This last week has been complete and utter HELL! IDK how to put it any other way… About a week and half ago Drake came home with a busted Lip and just last Thursday he came home with blood bruises under his nose. Now before I get reamed with comments that “accidents happen at school”, I know this and I can accept that fact. However I would like to be informed when these accidents happen. My son says the same child is responsible for these injuries and for pulling his hair since the first day of school. However I have no frustration with this child because the truth is Drake is in a special needs class. I highly expect these things to occur. But I do expect these teachers to be vigilant and to make sure that our children aren’t being severely injured.
It is common for Autistic (or Asperger’s) children to have a high pain tolerance. This includes my son. My fear is what happens when they aren’t supervising him and he gets seriously injured. How many times do you accept “I didn’t know he was hurt” before you FLIP out! Well for this mommy it is exactly 1 time, the 2nd time in a week I AM DONE!
Then in the middle of these accidents I get a call that 4 weeks into school his IEP hasn’t been “activated”. This makes me frustrated because what the heck have they been doing with him this last month. So I ask for something I know they can’t materialize most likely, the number of times he has met with his speech teacher and a progress report from his speech teacher at this point in the 9 weeks. Of course I get the excuse “well she is the only speech teacher we have and she is busy evaluating other students so she hasn’t gotten to Drake yet” . This is not how it works people. The effective date is the day it takes EFFECT, not 4 weeks later.. They also denied me my right to know who wouldn’t be attending my first IEP meeting in writing. I had the right to decide to postpone that meeting since they couldn’t attend, I also had my rights to add accommodations/modifications to the IEP denied.
Here is the thing, we as parents are fed a line of crap from educators.. They tell us when we start this journey things like: “We are a Team”, “We only have your child’s best interest in mind”, and “we want to do what ever we can make you comfortable with the education your child receives”… When in reality they are only doing what they have to do and making sure to save the district money by doing the least possible to help ur child. Teachers aren’t to blame for this, they are under ENORMOUS pressure to save money and not use resources that are available unless ABSOLUTELY necessary… That is why parents MUST know what their children are entitled too.. You must check on the progress of your child, don’t wait on them to report that progress. You must request meetings, don’t wait on them to do it. You must be PRO-ACTIVE, please don’t rely on them…
They want us to be completely reliant on them, they want us to believe they know it all, they want us to feel intimidated, they want us to back down and they want us to let them control the meetings. DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN! You have rights as a parent, exercise those rights please. You will get more respect from them if you do this, also you will find it is less difficult in the future IEP meetings.
IDEA of 2004 has Procedural Safeguards in them for your rights as a parent. Know them and use them. Also there are clear rights as a parent you have for the IEP. Most importantly YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SIGN IT AT THE END OF THE MEETING! Take that IEP home and read over it again. Click here are some Tips on what you should look for before you sign it. And if the school refuses to comply with Federal Or State Laws then report them to the States Dept. of Education. DO NOT FEEL BAD about this at all… They need to be held accountable and if you don’t do it then maybe no one will, who is speaking up for these children that are in their care? Our children must be our priority.
By no means am I saying you have to go in and be ugly and rude. What I am saying is you must go in and know your rights. You must make that IEP work for your children. It isn’t about what is best for the teacher, school or district. It is about what is best for your child. No one is gonna care about your child like you are gonna care for him/her. So use that voice and make it known that you know what you’re talking about when it comes to your child’s rights. Click those links I provided and know that all you have to do is message me on my Facebook page and I will help in any way I can at any time. Mommie Done Flipped is my Facebook if you would like to come join my page. If I can find a page that can give you info or direct you to the right advocate I will. I am not a lawyer and don’t give out legal advice. The info is out there guys all you have to do is be good at using Google.
Mommie Done Flipped 