Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional New here and need some help

I have two boys Jacob who is 7 and Tyler who is almost 2. Jacob was diagnosed in September of last year with Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, and OCD. He is also highly gifted, he has skipped one grade and the school is pressing him to skip another (the school did test him and according to them his IQ is 148). They refuse to acknowledge the TS diagnosis and the aggressive, impulsive behaviors that are associated with the TS. The say that there is no gap between his performance and his ability so he was denied an IEP and they also denied a 504. He does have a behavioral PEP but that's it. What can I do to get the school to stop pushing the grade skipping and get them to assign him a teacher who is willing to teach him? Yesterday we had a meeting and I said that I wanted a teacher who would nurture him and help him and challenge him and they said "you want someone who will go the extra mile". I said nope I want a teacher who knows that they must teach all the kids in their classrooms from their low lows to their high highs. As a teacher I know that you now have a wide range of abilities in your classroom at any given time and it�s my job to accommodate and differentiate for all my students. Any ideas on what I can do? I'm at my wits end with his school.
Thanks,
Becky

I don't have the experience of special needs that you have, but I have asked a school for exactly the same thing some years back - please just teach my kid in his socially appropriate class. I have since learnt how this just isn't the done thing in most U.S elementary schools. To us, what might seem a very reasonable request, is to many teachers/schools something quite alien. I wish you so much luck, but want you to be aware that the school's attitude is quite genuine, and that you are proposing a scenario of 'extreme' differentiated teaching that many educators are very uncomfortable with.

The only reason why we hesitate to skip again is because he's so impulsive and aggressive, and as he gets older his tics are getting worse and we fear for him being with kids that are three and four years older. He isn�t very modest and has virtually no filter and we�re afraid that one day one of these kids will haul off and hit him. He's got sensory issues as well so when he melts down it's not good.
They've also suggested curriculum compacting (which we said okay to) but so far we've not seen it being done. We've also suggested that he stay with the teacher who he's going to 3rd for this year (she's looping to 4th with her class last year)and still be classified as a 3rd grader but doing the 4th grade work with her and then re-evaluating him at the end of next year. I will look into getting that book, anything that can put us in the right direction for him!
Thanks!

Thanks everyone! We did have ARC come with us to the initial IEP meeting where the 504 was denied that was only in Dec of 09. She didn't come with us to the meeting where they denied everything but recapped it for her and she called and spoke with the principal after which she emailed and said that according to the principal he only gets in trouble when he's not stimulated enough so everything�s fine. I asked her again about a 504 and have not heard from her again. It�s just so frustrating because I get the feeling that the principal wants him out of his school so Jacob becomes someone else�s problem. I will head to the library and see what I can find.