I sent the following email to the Governor of Oklahoma.
My twice exceptional son (both gifted/ld) could not receive an appropriate education in our public school. I have been told that under current state laws, individual school districts are allowed to come up with their own definition of appropriate education and that our experience with *** Elementary would be considered an appropriate education.
As is has been explained to me, under Child Find, schools are supposed to identify children with disabilities. My son was not identified although we told the Kindergarten teacher that he had hypotonia, but there is no requirement to provide services or therapy for disabilities unless the child is failing. Since my son is also academically gifted in reading and math, he entered Kindergarten at age five with a May birthday, already reading beyond a third grade level and doing basic math with some multiplication and math with negative numbers. Because he was not failing in anything at the time, he was not eligible for any kind of therapy for disabilities that would inevitably lead to learning problems in later grades. This seems to be in conflict with Oklahoma State Department of Education's mission statement that includes "removing any barriers to student success."
Under ***'s definition of appropriate education, my son was not given help for sensory integration dysfunction, visual motor integration at the 1% level, and hypotonia which made handwriting, drawing, and coloring in the lines difficult. Since he was not yet failing, they would not offer therapy for problems that need to be identified and corrected early to allow a child to be successful in school in later grades.
At the end of my son's Kindergarten year at *** Elementary, the teacher recommended that he go to T-1 (a year of coloring in between Kindergarten and first grade) instead of going on to first grade the following year. Ironically, we had already scheduled testing to see if he could skip first grade the next year and go to second grade since he had complained that school was not very educational.
He did not make the 90% required on the reading and math proficiency based promotion test needed to skip. I assume this is supposed to be an end of first grade level test. He did make scores that would have allowed him to go to second if he had gone through first grade. He was not given any accommodations for his differences while taking the test.
I was told that my son could still go on the first grade the next year if I would sign a statement saying that I wanted him to go on to first in spite of the teacher's recommendation that he go to T-1. However, by this time he could easily read at a 5th grade level at home, in his musical theater class where he had to read his lines and song lyrics, and everywhere else it seems except that first grade proficiency based promotion test. His favorite book to read at that time was a children's encyclopedia (5th grade level) that he once brought to read to the class with his letter-of-the-week show & tell.
I talked to the principal and several people at the school about an appropriate education for my son. I was told that homeschooling would be best. So that is what I did for twelve months, about two hours a day, and then had him tested by a certified educational psychologist. At 7 years, 0 months he tested at 4th grade level for math and higher than that for reading and comprehension. If he had stayed at *** Elementary he might have learned to color in the lines a little better, although that is doubtful considering his visual motor integration problems.
I asked the superintendent if my son could at least play on the playground during school hours so he could see some of his old friends. He said he could not allow this because of liability reasons. He recently told ****/Gifted Ed that I could not stay and watch my son on the playground because it was possible that I might be a child molester or something. For some reason this wasn't a problem when I worked inside the school as a volunteer several days a week during my son's Kindergarten year. The superintendent often saw me inside the school around the kids.
I believe the only appropriate education for my nine-year-old son at this point is homeschooling since he is now reading and comprehending at a high school level and doing pre-algebra. He is also learning 100 words a week to prepare for the Pee Wee spelling bee next year.
My son's sensory integration issues would be a problem in a regular classroom. He doesn't fit in a regular classroom because he learns differently. He has no learning disabilities at home because he is allowed to learn the way he learns best.
I think the State of Oklahoma should allow children like mine with extreme learning differences to attend some classes at the public school, for example, music and gifted class. Children in Oklahoma with learning differences should be given the support necessary to be the best they can be and not have to settle for mediocrity. That is my definition of appropriate education. What's yours?
