Re: Good grades or good work?

May 10, 2006

HI Sheri,

I also have a 13 year old son who is gifted with AS. Until this year he not

only did not do his work at grade level, he just did not do any work. He was

flunking school because of it. I don't knnow where you live but we just moved

to Texas and they have a wonderful program here. He is in the pre-AP classes

because of his testing even though his grades were terrible. They gave him a

chance. He spends half the day in the regular classrooms (the classes he can

handle without any outbursts) and the rest of the day in an all inclusive

classroom with about 4-5 other kids with special needs. He loves it. He gets

all the same work as he would if he were in the classroom but he has more time

to finish it at his own pace. Does your school have anything like this? If it

does maybe that would be a good place to start. Since moving here, my son went

from getting all zeros to getting all A's. Good luck..

Joan

Sheri Briley <aspie_pride@...> wrote:

I was just floored today....my 14yo AS son has been bringing home A & b report

cards all year, but still telling me how bored he is with school.

Well, at his IEP today, I suggested allowing him into the gifted program. His

tested IQ is high-average, and every test he's been given the evaluator says " an

extremely low estimation of 's true abilities. " There's no doubt in

anyone's mind that he's gifted/genius, he's just been left behind for 5 years,

being treated as ADHD instead of AS has left all kinds of baggage we're dealing

with.

So, IEP meeting, they tell me, he's not working at an 8th grade level, so he's

not eligible for the program. I'm very confused because just last week all I'm

hearing from the school is what an amzing job he's done on a research paper. The

teacher pulls it out & what I see in front of me is I'm guessing 3rd grade

work....This paper has been his project for 6 weeks, and all I have is a page &

a half, with 2 works cited, 8 paragraphs of 5-6 simple sentences each. He got a

95% on this, only losing 5% because he only had 2 sources (instead of 3) in his

bibliography page (not that he referenced either of them in the paper)

I ask how he's getting by with doing this little bit, and well, that's all

that the teacher expected of him. when he'd finished the day's task, he could

have free time to read or use the computer. Now, apparently, a day's task might

be finding a source in the library (not reading it, not taking notes, just

finding) Or writing a topic sentence. So, he did exactly what was expected of

him, and not one iota more.

I could scream! He needs small classes, and because of that he's been put into

remedial classes without my knowing. And the Team thinks he's doing super. Just

look at his report card! Where's the expectations of grade level work & quality?

Hugs & Peace,

Sheri Briley

http://my2.tupperware.com/johnbriley

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May 10, 2006

He was failing everything up until he got the dx in 5th grade (i'm still not

sure if he was flunking every thing why they passed him each year, and if they

knew that he'd learned what he needed to, why they trashed his self-esteem by

giving him f's!)

now he does the same thing...he's in self-contained half the day, and

mainstreamed the other half, but his classes are on the remedial end, and in the

self-contained, it's very basic (reading class is about phonics!) There's been

nothing to indicate the level of his work until I saw that research paper &

asked about his other classes.

His MS Art class is for 7th graders, his MS Social Studies, as long as he

finishes the work, he gets free time--so, he bs's his way through 5 minutes of

work, then has an hour to himself. His MS Communication Arts class is

remedial...mostly ESL and MR students. His self contained classes he does the

same work as the rest of the kids (there's 14 of them in the class)

Hugs & Peace,

Sheri Briley

http://my2.tupperware.com/johnbriley

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May 10, 2006

Hi,

Sounds like he does better in the self contained classroom. Why not try

putting him it all day to see if there are any changes.

Joan

Sheri Briley <aspie_pride@...> wrote:

He was failing everything up until he got the dx in 5th grade (i'm still not

sure if he was flunking every thing why they passed him each year, and if they

knew that he'd learned what he needed to, why they trashed his self-esteem by

giving him f's!)

now he does the same thing...he's in self-contained half the day, and

mainstreamed the other half, but his classes are on the remedial end, and in the

self-contained, it's very basic (reading class is about phonics!) There's been

nothing to indicate the level of his work until I saw that research paper &

asked about his other classes.

His MS Art class is for 7th graders, his MS Social Studies, as long as he

finishes the work, he gets free time--so, he bs's his way through 5 minutes of

work, then has an hour to himself. His MS Communication Arts class is

remedial...mostly ESL and MR students. His self contained classes he does the

same work as the rest of the kids (there's 14 of them in the class)

Hugs & Peace,

Sheri Briley

http://my2.tupperware.com/johnbriley

---------------------------------

Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+

countries) for 2¢/min or less.

May 10, 2006

He's getting good grades in all of his classes, doing exactly what is expected

of him, and nothing more. And they' don't expect much, in either the mainstream

or self-contained classes. All of the self-contained classes are remedial in the

district, and since he's not doing grade level work, they won't consider placing

him in advanced level work (although he's quite capapble)

How can I get the school to challenge him to work to his potential?

Joan Reekie <joanr520@...> wrote:

Hi,

Sounds like he does better in the self contained classroom. Why not try

putting him it all day to see if there are any changes.

Joan

Sheri Briley <aspie_pride@...> wrote:

He was failing everything up until he got the dx in 5th grade (i'm still not

sure if he was flunking every thing why they passed him each year, and if they

knew that he'd learned what he needed to, why they trashed his self-esteem by

giving him f's!)

now he does the same thing...he's in self-contained half the day, and

mainstreamed the other half, but his classes are on the remedial end, and in the

self-contained, it's very basic (reading class is about phonics!) There's been

nothing to indicate the level of his work until I saw that research paper &

asked about his other classes.

His MS Art class is for 7th graders, his MS Social Studies, as long as he

finishes the work, he gets free time--so, he bs's his way through 5 minutes of

work, then has an hour to himself. His MS Communication Arts class is

remedial...mostly ESL and MR students. His self contained classes he does the

same work as the rest of the kids (there's 14 of them in the class)

Hugs & Peace,

Sheri Briley

http://my2.tupperware.com/johnbriley

---------------------------------

Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+

countries) for 2¢/min or less.

May 17, 2006

Subject: Re: ( ) Good grades or good work?

He was failing everything up until he got the dx in 5th grade (i'm still not

sure if he was flunking every thing why they passed him each year, and if

they knew that he'd learned what he needed to, why they trashed his

self-esteem by giving him f's!)

now he does the same thing...he's in self-contained half the day, and

mainstreamed the other half, but his classes are on the remedial end, and in

the self-contained, it's very basic (reading class is about phonics!)

There's been nothing to indicate the level of his work until I saw that

research paper & asked about his other classes.

His MS Art class is for 7th graders, his MS Social Studies, as long as he

finishes the work, he gets free time--so, he bs's his way through 5 minutes

of work, then has an hour to himself. His MS Communication Arts class is

remedial...mostly ESL and MR students. His self contained classes he does

the same work as the rest of the kids (there's 14 of them in the class)

Hugs & Peace,

Sheri Briley

http://my2.tupperware.com/johnbriley

This would not be an appropriate placement at all. They need to attend to

his educational needs and if they don't have an appropriate program in

place, they need to make one or suggest alternative schools in your area

that do have an appropriate program. You can also look into articles on

twice exceptional kids (aka " 2e " ) to learn more about ways to advocate for

the gifted who are also LD. Many times, it is a hard concept for people to

get. But one of my ds's is 2e and it's like we are hanging between two

worlds sometimes, heavier on the HFA side, though.

Roxanna

May 17, 2006

It's tough to find a good program for 2e's. 's school proports

to be such a school. has been bored there much of the time.

But I give them lots of credit for being flexible and for working

with us. He's heading back to school today. We've put together a new

program, where he'll be a teaching assistant to the 8th grade history

teacher (for pay!) and he'll work on his English credit. Those are

the two courses he needs to graduate. I'm taking my computer to a

Starbucks near the school, and I'll work on my book, so I can dash

over there if anything comes up. Wish us luck!

Liz

On May 17, 2006, at 8:50 AM, Roxanna wrote:

>

> This would not be an appropriate placement at all. They need to

> attend to

> his educational needs and if they don't have an appropriate program in

> place, they need to make one or suggest alternative schools in your

> area

> that do have an appropriate program. You can also look into

> articles on

> twice exceptional kids (aka " 2e " ) to learn more about ways to

> advocate for

> the gifted who are also LD. Many times, it is a hard concept for

> people to

> get. But one of my ds's is 2e and it's like we are hanging between

> two

> worlds sometimes, heavier on the HFA side, though.

>

> Roxanna

May 17, 2006

I'm so glad 's school is working with you! I hope he and you both

had a great productive day! Toni

Liz Bohn wrote:

> It's tough to find a good program for 2e's. 's school proports

> to be such a school. has been bored there much of the time.

> But I give them lots of credit for being flexible and for working

> with us. He's heading back to school today. We've put together a new

> program, where he'll be a teaching assistant to the 8th grade history

> teacher (for pay!) and he'll work on his English credit. Those are

> the two courses he needs to graduate. I'm taking my computer to a

> Starbucks near the school, and I'll work on my book, so I can dash

> over there if anything comes up. Wish us luck!

>

> Liz

>

> On May 17, 2006, at 8:50 AM, Roxanna wrote:

> >

> > This would not be an appropriate placement at all. They need to

> > attend to

> > his educational needs and if they don't have an appropriate program in

> > place, they need to make one or suggest alternative schools in your

> > area

> > that do have an appropriate program. You can also look into

> > articles on

> > twice exceptional kids (aka " 2e " ) to learn more about ways to

> > advocate for

> > the gifted who are also LD. Many times, it is a hard concept for

> > people to

> > get. But one of my ds's is 2e and it's like we are hanging between

> > two

> > worlds sometimes, heavier on the HFA side, though.

> >

> > Roxanna

>

May 17, 2006

ACK. I really do know how to spell purports.

On May 17, 2006, at 10:44 AM, Liz Bohn wrote: