Suspended from riding the School Bus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your child has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS why has it taken the school a year to amend his IEP? As a parent YOU have the right and responsibility to rock the boat and make an IEP meeting happen. I am so sorry that your child has been treated this way. It is so wrong!

OP here. We have no IEP -- I wish we had one to amend! School has known of DS's diagnosis since last fall.

Academically, DS has been doing fine for the most part when in the structure of homeroom (with an excellent teacher), but all the rest of the day -- transitions to specials, the specials themselves, bathroom, lunch, hallways, recess -- is a nightmare. A typical week involves being sent to the office 3-4 times and/or "indoor recess" in the office and calling/emailing me to tell him to act like a 7 year old (he's smart, he should know better than to do xyz -- tell him to stop it). Because of academic progress, their position has been no IEP or 504. We recently hired an attorney and have a screening hearing coming up in several weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the Short Bus!

Yes, it is the short bus. If you're here to make fun then you don't belong, choose another forum for your venom.

I didn't take this a making fun - although it seems some non-SN parents are lurking in our forum now trying to contaminate it the way other forums are (and they should go away). When I saw the post, I thought of Jonathan Mooney - he was the keynote speaker at the Fairfax County Special Ed Conference a few weeks/month ago. http://www.jonathanmooney.com/ He's amazing and if you haven't heard of him, I highly recommend you go to his site. I may mix this up a little but was diagnosed LD in like 4th grade, ADHD in 5th, tried to kill himself in 7th grade and dropped out of school in 8th grade. He went back a year or so later, was told by the counselor that kids like him don't go to college, they go to jail. He didn't learn to read until he was 12 and clearly had a really rough time but he ended up graduating from Brown University. He wrote a book called the Short Bushttp://www.amazon.com/Short-Bus-Journey-Beyond-Normal/dp/0805074279" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> http://www.amazon.com/Short-Bus-Journey-Beyond-Normal/dp/0805074279

He's really amazing and his speech/session at the conference was really inspiring and let us hopeful about our kids. When I saw that post, I thought of him.

I'll check it out. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Original poster good luck and don't listen to the people telling you should have done this and do that. This is a process and a journey. we all take our journeys down our own paths. asking questions and getting advice is a great way to work through all of this. It is hard and confusing and very stressful!!!! Do what is right for your family and keep asking questions even if you have to filter through some BS. I hope your meeting goes well. We have one that will be tough this week as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We have no IEP -- I wish we had one to amend! School has known of DS's diagnosis since last fall.

Academically, DS has been doing fine for the most part when in the structure of homeroom (with an excellent teacher), but all the rest of the day -- transitions to specials, the specials themselves, bathroom, lunch, hallways, recess -- is a nightmare. A typical week involves being sent to the office 3-4 times and/or "indoor recess" in the office and calling/emailing me to tell him to act like a 7 year old (he's smart, he should know better than to do xyz -- tell him to stop it). Because of academic progress, their position has been no IEP or 504. We recently hired an attorney and have a screening hearing coming up in several weeks.

I'm glad to hear you have some professional help. I know how difficult it is to get an IEP when your DS is working at grade level. School is so much more than academics and I really don't know why this has to be so hard. I hope you don't feel bad about how things have gone. There's such a steep learning curve and you can only make the best decisions with what you have. Your DS is lucky to have you and you'll get him what he deserves, what he's entitled to.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am glad you have contacted legal help. This is absolutely ridiculous. My son was mis-diagnosed by DCPS (said he was not autistic) and then diagnosed privately as Asperger's. Even tho DCPS had found that he wasn't, the minute I brought in the private eval, the process was started for an IEP. No prob w/ that whatsoever. Now, the IEP stinks and I"ve been working on it for months, but at least there is the realization that he has social/emotional issues and that he does not mean to fall apart during the unstructured times. Autism is an automatic IEP. My son is above grade level in all areas. The only academic issue they work on is theory of mind in fiction books.

To the PP who is worried about your kid getting hurt. You need to turn around and look at yourself more closely. My son has hit some kids. It makes me absolutely sick. I truly wish he did not have a disability that causes him to get overly worked up and strike out. I wish he could go to a school where more support would be given to him and this would not happen. If I could, I would keep him home where he would be happy as a clam. HOwever, legally, he is required to go to school and I need a job to pay for all the private therapy we do in addition to what is provided by the school. I have begged for more support from the school so that he is not put in situations where he ends up hitting. He does mean to do so and it makes us all upset. He does get in trouble for it, both from me and from the school. If you feel worried about the safety of your child, please lobby the school system where you live for better services for kids with special needs. My son has a pervasive development disorder called autism. He has also been lying on the ground at school crying in panic while being screamed at. There are many ways in which he manifests his disability in addition to occasionally hitting other kids.

Social/emotional skills have a huge amount to do with academic learning. If a kid is not ready to learn because he is so overwhelmed by the social atmosphere, he will not learn to his best potential. Also, increasingly as they get older, education becomes more and more group work. How is a child going to work on a group project when he does not know how to properly interact with other kids?

PP, if you want to come to the Special Needs forum, you need to change your attitude. It is humiliating to me that my son occasionally hits, I would far prefer he just quietly read below grade level, but that is what special needs are -- behaviors that are not appropriate to age level (whether academic or not).

For many years kids with issues were not accommodated in schools and so were not required to attend. Now my kid IS required to attend. I do everything I can not to visit his disabilities on other people's kids while I am following the law in sending my child to school. The school does as little as possible (it seems) to support me in my endeavors. Rather than worry about your kid getting hit once or twice (believe me, your precious dear will survive), you need to think about what parents and other citizens can do to make sure a kid with a diagnosed pervasive developmental disorder is not thrust into a chaotic, uncontrolled environment that he cannot handle and then punished because he can't deal with it.

[Anonymous]

well said!

[Anonymous]

you go, 16:48. you sound like a fabulous mom, along with all the other parents doing their absolute best to help their children with sn, which also means to help their children with sn get along with all the other children. after all, that's what all we moms with sn kids want most, right? it's for our kids to be able to get along in that big world, which usually has less to do with math and reading skills (though those are impt too), but more to do with relationships with others.

a little more understanding would go a long way,folks!

[Anonymous]

OP - If your son doesn't qualify for special education services under IDEA (an IEP, in other words) because he is making adequate progress academically, he may still qualify for services under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 504 plans, as they are known, are actually quite common. Schools hate them because they're unfunded by the def govt but they're required to provide services under 504 plans if the child needs them to receive a free adequate public education. Here's some more information about 504 plans - they're not really helpful from a legal standpoint or in regard to the bus issue but they give you an idea of what may be out there-

http://www.goaskmom.com/WhosThatKid/countingto504_adhd.html
http://addadhd.suite101.com/article.cfm/iep_versus_504

[Anonymous]

Thanks again all!
The school has made us feel like we have the only child who ever has had these issues.
Ever.

[Anonymous]

Trust me when I say you are NOT alone. Unfort, the schools do that because their goal is to not have children identified so they don't have to provide services. It's very sad. In elem school they like to do things through "best practice." I hope it all works out for you.

[Anonymous]

Just an FYI....As of January 2009, the requirements for 504 eligibility have broadened quite a bit. While it does sound like an IEP is possibly more appropriate, there would be no grounds to deny a 504 based on the information you shared. I'm sure your attorney will share this info with you, but you can appeal that decision and chances are very likely you'll be granted the 504. While it wouldn't provide specialized instruction, it would provided accommodations---which could include the bus. You could also make sure to get in writing the specific behavioral strategies that his current teacher is using so that there is consistency as he moves forward.

Good luck!!!

**Have you tried social stories with your child? A social story for the bus might be helpful. You could review it with him each morning before getting on the bus and request his teacher to do it before he leaves to go home (could take 1 minute from her afternoon). The seat up front with an older "buddy"/safety patrol is also a great idea.