I need help My eight year old son has been diagnosed with PDD and because we refused to medicate him they placed him in an autistic support classroom.  The behaviors got severe so he finally had to be medicated but the school appears to have no intention of mainstreaming him again. He does have a TSS that goes to school with him for 25 hours per week and since I started complaining about them not mainstreaming him again they have started to exaggerate behaviours. For example, he carries puzzle pieces around for the day and if he forgets to take it to special activity classes, he loses a piece of the puzzle. They monitor his behavior on a scale and after so many negative behaviors the IEP meeting will of course indicate that he is not ready for mainstream classes. This aggrevates me truly because my son has gone from being far advances of the children in 1st grade to now he is in 3rd grade and still maintains the first grade level. I have never turned for help and just always dealt on my own but now my husband is so fed up with the situation he wants to send my son to his native country of Egypt for the education he deserves. Someone  please help.  WHAT DO I DO?????I think your first step should be to contact an advocate to review your case. Negative behavior only proves that the supports and strategies that THEY are using aren't effective.  It hardly shows this is the appropriate environment or that the appropriate supports are being used.   There is also no correlation that his behavior would be worse in a LRE class with appropriate support supplied in good faith.  Definitely talk to an advocate... your are working backwards and arguing the wrong end of the dog.  It's not proving IF your son is good enough; it's what supports and strategies they're going to provide that stop the barrier of participation in mainstream society that your son is legally entitled too. They are also required to use positive behavior strategies. What is an advocate and how do I get one?An advocate knows education laws and can help speak on your behalf and provide you with the info you need.   They are sometimes free depending on the agency they work for.  Contact the Autism Society in your area or in the yellowpages under education or even google education advocate/advocacy and your city. Our agency frequently gets referrals from the local mental health clinic.  You can give them a call and ask there as well.  I work as an advocate for a non-profit organization in Upstate NY. Wow, Alice, well said! It just gets to the crux of what is wrong with special education today. (esp. when it comes to autism). The onus is being put on our kids to succeed instead of on the schools to provide what they need to do so. Great programs do this and the successes are wonderful. Dismal programs are ruining our kids' chances for success, IMO. It's like the disparity between poor and wealthy districts only in special ed. it can happen anywhere. It's all in the attitude and philosophy. Sorry to hijack a bit, OP. I can also second getting an advocate. It made a huge difference for us.
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