(no subject)
More on Jason and the district. As usual, the district has dropped the ball. I’m not sure if they are going to pick him up in a wheelchair bus or not yet. They are slated to pick him up at the house at least. That is an improvement. It still remains to be seen if that will truly happen though. I strongly suspect the bus will not be a wheelchair bus as usual. We have been assured that it is one. I am not holding my breath. The sheer level of incompetence of the school district’s transportation office knows no bounds, and I don’t look good as a smurf.
Even with the high priced lawyer, we STILL haven’t had our meeting with the district. IThis torques my shorts off no end. I’ve requested in writing 4 times that we meet. I got copied on the lawyer’s letter, so I know she requested it too. The lawyer had to ream someone today to figure out which school district lawyer had Jason’s case. It’s not like I haven’t been asking for a meeting since last year for crying out loud. I realize t hat the fault is at the district level and not necessarily that of his new school, but you would think that they might actually review the special ed cases they have coming in new for the year. It’s unconscionable.
The Jr High had no clue as to Jason’s needs and I suspect that they’ve not seen his IEP yet either. I found out that the district mostly took away Jason’s aid. Jason can’t give himself his therabite, nor should he tube feed himself. He does eat regular food, but slowly. Will he be able to finish eating regular food within the allotted time? If not, does he have to go hungry the rest of the day? I don’t like that, and its not necessarily going to teach him to eat faster either.
I’m not sure if Jason will be able to navigate the school. I’m sure they have elevators, but if he doesn’t have an adult with him, I do fear him getting bullied. He’s the size of an average 3rd grader, and he’s in a wheelchair. Folks can’t understand him most of the time either. I suspect that would make Jason an easy target so to speak. Then there is the simple fact that he is not as able as the other kids. He cant run, jump etc. He isn’t as fast as other kids his age either. I had been led to believe that most kids in his level of classes at his age are more physical and their issues tend to lead toward more violent behavior. I am under the impression that there will be a few of the autistic kids that Jason had been in school with before. A couple of those boys had some violent tendencies which is why they were removed from the class and they were eventually moved into some other program.
I am being told by Jason’s lawyer that I should have paperwork from the district arriving to get him some sort of assistive tech for when he has communication break downs. They had given him a voice box to use, in kindergarten and first grade; it rarely came home with him. He never had homework with it. AFAIK, it was gone by the end of his first or second quarter in first grade. I know he didn’t have it Christmas vacation. So that is something. How can a teacher ask him a question if they can’t understand Jason’s answer? Heck, for that matter, how can Jason ask a question if they can’t understand him? This is a positive at least.
His lawyer is trying to get him mainstreamed into a couple of general ed classes too. The district did remove him from the general ed PE class at least. They have him as a TA in the library. I’m not sure what they would have him do exactly though since I am not sure he knows how to alphabetize or that he knows how a library is set up other than there are the kid books. While he is almost at a second grade reading level, it’s not anywhere near where he should be. The only reason he is that far along is that his teacher last year actually worked with him. Last year was the first time he had spelling words for crying out loud! He is even further behind in math.
Jason’s lawyer is pushing to get him into a science class. He has all the reasoning capabilities etc, it’s the communicating those ideas that is kicking his butt. A large part of her concern is that if he is always in t he special ed classroom, he will never be exposed to those ideas thus leaving him in ignorance. They may have to adapt or modify the course material to something he can do, but still have him participate and formulate ideas and concepts of his own in relation to whatever they are studying. I hope that will spur him on to do more. He needs those experiences and he isn’t going to get those the way they have things set up now.
I am really frustrated that the district has pushed us off again. Jason’s stuff was supposed to be set and in place at the end of the school year. I am going to press the school to have the IEP meeting that the district seems to be avoiding while we are at the school tomorrow. I don’t want to do it without his lawyer present. I am sick of having to have to fight with the district in order to get them to do what they are supposed to and to get Jason what he needs. It’s not like we are asking for gilded textbooks or tuition to some ivy league school. This is his basic education that I pay taxes to fund. There are funds set aside to help people with issues like his succeed in school so that they can get an education so as not to become a burden on society. I get the impression that the district is and has been writing off him and others like him before they even get started. That is so not cool.
Even with the high priced lawyer, we STILL haven’t had our meeting with the district. IThis torques my shorts off no end. I’ve requested in writing 4 times that we meet. I got copied on the lawyer’s letter, so I know she requested it too. The lawyer had to ream someone today to figure out which school district lawyer had Jason’s case. It’s not like I haven’t been asking for a meeting since last year for crying out loud. I realize t hat the fault is at the district level and not necessarily that of his new school, but you would think that they might actually review the special ed cases they have coming in new for the year. It’s unconscionable.
The Jr High had no clue as to Jason’s needs and I suspect that they’ve not seen his IEP yet either. I found out that the district mostly took away Jason’s aid. Jason can’t give himself his therabite, nor should he tube feed himself. He does eat regular food, but slowly. Will he be able to finish eating regular food within the allotted time? If not, does he have to go hungry the rest of the day? I don’t like that, and its not necessarily going to teach him to eat faster either.
I’m not sure if Jason will be able to navigate the school. I’m sure they have elevators, but if he doesn’t have an adult with him, I do fear him getting bullied. He’s the size of an average 3rd grader, and he’s in a wheelchair. Folks can’t understand him most of the time either. I suspect that would make Jason an easy target so to speak. Then there is the simple fact that he is not as able as the other kids. He cant run, jump etc. He isn’t as fast as other kids his age either. I had been led to believe that most kids in his level of classes at his age are more physical and their issues tend to lead toward more violent behavior. I am under the impression that there will be a few of the autistic kids that Jason had been in school with before. A couple of those boys had some violent tendencies which is why they were removed from the class and they were eventually moved into some other program.
I am being told by Jason’s lawyer that I should have paperwork from the district arriving to get him some sort of assistive tech for when he has communication break downs. They had given him a voice box to use, in kindergarten and first grade; it rarely came home with him. He never had homework with it. AFAIK, it was gone by the end of his first or second quarter in first grade. I know he didn’t have it Christmas vacation. So that is something. How can a teacher ask him a question if they can’t understand Jason’s answer? Heck, for that matter, how can Jason ask a question if they can’t understand him? This is a positive at least.
His lawyer is trying to get him mainstreamed into a couple of general ed classes too. The district did remove him from the general ed PE class at least. They have him as a TA in the library. I’m not sure what they would have him do exactly though since I am not sure he knows how to alphabetize or that he knows how a library is set up other than there are the kid books. While he is almost at a second grade reading level, it’s not anywhere near where he should be. The only reason he is that far along is that his teacher last year actually worked with him. Last year was the first time he had spelling words for crying out loud! He is even further behind in math.
Jason’s lawyer is pushing to get him into a science class. He has all the reasoning capabilities etc, it’s the communicating those ideas that is kicking his butt. A large part of her concern is that if he is always in t he special ed classroom, he will never be exposed to those ideas thus leaving him in ignorance. They may have to adapt or modify the course material to something he can do, but still have him participate and formulate ideas and concepts of his own in relation to whatever they are studying. I hope that will spur him on to do more. He needs those experiences and he isn’t going to get those the way they have things set up now.
I am really frustrated that the district has pushed us off again. Jason’s stuff was supposed to be set and in place at the end of the school year. I am going to press the school to have the IEP meeting that the district seems to be avoiding while we are at the school tomorrow. I don’t want to do it without his lawyer present. I am sick of having to have to fight with the district in order to get them to do what they are supposed to and to get Jason what he needs. It’s not like we are asking for gilded textbooks or tuition to some ivy league school. This is his basic education that I pay taxes to fund. There are funds set aside to help people with issues like his succeed in school so that they can get an education so as not to become a burden on society. I get the impression that the district is and has been writing off him and others like him before they even get started. That is so not cool.