Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Parents you need to remember there are many other students in your child's regular education class who may have learning needs to such as ESOL and those in the middle average students who just could use a bit of one-on-one personal push, but do not quite have the scores to even merit an individualized look. You are not wrong to want the best for your individual child, but do recognize the demands across the board and also "the right" of each child in the classroom to a FAPE.

OP is there any model within the school where your son could be pulled out for language arts to a small, self-contained setting with a Resource Teacher? Your son is a classic example of the problem with today's education, his IEP places him on one level of reading and writing which is usually the appropriate one given the disability; while the classroom goals or state policy say "All children will....... and so he is trying to keep up on two different planes of learning, which is just very hard to do. And again if the testing is on grade level in terms of reading and related skills, of course he may fail them if has not reached those benchmarks in his core skills. It is a lot of needless pressure on a students wo can learn and master the skills but at a slower pace.

According to the law, only children with special needs designated by an IEP are guaranteed FAPE. FAPE does not apply to every child in a general ed class room. If the OP is trying to prove denial of FAPE, she needs to look at the goals on her DC's IEP to see if they have been met. If they haven't then that is a denial of FAPE. That is why it is important to have IEP goals that are appropriate and do not create a sense of lowered expectations. Under FAPE, children need to make adequate yearly progress and this is determined by the IEP goals. The IEP goal is supposed to be set at adequate yearly progress.

I think that is part of the problem -- how do you define "adequate yearly progress?" It's a different standard than meeting IEP goals. DC has met few IEP goals (has LDs) but is deemed to make adequate progress. It seems if the goals are not being met, there's a problem, but the schools are able to say there's "adequate progress." That's a very low standard in my opinion.

Go to wrightslaw.com, there are very specific ways of determined AYP. It is not an art, there are specific guidelines in the law. It is not based on the opinion of the school or the parent.

NP here. Can you tell me something about Wrightslaw? Whenever I look for information, it just seems to link to their book. Are there pages that actually lay things out or do you have to buy the book?

go here : http://wrightslaw.com and scroll down. On the left hand side are topics you can choose that will link you to various things on the website.

OP, didn't notice if you said what grade. Elementary school at least, the school is not required to provide the full grade level curriculum for LD. For this reason I know parents who have been determined to have their Gen Ed student not labeled LD. Teachers expect and should be pushing their Gen Ed kids to pass the SOLs and other benchmarks - no excuses. Unfortunately with LD they have excuses.

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP of this thread http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/406687.page#5610187 . I know how you feel. I continue to be dumbfounded that the school team believes that my DS can access the curricula even though he can only understand @ 25% of what is said. I keep searching for an analogy that will provide a visualization of what it must be like for my DS but can't come up with a good one - just had a thought! - maybe I'll do a start a new thread and ask people to help me find one. ......

Anyway, your DS clearly needs to be in a special ed classroom. First, send an email to your DS's teacher indicating you think your DS may have LDs and request they evaluate him. That will kick off the screening process. They'll have like 30 days (wrightslaw will tell you exactly how many days) to convene the 'screening committee' to determine if testing is warranted. You can use that time to find an advocate/consultant to help you. They're expensive, but they're worth it. While you're looking for one, familiarize yourself with WrightsLaw and the IEP process.

I'm hopeful that you'll have better results than we did. We all know that FCPS is willing to allow our kids to fail - even with an IEP but you've got to get that IEP in place.

Rick Lavoie's "How Difficult Can This Be" comes to mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZIEzrdNbUE

I'm the OP of this thread http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/406687.page#5610187 . I know how you feel. I continue to be dumbfounded that the school team believes that my DS can access the curricula even though he can only understand @ 25% of what is said. I keep searching for an analogy that will provide a visualization of what it must be like for my DS but can't come up with a good one - just had a thought! - maybe I'll do a start a new thread and ask people to help me find one. ......

Anyway, your DS clearly needs to be in a special ed classroom. First, send an email to your DS's teacher indicating you think your DS may have LDs and request they evaluate him. That will kick off the screening process. They'll have like 30 days (wrightslaw will tell you exactly how many days) to convene the 'screening committee' to determine if testing is warranted. You can use that time to find an advocate/consultant to help you. They're expensive, but they're worth it. While you're looking for one, familiarize yourself with WrightsLaw and the IEP process.

I'm hopeful that you'll have better results than we did. We all know that FCPS is willing to allow our kids to fail - even with an IEP but you've got to get that IEP in place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Parents you need to remember there are many other students in your child's regular education class who may have learning needs to such as ESOL and those in the middle average students who just could use a bit of one-on-one personal push, but do not quite have the scores to even merit an individualized look. You are not wrong to want the best for your individual child, but do recognize the demands across the board and also "the right" of each child in the classroom to a FAPE.

OP is there any model within the school where your son could be pulled out for language arts to a small, self-contained setting with a Resource Teacher? Your son is a classic example of the problem with today's education, his IEP places him on one level of reading and writing which is usually the appropriate one given the disability; while the classroom goals or state policy say "All children will....... and so he is trying to keep up on two different planes of learning, which is just very hard to do. And again if the testing is on grade level in terms of reading and related skills, of course he may fail them if has not reached those benchmarks in his core skills. It is a lot of needless pressure on a students wo can learn and master the skills but at a slower pace.

According to the law, only children with special needs designated by an IEP are guaranteed FAPE. FAPE does not apply to every child in a general ed class room. If the OP is trying to prove denial of FAPE, she needs to look at the goals on her DC's IEP to see if they have been met. If they haven't then that is a denial of FAPE. That is why it is important to have IEP goals that are appropriate and do not create a sense of lowered expectations. Under FAPE, children need to make adequate yearly progress and this is determined by the IEP goals. The IEP goal is supposed to be set at adequate yearly progress.

I think that is part of the problem -- how do you define "adequate yearly progress?" It's a different standard than meeting IEP goals. DC has met few IEP goals (has LDs) but is deemed to make adequate progress. It seems if the goals are not being met, there's a problem, but the schools are able to say there's "adequate progress." That's a very low standard in my opinion.

Go to wrightslaw.com, there are very specific ways of determined AYP. It is not an art, there are specific guidelines in the law. It is not based on the opinion of the school or the parent.

NP here. Can you tell me something about Wrightslaw? Whenever I look for information, it just seems to link to their book. Are there pages that actually lay things out or do you have to buy the book?

Anonymous wrote:1. Get a private evaluation
2. Get a tutor who specializes in his LD. ASDEC.ORG can help you find one.
3. Ask the evaluator what their suggestion is.

If you child is still unhappy/not meeting goals with a tutor, look into private schools.

+1 Look at interdys.org (International Dyslexia Association). Chances are his school does not know how to teach reading to meet his needs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This well be of no help to you today, but know that LD children with high IQ scores process input/output in non-traditional ways often times unappreciated in k-12 learning environments.

Time is the great equalizer for children and adults. It maybe hidden from you today, but the way your child processes information although a hindrance today may one day turn out to be a gift. Although it maybe more time consuming which is not appreciated in k-12, your child may actually be more analytical in their information processing than typical children. Similar to physical prowess equalizing over time and maturing the brain also continues to develop until age 25.

What appears to be a disability today may actually become an advantage in adulthood.

What you are both experiencing today is painful; I know. We all want our children to be that stand out kid on the travel soccer and "That's Academic" teams, but for many of us it's a long difficult slog to adulthood when, believe it or not most everything equals out.

Just have faith in yourselves and know although it may take more time than we'd like; it's all going to be fine in the end.

I know you mean well but for every person with a LD like David Boies, there are many more that never reach their full potential, drop out of high school, etc. Just repeating platitudes like "it's all going to be fine in the end" is not helpful.

My words are not empty. Many of the greatest minds throughout history have been unappreciated as children. Labeling children as capable or not, genius or less, great athletic and intellectual potential is pure fallacy. Don't get me wrong there are the ocassion Doogy Housers or Tiger Woods' protégés who present true genius almost from birth. However, most of the attributes making children appear to be advanced and bound for glory e.g. reading and writing at age four or throwing a 70 MPH fastball at the Little League, World Series, are skills that no longer seem so special at age 25.

Childhood, popularity, and potential are all grossly overrated. Childhood and popularity don't last. In the end it's always family which counts the most. And potential is some nebulous thing that coaches and teachers talk about to endear themselves with parents. The truth is no matter how gifted or humble our abilities appear to be during childhood with a degree of perseverance by age 25 we all end up physically and intectually just about average.

Those who struggle at a young age with LD issues may become dishearten because often it takes them twice the time to produce half as much. But what if that 1/2 quantity production is twice a good as the norm? I wish everyone well and no one harm, but we've all seen at one time or another "Saturday's Hero" crash and burn.

My only point is we really have no idea of the potential we possess until our lives are finished and we can look back at our a accomplishments. It doesn't matter if we learned to read at age four or ten, or if we learned catch and throw early or late. What matters is whether we quit or if we persevered.

Stick with your son, make him know you love him dearly and as long as he does not quit - he's going to be fine!

1. Get a private evaluation
2. Get a tutor who specializes in his LD. ASDEC.ORG can help you find one.
3. Ask the evaluator what their suggestion is.

If you child is still unhappy/not meeting goals with a tutor, look into private schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This well be of no help to you today, but know that LD children with high IQ scores process input/output in non-traditional ways often times unappreciated in k-12 learning environments.

Time is the great equalizer for children and adults. It maybe hidden from you today, but the way your child processes information although a hindrance today may one day turn out to be a gift. Although it maybe more time consuming which is not appreciated in k-12, your child may actually be more analytical in their information processing than typical children. Similar to physical prowess equalizing over time and maturing the brain also continues to develop until age 25.

What appears to be a disability today may actually become an advantage in adulthood.

What you are both experiencing today is painful; I know. We all want our children to be that stand out kid on the travel soccer and "That's Academic" teams, but for many of us it's a long difficult slog to adulthood when, believe it or not most everything equals out.

Just have faith in yourselves and know although it may take more time than we'd like; it's all going to be fine in the end.

I know you mean well but for every person with a LD like David Boies, there are many more that never reach their full potential, drop out of high school, etc. Just repeating platitudes like "it's all going to be fine in the end" is not helpful.

I disagree that this is not helpful. I'm one of the PP's with a DC going into middle school. We have neighbors whose oldest just went off to college and was in special ed in public school for many years. We were talking with them the other day and they indeed said that, at some point, things just clicked - enough - for their oldest. When their oldest was the same age as our DC, the child could not get thoughts down on paper/organize thoughts etc etc. - these are issues that our DC struggles with (plus many more). We don't compare our DC to theirs or expect exactly the same thing to happen, but it is reassuring to hear, as a parent, that it indeed can get better. The parents made the point that kids' brains do mature at different rates and that, indeed, at some point their DC did progress sufficiently (with plenty of struggles nevertheless). And while I'm aware of the stats about dropping out and the fact that many disabled kids never reach their full potential, this happens with plenty of people in life (I'm not trying to be pollyanna-ish here at all either).

Anonymous wrote:Do you have some idea what you think will work or what the problem is? It doesn't sound like you are being denied something you are asking for just that what you are getting isn't working. Have you gotten a neuropsych eval with recommendations?

+1 Second the neuropsych eval if your DS has not had one.

Anonymous wrote:This well be of no help to you today, but know that LD children with high IQ scores process input/output in non-traditional ways often times unappreciated in k-12 learning environments.

Time is the great equalizer for children and adults. It maybe hidden from you today, but the way your child processes information although a hindrance today may one day turn out to be a gift. Although it maybe more time consuming which is not appreciated in k-12, your child may actually be more analytical in their information processing than typical children. Similar to physical prowess equalizing over time and maturing the brain also continues to develop until age 25.

What appears to be a disability today may actually become an advantage in adulthood.

What you are both experiencing today is painful; I know. We all want our children to be that stand out kid on the travel soccer and "That's Academic" teams, but for many of us it's a long difficult slog to adulthood when, believe it or not most everything equals out.

Just have faith in yourselves and know although it may take more time than we'd like; it's all going to be fine in the end.

I know you mean well but for every person with a LD like David Boies, there are many more that never reach their full potential, drop out of high school, etc. Just repeating platitudes like "it's all going to be fine in the end" is not helpful.

This well be of no help to you today, but know that LD children with high IQ scores process input/output in non-traditional ways often times unappreciated in k-12 learning environments.

Time is the great equalizer for children and adults. It maybe hidden from you today, but the way your child processes information although a hindrance today may one day turn out to be a gift. Although it maybe more time consuming which is not appreciated in k-12, your child may actually be more analytical in their information processing than typical children. Similar to physical prowess equalizing over time and maturing the brain also continues to develop until age 25.

What appears to be a disability today may actually become an advantage in adulthood.

What you are both experiencing today is painful; I know. We all want our children to be that stand out kid on the travel soccer and "That's Academic" teams, but for many of us it's a long difficult slog to adulthood when, believe it or not most everything equals out.

Just have faith in yourselves and know although it may take more time than we'd like; it's all going to be fine in the end.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, he has an IEP. He has had an IEP since 2nd grade.

The school feels like he is successful so why would they offer him a tutor?

Will the school pay for a private tutor if I request it?

I don't understand. If your child has been failing his SOLs every year, how can the school say he is "successful"? He is below grade level in reading, math, etc.? Correct?

Kids who are below grade level in reading and/or math get pull-outs and/or before and after school tutoring at our school even without an IEP.