IEP for a gifted child?
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Anonymous
Key word: spectrum... |
Anonymous
It's a judgement call but ADOS/ADI-R testing tries to quantify and make diagnosis less subjective. |
Anonymous
ADOS/ADI-R testing for Autism Spectrum Disorder is considered the gold standard for ASD diagnosis and is available at Children's, KKI, Stixrud, etc. |
Anonymous
As long as we're all in agreement (on DCUM!). 
Actually, I was the parent with the original "borderline" comment. I really didn't expect to see such venom resulting from the comment. We were just a couple of points shy of the label, not that we wanted one. We weren't looking for an IEP or anything -- we were trying to understand our child's needs. I'm sure we could have found a satisfactory doctor if we wanted to get a label, but what would that really gain us? Differentiation via IEP would still be crap differentiation in our child's case. Every kid is different, though. I could see where an IEP could help a good number of kids, but a few will never be served by our current, busted-up educational system. Instead of creating a new program within the current model, I'd rather fund competitive models or start requiring our teachers to build knowledge in their actual content area each year. I wonder why someone doesn't create a hybrid of the BASIS & Responsive Ed charters, with actual teachers & curriculum like BASIS, but with the individualization of Responsive Ed (minus the dogma)? Stanford OHS looks great, but expensive. It's big drawback, though, is its late start for the high school, or the limited breadth of the EPGY program. That's a topic for another thread, though. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
Soooooooooooo true. Giften my ass! |
Anonymous
| Send your gifted kid to BASIS and be done with it. |
Anonymous
My child's IEP does not address academics. DS has no academic issues and excels academically. His IEP addresses those aspects of his disability that can have an academic impact; In our DS's case, social/communication issues. As everyone has told you, an IEP is about putting in a floor so kids with disabilities can "access the curriculum" - the existing curriculum that everyone else gets. As pp said, why don't you send your gifted kid to Basis... or start your own school. |
Anonymous
Well done -- that's the way to take potshots at your own troops! I was actually in agreement, you know? I just like to give people a chance to voice their opinions, so that a good idea doesn't get buried under a bunch of flak. That particular child does attend BASIS already. Never, ever, ever claimed that IEPs were bad things, nor that we wanted one or needed one. They are needed for some kids. As an avenue for serving G&T, not so much. Very inappropriate IMHO. As for BASIS serving the G&T community, it really doesn't. It's just the best option available right now. Acceleration is not as good as depth, and while BASIS provides some good avenues for depth, they still force acceleration on kids. It gets them to nice AP statistics faster, which helps their business model. I don't ascribe to the "it's a race" model of education. |
Anonymous
Well then, we're almost in agreement. The whole idea of IEPs for gifted kids is offensive (to parents of kids with disabilities) and not allowed and illegal under IDEA not just inappropriate or a bad idea. |
Anonymous
| DCPS does indeed have programs in place for students that require more academic challenge at all grades. They just don't label students as "gifted" or not. It is all fairly new on a district-level and of course some folks are never satisfied but there clearly are things being put in place. Programs for advanced readers, programs to provide in-depth enrichment/research opportunities (SEM), more honors classes, more critical thinking programs (Junior Great Books), and it's been in the news lately how much more access to Advanced Placement they have been pushing. (Not to mention IB.) |
Anonymous
It seems that where our disagreement lies is that G&T kids deserve attention. The disagreement is that you think of those kids as over-coddled "snowflakes," where I think of them as our under-served future. THIS is the point the very original poster was getting at -- how do we reach these kids (with IDEA being raised as one possible means to an end)? Nobody on here is still arguing for an IEP as the answer, as far as I can tell. They are arguing that G&T kids need attention, and aren't getting it. Other posters keep circling back to legal reasons why IDEA doesn't support G&T, so G&T parents are SOL. This is really a thinly veiled argument that G&T kids don't deserve anything at all. On that point, I disagree strongly. For those kids that receive nothing but daycare from DCPS, I believe they do deserve better. These kids are not "snowflakes" -- they are ignored, forgotten, and mistreated. My children are cared for. I don't argue on their behalf. I argue for the uncounted kids who are not being cared for. They need to be reached, and yet we do nothing but block progress. So, for the ignorant masses that choose to stick to resistance at all costs, I will open a new thread, that starts from this point. What can be done for these kids? |
Anonymous
No one is saying gifted kids don't deserve attention... But this thread with using IDEA to get the attention will not work, is a stupid idea b/c it won't work, waste of time b/c it won't work,..offend parents of disabled kids (who would support "more attention for gifted kids"), etc. |
Anonymous
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You're being quite overdramatic, 10:51. So called "G&T students", the majority of which are really just academically advanced students, are not being mistreated, ignored or forgotten. They're excelling in their schools. You'd like them to be given greater resources for acceleration. That's a great idea, but a foolish way to allocate resources.
The fact of the matter is that there are very few truly gifted students in DCPS. There are few truly gifted students anywhere. For these students, families do what they have had to do for generations. They seek enrichment outside the school. If you have an art prodigy, you seek extra art classes. If you have a sports prodigy, you seek travel teams and soccer camp. If you have a math prodigy, you seek enrichment. That is how parents of truly gifted children navigate the educational environment. When it comes to resource allocation, addressing the areas of greatest need is the most efficient way to improve schools. The "G&T" kids are not the greatest need. They access the curriculum just fine. As for using IDEA to argue that being smart is a disability, well, that makes no sense. |
Anonymous
I agree wholeheartedly with the argument that IDEA is not the appropriate avenue (and probably most posters here agree) - but I have to disagree quite strongly with just about everything else that you have to say. They are "excelling" only by the yardstick of a non-G&T perspective and only when compared to non-G&T students. From a G&T perspective they are being held back and their academic progress is being stunted, they are discouraged and bored in class, they are not receiving appropriate instruction, and their needs are not being met. That's not so "excellent". Further, "resource allocation" is absolutely NOT a legitimate argument for opposing G&T. DCPS spends far more per student than any other district in the nation - to include spending more than many districts that DO provide resources to meet the needs of G&T students. And given the economic demographics of DC, you should also accept the fact that many families do not have the means to fund outside G&T enrichment on their own. The programs in the area like Johns Hopkins CTY are not affordable to many of us - which is why it is all the more incumbent on OSSE/DCPS to provide the means to support G&T students. |