In my current situation, my poor older daughter is stuck at a school that constantly complains that she has problems, but the officials won’t take any real action to help her. They are currently performing IQ-testing. However, meanwhile, she’s still flunking Math tests and being selectively-mute at times.
I think the problem is that the school is not LD-friendly, meaning they see things too black and white. For example, maybe they can deal with students who flunk every subject but who are otherwise ‘normal’ kids–meaning outgoing/very verbal and vocal. However, a child like mine,who excels in some subjects but is weak in others, plus, who is extremely introverted, doesn’t fit their description of a student needing real interventions. And like in my case, they’d rather bug the parent of the child rather than get the child help.
How do I know if a particular school is LD-friendly?
Re: How do you know if a school is LD-friendly?
It’s a good question. I think the only way is to find some parents in a district whose kids are LD and ask them their experience. You can also go visit other districts, make appointments with their spec. ed director, ask some questions and see what kind of a feeling you get. Are they welcoming or do they brush you off?
Many years ago when my first LD son was very small, we did just that. We were impressed by the good answers we got from the director of spec. ed of one school district. He was warm and friendly and full of good advice. He had a real program for LD children in his district that he was proud of.
On the other hand, when I called some other schools, they got cagey and didn’t want to talk. I don’t think any school is a perfect school by any means but some do do a better job than others.
Re: How do you know if a school is LD-friendly?
I think you got great advice.
Here’s my 2 cents. I would have a “sit down” with the special ed administrator. This is the gate keeper of any services your child will need but most of all holds the philosophy behind who gets these services.
I n the beginning I was impressed by our director. Then when my son was really having problems a year later, she began to show her true colors.
In the defining IEP meeting (which luckily I had taped because no one would hav believed it otherwise) she stated that “we should be happy with what we are getting from our son and not expect any more because this is probably as good as its going to get with him.” He was 9 years old at the time and could not read.
I now was able to see where my troubles were manifesting themselves.
The support staff was much more helpful than she, but their hands are tied if she does not approve the eligibilty for services. It is supposed to be a team effort, but first you have to get past the guard dog.
Maybe put together some questions and just have a little heart to heart. You might find out everything you wanted to know.
In hind sight, I wish I would have known this in the begining of this whole mess. Things would probably be different and our relationship more amicable.
Best wishes.
Unfortunately the squeaky wheel gets the oil. The children who are disruptive get the help they need at a much faster rate. This is why so many chidlren (mainly boys) with hyperactive-type ADHD get diagnosed in the early grades while many children (mostly girls) with inattentive-type ADHD don’t get diagnosed until junior high. They are “out there” but obedient and not behavior problems. The teachers like them and like having them in class and are more likely not to pass them off to the CST. These are the children who need their help the most because inattentive-type ADHD symptoms never decrease over time while hyperacitve-type ADHD symptoms do decrease over time.
Keep pressing if you feel intervention is needed. I went through this with my step-daughter who attends a district other than the one I work for. Unfortunately we were thwarted by her mother who felt that I was trying to “kill her self esteem and dumb her down”. She moved and changed schools in Spetember and was classified within a month-fast moves by any standards. Some districts (and even schools within districts) are more LD savvy than others.