Something was said to me over Thanksgiving weekend that reminded me of things I’ve learned since the diagnosis that I’d never realized before it. Continue reading
school
A Day in the Life
It’s been a while since perhaps I’ve talked about the Monster’s life at his new school.
Some things never change – the Monster is still catching the bus every morning, and coming back on it just fine most days. (I pick him up from school on Wednesdays.) But it’s the difference between his old school and the new one that’s striking. Continue reading
Night and Day
What a difference a few weeks make.
On Monday this week, the public schools in Baltimore went back into session. The Monster, mind you, went back to school last week, when the Gateway School resumed after its August break, so he’s already most of the way through his second week at school…
And he’s thriving.
Wait, There’s More?
So with everything that’s happened to get to this point, you’d think that everything was done for the new school year. The Monster was determined to need a non-public placement, we’d seen a couple of schools, and so it’s like anything else – go pick up your transfer packet and show up at the new school, right?
Wrong. Continue reading
Doing the Rounds – The Non-Public Side
Having decided that the only public placements that we were aware of were not likely to be the right placement for the Monster, barring a program existing of which we had not heard, we decided to do our due diligence and go to see some of the non-public placements that might well be offered for our son. The major issue, in our minds, was the fact that the summer was rapidly coming to an end – several of the private schools that are known for their work with children with Autism go on vacation during August, and there are processes that need to be followed to put a child into such a place.
But the question really was where to look… and we quickly decided to go with the most likely non-public schools that the city would send the Monster to – HASA’s Gateway School and the Shafer Center. Continue reading
Doing the Rounds – The Public Side
I’ve decided to start going back over the things that I couldn’t discuss while we were going through the IEP process, and talking about them as they occur to me to write them… so some of these things, over the next few weeks, might seem like they’re coming a bit out of right field.
When we were a few weeks into the school year, and it started becoming apparent that a mainstreamed classroom at Mount Washington wasn’t the right placement for the Monster, we started considering our options. The Temporary Adult Support (TAS) helped to some extent, but it was clear that what the Monster needed really was to be moved to another placement. Continue reading
Reflections On The Process
And even with the outcome of the Monster’s IEP process for SY 2015-2016, I’m still very upset.
Look, the fact that it took this much fighting to get to this point, when there is so much evidence of the fact that he’s needed more help all along, tells me that the system is absolutely, positively broken. The law requires that students with disabilities get a “Free and Appropriate Public Education” (FAPE), and according to national standards, Maryland is “meeting requirements”. But there’s something that’s missed in the midst of all of this – the Monster is only getting the help he needs because my wife and I dug our heels in and fought. Continue reading
This Year’s Finish Line
And now, the explanation for why I’ve been so quiet.
Two months ago, I last posted about the IEP process (see IEP Year Four) and where it had gotten to… and then I promptly got very, very quiet about the process. Yes, other things happened in the meantime – my wife and I went on vacation, and then I went off to curling trials, but my posting hadn’t come back up to normal frequency.
That’s because things went absolutely sideways after our last IEP meeting. Continue reading
Yes, But Where Has All The Posting Gone?
Just thought I’d pop my head up here for a moment.
Many of you are probably wondering why I’ve suddenly gone so very, very dark in my posting – not that I was posting a lot of late before the last few weeks.
We’re in the midst of trying to get the Monster’s IEP straightened out before the new school year begins in about five weeks. (Yes, you read that right. We’re still in the middle of the IEP process, with school starting on August 31st. The Monster’s last IEP expired in March.) Couple that with a ton of work-based stuff for me, and it’s just been a little hectic for me to think about how to best censor myself so I’m not saying things I shouldn’t as we’re preparing for the IEP meetings.
I promise I’ll have something meaningful/deep to write later this week, after the Monster’s latest IEP meeting on Wednesday morning.
In the meantime, to all my fellow special-needs parents out there – keep fighting the good fight.
IEP Year Four
Today was the second meeting for next year’s IEP.
As any special-needs parent can tell you, any IEP meeting tends to be stressful – the goal of an IEP is to ensure that your child has the necessary supports to learn, and the supports and therapies that go into the document govern where your child is going to go to school in the coming year.
And the one thing that was apparent, coming into this year’s IEP review, is that Mount Washington is not the right placement for the Monster. Continue reading