Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy UPDATE: Teacher disciplining disability AGAIN

Irena-- that one is still making me cry when I think of it. It's just so abusive.

Okay tried to take HK's advice and sleep on it but I couldn't sleep so I typed most of this at 1am and slept a few hours and then finished up.

I've never really written up a meeting in detail like this but I really want the disrespect and lack of support for his disabilities documented. There is evidence here of his need for both proper acceleration and support.

So again please don't quote this (I will remove later) but how does this sound? The heading includes location, date, time and those attending with their titles. Can I improve any of this?

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Introductions were made and copies of DS’ testing results from the previous week on the WISC, WIAT, and WJ were passed around the room.

Mrs. PRINCIPAL asked if Dr. TESTER would be speaking with the teachers to get their perspective. She also explained that the first weeks of school are a time for teachers to get to know their students, establish routines, and assess placement. She stated that we were now reaching the time when those things were in place and reading groups would begin.

Mrs. DISTRICT asked in which Fountas and Pinnell level DS had been placed. Mrs. ME stated that on the Raz-kids website he was listed as K-L.

Mrs. ME expressed concern about her son’s anxiety about school and his physical symptoms of diarrhea and cramping every day before school. She also shared his frustration with having to work so hard to complete material he had mastered several years earlier. She went on to say that he needed something new to learn to be motivated to work with his disabilities.

Mrs. TEACHER said that DS often complained of pain and would not complete his work. She also stated that he was not exemplifying First Grade Skills giving the example that when told to get crayons and scissors for a task, he instead wanted to talk with her about something else, as well as the fact that he was not lining up and entering school with his class in the morning like the other students.

Mrs. TEACHER stated that DS was fine at school and not showing signs of anxiety in her class. Mrs. PRINCIPAL asked if DS needed to come home for lunch. Mrs. ME said this was the only way he was making it through his day and relieving his stress with school. Mrs. PRINCIPAL asked if having a job in the morning would help DS deal with the anxiety and separation issues he experienced at arrival. Mrs. ME thought that would be motivational, especially if “heavy work” were involved as heavy work has been therapeutic and calming for DS. Mrs. PRINCIPAL said she would arrange to begin giving DS a morning job. Mrs. ME asked to receive details of the job to promote excitement about it at home.

Mrs. MATH and Mrs. TEACHER expressed frustration that DS needed assistance to complete his work and was unable to work independently. Both teachers expressed concern about being responsible to say he had completed skills relying on standardized testing instead of individually testing him themselves.

Mrs. DISTRICT suggested DS be encouraged that he needs to show what he knows.

Mrs. MATH stated that DS never contributed to the daily discussion of strategies for single digit addition and subtraction. She also said he would not name a strategy when asked orally. Mrs. ME suggested that it is sometimes hard for a child who has moved well beyond that skill to explain how he did simple addition. Mrs. MATH objected to that suggestion saying that she had other students who could multiply or divide who could answer what strategy they used to add.

Mrs. MATH further shared that she was having problems with DS completing written work in class saying that he named his disability and told her he could not do the math writing she assigned. She expressed concern that this behavior was showing ”learned helplessness” to which Mrs. TEACHER expressed her agreement.

She further complained that he made noises that were distracting and stuck his pencils through his glasses. Mrs. ME mentioned that this was consistent with his ADHD. Mrs. MATH stated that DS needed to understand that it was a privilege for him to be allowed to attend her class.

The meeting ended abruptly as we ran out of time. Mrs ME thanked everyone for their participation in trying to help DS be able to have a more normal school day.
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It was exactly 30 min long and only the last 20 included the teachers.

I do have one more thing to add... teacher claimed she was "using all 8 of the suggestions" from his OT (there are 9)but her other discussion made it clear the only ones she was using (other than preferential seating were items we sent in from home...one of which--water bottle--she made him leave in his backpack in the hall limiting access to it.)