Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion showing what you know.....

Oh, Belle, I'm sorry!

Thinking of you both--

minnie

These stories make me want to scream. And then some.

When our little guy was in 1st they had stacks of those worksheets that involved drawing a line from an object in one column to the related object in the other.

Our boy's solution? He drew a line, alright, and was always correct. The problem was that his lines would take the most circuitous routes possible such that each worksheet resembled one of Jeffie's neighborhood adventures in "Family Circus."

The teachers reprimanded him over & over. When they finally brought it to my attention, I agreed that he was being insubordinate (he was). But that rather than beat him up over it, I convinced his teachers to give him the whole workbook for me to do with him... with the agreement that I could give him a pass on things he already knew. They reluctantly agreed. And we sent the a note back with the workbook the following day saying that everything was covered already. The teacher didn't like this, but stuck to her agreement.

However -- given how UN-accommodating your school has been thus far, I'm betting they won't be open to something like this.

Oh my goodness, that is exactly what DS did!

Unfortunately, we weren't smart enough or assertive enough to solve it your way. Instead, we kept telling him (sometimes yelling) that he had to do neat work.

Poor guy ... I'd give anything for a really great teacher this year....

It's very very hard when people don't understand about giftedness. I know they're busy, I know they have a lot of students, I know, etc. etc. But all this doesn't mean you can just ignore someone.

Your child has a right to learn in school. This is what school is for. If the teacher can't see that, you might want to consider moving up the hierarchy.

Belle, is there anyone you can approach (eg the principal) and ask "Well, why is he here, anyway?"

Problem: he's been labeled as a behavior problem. Responses:

1. He's only six years old and isn't familiar with school and it's only the first week.

2. His educational needs aren't being met and this problem is creating the behavior problems. He is very unhappy right now and here's why....

3. His teacher seems to be inflexible and expects him to put in 100% of the effort needed to solve the problem. It would probably help a lot if some flexing came from the teacher too.

4. Suggestion: could he go to X grade for reading?

Remember this answer when they say "Everyone needs to learn to do things they don't like":

"I agree when the unpleasant task has a positive outcome, such as picking up toys or washing dishes. But doing tasks that are well below his capabilities has no positive learning outcome for him and is only a negative experience. He has a right to learn material at his level, and this issue is separate from behavior. How would you feel if you were forced, to the point of frustration, to do trivially easy mental tasks all day and denied an opportunity to be challenged?"

Belle, I'm so sorry. This is so awful for you and your family.

Val

All goals have to be observable and measurable. Any goals that are not observable and measurable do not meet IDEIA requirements. Additionally, the IEP has to indicate how the goal will be measured. The only change I can think of that would apply is that there do not have to be lists of objectives under the goal. However, key objectives should now be PART of the goal. Accomodations are a separate issue, as they are a service. They should be listed separately in the IEP (as a supplementary aid or service) and the IEP should specifically state who will deliver them and for how much time.



The IEP must be data driven. What is the school's justification for ignoring the data?


Have you considered requesting a behavior intervention plan? Based on the school's assertion that he is not working due to behavior, they should have included an acknowledgement of special factors. If you go this route, you can request an FBA (functional behavior analysis). This would involve directly naming the behaviors and their functions (in this case, avoiding work that has already been mastered) and--as part of the behavior intervention plan--listing positive strategies that serve to decrease the behaviors.




What was the school's response to THAT ?

I am absolutely appalled by the way in which your school has handled this. Given that you are ready to homeschool him again anyway, you are in a position to push this. My suggestion is that you write a letter to the prinicipal and/or LEA, asking him/her to respond in writing to your concerns:

1) Data has been shared with the school (attach it even though they already have it) stating that DS has already mastered the following skills being worked on in class (list them). What *educational* benefit are they hoping that DS will derive from repeating these skills?

2) The school has noted that DS's behavior is inappropriate for the classroom when he is assigned work that he has already mastered. Given that he has dyspraxia (am I recollecting that correctly???), fine motor skills are challenging. Is it not a reasonable accomodation to have him work on motor skills by way of activities that are engaging? For instance, if the school has chosen to have DS work on fine motor coloring skills, rather than coloring the counting sheets during math, could he instead work on coloring fractional parts; constructing polygons on a geo-board and then drawing the polygon on dot paper, etc.? If not, why not?

3) Please clarify what you mean by no longer needing to include specific steps and accomodations on the IEP.

4) Please clarify how his current level of ACADEMIC performance is being used to determine instructional goals.


You might start off with something like, "after going home and thinking about the conversations we have had regarding DS, I realized that I needed additional clarification. Thank you in advance for reading through my questions and responding to them in writing".

You can then close by thanking the school again for taking the time to explain their thinking. Blah, blah, blah....

If you do not recieve a written response, take your written questions, a copy of the IEP, and a short cover letter and find out who to contact in your state department of education/department of public instruction. There should be someone specializing in special education issues (I'd pursue it through the special education route--rights are clearer than they are for gifted). If you do recieve a written response, and it does not adequately address your concerns, include the school's response in materials you send to the department of public instruction. Going to battle always feels risky, but it seems that worst case outcome here would be that the school would be hostile and you wouldn't want to send DS anymore. Since you already don't want to send DS... you're in a position to make a few very appropriate waves.

That's just my two cents fwiw---it's much easier for me to chart a plan of action from way out here (where I sit outraged and wanting to call in the calvary ). Whatever you decide, I hope you know that you have a lot of sympathetic ears out here!

Our DS too!

Belle, I've been doing some searching on the web and haven't found anything that says that the law related to IEPs in Florida has changed. Is the school trying to brush you off?

For information, contact:

The Florida Department of Education, Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services at 850-488-1106 or www.myfloridaeducation.com/commhome.

If your son has an IEP and the school isn't meeting his needs, can you get a voucher for a private school? I read that Florida has a voucher program for kids with IEPs.

Also, have you heard of the K-8 virtual education program? This is some kind of program for kids to use online tools to learn at home.

News article on schools in Florida

Val

Belle, so sorry to hear that you and your DS have to go through this. ((HUGS))