Summary of special adventures

Or should that read adventures in special education?

The first step is the "aha" moment when you realize that there may be something going on with your kid. I knew my son struggled in school since first grade, especially in math. We went on struggling, year after year, and I kept hoping it was immaturity, disorganization, and that it was something he would grow out of. My friend in the neighborhood loaned me a book called "The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly About the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs" by Denise Brodey. This book sat on my counter top for months and months. I finally started reading it out of guilt when I found it while cleaning. A few stories in and I was hooked. I love reading about people's lives. And these heartwarming stories of family and love were amazing. Then midway through the book my heart skipped a beat. There was a story describing my son. I mean completely. The only thing different was that the boy in the story was SO stressed out by school he went through an episode of hysterical blindness before he was diagnosed with Nonverbal Learning Disorder. This gave me a lot to think about and I started researching it.

The school said they would look into it with my son's testing. It wasn't until the first IEP meeting on May 1, 2008 that they told me they completely ruled it out, and that my son had ADD, and that he didn't qualify for any special services. He was given some accommodations on a 504 plan. I was SO angry and devastated after this meeting. The school had ignored a lot of their own testing data. All the data that pointed to his learning disorder was explained away "oh, he must not have been paying attention during that part of the test".

My neighbor told me about a local group of advocates and trainers called Team of Advocates for Special Kids, TASK. I went to an 8-hour IEP seminar in late May. Around that time, I requested an IEE, an Independent Educational Evaluation, based on the fact that the school ignored testing data, and I didn't trust their conclusions. I spoke to the woman at the district and she approved the IEE. Without her approval, I would have had to go to a hearing to argue for it.

The day school let out, I sent a letter complaining about bullying in school, to make sure it was documented before the IEE took place. That caused a flurry of activity, and an IEP meeting was held the next day, granting my son a lot of services and support. At the same time, I obtained a doctor's report from an HMO physician documenting my son's Nonverbal Learning Disorder. The new diagnosis was also included in the paperwork at the school. I started to relax and come to terms with being an advocate for my son.

Summer came and went, and there has been another flurry of activity in September gearing up for his first experience in the Resource Specialist Program (RSP) where he goes 90 minutes per day. His homework load is much less this year. Partly because his teacher has a kind heart. His teacher doesn't want to send home unfinished schoolwork for any of the kids in the class. It is refreshing to hear a teacher who respects the children and their need for down time. I pray that my son has a good year this year. Body, mind and soul.