tired of having to fight for everything! | Autism PDD

I have found dealing with the schools much more frustrating than dealing
with the asd itself.
Great to hear that Donny is doing well.

Wonderful to hear Donny is doing so well at home. Sorry to hear the school is side of things is not so good.

Mysh

Thanks for the update. I hope it works out in the end. [QUOTE=micki]I have found dealing with the schools much more frustrating than dealing
with the asd itself.
[/QUOTE]

Ain't that the truth.
Gaaaaah! I'm so frustrated and overwhelmed.

My school battles on Don's behalf continue. Donny currently attends
school for 1 hr and 15 minutes four days a week, and 30 minutes on the
remaining day. He has two TAs supporting him while he's there. He's on
a completely adapted/modified program, and is the only student in a
self-contained classroom. He is generally successful for a maximum of
20 minutes. School is a HUGE trigger for Donny. Too many people, too
structred, too many rules, way overstimulating. If he could run amok and
go into and out of all the rooms without consequence, and do whatever
he wanted, he'd do fine, albeit be overstimulated and not learn anything.
But not being allowed to do that (which makes sense because he can't
disrupt the other learners) sets off behaviour - he loses it over not being
allowed to do what he wants.

So, we've been trying to get the school to provide a staffed day program,
which would work on his IEP, as an educational alternative. This would be
a community access program, so Donny would be doing things like
recycling, library, bowling, swimming, hiking, meeting a friend for lunch,
etc. These are all activities Donny does well with. Anyway, the school's
all for it, but the district is making it difficult of course.

I had a meeting with the school team to discuss this on the 18th. We
went over it and agreed to then meet with the resource teacher at
distance education, to see if they could provide a suitable program. At
our meeting on the 18th, I was told that Distance Ed had stated that they
could not provide a TA, and could provide ,000 worth of funding
which I could put towards a staff person, along with my own money (so
much for a free and appropriate education!).

So anyhow, after having this info relayed to me at the school team
meeting, as mentioned, they scheduled a meeting with Distance
Education, which took place this past Monday. It was a frustrating
meeting - all it was was the Distance Ed guy restating what he'd already
told the Resource Teacher (who'd then told us) a week prior. Only
difference was, the money they're willing to provide got SMALLER. Now
the number is 00, which is the original ,000 amount, less admin
fees, teacher fees for overseeing the IEP, etc.

The outcome of that meeting was that the person who was there
representing the school district said she would consult with her superior,
the head of student services, and get back to me. The idea was that we
were going to try and "pioneer" something, as the program we're talking
about for Don makes sense to everyone, and is financially doable - it
would cost the same as educating him full time in school. Less, actually,
as they won't have a bunch of cost related to Donny injuring staff and
destroying property.

So, I get a call this morning from the district lady. She says that she's
scheduled a meeting for me with her superior for next week.
Conveniently, it's on a day when Don's social worker is not available to
attend with me (she only works two days a week). I asked the purpose of
the meeting - she said it was for me to tell the district what, specifically, I
want for Donny. This is more than a little frustrating - I've already done
that in two meetings, AND provided a written packet with my request. I
guess it's formal written request time...I also asked what the outcome of
their discussion around Donny's case had been. She responded that it
was what we'd talked about last week, that they cannot provide a TA that
will work with Donny out of the home, and that they cannot provide
anything beyond that which they are already doing at school.

ARRRRRGH! I'm ready to pull my hair out. I'm going in circles, and I
HATE dealing with beurocracy. I was all ready to contact my MLA
(governemtn), but the social worker urged me to hold off on that, as the
district is still working with us at this point, and applying more
pressure will just make them drag their feet more.

Meanwhile, my 10 year old is barely going to school, for the SECOND
YEAR IN A ROW. He's not getting any sort of education, and having him
home all the time is burning me out.

On the positive side - while school sucks, Don is doing really well. He's
off his Paxil altogether, and a lot of his "edginess" seemed to go with it.
He's very stimmy/ticcy, and super hyperactive, but happier, more
compliant, and sleeping well. I redid his room yesterday, put in new
flooring, added some new funiture, including a TV. He's got a new bed
coming on Monday - it's a loft bed, which will make more space in there.
Don says he "loves" his "new room". It's much more organized and less
visually overwhelming, which I think will be good for him. Also, I got him
this chair, called the "x-rocker" - it's a sturdy leather rocking chair that
sits right on the floor, designed for gaming. It's got speakers built into
the side, and a subwoofer in the back. The sound from his video games
(or DVD if he's watching that) runs through the chair. The subwoofer =
great deep pressure input

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent.

You cannot win with these people! UUGH - I'm frustrated for you! Your plan makes complete sense. How can they make you pay? That's ridiculous.

I'm glad to hear Donny is doing well at home!

I sympathize.....it can seem like one battle after the other. Have been feeling overwhelmed dealing with Jessie's schooling too! Stay strong and keep fighting for what Donny needs, hopefully all these people will get sick of hearing our names and start giving us what we need (even if it's just to shut us up!)

Glad Donny's been doing so well anyway!

I am so sorry that they are giving you such a hard time. Just keep at it and
wear them out.Sorry to hear your still having to battle with the school. Glad to hear Donny is doing well, hang in there