My son's normal school conference was yesterday, and it was with the Special Ed Chair. I was dreading it, but it went surprisingly well.
It seems that the Special Ed Principal may be the one creating the tempest in a teacup, because without her there, things went very well. The Chair explained that the science teacher requested the educational assistant for that class period because there are several on IEP's (would've been nice to know). My son was pulled out to work in the library on a task the teacher decided was too writing-intensive (definitions for 100 vocab words), and the teacher decided when to have my kiddo go to the library at a time when he wouldn't miss anything in class. I am comfortable with that so will leave it alone for now without a change to the IEP.
We also discussed my son's ongoing difficulty with remembering to turn in assignments, and she asked for my suggestions. I explained that his iPod had a voice memo recorder that would work fine but that the Sp. Ed Principal had vetoed it. She offered to go over her head and ask the principal, who has known my son since he started school. He immediately said yes. So now we will see if it does the trick.
Thanks again for all the feedback and support. You all are amazing!
