Hooray....He's back into the General Ed School!

As of yesterday's IEP, Caleb is back to our home school full time! He has come so far in such a short time! Per his ASD room teacher, "The gap between Caleb and the other autistic students is so wide now that it's no longer appropriate to have him here." Music to my ears........... :)

Also, during the IEP we found that he is right on grade level with reading, is passing all of his AR tests on reading, and actually is ahead of the game in a few concepts for math. He still has gaps in his learning that have to be filled in as he understands more concepts, but truly it's been an amazing day!

Caleb is having more general ed this year, with Gym class (which his Daddy teaches :) and Spanish class. We are also looking at gradually increasing his interaction with the Gen Ed students, and we'll see what happens with that.

For all who read....stick with Biomedical, homeopathy, and of course PRAYER! It works!

First week of School!

We had a great first week of school! Caleb is back into the swing of things. He quite amazed his teachers at how much he'd grown intellectually over the summer. He even began some more general ed. by wanting to take part in the Spanish Class and of course gym (which Daddy is now his teacher for). As for the school fight, it truly has helped to know my rights! They can NOT change his IEP or any type of schooling plan if I don't agree. I have made my presence known this whole week; popping in at different times to make sure he has his normal teacher and is in his normal classroom (the resource--special ed--room). I just want to encourage all who read this to google the special ed. laws in your state. Go over them with a fine tooth comb :) Here in Michigan, the schools CANNOT deny services due to funding, nor can they change a child's individualized education plan without the parent's okay. Basically, they can do nothing without the parent's consent. If they try to, contact the state, an advocate, and the schoolboard. Your child has the right to a free and appropriate education (FERPA) in the school district you live in. For my son, since he is doing so well right where he's at, his least restrictive environment (LRE) is the resource room at the general ed. school. They cannot even begin to say it should be the autism classroom all of the time. Best wishes to a happy, fun school year!

Back to the School Fight...ugh...

Unfortunately, we're back in the fight for my son's schooling. Our new Superintendent doesn't want to have the elementary Special Ed. teacher tied to her room due to having Caleb most of the day (3 days a week), and is thus trying to muscle us out of what Caleb's IEP says. After already having a conversation with her, I can see that she has no intention of giving in. Thus...without some divine intervention....we will be doing a lot of fighting! Thankfully, I now know my way around an IEP. I now know that Caleb's current IEP MUST be in place when school starts (by MI law). I also know that services cannot be cut due to funding/lack thereof reasons. In addition, if the IEP states that a child is to be in a special ed. classroom, as opposed to a gen. ed or other setting, then it must be in place. I plan on talking to this superintendent again tomorrow, and if nothing changes I'll be on the phone with board members, possibly an advocate, etc. If all else fails, all 5 of my children will go somewhere else within county. Let's see how that affects their precious budget!

Switching Classrooms again...booo!!!

Well, it's official...Caleb will be required to switch to the new autism classroom forming nearer to our home town. The state is requiring Caleb's AI classroom (which is 1 hour away) to break into another class due to overload of kids. Since Caleb is the most northern & farthest away, he will be going to the new classroom (which is 20 minutes away). I'm glad about the location, but not about another switch for him. To top it all off, the director of the AI classes resigned after Christmas, so there will be no one consistent through the process. Caleb really loves the other boys in his current classroom, coming home talking about them everyday like a little "tape recorder". He gets great therapy and has a great teaching staff there, and I can only pray that things will be similar in the new classroom.

I plan on giving the new classroom 2 weeks to transition, and then I'll observe it's set-up and running. If need be, I can increase Caleb's number of regular special-education from 2 days to 3 days. Right now, Caleb goes Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday to the AI classroom, along with Wednesday, and Friday to regular school special education. Oh the decisions and headaches we parents must go through for our autistic children! I can see already that this coming IEP on Monday is going to be a long one!

We Had A Better Week...hooray!

Things seem to be going much more smoothly now! Hooray for now! We met with the autistic consultant from our county along with the principal, OT, special ed. teacher, and 1st grade teacher. The AI consultant had much advice to give, and once the teacher realized it wasn't a critique of her teaching, but more advice on how best to reach Caleb, things went very smoothly. It seems breakfast was a major source of tension for Caleb because he wanted what he couldn't have. Now, we have a sack lunch (from the lunchroom w/ things he can have) waiting for him in the Special Ed. room after he gets off the bus in the morning. He will get to have his breakfast & play computer games for 1/2 hour in the morning. That should give a good start to his day, and hopefully make it go smoother. The AI consultant also talked to the teacher about the necessity of a visual schedule and visual reminders. The teacher was mostly relying on her words being enough for Caleb to understand what's expected, but it was most likely getting him confused & frustrated. The reminders might not be needed later, but for now (since EVERYTHING has changed from last year), it will be added security for Caleb. I really like the AI lady because she reiterated that it isn't his fault for getting frustrated, that it's part of autism. The teacher had said, "But how will I implement these strategies in a room of 32 kids?", and the AI consultant said, "We aren't going to worry about that now. Let's zero in on Caleb & what's best for him, and worry about the rest later." I SO appreciated another professional being able to get through to the school. So, for now....I'm a bit more relaxed :) Better yet....so is Caleb!

I'll still go in on Tues. and Thurs. mornings to help out, and also I'll meet again with his school team to go over any other trouble spots in Caleb's day, but so far the fight has been successfull! Just think how easy the next ASD kids & families will have it :) Which reminds me....that for our district of 500 students, we have about 8-9 children that are possibly on the spectrum. That's much higher than the 1 in 150 statistic! We're much closer to the 1 in 50 or 60 that England is quoting. All who read this: keep praying for this country, these children, and their families!

Also, I hope to soon have some informational posts on dealing with IEPs, the law on education, and resources in your county. Keep watching!