I Should Have Been In Special Ed

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For a few months now, I've been working on a long term journaling project. The purpose is to purge myself of my childhood memories, because I'm trying to start my life over. I am writing mainly in memory form, not in narrative form.

This is forcing me to look at childhood events with my adult eyes, and I keep realizing things.

I realized something really unexpected this week: I realized that, even though I have above average intelligence (in an academic way), I should have been in special ed classes until I was at least 12. The school knew this and tried to pull me out of mainstream classes in elementary school, but my parents would not allow me to be labeled as special ed. My test scores were too high for the school to do more than suggest special classes.

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Last edited by AmethystRose on 07 Sep 2014, 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Last edited by AmethystRose on 08 Sep 2014, 2:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm supposed to be in special ed apparently, but Alabama won't let me. In Maryland, I'd be in special ed.

Wow that's annoying. I wonder if there are any federal laws that let parents fight that.
I have on my pessimist hat today, so I assume that if there are, the fight would cost a small fortune.

Yeeeah, my counselor got all excited when I explained that I'd be moving to Maryland, because she said that there I'd get the help in school that I need, and Alabama is just bad with.... everything.

Glad to hear you're escaping

I was lucky to have done most of my schooling in California, in a good district. I was mostly home schooled, though.

I think my mom got sick of fighting with school officials to keep me out of special ed and probably also couldn't handle the accusations of abuse that my meltdowns led to, and that that is why I was home schooled well after my siblings were fully mainstreamed.

I should have been in special ed. *nod*

I must say that going by your age compared with your face, and manner of speech, you don't seem like you have Aspergers. You seem in fact quite understanding for your age. I don't know but you don't look like you would have the issues my companions or myself would face.

Not to detract from whatever issues you may have, but that is your appearance to me.

You can't tell whether someone has Asperger's by his/her face on an icon.

My counselor said that I'm definitely emotionally a 10 year old, but very smart.
I have extreme issues related to Asperger's. I don't like feeling like I need to explain myself here, and I'm not going to.

The first time I wanted to die was when I was 10 years old because of how I am and being bullied because of it.

Ummmm... wow. The above comment is not only very rude, but also very misguided and uninformed. ASD is referred to as an invisible disability for a reason, and please try to understand how hard life with ASD is when you don't look disabled.

On a day to day basis, people actually assume that I'm mentally ret*d for reasons yet to be uncovered.

Forget about those people, Serena.

You have lots of knowledge and potential. You probably don't belong in special ed. You want to get a "real" high school diploma, not the IEP one!! !! !

As far as I know, I do not have an IEP, but my teachers usually know that I have Asperger's. My counselor says that with my "severity" of problems in literature that I should have an IEP. I AM failing horribly in it, an I did score very low in one portion of the test for an IEP, but that's apparently no reason for one. I don't care; everyone else just makes a huge fuss about it. I wish that school would be better, but that's clearly not possible, and I just want to leave it.

This is so ignorant that my jaw dropped when I read it.

I'll come back when I can pick it up from the floor to explain more on why.

All right...why is it ignorant?

Why do you speak rough with me? I don't speak rough with you.

Ignorance is WILLFUL. Perhaps I have a LACK OF KNOWLEDGE about something. I'm not IGNORANT.

I've always spoken respectfully to you. Please do the same for me.

I don't learn when people are rough with me.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ADVOCATING THAT SOMEONE GET A REAL DIPLOMA?????????

What's wrong with advising someone to ignore idiots who think they're of subnormal intelligence?

Perhaps you misinterpreted my post?

When you "get off the floor," let's have a reasonable discussion.

wow. ok. I responded as I did because I wanted to indicate that what you said was, in fact, ignorant [it was and still is]. Then I stepped away because I felt it was also implicitly insulting- whether you intended it to be or not- so I thought I could use some space before explaining why. But I thought indicating in the immediate that there might be a problem with what you wrote was pretty important.

Please note that I did not state that you are ignorant but that what you wrote was an ignorant statement. That is, you wrote something demonstrating you have little knowledge of the subject at hand. [To be ignorant of a subject is to lack knowledge of it, as you said- it does not need to be willful in nature.]

I didn't necessarily respond the way I did to be mean, but I did respond abruptly, yes. What you wrote suggests that anyone who used an Individualized Education Plan obtained an education not of equal quality to that of those who did not implement such a plan.

...which is in this case an ignorant notion.





...you seem to think you have been addressing people respectfully. I am trying to inform you that this may be at times an incorrect assumption at this point.



Nothing. If that is actually what you are doing.
Being in a special education program doesn't necessarily mean that the person is of "subnormal intelligence" and the fact that you are assuming it does actually adds to the stigma of these programs- which are helpful and often essential for the complete success of all students with varying disabilities.

The assumption that "special education=stupid" is pervasive, even amongst educators, unfourtunately. That is likely one reason that serena is having trouble getting into a program and getting an IEP. Even though, if she has a diagnosed condition, she has a right to these things under the law.

Getting a high school degree with the implementation of an IEP doesn't degrade the value of the diploma.

I had an IEP through most of school and into high school- know what it was at that point? Basically, I had to have written instructions regarding homework and class assignments and be allowed a separate room to take my exams.

I graduated with ~3.83 and took AP classes [and the AP exams].
That was a "real" diploma.

When I got into college/university it was a different system and I arranged accommodations there as well but I still had to do the work.



I don't believe I did. Is it possible you may have been misinformed about the subject matter though?