APS & diagnosing learning disabilities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately APS' parent disability groups (ASEAC and SEPTA) are dominated by closed schoolers and forced child maskers

Here come the APE trolls attacking the disability groups now. Have you no shame?

They are pure trash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:from what I've heard, APS is not a good system for learning disabilities. It is not in their best interest to diagnose a disability, unfortunately.

What is the incentive? If kid is passing SOLs that’s all they need to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately APS' parent disability groups (ASEAC and SEPTA) are dominated by closed schoolers and forced child maskers

Here come the APE trolls attacking the disability groups now. Have you no shame?

They are pure trash.

Not sure who you're referring to, but I'm in SEPTA and I saw the closed schooler/forced masker leader emailing us, saying we should use the ADA last spring to force classes to mask. They definitely don't speak for the vast majority of SWD parents. It was infuriating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We sent our child (current 5th grader) to a private school last year after the horrendous handling of COVID by APS

The new school has uncovered that he has significant learning disabilities and desperately needed an IEP and extra support. They are shocked this was not diagnosed in earlier school years at APS. I've always had concerns but the teachers consistently reassured me he was doing fine. At this age, it is increasingly difficult to help him catch up. We are livid at their ignorance.

Just a warning - for any APS families with concerns regarding potential learning disabilities, do not take the teacher's word for it. Get a private assessment and lawyer if the school refuses to help.

The flip side of this is that when teachers do suggest kids have LDS, parents get angry and deny it and say it’s not the teacher’s job to diagnose. Which it isn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately APS' parent disability groups (ASEAC and SEPTA) are dominated by closed schoolers and forced child maskers

Here come the APE trolls attacking the disability groups now. Have you no shame?

They are pure trash.

Not sure who you're referring to, but I'm in SEPTA and I saw the closed schooler/forced masker leader emailing us, saying we should use the ADA last spring to force classes to mask. They definitely don't speak for the vast majority of SWD parents. It was infuriating.

“Forced maskers”? “Closed schoolers”?

You are the trash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately APS' parent disability groups (ASEAC and SEPTA) are dominated by closed schoolers and forced child maskers

Here come the APE trolls attacking the disability groups now. Have you no shame?

They are pure trash.

Not sure who you're referring to, but I'm in SEPTA and I saw the closed schooler/forced masker leader emailing us, saying we should use the ADA last spring to force classes to mask. They definitely don't speak for the vast majority of SWD parents. It was infuriating.

“Forced maskers”? “Closed schoolers”?

You are the trash.

Remember when certain SWDs finally got back into the buildings in November 2020, but with an iPad and a low paid teacher's aide, instead of a teacher and in contravention of state guidance. Did these organizations say anything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sorry your child's learning disabilities weren't identified earlier and it's great he is now getting the support he needs. That said, I would be surprised if most parents (who are lucky enough to have the resources to do so) didn't already know how important private testing can be. You blame APS and you are so "livid at their ignorance" that you are warning other parents to "lawyer up" but perhaps deep down you are angry at your own ignorance and failure to advocate for your child as strongly as you could have. Teachers aren't diagnosticians who can tease out every special need, as much as we wish this were the case. Given your own concerns, you should have requested an evaluation from the school, which they would have been required to do. Without that, you don't know if and how they could have accommodated your child. I know schools can and often should do better but I don't think it's fair or helpful to lay blame in thie way that OP has done.

NP. My kid’s story is similar to OPs. And yes, I am angry at myself for not being a better advocate but I am also angry with APS. My kid has a lot of issues that get tangled together and it is not the school’s job to fix them all but teaching him to read should squarely fall in their wheelhouse. He’s behind in reading- failing SOLs and all assessments below grade level but not enough to qualify for extra help, which he hasn’t received at APS since 1st grade. He’s extremely behind in writing and can barely write at a level about 3 grades below grade level. When we requested special education assessment, we were told he just didn’t try hard in the sections he didn’t pass (something we heard consistently all through elementary).

When we paid for a private assessment, we were told they wouldn’t accept it and that they would need to redo it themselves. Every advocate and experienced parent we talked to said that we shouldn’t even bother trying to get APS to remediate dyslexia. So our options are either paying $100+/hour for private tutoring multiple days a week after he has already struggled through school all day or is all the money we have saved to send him to private school that costs more than most university tuition.

I think the teachers and administrators don’t mean to harm but way the system is set up let’s a lot of kids fail. It is completely justified to blame APS for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately APS' parent disability groups (ASEAC and SEPTA) are dominated by closed schoolers and forced child maskers

Here come the APE trolls attacking the disability groups now. Have you no shame?

They are pure trash.

Not sure who you're referring to, but I'm in SEPTA and I saw the closed schooler/forced masker leader emailing us, saying we should use the ADA last spring to force classes to mask. They definitely don't speak for the vast majority of SWD parents. It was infuriating.

“Forced maskers”? “Closed schoolers”?

You are the trash.

Remember when certain SWDs finally got back into the buildings in November 2020, but with an iPad and a low paid teacher's aide, instead of a teacher and in contravention of state guidance. Did these organizations say anything?

ASEAC has new leadership that I feel very good about. SEPTA, not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately APS' parent disability groups (ASEAC and SEPTA) are dominated by closed schoolers and forced child maskers

Here come the APE trolls attacking the disability groups now. Have you no shame?

They are pure trash.

Not sure who you're referring to, but I'm in SEPTA and I saw the closed schooler/forced masker leader emailing us, saying we should use the ADA last spring to force classes to mask. They definitely don't speak for the vast majority of SWD parents. It was infuriating.

You sound pretty ignorant of SEPTA efforts. SEPTA advocated for in-person education for students with disabilities very early on back in 2020. SEPTA also advocated for accommodations for immunocompromised students with disabilities so they too can go to school. Sorry you have a problem with the ADA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately APS' parent disability groups (ASEAC and SEPTA) are dominated by closed schoolers and forced child maskers

Here come the APE trolls attacking the disability groups now. Have you no shame?

They are pure trash.

Not sure who you're referring to, but I'm in SEPTA and I saw the closed schooler/forced masker leader emailing us, saying we should use the ADA last spring to force classes to mask. They definitely don't speak for the vast majority of SWD parents. It was infuriating.

“Forced maskers”? “Closed schoolers”?

You are the trash.

Remember when certain SWDs finally got back into the buildings in November 2020, but with an iPad and a low paid teacher's aide, instead of a teacher and in contravention of state guidance. Did these organizations say anything?

You sound pretty ignorant. The SWDs would not even have gotten back in to the buildings in Nov 2020 without these organizations. But then it's easier for you to just call everyone outside of APE "closed schoolers" isn't it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately APS' parent disability groups (ASEAC and SEPTA) are dominated by closed schoolers and forced child maskers

Here come the APE trolls attacking the disability groups now. Have you no shame?

They are pure trash.

Not sure who you're referring to, but I'm in SEPTA and I saw the closed schooler/forced masker leader emailing us, saying we should use the ADA last spring to force classes to mask. They definitely don't speak for the vast majority of SWD parents. It was infuriating.

“Forced maskers”? “Closed schoolers”?

You are the trash.

Remember when certain SWDs finally got back into the buildings in November 2020, but with an iPad and a low paid teacher's aide, instead of a teacher and in contravention of state guidance. Did these organizations say anything?

ASEAC has new leadership that I feel very good about. SEPTA, not so much.

So sad to see anonymous internet trolls trashing parents who volunteer hours and hours of their time to help special needs kids. What are YOU doing to add value to the world, PP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sorry your child's learning disabilities weren't identified earlier and it's great he is now getting the support he needs. That said, I would be surprised if most parents (who are lucky enough to have the resources to do so) didn't already know how important private testing can be. You blame APS and you are so "livid at their ignorance" that you are warning other parents to "lawyer up" but perhaps deep down you are angry at your own ignorance and failure to advocate for your child as strongly as you could have. Teachers aren't diagnosticians who can tease out every special need, as much as we wish this were the case. Given your own concerns, you should have requested an evaluation from the school, which they would have been required to do. Without that, you don't know if and how they could have accommodated your child. I know schools can and often should do better but I don't think it's fair or helpful to lay blame in thie way that OP has done.

NP. My kid’s story is similar to OPs. And yes, I am angry at myself for not being a better advocate but I am also angry with APS. My kid has a lot of issues that get tangled together and it is not the school’s job to fix them all but teaching him to read should squarely fall in their wheelhouse. He’s behind in reading- failing SOLs and all assessments below grade level but not enough to qualify for extra help, which he hasn’t received at APS since 1st grade. He’s extremely behind in writing and can barely write at a level about 3 grades below grade level. When we requested special education assessment, we were told he just didn’t try hard in the sections he didn’t pass (something we heard consistently all through elementary).

When we paid for a private assessment, we were told they wouldn’t accept it and that they would need to redo it themselves. Every advocate and experienced parent we talked to said that we shouldn’t even bother trying to get APS to remediate dyslexia. So our options are either paying $100+/hour for private tutoring multiple days a week after he has already struggled through school all day or is all the money we have saved to send him to private school that costs more than most university tuition.

I think the teachers and administrators don’t mean to harm but way the system is set up let’s a lot of kids fail. It is completely justified to blame APS for that.

I don't think you got very good advice. APS has come a looooong way in the past several years with dyslexia remediation. It is far from perfect but it exists now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sorry your child's learning disabilities weren't identified earlier and it's great he is now getting the support he needs. That said, I would be surprised if most parents (who are lucky enough to have the resources to do so) didn't already know how important private testing can be. You blame APS and you are so "livid at their ignorance" that you are warning other parents to "lawyer up" but perhaps deep down you are angry at your own ignorance and failure to advocate for your child as strongly as you could have. Teachers aren't diagnosticians who can tease out every special need, as much as we wish this were the case. Given your own concerns, you should have requested an evaluation from the school, which they would have been required to do. Without that, you don't know if and how they could have accommodated your child. I know schools can and often should do better but I don't think it's fair or helpful to lay blame in thie way that OP has done.

NP. My kid’s story is similar to OPs. And yes, I am angry at myself for not being a better advocate but I am also angry with APS. My kid has a lot of issues that get tangled together and it is not the school’s job to fix them all but teaching him to read should squarely fall in their wheelhouse. He’s behind in reading- failing SOLs and all assessments below grade level but not enough to qualify for extra help, which he hasn’t received at APS since 1st grade. He’s extremely behind in writing and can barely write at a level about 3 grades below grade level. When we requested special education assessment, we were told he just didn’t try hard in the sections he didn’t pass (something we heard consistently all through elementary).

When we paid for a private assessment, we were told they wouldn’t accept it and that they would need to redo it themselves. Every advocate and experienced parent we talked to said that we shouldn’t even bother trying to get APS to remediate dyslexia. So our options are either paying $100+/hour for private tutoring multiple days a week after he has already struggled through school all day or is all the money we have saved to send him to private school that costs more than most university tuition.

I think the teachers and administrators don’t mean to harm but way the system is set up let’s a lot of kids fail. It is completely justified to blame APS for that.

I don't think you got very good advice. APS has come a looooong way in the past several years with dyslexia remediation. It is far from perfect but it exists now.

We pushed for services in the IEP and have some goals around it but he hasn’t gotten any specific services outside of having cotaught classes. Certainly nothing with a reading specialist. We could aggressively push/lawyer up and are choosing not to spend our money on tutoring. But we shouldn’t need an advocate or lawyer to get services. So hopefully APS is doing better in elementary school but they continue to do nothing for us on reading or writing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sorry your child's learning disabilities weren't identified earlier and it's great he is now getting the support he needs. That said, I would be surprised if most parents (who are lucky enough to have the resources to do so) didn't already know how important private testing can be. You blame APS and you are so "livid at their ignorance" that you are warning other parents to "lawyer up" but perhaps deep down you are angry at your own ignorance and failure to advocate for your child as strongly as you could have. Teachers aren't diagnosticians who can tease out every special need, as much as we wish this were the case. Given your own concerns, you should have requested an evaluation from the school, which they would have been required to do. Without that, you don't know if and how they could have accommodated your child. I know schools can and often should do better but I don't think it's fair or helpful to lay blame in thie way that OP has done.

NP. My kid’s story is similar to OPs. And yes, I am angry at myself for not being a better advocate but I am also angry with APS. My kid has a lot of issues that get tangled together and it is not the school’s job to fix them all but teaching him to read should squarely fall in their wheelhouse. He’s behind in reading- failing SOLs and all assessments below grade level but not enough to qualify for extra help, which he hasn’t received at APS since 1st grade. He’s extremely behind in writing and can barely write at a level about 3 grades below grade level. When we requested special education assessment, we were told he just didn’t try hard in the sections he didn’t pass (something we heard consistently all through elementary).

When we paid for a private assessment, we were told they wouldn’t accept it and that they would need to redo it themselves. Every advocate and experienced parent we talked to said that we shouldn’t even bother trying to get APS to remediate dyslexia. So our options are either paying $100+/hour for private tutoring multiple days a week after he has already struggled through school all day or is all the money we have saved to send him to private school that costs more than most university tuition.

I think the teachers and administrators don’t mean to harm but way the system is set up let’s a lot of kids fail. It is completely justified to blame APS for that.

I don't think you got very good advice. APS has come a looooong way in the past several years with dyslexia remediation. It is far from perfect but it exists now.

We pushed for services in the IEP and have some goals around it but he hasn’t gotten any specific services outside of having cotaught classes. Certainly nothing with a reading specialist. We could aggressively push/lawyer up and are choosing not to spend our money on tutoring. But we shouldn’t need an advocate or lawyer to get services. So hopefully APS is doing better in elementary school but they continue to do nothing for us on reading or writing.

then unfortunately it may be time to get a lawyer. You don't want time with the reading specialist. You want time with an OG trained special education teacher (if it's dyslexia).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately APS' parent disability groups (ASEAC and SEPTA) are dominated by closed schoolers and forced child maskers

Here come the APE trolls attacking the disability groups now. Have you no shame?

I am not an APE troll, and I 100% agree with this. I would also add that the "gifted" parents are well-organized and demanding, as well. Gifted is technically special ed, so time / resources spent on gifted is taken away from kids with learning disabilities. As a parent of a gifted learner, a neurodivergent learner, and a "regular" learner, it is absolutely infuriating that APS bends to the loud detractor PARENTS instead of doing what's right by the neurodivergent students.