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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]13:10 I honestly, don't know the rhyme or reason to how things work out.  Our DD (has developmental delays not ASD) was at RH and it was a disaster.  A woman I know whose daughter (probably ASD but I'm not sure) went there the next year and they bent over backwards for her.[/quote]

You mention that a (probably) ASD child got better services than your DD child at Rosemary Hills -- I wonder if this is because RH has an autism program and so they are probably better informed/equipped to deal with this.   [/quote]

My kid had an IEP.  The school staff was unhelpful, and the school psychologist a nightmare.  The woman I know whose DD went there the next year was not in the autism program but in the regular school as was my kid.  (The autism program is completely separate and very different, e.g., many of the kids are nonverbal, still wear diapers.)  I don't know what the exact nature of her LDs were, probably aspbergers, but that is a guess.  The school went so far as to place her in a classroom with someone she knew and her teacher seemed to have a much better understanding of a SN kid than ours did.  So from what I experienced it was a major negative; we went the private route.  But others I know had a more positive experience.  So I say again no rhyme or reason to how it works out.  22:02, you wrote pretty much in the 3rd person, do you actually have a kid with an IEP or just a defender of the school?[/quote] 
 
First, I am very sorry for your experience at the public school.  It is amazingly frustrating to have a child that needs help and to not get people to be able to see that.  I think this happens all to often in public school and is one major reason why some students are not progressing adequately.

I am 22:02.  I am surprised you view me as a "defender of the school".  I am not.  My second paragraph (which you did not quote) was pretty negative, IMO.  I do have a child at RHPS, but my child does not have an IEP.  We failed in our first attempt at an IEP even though we had outside diagnosis of LDs.  Child was very young and school system said since child did not fail pre-K and was not kicked out of pre-K, there was no educational impact and therefore we could not prove disability necessary for IEP nor any 504 services.  Eventually we placed child at RHPS and child has big difficulties in a few areas that (no surprise) are consistent with his LD diagnoses made by outside experts.  We are going back for a second bite at the IEP apple, but I am not sure we will succeed because child is classic case of GT/LD kid able to "average out" or mask disabilities at this young age.

Your RHPS experience sounds very similar to ours so far.  The main office administration has been largely unhelpful.  I find them nice, but a little clueless.  The main determinant of our experience has been the individual classroom teacher.  We have had one teacher that was not at all educated about LDs and treated our child with the classic stigma -- not acknowledging that the LD could be causing the problem, but instead seeing child as "choosing" behavior and that child only needed to pay more attention, to be more self-disciplined, to get harsher punishment or sharper voice to "learn" to "make a better choice."

Another teacher child had did not do as much harm, in the sense that she did not make child feel bad, but she was a clueless teacher with a total lack of control of the classroom, so the year with her was a wasted one.

This year we have a much better teacher who has excellent control of her classroom.  She is clearly a great teacher able to differentiate both by ability and learning style.  She also is well-educated about LDs and teaching techniques and willing to listen about our child's LDs and has even made some good suggestions or interpretations about things that I did not see.  That has made a world of difference this year.   Teachers are luck of the draw.  The only way to try to affect the teacher assignment is to write a clear letter to the principal prior to August describing what a child needs in terms of school assignment but not asking for a specific teacher by name.  (E.g. Johnny needs to be assigned to a teacher that has good control of the classroom, uses positive behavioral feedback and can differentiate for attention difficulties or whatever.)

Can you please share more on why the school psychologist was a nightmare in your situation?  Can you share name of psychologist or approximately how long ago this happened?  We have a meeting coming up soon and the school psychologist has been invited to attend by the school.  I do not know anything about her.  Any heads up you can give to us in this regard would be so useful.  Thanks![/quote]

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