Hello,
We are new here, and I apologize that this may run a bit long.
We have a 5 year-old son, and from our own research, the opinion of our doctor and that of our son's pre-school teacher, we believe him to be potentially gifted. He has not had a comprehensive evaluation, but we do know that he reads at about a fifth grade level and math/science/social studies are about 3rd grade. Our school district doesn't seem to be able to teach even a typical child and they have no gifted/talented testing services available. In fact, their entire attitude towards us to date is, "you want a cadillac and all we have to provide is a ford". This is exactly what was said to my husband and myself, by the director of educational support services for our local school district. We live in New York state, and it is our understanding-and please correct me if we are wrong-that even though g/t falls under the umbrella of "special ed", g/t services are not mandated by law. So, our public school is saying they have nothing for our son, and they aren't required to provide anything anyway. Of course, money is the issue. If it wasn't, we'd have him in another district, or private school in a heartbeat. We've also been advised that FAPE-free/appropriate/public/education- may possibly be our saving grace, if we have data to support our claim and decide to move against the district legally. I know that even if he is "tested" by the city district, that it will not be done properly. I was told by a co-worker who evaluated and taught g/t for years that our son is most likely twice exceptional, and we're afraid that the emotional will override the potential for achievement, and he will be labeled as a behavioral problem. What do we do? Where do we turn? Should we threaten a lawsuit? Has anyone ever been in our situation? Our son did not start school yet and we feel horrible about this, but we can't place him in a school where only 1/3 of the students meet the state's minimum requirements.
Someone please help us help our little boy.
Thank you.
