Re: school modifications and advocacy for CMT kids

[Guest guest]

,

Wow! Had it only been so easy when I was growing up.

I got out of high school PE and was allowed by a teacher to leave

early for a class in the industrial building when I had a cast on

after an operation.

After a confrontation with the school administration over parking, I

was allowed to park in the front of the school in its visitor parking

area, which was closest to all the entrances I needed to use.

Nobody did anything official about ridicule, which turned to violence

and programmed harassment in middle school, until I started wearing

metal braces to the knee, followed by casts after tendon transfer

operations....but that wasn't until high school.

In middle school, instead of being allowed to escape the weather in

the nurses station or somewhere else, I was forced out into it for the

remainder of the lunch period via a single door that we were forced to

use exit the school building.

Outside this door was the most wind protected zone, so it was where

the kids hung out...in a gauntlet of cliques... all of which had a

violent present for me, should I walk by.

That I would not exit the school building during lunch was brought to

the attention of my parents as a discipline problem.

So I am glad things go better these days for sick kids.

Finally, speaking of Adam being allowed to set the pace for the line,

I was both downgraded in PE for " running with the girls, " and when I

was selected as the " rabbit, " for a rabbit run, where only the rabbit

knows the route, I had an entire pack of kids behind me screaming at

me to run faster, until one tripped me, and others kicked me when I

was down, and still others taunted me for having fallen and not being

able to get up while being kicked.

Any fallout? Yes, several kids were identified as being guilty of

something. They were made to sit out the rest of the run, as the rest

of the kids were sent on another course behind another rabbit. That

was all.

I did not feel I needed to follow that pack, so I did not.

That left me in the same area as those who had kicked and tripped me,

and they began to throw rocks at me from their unsupervised penalty box.

I have a lifetime of scars of that type.

[Guest guest]

Gosh , it breaks my heart to read this. I can only imagine how horrifying

that was for you as a child. It would be horrifying as an adult!

Jackie

[Guest guest]

,

Your are a force to be reckoned with! I admire your ability to continue pushing

and to " get things done! "

I had one IEP for my son (not CMT related) and I had to hold back the tears as

they talk about your child as if he was a specimen instead of a child. The only

saving grace was the vice principal knew my son well and advocated for him

alongside with me and reminded the rest of the professionals to remember that

they are talking about someone's child.

Jackie

[Guest guest]

Thanks so much . Those are great ideas. In Minneapolis we have a

lot of choice regarding where our kids go to school, and we're

starting to look at kindergartens for next fall. This is all very

helpful to keep in mind.

Sherry

[Guest guest]

,

This is tough to read - what an awful way to go through school.

I'm sickened that kids can be this way, but I know how true it is. I'm

a teacher and I really hope that we have changed how we deal with

special needs kids, and those that would bully them.

Sherry

[Guest guest]

Jackie,

The consequences are/were enormous and far reaching, particularly as

it was the CMT that put me in the risk position I was for sexual

molestation, which I suffered at age 7 at the hands of a neighborhood

teen, aged 16.

The CMT made it difficult to bond with my male school mates, and the

CMT and then the vibe which surrounded me after the molestations made

it impossible to learn to talk with girls and women at an intimate level.

There was no female age mate to go through puberty with (a Winnie

type from the Wonder Years), no girlfriends, and few girl friends.

Oh, there was the undiagnosed pain, as well.

Nevertheless I lived abroad for 20 years, learned 2 foreign languages

and established myself in in two foreign countries. I earned

bachelor's and Master's degrees, and I was the valedictorian of my

grad school class, and not because I was handicapped.

But I never solved the relationship forming problems, so I am in 150

minutes a week of therapy, which is progressing quickly.

So I guess it is not all bad, except that when one is 42 and -never-

married, this counts against one in the dating scene.

Thank you for your expression of sympathy. It is most comforting.

Regards,

[Guest guest]

Jackie,

You hit the nail on the head with this. It's like they are talking

about a specimen. Adam will be 18 at his last IEP. I told him I would only go if

he paid me, LOL