Getting no where fast....

We had an "IEP" team meeting just before Christmas, which was a waste of 1 hour of my time that I won't get back.  The speech therapist left 15 minutes into the meeting, the Special Educator really didn't help much, and the teacher was frustrated with the Principal.  They talked to me, at me, down to me, around me but not to me.  They tried the usual things educators say at IEP meetings when they don't want to provide services *"letter reversals are very common at this age,"  OK, yes, I know that, I tell parents that all the time in IEP meetings, but she does it more than the typcial child! And finds sight words backwards in words she sees around the community.  Like "yes" in her sister's name LINDSEY.  Yeah, it took me awhile to get it too!
* "Its still early, why are you getting so upset when its only December?" Um, I don't know, maybe because I know that from this point we are looking at 90 days before she gets tested, then 60 days to implement anything, and I am already looking at the end of the school year? 
* "Why don't we try some strategies and wait and see how she progresses"  Well, she only identified 12 out of 26 letters in November, but the other day she got 24, but it's inconsistent, how long do I have to "wait and see?  "Well she got 24 though! That is progress"  Jesus. 
* I asked if there was an eval that could see if she does MORE letter reversals than the typical Kindergarten student, and I was told there was no such test. OK, then why did my friend the Special Educator tell me about it?

When I brought up the adaptive PE, the principal denied that she was getting APE, but I showed him the permission letter I had to sign, and he said "You never should have gotten that, she is just getting extra PE help, not Adaptive PE. That is the wrong form."  Well, duh. I know that, you can't have APE without an IEP, but you all screwed up!!

I agreed to let her "wait out" another month and try the "SST strategies."  However, I told them if she didn't make enough progress by the time we reconvene, then I will expect she will be formally tested. This is going freakin' no where! Then the principal told me "you know, if you think its Dyslexia, you need to call your Pediatrician."  What is there some kind of Dyslexia blood test now? That would make it much easier....

My one friend, a special educator, told me "you are fighting a losing battle against the school district."  She recommended a psycho-educational eval, and recommended I call the Highlands School for advice.  Another special educator said "there are tests you can do" and said she was disappointed with the Principal.  The Highlands school said I could bring her in for testing with them, but they couldn't formally diagnose her. They could provide guidance and suggestions on what she needs educationally, however.

I scheduled an "eval" with the Highlands school, but its $375.  I think it can be paid for with Flexible Spending dollars, but I haven't confirmed that yet. If I can't pay for it that way, Ron said we aren't going to do it.  Psycho-ed testing is $1500-$2000, and is the only way to get a formal diagnosis of Dyslexia.  The website I just found said that Dyslexia testing "isn't covered by insurance" although other people have told me otherwise.  The same website said the schools are not able to test for Dyslexia, but only for a "learning disability" which most dyslexic students don't qualify for because they are too smart.  The Pediatrician said this is the first he has ever heard of being called for a referral for Dyslexia.... ADD, or ADHD, yes. Dyslexia, no.

The Website:  Dyslexia testing information

So, here we are.  Guess this is a battle I'm going to be fighting for quite some time,  while my baby continues to tell me "Mommy, they love Lindsey more than me because she is smart."

Out of the mouths of babes...

A step back: the email I sent to the Teacher

Here is what I had emailed to the teacher the night before the SST meeting, to make sure they understood my concerns about Sydney:

Thank you for your help!

 

For the meeting, I wanted to let you know what I am finding at home, for you to share.  I would have liked to have been there, but I am at a school up in Havre de Grace tomorrow, with IEP meetings.  I think its harder to explain what she does in an email, its better to explain it verbally or show you, but I have tried to do the best I can!

 

Here are some things that I had never really paid attention to before,  but now in doing some research, appear to be relevant.

 

*Sydney has difficulty remembering people's names.  All through Pre-K she would tell me that someone was her "best friend" but wasn't really able to tell me their names.  She knows Jessie in your class now, but she is still foggy on some of her classmate's names.

 

*Sydney will replace words with those of similar meaning.  For example, the other day she pointed out that "a police car pulled someone over in the elbow" (rather than the shoulder of the road).  Switches Potato/tomato/tornado, but consistently.  "Tomato soup" is always "potato soup", a "tornado" is always a "tomato"

 

*Sydney always put her shoes on the wrong feet, saying they felt more comfortable.  I thought it was just because she had club feet as a baby, and we had to cast her, then put the shoes on in reverse.  She also tells me her right foot is her left, and vice versa.

 

*I can see the issue with motor planning and left/right giving the need for adaptive PE.  But I think Ms. Cox should be aware that Syd has taken dance since she was 3, and does very well in it.  I think she may be just imitating what she sees in the mirror in class, and learning the motor patterns by visualizing it (possibly in reverse with the mirror image?)  She also learns best with music, and a beat. (it seems that is how she learned her name, her last name, and some of the sight words when I put them into a "rhyme")

 

*Syd was having trouble making her "s" on her homework this week (I put a note on the homework sheet so you can see)  I'd say make an "s" with the stretch spelling and she would make what looks like a "3" I would cue her that it the letter in her name, and she still did a "3" and then got frustrated and scribbled.  She is often getting frustrated with her homework, and scribbling.  This seems to be a pattern. She will recognize a letter for awhile, then "lose" it, but gain the recognition of other letters. 

 

* Sydney is "finding" her sight words everywhere, but can't always tell me what they are.  Additionally, she is finding them in REVERSE!  For instance, she looked at her sister's name L-I-N-D-S-E-Y  and said she found the word "YES"  She seems to be finding many of her sight words out in the community in reverse.

 

* She has trouble when doing her homework with writing the letters.  I'll tell her "k" and she says she doesn't know how to make that, or can I show her.  Its that way for I, H, K, R, N (unless she decodes it using her name as a reference).  Her D is better, not reversed as often. In the last week or so, I have been able to get her to visually recognize letters (esp. the K or R) but if I tell her to write a "k" she says she doesn't remember how.  Same for several letters.

 

* She goes around all the time saying "ba, ba, ball starts with B", etc.  so I know she is comprehending the letter sounds. But if I tell her to sound out a word, she has great difficulty. Mostly because she doesn't recognize the letters, so can't make its sound.

 

Luckily, she really enjoys websites like "Starfall" and will ask me to type it in so she can play "the ABCs"  She also enjoys the Leap Frog match/rummy alphabet game, and enjoys reading her Tag reader.  She is now repeating words we say, and then tells us what the word starts with, so there is improvement!  Just don't ask her to then write the letter.  She will have to verbalize the alphabet until she "sees" the letter in her head, and then identifies it.

 

Sorry for the length. I cut and pasted what I had mentioned to you earlier so it was all together. Please let me know what they came up with at the meeting, I am very anxious to hear!  Thanks for all you do!

 

Tomorrow is the beginning...

On Dec. 9th, the team at school held their SST (student services team) meeting about concerns with Sydney's issues with her classwork.  It was initiated when I talked with the teacher during parent/teacher conference, and told her I had concerns that she still couldn't recognize letters, after being taught them for 3 years now.  So the teacher agreed with me, and did some "informal testing" and said she would have the Special Educator screen her.  When I checked back with her at the end of November, she said she had completed the paperwork to send to SST team.  I brought up some other issues I had seen over the past month, and the teacher said she would bring my concerns to the team.

I had hoped I could have gone to the meeting, but I wasn't invited. I was told that I would be told what had been decided/discussed at the meeting.  So, after a lengthy email the night before, I left it up to the "team." Talk about a leap of faith!  But in my email, I did request she be tested.

Did they listen to me, and just decide to go forward with an IEP meeting and pursue testing? Or did they also feel she needed further testing, and sent it to IEP?  Maybe I will find out tomorrow.  Maybe it will remain a mystery.  Guess we will see!

So I am gathering my stuff to bring to the meeting, and deciding what I should say. Should I prepare myself for a fight, or do they actually see what I am seeing?

Stay tuned....

What is more important?

Last Friday (December 3rd) I got a letter home from school.  I thought, "great, here is the letter about the upcoming SST meeting, maybe IEP stuff!" But, what was it??

Dear Parent:
        Grade Level outcomes have been established for all students in preschool through grade twelve. The PE curriculum is structured so that all students are provided every opportunity to achieve success.
        Our current assessment of (Syd) indicates that she would benefit from additional instruction in the following areas:
                * dribble a playground ball with dominant hand
                * demonstrate an overhand throw
      For the next 6 weeks, Dec. 6th to Jan 14, we would like to schedule your daughter to receive 15 minutes each week of additional physical education instruction in a small group setting. We will then reassess her improvement and notify you of our finding and recommendations. Your signature below will give your approval for your child to participate. Please sign and return this form to your child's PE teacher....

Yes, that is correct. Apparently my efforts to get extra help for my daughter have paid off.    She will now get 15 minutes a week of special PE, because, apparently, it is far more important that she can dribble a ball than it is for her to recognize her sight words...

Do I bang my head on the wall now, or do I laugh at the ridiculousness of it all?

A Mom Talks with the Director of Special Education

How is it I am just starting on this "journey" and I already feel like this!

Pre-Blog: Looking back~Age 3

Looking back, 2 years ago...

Nothing jumped out at us then, there were just some odd things. She would write her "name" when doing her "work" at Daycare,  but she wrote  "MAS" and not Sydney.   We thought she was copying her friend Sam's name. He sat across the table from her, and his name plate was upside down from her.  She recognized the S in both their names.   Made sense, she was just copying what she saw, right?

Then there were very detailed drawings of her day, using multiple colors for all different parts of the pictures.  Coloring SO WELL at age 3, in the lines, nice even strokes. Far better than a typical 3 year old.   All despite her insistence on using an ulnar grasp on her pencils and crayons.  She just couldn't do a tripod grasp no matter how hard we tried to get her to change. But she had excellent control despite her grip.

Oh, and she was often tripping and falling when the group went on walks.  Almost everyday I picked her up from daycare, she had fallen and skinned her knees, head, hands. She had Club Feet as an infant. She was casted. We tried the special shoes. Her feet were better, but maybe that is why she tripped so much, they still turned in. Maybe?

And speaking of feet, she ALWAYS put her shoes on the wrong feet.  She claimed they "felt better that way." Didn't make a lot of sense, since she had club feet,  and you would think having her shoes on the wrong feet would hurt her.  But then again, for awhile we put her shoes on backwards to help correct her feet, maybe she just considered it normal?

I don't know.  Nothing seemed wrong back then, just cute 3-year-old antics.  Looking back, it may have been the precursors to a larger problem...