Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The Gory Details

First, thanks for the heads up comment about the needing to disagree. I have at least 10 days to sign off or do the disagree. Advice is ALWAYS welcome & much appreciated!

Please realize that as I type this, I am putting my thoughts out here which really has a large amount of sarcasm thrown in.

First, I had the scrambling when I said I would be recording the meeting. They had to run to find a tape recorder. That sort of set the tone for a not so happy meeting. The principal then started off with her usual "we are late, hurry up" type of statements. She is always trying to rush the meetings. It makes me very angry. She even tried to claim we would have to end the meeting cause they tape stopped. She had to get another tape! THE NERVE!

Psych started the meeting. I asked why I couldn't have had the report prior to the meeting. It is my right. She said it is our county policy to not. I told her that is the culture of the school system, NOT the federal law. ::::deer in headlights look from all::::: She then proceeded to read the report to us. I only teared up a bit, seeing once again in black & white that my child is on the spectrum. Same diagnosis- mild to moderate autism, high probability of asperger's, but just labeled ASD. (I guess since a new person did it that somewhere in the back of my crazy mind I was holding out hope it would be different. I hear all these stories of people claiming their child recovered & no longer tested for it. False hope. Thanks for nothing Jen.ny Mc.Carth.y WHY do you get to be rich, gorgeous & have your child "recovered"? I call BS. BUT I DIGRESS) Did I mention though that she has SUPERIOR intelligence in most things? Boo-yah! She is smart, she just can't always get it out! BUT, tell me something I didn't know!

We then moved on to SL/T. She too did not have the full report. Was asked why? PROCRASTINATION is their name of the game in this school. As she was going over her reports, I asked her for data points supporting this. ::::deer in headlights look from all::::: She said she had them, but not with her. WTH??? Except for the delay in reports, I believe she really is trying her best to help her & doing a good job.

OT, same thing. Went over report. I must say, OT was spot on. She gave us the report early, knows MM well & is doing wonders for her. She did a great job & I have no beef with her.

PT.... HAHAHAHAHAHA! What a joke! I already addressed that a bit. She really didn't have much to say. We didn't get a chance to ream her about the report cause she ran out to the bus to see the type of seating. Busing will not be an issue as in the past since she didn't do anything to change the report. I believe I will be asking for an independent eval.

Our Resource (which is her special ed/case manager) had no reports. I wanted to know why almost NONE of our goals were met in the IEP. She kept saying over & over how she met all of her academic goals, BUT she didn't show me any data to support that. I asked them all how they could NOT INCREASE her services when she is not meeting goals? They never really had an answer. They left the times & amount the same. The resource person made me very angry when she said she didn't have enough time/help. I said "Too bad, NOT MY PROBLEM".

I got a very major serious run around about her adaptive tech stuff. They are asking for ridiculousness. They don't want to scan her work or give her a lap top to take back & forth. They want her to do double work by transferring it to computer & stapling it. I am NOT paying for the ink on my printer to do this! I said the label maker is getting expensive for us and has no punctuation. They were like "too bad". The regular teacher even got mad & huffy about it. I have a large amount of anger about the way the were acting aggressively, adversarial & stonewalling. I tried hard to stay calm & did pretty well for the most part. Even my wonderful hubby was angry at the way they were acting.

We came up with some goals. I don't know about them. I am glad I have an appointment Friday morning with the attorney to figure out what I need to do. I do know I will be filing a complaint with the state, I will be sending a copy of the PT report with a letter & a list of concerns to her supervisor. I have on tape on the principal acted, her statements, etc. She sat on a laptop next to me during the meeting. I could see everything she was doing & NONE OF IT was related to our meeting. People got up & left the room without asking our permission. It was a mess and it is all recorded. I am standing up for MM, ourselves & for any one else that has to deal with this nonsense.

Sorry if this is scattered but I know SOOOOOOOO many of you are waiting.

7 comments:

The Henrys said...

Wow. I can't believe how this went.
I am so glad that you are meeting with an attorney.

I just don't understand the attitude from the schools when all we want is to help our children.

Good job at staying calm, that must have taken a lot out of you!

Let us know what the attorney says!

j said...

it was not scattered it felt far more together than that awful meeting you described. good for you for getting a lawyer.

j said...

ps nice to see you writing again. i was getting a little worried.

Colleen said...

I am so sorry you have such a difficult time with getting all the appropriate services!

Candace said...

Oh I am shakin' in my boots, right now. I do not want to have to deal with this stuff, ever! I am so sorry momma for your struggles. It's just not fair how some people just have to stick their foot out in the aisle for you to have to trip over just to see you fall!

Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend said...

enjoyed your blog and love your blog design and colors....

Ally in Wonderland said...

I can't believe all these professionals still have jobs. Did they not learn the #1 rule in school? DATA DATA DATA!!! I'm completely frustrated at this teacher (I won't tell you the names I came up for her).

Good for you for getting yourself some great advocates and TAPING THE MEETING!!! Brilliant!!! :)

Oh, and my word verification is the R-word. BAD JOB BLOGGER! That has me really upset too. I'm going to go write them a letter....