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Thursday, May 1, 2008

Where to Begin(rant)

Where to begin, well if you plan on reading this get a bowl of popcorn and settle in. I realize now it may be a long post.

Well lets start from the beginning. My youngest is Travis, a wonderful energetic boy. He was the roughest pregnancy of the three and the easiest birth of the three. As he grew older we noticed that he didn't talk, or really even coo, gaa, mama, dada, etc. He really didn't talk until last year when he was put into preschool.
I did it all trying to find out why he didn't/couldn't talk. I wasn't really totally worried seeing as how his older brother didn't talk until he was 2 1/2 years old. So being me, I talked and really bugged the doctor about seeing if there were any possible tests or something to see if there was anything wrong. He did make some grunts with hand gestures and some limited sign language to help us guess what was on his mind and what he wanted to talk about. The doctor was dead set on the fact that it really isn't anything to worry about. She did give in a little and approved him to get his hearing checked. It came back perfect.
Now what!!
She mentioned the fact that he may be borderline autistic, and so much that that he wouldn't qualify for any help. Since he wasn't talking and his motor skills lacking compared to others his age, and the fact that I was very persistent, the doctor decided he did qualify for some testing for ESD help. After the testing went through guess what it showed that he needed some help....DUH I told them that like 2 years ago!!!
So he went into the WESD preschool. He loved it and blossomed a bunch. It was really neat to see.
Well in Oregon at the age of 5 after you have completed your year, you no longer qualify for free preschool or help. You have to enroll them into kindergarten and hope they are ready to get more special educational help. Sometimes the kids don't qualify for kindergarten and wait a year with out schooling. I think that is awful that they loose the feeling for school.
Seeing as how he qualified for kindergarten he was put in for this year and he is the youngest in his class. He is doing really well and loves school. He has the best teacher and the best speech specialist in the world. As the year has moved on and is now almost over, here in lies the problem.
Our School boundaries are changing and adding one more elementary school. SO this means that Travis(and mickey) have to move schools. That's not the problem, the problem is that the schools don't know who is going to be the teachers for kindergarten and the speech specialist for the school that they are to attend. Its weird NO ONE KNOWS!
With Travis and his learning issues-verbal dysplexia, motor skills and emotional needs we as in the current teachers and myself really need to know. In order to help him all of us need to sit down and go over the IEP plan and see what needs to be done between now and the beginning of school. WE need to be able to set some goals and get some more testing done so he can qualify for more learning/special education help.
We have decided to place him back into kindergarten again. He will be the age of the rest of the kids and if planned out right and all goes well he will graduate at 18 like most of his friends will. So this way he will catch up in age, skill and speech.
BUT since the school district has no idea about anything we are STUCK, wasting precious time that we cant waste.
I feel like all this is my fault, I feel like I did this to him and I may have just screwed him over. It was my decision to let the switch happen. If I had decided to make them keep them at the current school-MES, this mess wouldn't be an issue. I know all the teachers and of course the speech specialist.
I have melted down like three times into tears and feel like a big let down. It could be my fault he freezes up and decides he isn't smart. He is so smart, smarted than many give him credit for. Yes I know it is hard to understand him but he knows everything under the sun!! He just doesn't have the ability yet to explain with words or feelings.
Just last week he went into shutdown mode in class because the substitute gave up on him. He was trying to tell her the answer and she said"Umm, what? Oh well, never-mind, Next." That would make anyone mad! I was there volunteering and couldn't believe my ears. I was as calm as I could be and went and talked to the office about it. It should never have happened, really to anyone. It just breaks me up inside to know that this is how he is treated sometimes.
I don't know what else to do. I have gone to the district office and they just passed me around and acted like I didn't matter and that I was in the way. Like I was a nobody and really didn't need to know.
I am stuck, I feel like I have failed him and because of that his education is in my hands. That is a really big responsibility.
I don't want to fail, but I may have done that already.

2 Happy Thoughts:

Anonymous said...

FAIL is a really big ugly word, first of all. And, secondly, I don't think it's possible for you to fail him. The system might, but you're doing everything you can for him, and that doesn't qualify as failing. Period. So, what about organinzing the other parents of special ed kids? You can't be the only parent in this situation. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and if there are a lot of you squeaking, you're liable to get the answers you're looking for! I'm sorry things are so difficult, but don't let it get you down. You are Travis' best advocate and I have faith that you'll find what you need to make this work for him. (hug)

Rachel Holloway said...

I hadn't forgotten you! I had to save this big post for a free second!!

What a tough situation! I agree with Calista--keep pressing the issue. And really, you never know what will come of this. Sometimes the toughest situations are for our testing and faith...and things somehow always work out.

I am thinking of you!