Hello, everyone,
I searched for years and years before we finally uncovered my son's "issues". He has severe Sensory Integration Dysfunction that wasn't diagnosed until the end of his 9th grade year. He is now in 10th grade. He always had some issues, but did very well in his early school years that everyone "blew it off". There wasn't a lot of info available when he was in elementary, and I got tired of hearing all his problems were b/c I treated him like he as a "baby". He had the extreme hearing sensitivy, no friends, hand tremors, rashes, bad hand writing, irritable at times, etc.
I got so sick of it that I homeschooled him off and on. He was under so much stress at school that I just couldn't watch him suffer anymore. He almost always got straight A's so it was really a difficult thing to pinpoint his problems. I sent him back to school in 9th grade, and all of sudden it seemed he became very depressed. He was irritable and withdrawn. I really feared he was becoming suicidal. Anyway, trying to make this a short story!! It was easy to pin point last year his academic problems....essays and oral reports would send him into panic mode. We had him assessed by the school district......they said he just didn't know his basic grammar so that is why he paniced for essays!!! They said b/c he was homeschooled! He had Stanford Acheivement tests with very HIGH scores, and he was also in a private school in 7th grade and was VALEDICTORIAN of his class. We had issues that year, but he was bored! So their eval didn't even make sense!!!
WE paid for another eval and found the severe SID. We have done Tomatis with awesome benefits as well as figured out a dairy and gluten intolerance. HE is now doing wonderful but is still struggling with writing......although much improved!
Okay, we have paid out of own pocket about ,000 for therapies. He is in a Charter school that he loves, and they don't have $ although required by the state to pay for OT, etc. I worked to get him at least a 504 plan. He was then able to make it through last year.
Follow up eval says he needs interactive metronome, and made tremendous progress.....but this last treatment will probably be the last therapy he needs to be well. I am not kidding he has made that much progress.
However, he is still having some trouble in school this year. His mid report grades in 5 classes were 93-99 avg. His Honors Science was an 84 b/c he didn't finish an essay paper, and his Business class was a 61!!! This class has major writing and creative assignments which is exactly what his last eval said where he is still having probs.
Teacher told me that he CHOSE to just not do the work, and I needed to let him suffer the consequences.
This kid does his work, and he tells me that he is struggling with the writing process and creating projects. He tries, but it is never good enough for the teacher.
I am sick of this teacher's attitude despite telling her over and over again that he has SID!! The cause and effect r/t to his writing difficulties has all be explained. She had him for another class year, and kept saying she had to be fair to all her kids in class as far as accomodations. She doesn't get that the 504 plan is to make it fair for a kid that doesn't have the abilities of the other kids!
Anyway, last year the school spec ed person really pushed against me for an IEP, and we ended up with a 504. She also assured me that all his teachers knew about his 504 plan THIS year, and I have already had one admit in writing she DID NOT Know he had one. He has been in school 6 weeks, and they did not know!
I want more protection and help for him. I am sick of them putting so much pressure on him. He gets so depressed b/c he wants to please them. It tears him up to get scolded as if it was something he was intentionally NOT DOING!
Okay, I req. a IEP meeting, but spec ed person tells me it will only happen if my son wants one. She says he may not like what HE HAS TO DO for it.
Is this true? My main reason for wanting an IEP this time is better communication, and help for him. I also want the school to finally help with this last therapy he needs. I have a call out to our state DOE for help as well.
main questions:
Does my son have to agree at 15 yo before he can get an IEP? I am sure I can encourage him to take it, but does it really depend on HIM to say yes or no???
Will it affect him negatively to have an IEP? I realize that depends on what the accomodations and goals will be in the IEP. I will watch that like a Hawk to make sure that they are reasonable before we sign. :)
Thank you!
I know I sound like a "Mother HEN", but I do have a lot of guilt for how long he suffered as well as the emotional toll it took on him. It is time someone stood up for him. BUT THE MAIN thing is that my husband and I believe if we had not of stood up for him last year, we probably would have lost him to suicide. I am serious! We have given our last $ to help him, and just 6 months later he is a different person. He is smiling and happy!
Hi,,
First, good for you for sticking up for your child! It's great to know that he's now smiling and happy!
My son is only 7, but I'm pretty sure, that you don't have to have a child's permission/request for an IEP to be effective...I'm sure others on this board will chime in with the facts on that...
Have you had an offical meeting with your son's teacher(s) and the principal yet? That may help to get your point across. From my point of view, my son didn't get the treated the right way until an IEP was in effect.
Best of Luck to you!
First of all, welcome to the forum.
Am I correct in understanding that your child only has an SID diagnosis, but not an autism diagnosis? It seems unlikely to me that SID would cause problems on open-ended questions/essays, but it is a very common problem for children on the spectrum. They need to learn specific strategies. Here's an article called "Teaching expressive writing to students with learning disabilities" which might be helpful:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/e590.html
Handwriting is also a problem for many, especially those with sensory issues. You might be able to get typing as an accommodation.
You may want to consider asking for an Independent Educational Evaluation on him, because blaming essay problems on grammar seems way off base. You'll find sample letters for this purpose under this topic:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/e590.html
If you're wondering if your child might actually be on the spectrum, you'll find various screening checklists under this topic:
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16253&am p;KW=checklist+resources
As far as needing your son's consent on the IEP, I think this varies from state to state, country to country. If you google "age of majority" plus your state/country and IEP, you might come up with an answer. I saw a couple different states that had fact sheets on this.
Good luck with everything.
I was wondering the same thing as Norway mom regarding the Autism.