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First I have no opinion on the schools decisions as they have experience with many kids like her, but I am not a professional. It's the therapist who thought this class was too restrictive. Maybe she has seen kids who were more disabled than my daughter in general education classrooms. I don't know. But I highly doubt a school would want to spend extra money in a self-contained classroom.
The reason I don't attend meetings is because they repeat my daughter's issues which I already know about. I still read her IEP. I never question the schools decisions because as I said, they are professionals, I am not.
I also said a self contained classroom costs more money. Not only that LRE is the law. If they put a child in a self contained classroom that means the child really needs it.
You need to take an active interest in your daughter's education. Show up for a meeting and pretend you give a $hit. Poor girl. If you can't count on your own mom who can you count on?
My daughter is currently in the 5th grade in a self contained classroom. Her teachers are complaining she has no focus or whatever. I told them they are the ones who put her in special ed. Special ed is for kids who can't focus. If she was in general ed they can complain. She flat out refused to do her homework since 4th grade. This wasn't a problem before. There is no making her. It's like asking the wall to do homework. If we insist she starts crying. When she promises her teacher she will do her homework, she wakes up in the middle of the night and does it, and it disrupts her sleep. I told the teacher sleep is more important than homework. A social worker from the school told me to get her evaluated and if I don't he will call CPS. I chose a hospital with outpatient services that is the closest to my home but the school insisted I not go there because it sorta has a bad reputation. So I have to drive 45 minutes to a different hospital when there is one closer. I told them if this hospital was that bad it would have been closed down. I mean, professionals do lose their license. I think it's pointless to drive 45 minutes to a hospital when there is one nearby. We saw a psychologist, who referred us to a neurologist outside the hospital but is a friend of hers. The neurologist did an evaluation and thinks my daughter has very mild Aspergers. He said Aspie kids don't understand why they need to do homework. However the hospital also did an evaluation and they said she didn't meet the criteria for Aspergers. Asperger's is an either/or diagnosis. She either has it or she doesn't. The neurologist's office did a test where she had to click on every new letter that popped on the computer except the letter X. They said her focusing is fine. I saw another psychologist. She said a full time self contained classroom is too restrictive for my daughter. First of all she is young and doesn't have much experience with kids let alone in a school setting. I asked about her experience with kids in a school setting and she said none. The school has dealt with hundreds of kids like my daughter and I'm pretty sure they know what they're doing. Plus the IDEA says she is entitled to least restrictive environment. What reputable school would actively violate LRE? A self contained classroom costs more money and if the government finds out the school can lose funding. I let the school do whatever they like on their own time as long as they aren't abusing her. They want to put her in special ed, fine by me. I don't even attend IEP meetings, but I sign whatever they ask me to. I do what they ask me to. I don't agree with driving to another hospital when there is one nearby. I mean these people all received the same education and have the same degrees. They can effectively accomplish what the school wants.
So your child doesn’t attended task- have you tried behavioral therapy or medication?
Long term do you realize she won’t be able to graduate, get a job, and become independent with these behaviors?
The school isn’t violating LRE because you agreed to the placement. If you don’t like it ask for a change. You will have to actually participate in the process to do so.
FYI- You can always remove her SPED services, but something tells me you won’t like what happens if you do that.
You sound like you just want someone to raise your child and hope it turns out well.
You need a wake up call. Get your child the help she needs.
To clarify? To answer questions? To at least acknowledge that strangers spent a few minutes of their day to try to help her daughter?
Some of the comments made to the OP should not be dignified with a reply, in my opinion. I'm seeing profanity as well as accusations of being a bad mom, and lots of mom shaming. This thread is totally nasty. I don't blame the OP for not returning. She owes nothing to any of you.
Some of the comments made to the OP should not be dignified with a reply, in my opinion. I'm seeing profanity as well as accusations of being a bad mom, and lots of mom shaming. This thread is totally nasty. I don't blame the OP for not returning. She owes nothing to any of you.
I haven’t posted a reply until now & not to the OP at all & that is because I’m trying to understand first where the OP is coming from.
But as the mom of a child determined to have Severe Needs; I’m having a really hard time with this. I’m at my son’s school all the time & it’s usually anything but fun. I can think of 100 things I’d rather be doing (employment would be 1st choice) but what happens now, during these years at school; are going to shape what little chance he has at anything resembling a normal life.
He can’t advocate for himself but I sure can.
There are so many aspects of parenting a disabled child that I have no control over. So many non-negotiable obstacles. Being engaged & involved with his education is one of the very few ways I can make a difference & I cannot imagine not taking advantage of that. It’s one of the few things I have left.
With the little bit of information provided so far, it honestly sounds like neglect.
You, the school, and your daughter's doctors are supposed to be a team, working on a plan that will guide your child through her school years and produce a young adult capable of holding a job and becoming self sufficient. All of you have to work together, and that includes you.
First I have no opinion on the schools decisions as they have experience with many kids like her, but I am not a professional. It's the therapist who thought this class was too restrictive. Maybe she has seen kids who were more disabled than my daughter in general education classrooms. I don't know. But I highly doubt a school would want to spend extra money in a self-contained classroom.
The reason I don't attend meetings is because they repeat my daughter's issues which I already know about. I still read her IEP. I never question the schools decisions because as I said, they are professionals, I am not.
I also said a self contained classroom costs more money. Not only that LRE is the law. If they put a child in a self contained classroom that means the child really needs it.
Trust me when I say that schools often put kids in more restrictive environments because it is easier than accommodating them in regular classrooms. We saw it all the time at my last job at an agency that served disabled individuals. I have also had friends who had kids who had similar experiences with their own kids and ended up sending them to private schools (my state had vouchers for kids with IEPs) when they could not get served effectively in public schools.
When the school is concerned, but parent is not, there is a HUGE problem. Believe me, schools don't put kids into self-contained settings unless it is absolutely necessary, because it's so expensive.
The school district is not telling you mean things about your child - they're concerned because there are huge issues with her. She needs a good neuropsych evaluation, probably medication, and a much more supportive home environment. YOU need a MAJOR attitude adjustment! If you don't do something to help your child, who is probably absolutely miserable, she's not going to have a good outcome. She might drop out, wind up on drugs, in prostitution, in prison.
You need to go to her IEP meetings! How could you think that as her parent you don't need to go to these? Your writing shows that you are educated. I suspect that you yourself have reasons that you don't want to go, such as your own anxiety.
If the school feels that your daughter may have an autistic spectrum disorder, you might too, since these conditions are often inherited. This type of defensive, oppositional thinking is common in people with autistic spectrum disorders, who tend to see things only as black and white, and twist things to fit their own anxious avoidance of upsetting situations.
I would ask how her other parent, and your relatives, and your friends, and her friends, are responding to all this. But I suspect that you are very socially isolated, and that there is no one else around who cares enough about this child to advocate for her.
Honestly, if a child has an IEP plan, and the parents repeatedly, deliberately, don't show up for meetings, that in and of itself is a reason for a DCF referral.
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