Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional What if the g/t teacher isn't trained in ASD?

At our school, you'd have to have it specifically stated that the child has a one-on-one aide who will go to every single class with him. My son's IEP says he will have "paraprofessional support in the classroom." They can interpret that any way they want. It can mean he has his own aide, it can mean there's one aide for 5 sped kids in the room, it can mean the aide goes with him to other classes...or not. We did not know enough (because last year my son had his own aide) to make sure everything was spelled out very specifically. They changed it up on us without notice this year yet were no in violation of the IEP because that part of the IEP is too vague. Lesson learned!

If I had only this one child, I would find a way to homeschool. But I have another child with totally different needs, and there is only one me. It's a bummer.

We have hard evidence of one incident where the IEP was broken. When the teacher was asked about it, she lied/covered it up. She blamed my son--said he was "confused." His IQ is 154--he is rarely confused. LOL! But the school has reacted this way before when we have cried foul. We have not pursued the incident, other than to tell the teacher to stop it (she continues to claim she never did what she did). We have not revealed that we gathered evidence from witnesses at the time of the incident and know the teacher ignored the IEP and lied about it. We have focussed on trying to get DS decent treatment in school--more flies with honey and all that. But our patience is getting thin.

Orson, you can call an IEP meeting anytime to amend the IEP. It's like the Constitution-- a living document-- and it gives you the right to ask for amendments. If you need that specificity about when the aide is there, ask for it.

If you have direct evidence that this teacher violated the IEP, and you think she's not treating your child OK now, I'd encourage you to ever so nicely take action about that. You don't have to go in with guns blazing, but you can talk to those who supervise her work-- whether that is the principal, or the supervisor of gifted services in your district, or those who enforce IEPs in your building and district-- and let them know what's going on.

We have found it useful to have a hired professional advocate work on this stuff for us-- not because we can't, but because the advocate appears to be less biased, she can get things done that we cannot.

Good luck--
DeeDee

We've been down all these roads. Paid advocate, three IEP meetings in the last three months, talking to the principal (no help whatsoever), talking to the head of G/T (probably the biggest nightmare of them all) for the district. It all backfires in our case. To our credit (??), we have never gone in "guns blazing," we've always been reasonable. But hiring the advocate to help us (because we needed a better IEP and weren't sure how to get that on our own) just created an angry school "team" that banded together to treat us like the enemy. We have never threatened lawsuits or anything like that, we have been very cooperative and reasonable as we advocate for DS. It's a shell game with this school, though. They stand their ground and change their story. The entire district locks down against whichever parents they perceive to be "difficult," probably because they've been sued over autism in the past (and lost).

The bottom line, I'm sorry to say, is that we're in a very bad school. This bad school is in a district that presumably has some better schools (the district has an excellent reputation, generally speaking), but the same people are in charge at the top. Meaning no matter which school DS attends in this district, some of the same people will be at IEP meetings. And they've already shown that they are unable or unwilling to make positive changes. I know for a fact that DS is not the only child getting a raw deal in this school.

Our two options, I think, are to leave the district or to hire an attorney. If there were better school options for DS, we would hire an attorney for sure. But there's no private placement here that will meet both the ASD needs (social skills group, for example) and the high academic needs. So basically I'm having a nervous breakdown.

The key thing we've asked them to do is to stop punishing DS for his boredom and his autistic behaviors (spacing out, repeating words), but they refuse. The principal says there must be consequences for his "manipulative" behavior. Even if DS is manipulating them (they consider his spacing out to get away from "2 + 2 =4, 2+ 2 = 4" worksheets to be manipulation), they could try other approaches besides punishment. I have asked the principal directly about this. She insists the work in his classroom is very challenging and that he's not bored. DS tells a different story, as does the mountain of preschool-level worksheets that come home every day. It's just a crappy school!

I'm sorry that your ds is having to deal with this! I was initially going to ask if you lived near me b/c our local district has also been sued successfully for tuition for a private ASD school but I see that you're in the south.

I'm wondering if you've thought about suing them for tuition at the private ASD schools and then pursuing a grade skip (or a few grade skips or grade skip combined w/ subject acceleration) at the private school? Or are the kids there too different from your ds for him to find peers and get his academic needs met?

Orson: It sounds like your school is crappy indeed. I've learned the hard way that a district's reputation is not a reliable indicator of quality. We had a very poor experience with a Texas "Exemplary" and "Blue Ribbon" school. All these indicators tell us are the school's ability to pass students through the TAKS system. In the end, we decided to homeschool and joined an inclusive group. In the inclusive groups, there are a lot of really bright kids who are being homeschooled for academic reasons. There are also a lot of quirky kids with sensory issues. We have many more opportunities for positive social interaction now than we did in public school. DS is never bored and never lonely, and we are all so much happier and relaxed. Homeschooling is definitely not for everyone, especially two income families. However, it can be a viable alternative for 2E kids, especially when you have an uncooperative, oppressive school environment full of combative and defensive teachers and administrators.

Stories like this make my blood boil!

Orson: I'm sorry. I just read your earlier post. I see that HS isn't an option. Hopefully, someone has some better ideas for you.

Unfortunately the private ASD school here is a one-on-one ABA school, and is not appropriate for 2E kids. We literally have no options other than to somehow find another public school in the region (so we can keep our jobs) and then try to sell our house (good luck with that, of course!) and then hope that this new school isn't just as bad. We can also try to get on a waiting list to attend a school not in our district, but I have asked around and around and around and I cannot find a school here that gets high marks for Asperger kids. Most parents and students are dissatisfied and many are homeschooling.

If I had one child, we would move to an apartment or very inexpensive shack somewhere so we could live on one income and homeschool. But I have two children and I can't homeschool them both. They have totally different needs and literally need to be in two different places. The homeschool groups in my area are generally evangelical, and my DS is heavily into science, evolution, etc. We can't be in a group that teaches that the earth is 6,000 years old. So it's just one problem after another. I had no idea before I had kids that schooling would be such a huge, huge problem.

I hear that you are frustrated and feel like you are spinning in circles. It sounds like you think that homeschooling would be a good educational placement for your AS child in many ways, but you can't seem to figure out the logistics of how to make it work for your family.

I do want to point out that you don't have to homeschool both children just because you homeschool one. I know a lot of families who have one or two children homeschooling and one or two others in public or private, because the children need different things. We had one child in public school (at her request) and one child at home for three years. It worked out fine.

I also want to mention that homeschooling doesn't generally take up the same amount of time each day that public school does, because all of the time that is spent on logistics such as changing classes, handing in and passing out homework and tests, going over material that some kids are having trouble with but others aren't, etc. doesn't happen in homeschool.

There is also no law that says that instructional time has to happen between 8am and 3 pm. As long as your son has someplace safe and appropriate to be during the day, he can do "school" any time that it is convenient for your family. My husband and I both worked for part of the time that we have been homeschooling. We managed to arrange our schedules so that we could "tag team" most of the time, and filled in as needed with grandparents, friends, etc. so that our son was always with someone who "got" him, and we both did academics with him when we weren't working. I would further point out that, if your child reads well, much of what teachers provide in elementary grades is essentially babysitting services, so you don't have to feel guilty if you can't find a way to provide direct in-person academic instruction for 7 hours a day.

There is an incredible wealth of resources for homeschooling available for free or at very low cost online and through libraries, and we have never relied on homeschooling groups for instructional support, so we never worried about what other people were teaching. The public schools around here have their fair share of Young Earth evangelicals in instructional roles, so homeschooling actually helps us avoid this. If you don't know of any inclusive or secular homeschool groups in your area, it is pretty easy to start one using Yahoo! groups and the public library as jumping-off points. You say:


It sounds like others have already done your research for you, and found that there really isn't a lot in your area for someone like your son. This is either grounds for a class action suit against the district, or a signal to stop beating your head against a brick wall, depending on your level of energy and crusadership. It also sounds like these people might be a place to start in terms of finding homeschooling support in your area, if that is something that you decide to pursue.

Of course, you need to do what works for your family as a whole, and that balance can be the most difficult thing to figure out, particularly since it is generally a moving target. BTDT.

I wish you the best of luck in your quest.

Incidentally, have you looked into applying to DYS given his IQ scores? I doubt that they'd be able to solve your problems but any additional support might be welcome at this point.