Welcome to bureaucracy, I mean school
Today I had #1's IEP meeting. For those of you not in the know it's an Individualized Education Plan. He's in preschool because he is behind in a few areas mainly speech and social skills. His teacher, who I love, was trying to be nice about the fact that he showed he had a little bit of a temper yesterday. I laughed and said a "little" bit???? Otherwise the alien that normally posses my child seems to leave the moment he steps on the bus in the morning and goes away the moment he get's off.
I have no problem with my child being identified as being behind. I mean I've been saying this for years, however having the school label him as developmentally delayed is concerning me. I don't disagree with this in any means. I'm just concerned as what it means for the future. I mean as we set our goals today one of them was to get him to be able to do all the dressing functions at school, including buttons/snaps/zippers etc. Now this actually he "can" do if he wants to, he normally just doesn't want to. But does this mean that on evaluation day at the end of the year they won't pass him into Kindergarten because he doesn't button his own pants? Also after things clear up (which I fully think they will with him in a school setting this year) are we going to be stuck as a "special ed" student for the rest of his life? If I fight to have them remove the title and then he has issues in like 5th grade are they going to not re-start the program.
I do plan to get to know his teacher much better. I've talked with her twice now extensively and will be volunteering to be a parent chaperone next week for #1's first field trip to a farm. Yes all this stress has driven me insane, otherwise I never would have volunteered for this ;-)
I have no problem with my child being identified as being behind. I mean I've been saying this for years, however having the school label him as developmentally delayed is concerning me. I don't disagree with this in any means. I'm just concerned as what it means for the future. I mean as we set our goals today one of them was to get him to be able to do all the dressing functions at school, including buttons/snaps/zippers etc. Now this actually he "can" do if he wants to, he normally just doesn't want to. But does this mean that on evaluation day at the end of the year they won't pass him into Kindergarten because he doesn't button his own pants? Also after things clear up (which I fully think they will with him in a school setting this year) are we going to be stuck as a "special ed" student for the rest of his life? If I fight to have them remove the title and then he has issues in like 5th grade are they going to not re-start the program.
I do plan to get to know his teacher much better. I've talked with her twice now extensively and will be volunteering to be a parent chaperone next week for #1's first field trip to a farm. Yes all this stress has driven me insane, otherwise I never would have volunteered for this ;-)
posted by Beth @ 11:24 AM
3 Comments:
At 12:50 PM,
-E said…
J just leared to button his pants and he's in first grade. OTOH, Z has been buttoning his own pants since he was 3. So to each kid is his own.
Props to you for taking this all in stride. I too desire nothing more than a middle of the road child. Who needs all that pressure to excel??
And I do think #1 will catch up, at his own pace, in his own time.
At 2:49 PM,
Unknown said…
I agree with E. He'll catch up in time. Each one is diff. I would ask about the label of "spec ed." All the paperwork stays in their folder til graduation for all teachers to see. Some may hold it against him. Don't really know.
At 10:49 PM,
Lucky Lum said…
The goal of spec ed is usually for them to meet their goals and release them. Doesn't mean he'll be in for life, or be labeled. Often the kids in for speech do catch up (by kind or so) and are released. That may or may not be the case with #1.
Also, yes he will go to the next grade even if his IEP goals are not met. But it's the school's job to work with him to meet these goals!
You as a parent have the right to remove him from spec ed at any time, but you really need to consider what's best for your child.
Hope I helped some of your questions/thoughts.
I taught Kind. spec ed for awhile. Email me if you want or if you have any other questions.
I'm sure this will be the best thing for him!
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