Re: School Problems

[Guest guest]

Angie-

This is a huge problem that I have found not only with my special needs child,

but also my 2 typical ones.  I have moved 3 school age children 5 times in 15

years, and with every move I've struggled with the new school accepting the

credibility of the transferring school.It has been extremely detrimental for my

special needs child, who also uses a communication device.  No matter how much

information I give the new school as far as what he knows, how he learns &

lesson plans to maintain & continue (IEP driven), they feel the need to do it

their way, which has set him back a number of years.  

The need for new evaluations for him to be accepted into their special needs

program is the first problem. Because anyone who has a special needs child knows

that depending upon the person who is giving the test, and sometimes how it is

presented, can make a HUGE difference in results.  And the results, although

sometimes (most times)  lower than his previous ones, drive the new IEP &

goals.  And, as I've been told many times, they have to use the test results at

that moment in time, regardless of whether or not he is capable of better. 

This last move has been the worst.  My son has lost at least 3 years of

knowledge thus far & is still not where he was when when moved here 2 years ago.

 Because, even typical kids will perform worse if their expectations are

lowered to the point of boredom.  And the use of a communication device only

makes the situation worse.  The problem being, the new school staff had to

learn the device in order to teach him on it, which took months away from my

son's education, and more importantly, limited his " voice " at a very emotional

point in his life.  It has been a nightmare.

And the same held true with my typical kids.  Every new school we entered would

not accept the transferring schools suggestion that they be put in advanced

classes.  Why?Because they felt their school had a more difficult curriculum &

they " had to see for themselves " whether or not the advanced classes were

appropriate for my kids.  They, too, lost valuable years of advanced classes

due to the new school's ignorance.

Hope this helps in making sure the right people listen & change what is

so wrong in our school systems.....

Gerry Anne Meyer

Subject: School Problems

To:

Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 5:08 PM

 

Hey everyone!

My name is Angie and I am currently enrolled in the Master's program at East

Carolina University for School Psychology. I have special interests in Autism

and other developmental disabilities. I worked in my undergraduate for an agency

called A Small Miracle where I worked one-on-one with recipients who had a whole

range of difficulties as well as worked at a church in their special needs

program. I am telling you all this because I wanted to see what you all found to

be problems you or your children are having in the school system. These problems

can be from the teachers or faculty to the school system or laws as a whole. I

want you all to know that I am doing this for a paper but in no way will I tell

anyone any information with making it anonymous. I am doing this to help

advocate for change in our school system's special education. I would really

appreciate any information you feel comfortable telling me and you all are more

than welcome to contact

me to if you want to know more information. Thank you all for your time and

have a wonderful day!

Angie

[Guest guest]

Gerry,

Thank you so much for your input. It really helps hearing information from

parents. Children have limited resources to advocacy so it is detrimental that

we have these problems heard in any way possible. Thank you again for your

information!

Angie