth that they put him under house arrest for the rest of his life. It took the Church 400 years before it conceded Galileo was right and exonerated him for "heresy." Look at what they have done and continue to do to Dr. Wakefield for telling the truth. Fighting for the truth is the road less taken. It is the hilliest and rockiest of roads, but taking that road makes all the difference in the life of your child. Know that often in advocating, districts will push you to the very limit leaving you no choice but to file for DP. In some events, once they realize you are not afraid of DP, they will concede. Sometimes they will take it further. They like to see if they can intimidate parents with the prospect. Often when they see that you are not afraid to take it as far as you have to in order to get FAPE provided to your child, they will back down and concede. Be resolved and show no fear however far you have to go, but go in prepared with a paper trail and concrete, substantive data.Hope this helps.

January 7, 2011

I don't know Tommmy, they seemed pretty frustrated and upset at me today!!! I have never been so grateful for my advocate, cause she saw how bad things were getting and figured out a route that I would be more acceptable with. That OT today was out of line and now we have had to kick two people out of my daughter's evaluation.... Our school district is a joke in my opinion.....CarolynFrom: Tomas III

To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy Sent: Fri, January 7, 2011 2:39:09 PMSubject: Re: Re: Need some upcoming ARD advice

Joyce,If those are the "real" results of your son's education, then it seems obvious to me that the district's IEP isn't working and something else needs to be done. That does not mean that some of the staff are not trying to help, but in my experience, these people don't get angry when the parent takes action; they understand that without their parents' help, these special needs children will never move forward.You should consider looking into the Due Process route. Let me know if you're interested.Tommy I don't think I made myself clear, I am not afraid of no one liking me, not in the least, I am hesitant to totally alienate my son's school personnel, you see, I'm in a unique situation, my son according to the school has tested out of remdial reading, he has no actual basis or documented need for that resource. He's in it because of one diagnostician that "clued" me in on the whole parental request have to be signed and in writing before it's acted upon, he was the one I spoke to when my son failed his drivers test for the fifth time, and I approached the school with this "disparity" of

results. He put my son in the reading 180 course, purely on his say so. believe me, setting down with my son, attempting to help him study for the drivers test, watching him read the question, after fifteen minutes passing finally turning to the page with the answer to the question, another five minutes, I point out the paragraph, he didn't see the answer, casually tapping the sentence, hoping to draw his eye, realizing he hasn't seen it, or made the connection. I'll always remember the cold feeling of horror that ran through my soul, that total shock and sick horror, when I finally got just how badly I failed him, by believing his report cards. I am angry, and would love nothing better than going in the school and tossing a few hand grenades into a few offices, but I've got two years before he reaches 12th grade to fix this, and if I loose the good will of this

diagnostician that got my son into another program by glimpsing at my paper realizing that it was a to do list, looking me in the eye and telling me to sign it and give it to him, I somewhat bemusedly said sure, signed it gave it to him and got my son tested for pragmatic speech, that same day, after casually chatting with me about it for five months, I got the "clue". the system is sick, however there are a lot of good people in it that do try to help our kids, before we start kicking tail and taking names, lets not kick the wrong tails. Joyce Re: Re: Need some upcoming ARD adviceGood Advice Tommy! I had to get over being liked a long time ago. I never wanted to become a "B" but unfortunately that's the way they set it up, so a parent has to decide if they are going to just go along and watch their child's chances at a future slip away or they are going to defend their child's right to be taught to not just read the words (Hell, I can read Spanish phonetically, but if I can't understand the words, it does me no good), and

far too many schools have the attitude that these kids futures don't matter.Parents need to know that all many schools care about is getting them to twenty-one and getting them out, having pocketed the special ed funds they provided while they were there.It is common practice to give work to these kids that is often below their intellect and trivial. Sometimes a parent might have to advocate for years to get them to raise the level of work or to get them to put a child in inclusion. The "gate keepers" can be masters at manipulation. If you ask for a service such as being put in inclusion with an aide, they DO NOT want to have to pay for an aide, so they will say things like "Well, that wouldn't be fair to little Tommy." They will turn it on you the parent, but always remember that no matter how much they say they care, they do not see the big picture. They do not think about post graduation. Once the

kid is out on the street and unemployable, they never give it a second thought.Regarding the 504 kids and being given a 70 no matter what. First I can give you a perspective as a former teacher, but this was years ago when they had "Content Mastery" students. They never told us ANYTHING. They never had an in-service about the laws --whatever they were at the time. All we were ever told was "Here are his modifications and you CAN"T give them below a seventy." But in addition to that, we were always told that even for neuro-typical kids that we COULD NOT give any child below a fifty, which made no sense to me as I thought any child ought to get what they earned, but they told teachers that their computer wouldn't compute the grades below the minimum.Even as a teacher, I can tell you that I was trying to figure out what had changed as kids were all different from the days I went to school. They couldn't

sit still. Many couldn't focus. I HATED whatever class came in after lunch --Talk about hyper! All pumped up from junk and sugar!!! Now I know that back then in the eighties, we were beginning to see changes in these kids due to an increase in vaccinations and environmental pollution and junk diets.Back then ADD and ADHD were what was beginning to be talked about. There was very little autism. I saw only one middle aged man in the eighties with autism. What gets me is how quickly most people "normalize" these conditions and how few say, "Wait a minute; this isn't right. What is going on here?"Now back to grading. You are right! This is a big problem and a rampant occurrence for special needs kids. They throw the IEP in a drawer and give a child busy work. They put great grades on the reports, and too often it is very late in the game when a parent figures it all

out.Amass the real data that will show few skills and little real progress over the years, and then give 'em hell. I'm at the point where I have little faith a public school will provide a FAPE to a child that produces real progress, so it is up to parents to amass the paper trail that will either win one for them in a private school or win one for them in a private home school! <347.gif><330.gif>The sad part is that then when a parent stands up for his child --Most want to stand up for all and change things for all, but if the paper trail is good enough, a school is not going to want to wind up in DUE PROCESS where the outcome winds up a matter of record that is open to the public to see, so they will settle in a resolution meeting on in mediation where the records are sealed and the parents are barred form telling the nightmarish

story. This makes it possible to only change things one child at a time. But if enough parents finally catch on to the very thing regarding grades and achievement that you have described and hold these districts accountable for it, then hopefully they will STOP doing it.You will have to become a "B." You will have to realize you are not going to be liked and will probably be hated --After all, you will show they broke federal and state laws and failed to provide a FAPE for your child. The Catholic church hated Galileo so much for proving the planets revolved around the sun rather than the Earth that they put him under house arrest for the rest of his life. It took the Church 400 years before it conceded Galileo was right and exonerated him for "heresy." Look at what they have done and continue to do to Dr. Wakefield for telling the truth. Fighting for the truth is the road less taken.

It is the hilliest and rockiest of roads, but taking that road makes all the difference in the life of your child. Know that often in advocating, districts will push you to the very limit leaving you no choice but to file for DP. In some events, once they realize you are not afraid of DP, they will concede. Sometimes they will take it further. They like to see if they can intimidate parents with the prospect. Often when they see that you are not afraid to take it as far as you have to in order to get FAPE provided to your child, they will back down and concede. Be resolved and show no fear however far you have to go, but go in prepared with a paper trail and concrete, substantive data.Hope this helps.

January 7, 2011

What is involved in due process? would I actually see my son's answers to his state test that he supposedly passed? trust me I'm not a total idiot, I know he's been passed through the system, I've requested my son's response sheet to these tests, the pragmatic speech test that he didn't qualify for because he scored one point to much, or the reading resource test that he passed showing that he didn't qualify for reading resource class. I didnt get his written responses to the test, I got the report from the reading teacher showing he passed however was weak in reading fluency.

but to have him shown as passing the state tests, and can't pass the state drivers test, one the state of texas must only require a idiots level to graduate, or someone somewhere is forging state test results, it's one or the other.

I chose the middle route, and approached the school district with the disparity in results, it's not really doing to much for Duncan, his reading teacher has called me twice asking to have him removed from her class, and they cancelled his social skills class saying he's already had it during the ninth grade.

would due process get him more help?

Joyce Re: Re: Need some upcoming ARD advice

Good Advice Tommy! I had to get over being liked a long time ago. I never wanted to become a "B" but unfortunately that's the way they set it up, so a parent has to decide if they are going to just go along and watch their child's chances at a future slip away or they are going to defend their child's right to be taught to not just read the words (Hell, I can read Spanish phonetically, but if I can't understand the words, it does me no good), and far too many schools have the attitude that these kids futures don't matter.Parents need to know that all many schools care about is getting them to twenty-one and getting them out, having pocketed the special ed funds they provided while they were there.It is common practice to give work to these kids that is often below their intellect and trivial. Sometimes a parent might have to advocate for years to get them to raise the level of work or to get them to put a child in inclusion. The "gate keepers" can be masters at manipulation. If you ask for a service such as being put in inclusion with an aide, they DO NOT want to have to pay for an aide, so they will say things like "Well, that wouldn't be fair to little Tommy." They will turn it on you the parent, but always remember that no matter how much they say they care, they do not see the big picture. They do not think about post graduation. Once the kid is out on the street and unemployable, they never give it a second thought.Regarding the 504 kids and being given a 70 no matter what. First I can give you a perspective as a former teacher, but this was years ago when they had "Content Mastery" students. They never told us ANYTHING. They never had an in-service about the laws --whatever they were at the time. All we were ever told was "Here are his modifications and you CAN"T give them below a seventy." But in addition to that, we were always told that even for neuro-typical kids that we COULD NOT give any child below a fifty, which made no sense to me as I thought any child ought to get what they earned, but they told teachers that their computer wouldn't compute the grades below the minimum.Even as a teacher, I can tell you that I was trying to figure out what had changed as kids were all different from the days I went to school. They couldn't sit still. Many couldn't focus. I HATED whatever class came in after lunch --Talk about hyper! All pumped up from junk and sugar!!! Now I know that back then in the eighties, we were beginning to see changes in these kids due to an increase in vaccinations and environmental pollution and junk diets.Back then ADD and ADHD were what was beginning to be talked about. There was very little autism. I saw only one middle aged man in the eighties with autism. What gets me is how quickly most people "normalize" these conditions and how few say, "Wait a minute; this isn't right. What is going on here?"Now back to grading. You are right! This is a big problem and a rampant occurrence for special needs kids. They throw the IEP in a drawer and give a child busy work. They put great grades on the reports, and too often it is very late in the game when a parent figures it all out.Amass the real data that will show few skills and little real progress over the years, and then give 'em hell. I'm at the point where I have little faith a public school will provide a FAPE to a child that produces real progress, so it is up to parents to amass the paper trail that will either win one for them in a private school or win one for them in a private home school! <347.gif><330.gif>The sad part is that then when a parent stands up for his child --Most want to stand up for all and change things for all, but if the paper trail is good enough, a school is not going to want to wind up in DUE PROCESS where the outcome winds up a matter of record that is open to the public to see, so they will settle in a resolution meeting on in mediation where the records are sealed and the parents are barred form telling the nightmarish story. This makes it possible to only change things one child at a time. But if enough parents finally catch on to the very thing regarding grades and achievement that you have described and hold these districts accountable for it, then hopefully they will STOP doing it.You will have to become a "B." You will have to realize you are not going to be liked and will probably be hated --After all, you will show they broke federal and state laws and failed to provide a FAPE for your child. The Catholic church hated Galileo so much for proving the planets revolved around the sun rather than the Earth that they put him under house arrest for the rest of his life. It took the Church 400 years before it conceded Galileo was right and exonerated him for "heresy." Look at what they have done and continue to do to Dr. Wakefield for telling the truth. Fighting for the truth is the road less taken. It is the hilliest and rockiest of roads, but taking that road makes all the difference in the life of your child. Know that often in advocating, districts will push you to the very limit leaving you no choice but to file for DP. In some events, once they realize you are not afraid of DP, they will concede. Sometimes they will take it further. They like to see if they can intimidate parents with the prospect. Often when they see that you are not afraid to take it as far as you have to in order to get FAPE provided to your child, they will back down and concede. Be resolved and show no fear however far you have to go, but go in prepared with a paper trail and concrete, substantive data.Hope this helps.

January 7, 2011

Joyce, I would get a good advocate and seek advice from them. Have they done the FIE within the last 3 yrs?? I would also ask for results from all evaluations. THey are required to share those with you prior to ARD. Is your son in school with an IEP? If not, I would write a letter to the special ed director asking for a full and individual evaluation. If so, I would ask for a reevaluation. An advocate could help you with the process. Sounds like you need one. Let me know if you are in the DFW area and if so I have a good one....CarolynTo: Texas-Autism-Advocacy Sent: Fri, January 7, 2011 3:24:48 PMSubject: Re: Re: Need some upcoming ARD advice

What is involved in due process? would I actually see my son's answers to his state test that he supposedly passed? trust me I'm not a total idiot, I know he's been passed through the system, I've requested my son's response sheet to these tests, the pragmatic speech test that he didn't qualify for because he scored one point to much, or the reading resource test that he passed showing that he didn't qualify for reading resource class. I didnt get his written responses to the test, I got the report from the reading teacher showing he passed however was weak in reading fluency.

but to have him shown as passing the state tests, and can't pass the state drivers test, one the state of texas must only require a idiots level to graduate, or someone somewhere is forging state test results, it's one or the other.

I chose the middle route, and approached the school district with the disparity in results, it's not really doing to much for Duncan, his reading teacher has called me twice asking to have him removed from her class, and they cancelled his social skills class saying he's already had it during the ninth grade.

would due process get him more help?

Joyce Re: Re: Need some upcoming ARD advice

Good Advice Tommy! I had to get over being liked a long time ago. I never wanted to become a "B" but unfortunately that's the way they set it up, so a parent has to decide if they are going to just go along and watch their child's chances at a future slip away or they are going to defend their child's right to be taught to not just read the words (Hell, I can read Spanish phonetically, but if I can't understand the words, it does me no good), and far too many schools have the attitude that these kids futures don't matter.Parents need to know that all many schools care about is getting them to twenty-one and getting them out, having pocketed the special ed funds they provided while they were there.It is common practice to give work to these kids that is often below their intellect and trivial. Sometimes a parent might have to advocate for years to get them to raise the level of work or to get them to put a child

in inclusion. The "gate keepers" can be masters at manipulation. If you ask for a service such as being put in inclusion with an aide, they DO NOT want to have to pay for an aide, so they will say things like "Well, that wouldn't be fair to little Tommy." They will turn it on you the parent, but always remember that no matter how much they say they care, they do not see the big picture. They do not think about post graduation. Once the kid is out on the street and unemployable, they never give it a second thought.Regarding the 504 kids and being given a 70 no matter what. First I can give you a perspective as a former teacher, but this was years ago when they had "Content Mastery" students. They never told us ANYTHING. They never had an in-service about the laws --whatever they were at the time. All we were ever told was "Here are his modifications and you CAN"T give them below a

seventy." But in addition to that, we were always told that even for neuro-typical kids that we COULD NOT give any child below a fifty, which made no sense to me as I thought any child ought to get what they earned, but they told teachers that their computer wouldn't compute the grades below the minimum.Even as a teacher, I can tell you that I was trying to figure out what had changed as kids were all different from the days I went to school. They couldn't sit still. Many couldn't focus. I HATED whatever class came in after lunch --Talk about hyper! All pumped up from junk and sugar!!! Now I know that back then in the eighties, we were beginning to see changes in these kids due to an increase in vaccinations and environmental pollution and junk diets.Back then ADD and ADHD were what was beginning to be talked about. There was very little autism. I saw only one middle aged man in the

eighties with autism. What gets me is how quickly most people "normalize" these conditions and how few say, "Wait a minute; this isn't right. What is going on here?"Now back to grading. You are right! This is a big problem and a rampant occurrence for special needs kids. They throw the IEP in a drawer and give a child busy work. They put great grades on the reports, and too often it is very late in the game when a parent figures it all out.Amass the real data that will show few skills and little real progress over the years, and then give 'em hell. I'm at the point where I have little faith a public school will provide a FAPE to a child that produces real progress, so it is up to parents to amass the paper trail that will either win one for them in a private school or win one for them in a private home school! <347.gif><330.gif>The sad part is that then when a parent stands up for his child --Most want to stand up for all and change things for all, but if the paper trail is good enough, a school is not going to want to wind up in DUE PROCESS where the outcome winds up a matter of record that is open to the public to see, so they will settle in a resolution meeting on in mediation where the records are sealed and the parents are barred form telling the nightmarish story. This makes it possible to only change things one child at a time. But if enough parents finally catch on to the very thing regarding grades and achievement that you have described and hold these districts accountable for it, then hopefully they will STOP doing it.You will have to become a "B." You will have to realize you are not going to be liked and will probably be hated

--After all, you will show they broke federal and state laws and failed to provide a FAPE for your child. The Catholic church hated Galileo so much for proving the planets revolved around the sun rather than the Earth that they put him under house arrest for the rest of his life. It took the Church 400 years before it conceded Galileo was right and exonerated him for "heresy." Look at what they have done and continue to do to Dr. Wakefield for telling the truth. Fighting for the truth is the road less taken. It is the hilliest and rockiest of roads, but taking that road makes all the difference in the life of your child. Know that often in advocating, districts will push you to the very limit leaving you no choice but to file for DP. In some events, once they realize you are not afraid of DP, they will concede. Sometimes they will take it

further. They like to see if they can intimidate parents with the prospect. Often when they see that you are not afraid to take it as far as you have to in order to get FAPE provided to your child, they will back down and concede. Be resolved and show no fear however far you have to go, but go in prepared with a paper trail and concrete, substantive data.Hope this helps.

January 7, 2011

I do not have the information necessary to give you a proper response to your questions, but allow me to briefly explain the normal "process". A school district (unless they are very wealthy) usually does the best it knows how within the constraints of its budget. In order to do so, many districts will try to place their special education children into classes and accommodations that already exist; this allows for the education to be provided at no additional cost. Most IEPs are developed with these things in mind. If a child needs something special or something extra to compensate for his disability OR the child is not showing results with the district's IEP (federal law requires that the IEP be made specifically with that child's strengths/weaknesses in mind), this is where most conflicts arise. The parents are not satisfied that the child is getting FAPE and questions the school about it. The school is then put into a difficult position of having to try and deflect the parents' concerns/defend its IEP/tread (either lightly or harshly) in a way that quiets the parents without invoking legal action.A Due Process Complaint brings the full force of federal law to bear on the district. It is a very serious matter to the district because, in the end, it costs them a lot of money. A hearing officer is assigned to preside over the case, and a true legal proceeding has begun. The district can no longer insist on things like they do in ARDs. They have to defend their IEPs and results with real evidence. In order to do this, they have to hire an attorney to represent them in the matter; they have to begin gathering whatever documentation they have to defend the case. Almost every one of these cases ends up at a mediation in an attempt to settle the case. This is where most cases get resolved. In most cases, the district will try to give more than it would have ever done through the ARD process in order to make the case "go away". That almost always includes payment for the parents' attorneys fees. If the case doesn't settle, the case will go to a hearing before the hearing officer and after the trial, a legal decision will be rendered. All of this is very stressful, time consuming and expensive for all parties. While no lawyer can guarantee results, most cases never get to the hearing because they settle at mediation. Obviously, there can be no settlement unless both the parents and the district agree to terms.The parents have much more leverage when the file a Due Process Complaint. After a parent has done this once, the district works a little harder for that parent in order not to have more litigation in the future.I hope this overview helps.Tommy

What is involved in due process? would I actually see my son's answers to his state test that he supposedly passed? trust me I'm not a total idiot, I know he's been passed through the system, I've requested my son's response sheet to these tests, the pragmatic speech test that he didn't qualify for because he scored one point to much, or the reading resource test that he passed showing that he didn't qualify for reading resource class. I didnt get his written responses to the test, I got the report from the reading teacher showing he passed however was weak in reading fluency. but to have him shown as passing the state tests, and can't pass the state drivers test, one the state of texas must only require a idiots level to graduate, or someone somewhere is forging state test results, it's one or the other. I chose the middle route, and approached the school district with the disparity in results, it's not really doing to much for Duncan, his reading teacher has called me twice asking to have him removed from her class, and they cancelled his social skills class saying he's already had it during the ninth grade. would due process get him more help? Joyce Re: Re: Need some upcoming ARD advice

Good Advice Tommy! I had to get over being liked a long time ago. I never wanted to become a "B" but unfortunately that's the way they set it up, so a parent has to decide if they are going to just go along and watch their child's chances at a future slip away or they are going to defend their child's right to be taught to not just read the words (Hell, I can read Spanish phonetically, but if I can't understand the words, it does me no good), and far too many schools have the attitude that these kids futures don't matter.Parents need to know that all many schools care about is getting them to twenty-one and getting them out, having pocketed the special ed funds they provided while they were there.It is common practice to give work to these kids that is often below their intellect and trivial. Sometimes a parent might have to advocate for years to get them to raise the level of work or to get them to put a child in inclusion. The "gate keepers" can be masters at manipulation. If you ask for a service such as being put in inclusion with an aide, they DO NOT want to have to pay for an aide, so they will say things like "Well, that wouldn't be fair to little Tommy." They will turn it on you the parent, but always remember that no matter how much they say they care, they do not see the big picture. They do not think about post graduation. Once the kid is out on the street and unemployable, they never give it a second thought.Regarding the 504 kids and being given a 70 no matter what. First I can give you a perspective as a former teacher, but this was years ago when they had "Content Mastery" students. They never told us ANYTHING. They never had an in-service about the laws --whatever they were at the time. All we were ever told was "Here are his modifications and you CAN"T give them below a seventy." But in addition to that, we were always told that even for neuro-typical kids that we COULD NOT give any child below a fifty, which made no sense to me as I thought any child ought to get what they earned, but they told teachers that their computer wouldn't compute the grades below the minimum.Even as a teacher, I can tell you that I was trying to figure out what had changed as kids were all different from the days I went to school. They couldn't sit still. Many couldn't focus. I HATED whatever class came in after lunch --Talk about hyper! All pumped up from junk and sugar!!! Now I know that back then in the eighties, we were beginning to see changes in these kids due to an increase in vaccinations and environmental pollution and junk diets.Back then ADD and ADHD were what was beginning to be talked about. There was very little autism. I saw only one middle aged man in the eighties with autism. What gets me is how quickly most people "normalize" these conditions and how few say, "Wait a minute; this isn't right. What is going on here?"Now back to grading. You are right! This is a big problem and a rampant occurrence for special needs kids. They throw the IEP in a drawer and give a child busy work. They put great grades on the reports, and too often it is very late in the game when a parent figures it all out.Amass the real data that will show few skills and little real progress over the years, and then give 'em hell. I'm at the point where I have little faith a public school will provide a FAPE to a child that produces real progress, so it is up to parents to amass the paper trail that will either win one for them in a private school or win one for them in a private home school! <347.gif><330.gif>The sad part is that then when a parent stands up for his child --Most want to stand up for all and change things for all, but if the paper trail is good enough, a school is not going to want to wind up in DUE PROCESS where the outcome winds up a matter of record that is open to the public to see, so they will settle in a resolution meeting on in mediation where the records are sealed and the parents are barred form telling the nightmarish story. This makes it possible to only change things one child at a time. But if enough parents finally catch on to the very thing regarding grades and achievement that you have described and hold these districts accountable for it, then hopefully they will STOP doing it.You will have to become a "B." You will have to realize you are not going to be liked and will probably be hated --After all, you will show they broke federal and state laws and failed to provide a FAPE for your child. The Catholic church hated Galileo so much for proving the planets revolved around the sun rather than the Earth that they put him under house arrest for the rest of his life. It took the Church 400 years before it conceded Galileo was right and exonerated him for "heresy." Look at what they have done and continue to do to Dr. Wakefield for telling the truth. Fighting for the truth is the road less taken. It is the hilliest and rockiest of roads, but taking that road makes all the difference in the life of your child. Know that often in advocating, districts will push you to the very limit leaving you no choice but to file for DP. In some events, once they realize you are not afraid of DP, they will concede. Sometimes they will take it further. They like to see if they can intimidate parents with the prospect. Often when they see that you are not afraid to take it as far as you have to in order to get FAPE provided to your child, they will back down and concede. Be resolved and show no fear however far you have to go, but go in prepared with a paper trail and concrete, substantive data.Hope this helps.

January 7, 2011

That is going to happen anytime you challenge the district on its recommendations or IEPs or evaluations.Tommy