The Po Show

Getting the Ball Rolling

So I have written a letter to our school district's Special Education Committee (actually, they are a SUBcommittee; I'm not sure under which committee they are subsumed), requesting a program review for Matthew. It's the first step in trying to get him into the gifted special ed. class they have in Irvington, about 10 miles away.

I had had a bunch of incorrect assumptions about how to go about this. I had assumed the program was part of the Irvington school district, so I thought if we moved there, we could get him in. Then I found out that it's a county program, administered by the Board of Cooperative Educational Services for southern Westchester. Kids need to be referred by their own school districts, after it's determined that they can not be adequately served by "regular" special ed. or by inclusion classes. I have the distinct feeling that it's going to be harder than hell to get our district to classify Matthew for this class. They can hide behind the notion that they are mandated to keep kids in the "least restrictive environment" possible (oooh, Ross HATES that phrase, which he says doesn't mean anything, which I guess it really doesn't), but they are gatekeepers of very expensive resources, so I understand the hesitation.

What I'd like to tell them is, if they classify Matthew for this class, they won't have to worry about paying for him anymore, since we'll move. There's no way Matthew could tolerate a 40 minute bus ride every morning, so we'd have to move there. I know that shouldn't change how the district proceeds, but I wonder if it would, if they knew that the Irvington school district would be footing the bill. Of course, if we did move, then we'd have to go through the whole process of having him classified as eligible for the program again by the new school district, but I'm guessing (hoping) that they would honor the determination of the previous school district, like how new districts have to honor your IEP when you show up, at least until they can assess your kid on their own.

I hate this, you know I hate conflict and I think this might become a fight. But I suppose I should feel fortunate that it's a possibility at all. There aren't many of these gifted special ed. programs, so I should be grateful that there's one nearby. This special ed. is pretty special (I can just hear Dana Carvey as the Church Lady on SNL saying "Welll, isn't that special?"). I was reading a description of the elementary class and OMG, all the kids sound just like Matthew! All quirky, spectrum-y kids who are really smart but can't write.

So here we go. Our special ed. subcommittee has to give us a program review, though they'll probably try to combine it with his annual review that should be in March or April, though it hasn't been scheduled yet. That's fine. We have a lot of authorities on our side: his therapist, his psychiatrist, and the school psychologist. I talked to her yesterday and asked if she thought that this class would be a good environment for Matthew. She sounded all choked up, and said she was conflicted about it. She said on the one hand, she has this fantasy about him graduating from our school. She's worked SO hard with him, lavished so much time and attention on him, dedicated so much to helping him.

And she totally loves him. She said he's her favorite, of all the students she works with. It never ceases to amaze me, how all his life Matthew has managed to become a favorite when he's such a pain in the ass. It's happened ever since he was 2 years old and in daycare. So the school psych. said she knows that she's also his advocate, that she has to do what is best for him, and she does think that he needs a different type of environment. She says that she's been very concerned about what happens to him next year (I think the 5th grade inclusion teacher is not the greatest fit for Matthew, as his 3rd grade teacher definitely was not), and she's really worried about middle school. So I think she'll really be on board for getting him in the gifted special ed. class.

They are called "twice exceptional" or "twice special," these kids who are so bright, but do lousy in regular education classes. That's my exceptional, special, frustrating, frustrated boy.