Re: classroom for students with learning disabilities

March 22, 2011

My advice would be first to observe the class where they want to place your son.

Ask what their plan is for helping your son catch up to his peers and move back

to regular ed. If they don't have a plan then I'd really worry.

Has your son undergone a neuropsych eval? We had one done when my son was just

under age 7. We asked the doc to provide us guidance to what type of learning

environment and supports were needed to help my son succeed in school. The doc

provided a very detailed report which helped us in writing my son's IEP's all

thru elementary school.

During elementary school my son was placed in a class with a shared aide. It

worked well for him. He also received some help outside the classroom on writing

issues. He was significantly behind his peers in writing so we had accomodations

included in his IEP for it. It has only been since @ 8th grade that he caught up

to his peers in writing.

Caroline

>

> Hi everyone,

>

> My 7-year-old has been struggling through second grade, and the school

district is now recommending that we put him in a substantially separate third

grade classroom for kids with learning disabilities. For years I've been

fighting to keep him with his " typical " peers - he has an aide who is with him

all day, and until now that has been sufficient. Unfortunately his teacher has

been less than forthcoming about his academic struggles, and now that it's March

she's telling us that he's fallen far behind his classmates. They are concerned

that he cannot keep up, and are therefore recommending this alternate classroom.

>

> In theory I'm all for putting him in a smaller class where they move at a

different pace. That said, I worry that if we put him on this track in third

grade, when/how does he ever get off it? I'm terrified to make a decision at age

7 that is going to define the rest of his education, yet can't figure out

whether it's what would be best for him.

>

> Owen is a happy, wonderful boy with incredible talents. Unfortunately his

school has yet to find a way to tap into them, and, in my opinion, is throwing

up their collective hands. This feels like a step int he wrong direcftion to me.

I would love feedback from all of you on your experiences with this issue and

any advice you may have.

>

March 22, 2011

I agree with Carolyn below in that if they don't have a plan in how they are going to get him caught up and then mainstream him back into regular ed then I would be extremely cautious.

Unknowingly at the time, we found ourselves in this same situation last October. The difference is my son is 14 (was 13 at the time) and in 8th grade. We were in a crisis situation at the time and requested a small group instructional setting for our son. When we were offered this classroom at another school we didn't know it was mainly for conduct/behavior issues. We were just told that there were only four other students in the class and that there was also an aide. So we thought a five to two ratio would be good for our son to help him get back on track.

We were on the very verge of due process in January until finally they hired an outside agency to help them get training and fix things. We then found out only a month ago that they had our 8th grade son on the 6th grade schedule. We almost came unglued. But their excuse was that they were focusing on behavior first???? On our insistance and bringing in an advocate and the director of middle schools we are now getting our son mainstreamed back into regular education. He will have a lot of catching up to do both academically and socially and will now probably have to have ESY.

You are right to be leary. Don't let this happen to your son. These classrooms often go at a much slower academic pace as regular ed and plus are self contained so they don't have a lot of interaction with NT peers. I would check it out very thoroughly and ask A LOT of questions. ne

From: Catcelia <c2cats@...>Subject: ( ) Re: classroom for students with learning disabilities Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 1:17 PM

My advice would be first to observe the class where they want to place your son. Ask what their plan is for helping your son catch up to his peers and move back to regular ed. If they don't have a plan then I'd really worry. Has your son undergone a neuropsych eval? We had one done when my son was just under age 7. We asked the doc to provide us guidance to what type of learning environment and supports were needed to help my son succeed in school. The doc provided a very detailed report which helped us in writing my son's IEP's all thru elementary school.During elementary school my son was placed in a class with a shared aide. It worked well for him. He also received some help outside the classroom on writing issues. He was significantly behind his peers in writing so we had accomodations included in his IEP for it. It has only been since @ 8th grade that he caught up to his peers in writing.Caroline>> Hi everyone, > > My 7-year-old has been struggling through second grade, and the school district is now recommending that we put him in a substantially separate third grade classroom for kids with learning disabilities. For years I've been fighting to keep him with his "typical" peers - he has an aide who is with him all day, and until now that has been sufficient. Unfortunately his teacher has been less than forthcoming about his academic struggles, and now that it's March she's telling us that he's fallen far behind his classmates. They are concerned that he cannot keep up, and are therefore recommending this alternate classroom. > > In theory I'm all for putting

him in a smaller class where they move at a different pace. That said, I worry that if we put him on this track in third grade, when/how does he ever get off it? I'm terrified to make a decision at age 7 that is going to define the rest of his education, yet can't figure out whether it's what would be best for him. > > Owen is a happy, wonderful boy with incredible talents. Unfortunately his school has yet to find a way to tap into them, and, in my opinion, is throwing up their collective hands. This feels like a step int he wrong direcftion to me. I would love feedback from all of you on your experiences with this issue and any advice you may have.>

March 28, 2011

I'd be pretty upset if they waited until now to mention he is so far behind that he has to go into a separate class? I would want a full educational evaluation done to find out what is going on. Does he have a learning disability? If so, he should get a specific plan to address (remediate) the problems. I would not want to make a decision to pull him out of regular ed until I knew what the problem was and how to fix it. Maybe you've all discussed these things already?

I think you are right to worry. Often times, these classes do not keep up with their NT peers/grade level. So find out why he is behind and what the plan will be to catch him up. In my own opinion, you should not be discussing the placement before discussing the problem and what to do about it. Then you can decide what way to provide what she needs and if it can't be done in a regular class.

Roxanna

May those who love us, love us

And those who don't love us,

May God turn their hearts

And if he can't turn their hearts,

May he turn their ankles

So we will know them by their limping!

( ) classroom for students with learning disabilities

Hi everyone,

My 7-year-old has been struggling through second grade, and the school district is now recommending that we put him in a substantially separate third grade classroom for kids with learning disabilities. For years I've been fighting to keep him with his "typical" peers - he has an aide who is with him all day, and until now that has been sufficient. Unfortunately his teacher has been less than forthcoming about his academic struggles, and now that it's March she's telling us that he's fallen far behind his classmates. They are concerned that he cannot keep up, and are therefore recommending this alternate classroom.

In theory I'm all for putting him in a smaller class where they move at a different pace. That said, I worry that if we put him on this track in third grade, when/how does he ever get off it? I'm terrified to make a decision at age 7 that is going to define the rest of his education, yet can't figure out whether it's what would be best for him.

Owen is a happy, wonderful boy with incredible talents. Unfortunately his school has yet to find a way to tap into them, and, in my opinion, is throwing up their collective hands. This feels like a step int he wrong direcftion to me. I would love feedback from all of you on your experiences with this issue and any advice you may have.

March 29, 2011

You know, I have a 12 year old that is having a " year from hell " and he was

thrown into Special Services via his IEP this year. That said, he is a SMART kid

but because of the Aspergers his maturity is several years behind his peers. My

ex husband and I were talking and it's frustrating that they put him in Sp

Services but doesn't really have a learning disability. He has

ADD/Anxiety/Aspergers..therefore needing a rigid routine that he so craves. And

teachers don't have the " time " to accomodate him. One teacher told us at

conferences that when Riley comes into her classroom, he raises his hand to go

to the bathroom-almost everyday (his routine and at time gets anxious so that is

his cue to ppl " I need to get away for a second to calm down " ) and the teacher

said that is disruptive to her classroom. yet at the beginning of the school

year I explained to all the teachers what Riley's needs are and they said they'd

help him with his " anxiousness " .

I feel, at times, because you can't see the physical charactoristics with our

kids, like you see with Down's etc, it's hard to get help our kiddos need! HOW

FRUSTRATING!! They need the help but they may be smart, but immature, yet not

getting their work done..ahhhh.

Riley is terribly behind in 6th grade. He just doesn't seem to care this year

and no one can get it out of him what the problem is. He just tells us " I don't

know " . At times you wonder, " what is the Asperger's " and " what is him just being

a naughty kid " ? I'm glad we have this group to be able to see that other parents

struggle. Not that I wish any of you had to struggle, but it's comforting to

know we are all going through " hell " together! Heidi

>

> I'd be pretty upset if they waited until now to mention he is so far behind

that he has to go into a separate class? I would want a full educational

evaluation done to find out what is going on. Does he have a learning

disability? If so, he should get a specific plan to address (remediate) the

problems. I would not want to make a decision to pull him out of regular ed

until I knew what the problem was and how to fix it. Maybe you've all discussed

these things already?

>

> I think you are right to worry. Often times, these classes do not keep up

with their NT peers/grade level. So find out why he is behind and what the plan

will be to catch him up. In my own opinion, you should not be discussing the

placement before discussing the problem and what to do about it. Then you can

decide what way to provide what she needs and if it can't be done in a regular

class.

>

> Roxanna

> May those who love us, love us

> And those who don't love us,

> May God turn their hearts

> And if he can't turn their hearts,

> May he turn their ankles

> So we will know them by their limping!

>

> ( ) classroom for students with learning disabilities