Anyhow, I went in to talk with Michael's teacher. Cause the way I understood the paperwork that came in the mail to me, something was wrong. I mean, first is a cover letter that says this school Psychologist received a referral request to conduct an educational evaluation of him. Then it has a couple pages of their "why he's being considered" info. Then it says
Other factors considered relevant to theI read this as here's some more reasons why he's being considered, he's missed class time, and has a social stigma. I was getting quite upset, number one why didn't they tell me he was being considered for being seen by a psychologist! Number two, he's missed one day of school for goodness sake, and that was because we were picking up his Daddy who was coming home from a 15month deployment! And social stigma?? What the heck? Is he having problems in school socially that no one's told me about? He talks about his friends all the time!action:
missed class time, social stigma
Unfortunately I got this packet late Friday afternoon, given Monday was a holiday I had three days to sit and stew in it. So we left for school early this morning, because I was going to get some answers! I showed the papers to his home room teacher and even she was confused. She explained to me that while Michael has made great improvements, they are worried he won't be ready to move on to 5th grade. They're using all the resources they have, but think that if they had extra help, perhaps he would be ready. So they are seeking to see if he'll qualify for an IEP. This is something I do wish they had communicated with me a little better. I mean, I have an appointment next week with the Speech Teacher, so I knew they're trying to get him help, but I didn't know it was going so far. Anyhow, his teacher assured me that Michael has not been missing classes, and he has not been causing any problems.
So we headed to visit the Special Ed Teacher to see what she had to say. She explained to me, that these things (missed class time and social stigma) are things that will most likely occur if he's approved for special services. Missed class time, obviously because he'd be pulled out of class for special instruction. Social stigma, because among his peers, there very well may be kids that will make fun of him and stuff. So it's possible negatives associated with giving him special help that they need to take into consideration. That made so much more sense to me. That I can deal with. So my fears were put to rest that my son was secretly failing in school miserably. I know my son, he loves school, it just didn't jive.
So then I asked why a Psychologist has to see him, I don't understand how that relates to his academic growth, and I was told that she's the one that knows all the "legal" aspects of an IEP, has the knowledge to make sure everything is written out legally and what have you. That he's not getting psychological help so to say, just she's the one that does up the legal paperwork. So this I'm still a little iffy on. I'd LOVE to hear from others that have walked down this road before. You know, I adore his teachers. Mrs. Bell and Mrs. Adcock are two of the sweetest ladies I met. But ever since the stuff with Johnathan, I no longer trust the school district whole heartily. I guess I've been stung, it still hurts.
So anyhow, my heart is a bit lighter this morning. I noticed Johnathan's demeanor change while we were in the school though. I could see his eyes glaze over. All the life and spark that was there just a few minutes ago as I gave him a little pep talk about doing good at school was gone. There's something going on with that boy that he just plain does not want to be at the school. He was so excited to learn sitting beside me at the Kitchen table yesterday. He was asking me to teach him the math problems he didn't know how to do. He asks me to get him the next book in the series he's reading. He WANTS to learn, just not at school. I wish I could get in his little head and see what the heck was going on!
3 comments:
Sounds like the school kind of messed up on communication there. Glad you got it figured out. When Joshua was set up for an IEP the school psych was involved. Of course his issues were very different but I believe that's pretty standard.
Like J said.. having the school psych involved is normal and they often run the IEP meetings. Like the school said it is a legality issue. I am a special ed teacher and that is generally how it is run. Even my son, who has an IEP just for Occupational Therapy, for handwriting was evaluated by the psych and she runs the meetings when we have one. It is nothing personal.. just a general.. she is there. If you would request a psych eval they would do one.. and that would be to represent any emotional issues that your son may have. They probably won't run that though if they don't feel it is neccessary. They will run it ONLY if they do or you do. If it is pure academics.. then they will probably ask if you would like him evaluated in that area.. and you can agree or disagree and they may explain more.....
I hope this helps!!!
Thank you so much! It just really helps to have outside confirmation. At least that's one son that's well on his way to getting help. :)
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