What is your child's school placement? (Feb 15 2002)

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I'm trying something new...a weekly poll posted on (or near) each Wednesday. I hope it sparks conversation.

If you'd like to make a poll, please do so...even better if you make one on Wednesdays!

So, what is you child's placement? More importantly, are you happy with it?

If your child has graduated school, what was his/her placement.

Thanks!

I'll start.

D was tested for preschool services but we were told to wait until K. In K he started speech therapy. In second grade he started writing support as he has a learning disability in the written area as well. In fourth grade he started pull out for writting and english. In sixth, middle school here, he continued pull out/special ed for writing and english. Now in seventh, he is in a ASD classroom for half half the day, "push-in" (SLD teacher goes to ASD room) for writing, adepted phy ed, and mainstreamed for math and history.

Its been an interesting journey getting this far.

BeeBee

Dylan goes 2 day a week to a regular preschool with an aide for part of the day. He starts primary (equivalent to Kindergarten) in Sept. and we're hoping he has a full time EA.

Andy was only just diagnosed at the tail end of 4th grade, he's been mainstream all along with pull outs for speech therapy until 2nd grade for apraxia.

He now has a solid IEP in place, some minor accomodations (the ability to go to a quiet space if the noise gets overwhelming in class which he's never used yet) and some that are essential (such as a velcro daily calendar where his day is lined up ahead of time which has been amazing in cutting down on his stress levels - he's a what's next kid) and pull outs for speech for his pragmatics and for his dysgraphia (the one thing the school and I aren't seeing eye to eye about).

We don't have any plans to put him in anything more restrictive. He is blossoming this year, mostly because we now know what the issues were that were causing him to behave as he did and so we can address them before they can get out of control now.

DD started speech therapy right after she turned 3 because of speech issues and she started attending an integrated special needs preschool four days a week, where she received speech and occupational therapies at 3 as well. When she started kindergarten at 5, she was mainstreamed with a para who was available full-time as needed. She started first grade with this same plan, but it fell apart halfway through first grade and she was removed to a self-contained setting where she sat at a desk in a closet-sized room alone most of the time. She is at a different school now, still in a self-contained setting (but not locked in a closet) where she works with a team of paras as well as her special education teacher. At least one adult is with her and has primary responsibility for her at all times while she is in school. If she is in the bathroom, the adult is right outside the door. If she needs assistance, there is a female para who works with her. Her special education teacher and one para is male. They are attempting to include her in certain activities as much as she can tolerate being around the other children. She participates in physical education classes most days at least part time and goes to the cafeteria to eat her lunch some days. She also sits in the hallway at her desk outside her regular fourth grade classroom for at least half an hour and does classwork there most days. They tried music and art but so far she has not tolerated being with the other children for these. The female para who works with her most often is an artist and has been working with DD privately on art projects. This para, bless her heart, brought some of her own supplies from home and I brought some supplies including a brush set, canvasses, special pads of watercolor paper and artist pallettes for their use at school. I am not an artist at all, but I am grateful for how hard she is trying to help my daughter. I am grateful for them all.

They are so much better than her old school was. Nobody has physically abused her at this school, but she still has problems because of what was done to her at the first school. I kick myself for assuming the best of them and not realizing what was happening to her there sooner. Like a fool, I believed them when they said how much they loved my DD and that they were doing what they were doing only to help her. She was unable to tell me much about it at the time, but I should have known something was wrong when she often fought going into the school and I had to carry her in, kicking and screaming. After she ran away from the school and her special education teacher threatened her with calling the police (on a second grader!) and my daughter told me that she ran away only because the teacher put liquid soap in her mouth, I was furious and hunted hard for a better school for her. I also discussed the incident, first with the teacher alone (she denied it, of course) and later in an IEP meeting with everyone.

my daughter (3) is in an autism preschool with integrated play time outside. I am very happy with the arrangement. My only complaint is that they discontinued her OT. We are in the process of getting it back, though.

DS (7rs old....grade 2) was in a Montessori school for the past 3 years and it was highly successful. We would have kept him there until age 12 but he experience something traumatic at the hands of another student so we had to pull him. Our only other option was public (where he's been since November) and it's been an uphill battle. He doesn't have his firm diagnosis yet (that takes place March 20) so they're not willing to do much of anything until they have that little piece of paper telling them what it is.

So right now he's in mainstream, no accomodations but he only goes in the morning because he barely function for that short of a time in the classroom let alone a full day. They have tentively added him to the list of kids needing EA's for next year but there's no guarantee he'll get one and he needs his dx first. So right now we're in limbo.

What a range of experiences!

I'm overwhelmed by them all, to be honest. In D's case there have been people who have gone way beyond the call of duty and given so much of themself....like the artist para. Then there has been horrible times.

We are going though a rough place now.

It has to get better.

BeeBee

Maybe if we knew more about D's difficulties, we could brainstorm possible solutions with all the varied experiences we have.

Just a thought: Has D considered special earplugs or headphones to filter sounds and make it easier for him to cope?

DS (youngest) just was placed in a non-public school for autistics.
His history~Montessori for preschool, public Kindergarten (1/2 day) Had problems
We transferred to a full day school because my job moved me, he was significantly behind per their standards. Started 1st grade, it seemed like he only learned up to a certain point. This was also when the behaviors started.
Repeated 1st grade (no dx yet)
Moved new state for 2nd grade, VB behaviors in classroom, had 1st IEP here, stimming and spacing out in class. Moved to CRI, then 1:1 in small classroom. 3rd grade new school for Consolidated self contained special ed classroom. Marked behaviors, implemented new BIP.
New 1:1 dedicated aid. Speech, and OT by consult. Pulled out of CSEP classroom in December awaiting School district decision for outside placement. Outside placement approved Feb, with IEP revisions. Being placed in Kennedy Krieger. Full time speach and OT in classroom. Yippeee, he can attend until he is 21.

DS(oldest) Montessori until 1st grade, did awesome! Had special ed pull out services, and resource room until moved to this state. They felt he didn't need it and took it off of his IEP. He needs it now and now I am fighting to get him services again. he has decided to selective mute until he gets removed from this "mean teachers room"

Can you afford to hire an attorney who specializes in special education law so your DS can get moved from the mean teacher's room and get the services he needs? That is what we did for our daughter and we got lots of cooperation from my daughter's school now. The speech therapist tried to cut DD's speech therapy and everyone else in the room disagreed with her, which is a very different experience than the one we had before we hired the attorney and the occupational therapist tried to cut DD's OT time at her previous school. Although we did not take the school district to due process, we had documentation and we were prepared to take it to court if we needed to. We still are, but now there is no need.

Aspen,

I'm gonna take you up on the offer and vent a bit. Perhaps someone can help. I need sometime, however, to get my thoughts together on it. I'm having should a hard time with the school and thinking it though that I wonder if I'm slipping into a depression of some sort.

Big tight hugs Bee. I can totally relate to those tough times and how overwhelming/depressing it can be. If you need to vent, PM me. A listening ear is always here.

It *will* get better. In my experience, I've found that it usually gets worse before it gets better but it all goes in cycles. You're due for an upswing about now. Deep breaths and one day at a time.

great poll!
we started our son out on a 504 plan, fully mainstreamed in a regular ed school~it just wasn't enough support for him. We're thrilled with his current placement in a therapeutic day school....and more importantly, he is too.

Thanks for the support, guys. It means a lot.

Barb

Vlad is in gifted classes with a IEP & adapted P.E.

BeeBee