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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 739
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OP
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 739 |
Yesterday we had our first PT conference at the spec ed school DD8 attends after a hard fought battle for out of district placement. She is doing amazingly well. I mean really, truly amazing. They see her as the sweet, hard working, eager to please, incredibly smart child we have seen all along. With proper supports for her LD issues, material being presented in an appropriate way and the freedom to use her amazing strengths there has been no sign of her school based anxiety. None. We finally have gotten the migraines under control and hopefully will be able to start backing off the meds which were almost tripled in the last couple of months.
I asked if there were any concerns at all. A resounding "none" from teachers, literacy specialist and SW. I asked about math. All last year I kept insisting she had hit a block in early first grade and hadn't budged. The district kept insisting she was making progress and was on grade level. Surprise, surprise. Spec ed school's intake testing showed her stuck in early first grade just as I had been saying. Remarkably once she got access to appropriate apps on the iPad she broke through that block. After 6 weeks DD herself reported "I've already learned more math at [new school] than I did all last year at [old school]." PT conference bares that out - she has just about completed 2nd grade math and is now moving onto 3rd grade. Not bad for a kid with an identified math LD huh? Not only is she sailing through the 8th grade reading comprehension group she is also making amazing progress on Assistive Technology and is adding extra work herself in other areas of interest. She recently did a PowerPoint on the pilgrims "just for fun". I actually see a light at the end of the tunnel which may lead to her being functionally independent in the not too distant future. In the past that light tended to turn out to be an on-coming train. Dare I let myself actually feel optimistic?
I mentioned that at the public people called her lazy, said she was just trying to get out of doing her work, etc. They were shocked and said she is the last kid they would EVER call lazy. They can't even imagine someone seeing her that way. I asked about the neuropsych's label of ADHD-inattentive (which DH and I flatly reject) and placing her below the 1st percentile in attentional ability. Again total shock. "No way" was the response - in fact they see hyper focus when she is working on a task. They could not believe anyone could see her that way.
So I feel totally vindicated. All last year when I would come to this board and say I felt as if I was losing my mind, that nothing the district or the public with that horrible principal was doing made any sense? Apparently I had good reason for it.
I will continue to hold my breath, cross my fingers, stand on one foot or any other silly superstitions required to keep this on track. I just wanted to report for those of you still in the thick of the battle that it can work out. If my DD shows anything it is that *getting* the kid and all of their issues makes a huge difference. There would not have been any way for my DD to adjust to the standard program as the public wanted her to. She is just not neurologically capable of it. When things are presented to her in the way she needs? Wow - what a difference!
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 701
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 701 |
I am SO happy for you and for your DD! What a big sigh of relief, and how fun to see what she can do with a great enviroment with people who get her! Your DD is really amazing for sticking it out through such a horrible school situation and still feeling brave enough to be herself in this new situation, and you are amazing for fighting for her for so long. You are absolutely right to feel vindicated. Yay!!!
She thought she could, so she did.
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Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 669
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Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 669 |
Update the iPad situation? You ended up buying one and loading it yourself...what happened to the other one? Did it ever get loaded properly?
Did you send them a bill?
Last edited by Sweetie; 11/26/13 08:57 AM.
...reading is pleasure, not just something teachers make you do in school.~B. Cleary
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 683
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So happy to hear that you have had such a good outcome after the horror of last year. I hope that you can relax for a while. You worked hard for your daughter.
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 739
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 739 |
Ah the iPad situation...
We bought one ourselves and DD carries it back and forth to school everyday. We also sent in iTunes cards and advised the school to load anything and everything they think might be helpful. No restrictions. They still haven't figured out how to load everything she needs on the district iPad but they have ours as a back up. As silly as it sounds she uses both each day and they still haven't figured out how to provide audio access to the text they are using for the 8th grade reading group. The district asked us to sign a release for DD to carry their iPad home and/or for them to load the text on to ours. We have declined. After all we've been through with them we are not signing any kind of release or waiver for them. Nope - not gonna happen.
Consultant approached district's director of pupil personnel services recommending that they just reimburse us for the cost of the machine we provided and take theirs back, giving it to someone else in the district. Their response was that no one else in the district (a district with 6000+ students...) would use it. DD is apparently the only one.
So a silly and cumbersome solution that cost us yet another $1000 but at least it seems to be getting DD what she needs. The irony is that we are also working a solution to getting Dragon Dictation to work for her but that will need a desktop machine - the program can't work for her on an iPad. Luckily we have both a desk top and a lap top for home use so won't need to be spending even more.
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,498
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Pemb, SO glad to hear it. Your DD deserves to shine.
Would you be willing to post a list of apps she's finding helpful? I am especially interested in apps that let a dysgraphic child show math work intelligibly in these early grades. But what's working across the board would be of great interest too.
DeeDee
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 690
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 690 |
Yesterday we had our first PT conference at the spec ed school DD8 attends after a hard fought battle for out of district placement. She is doing amazingly well. I mean really, truly amazing. They see her as the sweet, hard working, eager to please, incredibly smart child we have seen all along. With proper supports for her LD issues, material being presented in an appropriate way and the freedom to use her amazing strengths there has been no sign of her school based anxiety. None. We finally have gotten the migraines under control and hopefully will be able to start backing off the meds which were almost tripled in the last couple of months.
I asked if there were any concerns at all. A resounding "none" from teachers, literacy specialist and SW. I asked about math. All last year I kept insisting she had hit a block in early first grade and hadn't budged. The district kept insisting she was making progress and was on grade level. Surprise, surprise. Spec ed school's intake testing showed her stuck in early first grade just as I had been saying. Remarkably once she got access to appropriate apps on the iPad she broke through that block. After 6 weeks DD herself reported "I've already learned more math at [new school] than I did all last year at [old school]." PT conference bares that out - she has just about completed 2nd grade math and is now moving onto 3rd grade. Not bad for a kid with an identified math LD huh? Not only is she sailing through the 8th grade reading comprehension group she is also making amazing progress on Assistive Technology and is adding extra work herself in other areas of interest. She recently did a PowerPoint on the pilgrims "just for fun". I actually see a light at the end of the tunnel which may lead to her being functionally independent in the not too distant future. In the past that light tended to turn out to be an on-coming train. Dare I let myself actually feel optimistic?
I mentioned that at the public people called her lazy, said she was just trying to get out of doing her work, etc. They were shocked and said she is the last kid they would EVER call lazy. They can't even imagine someone seeing her that way. I asked about the neuropsych's label of ADHD-inattentive (which DH and I flatly reject) and placing her below the 1st percentile in attentional ability. Again total shock. "No way" was the response - in fact they see hyper focus when she is working on a task. They could not believe anyone could see her that way.
So I feel totally vindicated. All last year when I would come to this board and say I felt as if I was losing my mind, that nothing the district or the public with that horrible principal was doing made any sense? Apparently I had good reason for it.
I will continue to hold my breath, cross my fingers, stand on one foot or any other silly superstitions required to keep this on track. I just wanted to report for those of you still in the thick of the battle that it can work out. If my DD shows anything it is that *getting* the kid and all of their issues makes a huge difference. There would not have been any way for my DD to adjust to the standard program as the public wanted her to. She is just not neurologically capable of it. When things are presented to her in the way she needs? Wow - what a difference! You are a fabulous parent.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 3,363
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Wonderful news Pemberley!!! I'm so glad that your dd finally has the opportunity to show her knowledge and not be frustrated at school - and so glad you can finally relax a bit too!
I'm curious about the voice-to-text - did you try the built-in iPad voice recognition? That's what my ds uses - it works inside apps and is much easier to use than Dragon. Is the issue for your dd her age/voice stability?
One math app you might want to look at is Panther Paper - it lets you type in addition/subtraction/etc equations, line up and carry #s etc. We've got it - I don't remember how much it cost but I think it was relatively inexpensive. There are also a lot of different "practice" apps for math facts etc. and a ton of different calculators. DS has a graphing app too but I can't remember the name of it and his iPad is at school at the moment.
Looking forward to a happy school year for your dd Pemb!!!
polarbear
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 658
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Your post made my day. How wonderful! Your daughter has a bright future with the right team of people at her back. Surely there will be more bumps in the road, but at the very least, you all know what this success feels like.
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,181
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How lovely to hear this, Pemberley!! 
Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.
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