OT -- Please think positive thoughts!

My meeting with the school for my daughter's IEP was canceled on the 29th and rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon. An attorney with the Oklahoma Disability Law Center is going with me. We have ruled out Traumatic Brain Injury and contributing family/pregnancy history so the only thing left to explain her current issues is inappropriate education. As you can imagine, that fact is not going over well at school! While I feel prepared for the meeting, the thought of it all is so stressful! I am recording the meeting so if nothing else I could provide some other entertainment for the meet and greet on Friday!

Nancy,  You will be in my thoughts and prayers.  I can only imagine the variety of emotions you are going through.  Good luck!  I am so glad you don't have to face it alone.  I respect teachers SO much, really I do and I know how difficult their job is with the budget they receive and the lack of support they receive.  There is clearly something wrong with a society that pays millions to a quarterback or pitcher and gives so little to the shapers of our children's minds!!!  With that said, ADMINISTRATION lacks dreadfully in my opinion.  I think a lot of parents stay away from their kids schools because they only feel judgement when they walk through the doors....I feel that way and I have really good (but very normal) kids.  I can imagine how the "problem" children's parents must feel!!!  My daughter's inability to spell has been totally overlooked because 'SOME PEOPLE NEVER LEARN TO SPELL."   I wonder if my future grandkids will be able to read and write at the rate things are going!!!!  I wish you all the best of luck!  Diana

Hi, Nancy.
I pray that things go surprisingly well, that everyone will focus on the only thing that matters--your daughter and the education that is right, appropriate, and beneficial to meet all her needs.
Blessings,
Mary

I am sending a possitive vibe your way..

I feel for you.  I have been right there with ya!  My daughter spent k-11 grade in one school system.  And was doing very poorly.  She wasn't even made to do her work at school if she didn't want to. Some days she was put in a "time-out room" and not allowed to do ANYTHING, not even her work.  She moved to Colorado Springs over the summer and now she's in her SR. year.  She is doing wonderfully and she has even added a college class to her schedule.  I'm very proud of all that she is doing.  I believe that when a child is "labled" it follows them.  They are treated that way so they act that way.  Don't get me wrong...I am thankful that the school system worked with me and helped as much as they did.  I just feel that she needed a change and she is really benefitting from being out from under the "lable" she was under.  I do wish you the best of luck, and your daughter.

Good luck Nancy.  Since I'm married to an educator I wouldn't have their jobs for all the tea in China.  They are expected to teach, discipline,  mentor, be referrees in the halls, teach morals and ethics as well as keep kids on the straight and narrow.  All of this with one hour per day in a room full of 25+ students.  I know sometimes things go wrong since I was also the parent of one student who didn't have the best in high school so I took action.  The key is as you are doing now....get involved and stay involved.  Stay on top of things with your child as you are daily and take action in a timely manner.  I really don't think that teachers set out to do anything but do the best for our children.  If their intention was different then they certainly wouldn't do this job for the kind of pay they get....  Most of them could make a lot more money but they love kids and what they do in trying to make a difference in their lives.  Once in a while you get a "bad apple" or teacher so to speak!

Just know that I will be thinking of you today and hope that all goes well and that the best plan happens for your daughter!!  She deserves nothing but the BEST!!

I have been lucky in that none of the teachers have been bad teachers, they just don't understand the special needs or how to address them.

I agree with you on that note.  I spent several years working in a special ed department.  I admire those who do.  Good luck!!

Hopefully one day the pendulum will swing and all our kids will be taken care of properly in decent public schools.  I don't even have school age children, but I recognize the fact that the future of our world is in that grade school down the street and I pay my taxes and do my part to make sure that they are provided for.

I wish I had a solution-I even thought about teaching (have several times) but I wouldn't do well in that environment.

Ah well, positive vibes for you and your daughter.  If nothing else, this is an example of how lucky she is that you are her mother (and how lucky you are she is your daughter too).  Honestly, as troubled as my relationship is with my mother, I know we are the right match for each other-because we each have so much to learn from the other. 

Nancy, I am so glad you are a strong woman to deal with this!! There are good school systems, great ones and then you have systems that just flat suck....Same applies to teachers. Some are there for a Job and some are there as a service.  It takes parents envolvement to make sure that the child gets the best education possible....though it shouldn't have to be...it just is! You are also smart to document the meeting in some way and the recording is a wise choice. I am just so sorry that you are going through this....Hang in there and keep fighting ok!
Sher