This year has been, in some ways, a miracle of a change for my 12-year-old (dysgraphia, dyslexia, auditory processing issues) compared to last year. Things seem to have clicked for him to a great degree, and he is handling the challenges of remembering assignments, note-taking, and solving math problems much better than last year. And, for the first time in a long time, his teachers are finally asking why he isn't in gifted and commenting on his "brilliant, deep insights" in class. He came home recently from school with this observation, "It's all coming easier this year. I don't know why, but it is."
This is all very good, but it has led to a complication. Both his science teacher and the principal for special education have surmised that maybe he doesn't have a learning disabilty at all. And while I can somewhat forgive the science teacher's ignorance since he was a geologist until a few years ago when he decided to take a master's in teaching, I cannot fathom how a special ed principal can actually utter the phrase, "I'm not sure he actually has a learning disability. I've talked with your son several times, and I'm not sure what others are talking about. He's obviously bright, and if he can remember SOME things, he should be able to remember these things."
After forgetting to turn in a completed assignment for science for almost 2 weeks, I asked my son to email the teacher to ask if he could help my son remember it the next day. (His IEP allows for verbal ormpts from the teacher.) Instead of sending me a note letting me know he was not willing to help my son, the teacher called my child up in class and told him that it was not his job to remember my son's homework and that he needed to mature and be more responsible. Later in the day, he was called into the special ed chairperson's office after the science teacher went to the chair to complain. He was told that he needed to manage his own homework,
I was not told about this incident at all until my son relayed it to me that evening, I wrote a very polite email to both the chairperson (new this year) and the sp. ed principal expressing concern that the teacher did not communicate with me before escalating the issue and that my son's IEP was not being followed. On Mnday, I sent my son to school with an old iPod so he could make verbal notes and reminders for himself and told him to go to the office to let them know he had it. (The IEP allows for a laptop or iPad.)
The school is refusing to let him use the iPod to make notes, because "he is so disorganized he will likely loose it, and it is against our policies to have phones out during school". When I pointed out that the IEP was to define exceptions to policies, the principal shared her doubts about my son having an LD at all.
So, now the quandary is escalate or let it go since it is one zero in one class and the other teachers are being amazingly supportive. If I escalate, it will turn adversarial and could deteriorate the support that is there. If I don't escalate, it could set precedent that they use to remove support at his next IEP.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Last edited by ABQMom; 10/16/12 06:19 AM. Reason: Can't type on an iPad
