The Po Show

The Right Place

Today the school psychologist and the inclusion teacher went on a field trip to see the gifted special ed. class in Irvington. They called me right after they got back, and they were so excited.

Basically they said it was terrific, and both of them sincerely thought that it was the appropriate placement for Matthew. The school psych. said that they have a great therapeutic environment, with weekly individual counseling for each student as well as weekly group therapy. They have a clear behavioral plan for each student that is posted on the board, with rewards for goals met that increase in level as more goals are achieved. The inclusion teacher said that academically the program is excellent, with each student using his own Alphasmart (this little word processing keyboard). Each student has his daily schedule taped to his desk, so they always know what to expect when.

There are currently *seven* kids (all boys) in the class, grades 3-5, with one teacher and FOUR aides! There is a lot of independent work in centers, and they do interesting, interactive projects together as a group. The inclusion teacher said that Matthew would LOVE these projects, that he would want to put down his book and join in (lots of times this year, he's refused to participate in classwork and has kept his nose in a book to escape having to deal with anyone). They use *Wilson* in the classroom, so that will build on the progress he's made during his private Wilson tutoring (to help him build his phonemic awareness so that he can learn to spell, and therefore write).

So, that all sounds pretty awesome. I feel really gratified that they were both so enthusiastic (and that they took the time to drive out there and have a good look at the program). So now the school psych. can address the behavioral aspects and say that they would be appropriate for Matthew, and the inclusion teacher can address the academic aspects and say that they would be appropriate for Matthew. How can the district argue with that????

Well, naturally they can, so I am preparing for battle. The biggest fear is that they will just be outright opposed to any out-of-district placement. Apparently they are (like most school districts) loathe to send kids outside the district. This is natural, because it is expensive. However, they are already spending a TON of money and resources on Matthew. He has a half-time aide (plus an extra 40 minutes a day for specials). I think there would be a compelling argument, based on all his problems this year, for increasing that time. Could this county program really be more expensive than paying for a human being for his individual benefit?

The other fear is that they are going to say that inclusion is no longer the appropriate placement, but moving out of district is jumping the gun, that the next step in the usual line of progression would be to move him to a self-contained special ed. class. Well, I believe we have some pretty good arguments why that would be inappropriate. He doesn't belong with lower intellectually functioning kids, kids with Downs or mild retardation. That is definitely not his peer set, and the law does state that proper placement is with the child's intellectual peers.

They might argue that we are jumping the gun on moving from the least restrictive environment of inclusion and moving to a much more restrictive environment with the gifted special ed. class. However, it would be a lot LESS restrictive than what he's experiencing now, due to all the modifications we've had to make in the last couple of weeks as stop-gap emergency measures. He no longer goes out to recess with the other kids; instead he goes to the office and reads. Recess was just too stressful and a constant arena for trouble. Now he is not being dismissed to the cafeteria with the other kids, because that was a tremendously difficult time for him too. So he's walked down to the office at the end of the day and I pick him up there.

There's the question of whether this particular program is appropriate for him, but I think that's clear. If there was ever a child who demonstrated a discrepancy between academic performance and intellectual capability, it's Matthew. I think the whole situation is encapsulated in his tri-annual test scores from the beginning of the year, in which he scored in the 99.8th percentile for math reasoning and the 2nd percentile for pseudoword decoding. There is definitely giftedness and learning disability at work here.

I'm gathering all my information, printing up all the pertinent parts of IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) that apply to our case, picking out all the appropriate language. I am determined that this is going to get approved at our meeting (set for May 2. We really tried to get it expedited, but it's the end of the year and there are a million IEP meetings scheduled, plus we're on spring break the week of Apr. 21). I do not want to get denied and have to appeal. When would THAT meeting get scheduled? We're running out of school year (though we do go all the way till the bitter end of June!). Plus, AFTER the district approves his placement, he still has to be assessed by the county in order to be accepted. So we cannot waste a moment's time. Thus, I'm finally lawyering up and going to a special education lawyer for a consult. I want to cover all bases here.

Plus, Matthew's therapist will be attending the meeting. She will testify (can I get a WITNESS?) that she had a patient, who has Aspergers and explosive episodes, who couldn't deal with inclusion, who went into the gifted special ed. program, and he's doing really great now.

Well, that sounds about right.