Res: Re: Inclusion victory!

[Guest guest]

I didnt know that, Christy! Even kindergartners can receive these services? I know my other daughter, who is 15, though speaks good Englis, did receive this services for 6 months when we firts arrived. I will bring this subject up on our next meeting. Tks for letting me know!

Pat

De: kayc0911 Para: DownSyndromeInfoExchange Enviadas: Sexta-feira, 28 de Maio de 2010 11:35:59Assunto: [DownSyndromeInfoExchange] Re: Inclusion victory!

Pat -

Is receiving ESL-English as a Second Language (or ESOL) services from the school? When you registered her for school, you should have been given a form called a Home Language Survey that asks if a different language is spoken in your home and if your child speaks another language. If the answer to either of these questions is Yes then your child MUST be evaluated for their English Proficiency level (yes. . .even children with special needs!). Some schools DO try to get around this requirement and don't evaluate children with special needs - BUT they are required to provide services to these chilren also. ESL is a general education program that supports children with a second language at home. If her gen ed teacher does not have an ESL endorsement then the ESL teacher for that school should be providing additional support for and her teacher (to build her English vocabulary).

This could be an additional support that would be very beneficial for 's success in the classroom.

Christy

>> Dear all,> > Sorry for the long message, but maybe some of the things I have been through could help others like so many messages I read here helped me.> > First of all I wanted to thank you all for sharing your experience and suggestions that allowed me to build my daughters case against a change of placement from gen-ed kinder to self -contained.> > Even though I immediately reacted against her schools suggestion after the IEP meeting, as a sign of good faith, and also because I didnt really know what a self-contained room looked like, I agreed to visit the two self-contained the district has in two other elementary schools in the district. They couldnt be more different from one another. In one, one teacher, two kids, non-verbal, different age groups, 6 and

9 - didnt look like they had a clue what they were doing there. Maybe I am wrong, but to me it looked like babysitting, not as if there was a individualized program for those childrens development that was being followed. At the other one, quite the opposite. 5 kids, 3 teachers, full of resources, kids working on their assignments, teachers ad kids totally focused. Evidently what the school district is doing is putting the high functioning kids together and the low functioning kids together, excuse the label, which, as far as I can see is NOT> the way to go. In our particular case, would be in between these two group of kids - she is not as low functioning as the first group, neither as high as the second. The trouble is I wouldnt be allowed to pick the school I preferred. And I think that if she was placed in the low functioning group she would certainly regress.> > Anyway, after the visit I sent an email to her school

coordinator with many questions and my honest feelings about it. I took the opportunity to mention some of the suggestions you made. I will omit names of schools and professionals.> > Dear Dr> > Thank you for calling and taking the time to answer these questions:> > 1) If is placed on a self-contained classroom:> - Can she stay at mainstreaming for as many hours as possible? How long would that be? What would her weekly schedule look like?> - Will she receive services in the self-contained room or would it be pull-out/pushed- in at gen-ed?> - Can she stay more than 2 afternoons with the gen-ed class?> - Can we choose what self-contained class she goes to ?> - In case we change houses (our lease is due in October) and we move to school 2 area, would that guarantee she goes there? Would she have spec-ed services at their self-contained room and be also

mainstreamed?> > 2) If she stays at her school:> - Could there be a change in some of the services? Since transitioning to spec-ed and Speech seem difficult for her maybe these two could be push-ins or be reduced. > - If she stays at her school kindergarten could she have more afternoons at gen-ed? (she works better in a smaller group, according to her teacher).> - Is it possible for kindergarten children and staff (general) be educated not to pet/baby ?> > 3) In both cases:> > - Could she have a toilet assistant, in case toilet remains being a problem? (I have heard it is better now).> - Could she have a Portuguese speaking aide?> - Is there a inclusion specialist in the distric? Could she/he assess and propose strategies to promote her inclusion (coach relation with peers, suggesting adaptations, etc)> - Since she is making such good progress with the language

developing technique we are using at home, would it be possible to have the specialist come from his home town to give us a lecture and train staff/family?> > My last question: if we do change her placement and it doesnt work, can she go back to her school? After how long could we assess that?> > We still think staying at her school would be more benifitial for because:> > - First and foremost, she already knows the place, routines and staff of school. She is making amazing progress there.Became much more sociable, talkative, got toilet independence and is improving her reading and attention. We would hate to see her regress when changing her enviroment too much.> - Another concern is that her school is closer to our home and her babysitter doesnt drive. I understand she is entitled transportation, but in case she is sick or has a toilet accident, it would be more difficult for her sitter to come

pick her up.> - Because of my husbands and my job, that require that we move a lot, she is going to have many different schools she will go already. Also because of that, the more contact she has with the real world, the better, since she will be living in different countries and being exposed to different languages and people.> > I am sorry for asking so many questions. Maybe some of them might seem abusurd. but since I dont know how the school system works very well, the only way I can find out is asking.> > Thank you again and all the team at this school and the school district for the great effort you are all making to provide with the best education possible.> > -----------> > After one week I heard today from the coordinator. The self-contained room idea was abandoned. Not only will they keep where she is, we already had agreeded that she would do kindergarten again next

year (she is still within age, being 5,5) , but they will also take in some of our suggestions. She will have extra afternoons at school and most of the services will be rendered then, avoiding transitioning problems and losing too much of the gen-ed classroom. They will have the inclusion specialist come once a month and we will work together in educating peers and staff. We wont get the toilet assistant, portuguese speaking para and workshop with the specialist, though. The better part was to hear from her that as parents, WE have the last word on her placement. So, today I wanted to share with you all my happyness for convincing the district not to give up on my daughter, and give you all my big THANK YOU for all your knowledge and support!> > Warm regards,> > Pat>