[blindlaw] Update on Florida School for the Deaf and Blind

Wed Feb 25 01:30:14 UTC 2009

You made the best decision for your son. Sincerely, RJ Sandefur
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Philip Breeze" <pebreeze at gmail.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 7:23 PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Update on Florida School for the Deaf and Blind

> Hi Patrick, I appreciate your understanding and support.  We have 
> contacted
> the Governors office and we were referred back to the Florida Department 
> of
> Education.  This sytem is full of nepotism, the current Chair of the Board
> of Directors is the secretary for Florida State Representative Bill 
> Proctor
> .  Mr. Proctor resided on this board for 15 plus years.  They appointment
> friends and family to keep things running smoothly and quietly.  They
> recently replaced the president of the school with the vice president.
>
> The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind has a written policy to not 
> accept
> children with extreme learning delays, it is published and known.  We have 
> a
> file over 2 inches thick that we have compiled with correspondence.  Each
> person passes the buck.  The school has been challenged by other parents 
> in
> the past and when they in, the schoolw appeals and the case continues for
> years while the child pays the price.  My understanding is that the school
> wins 70 percent of the time, parents win 11 percent and then it goes to
> appeal.  They have very deep tax payers pockets.
>
> The question lies in what is extreme and what is the cause.  They use the
> term "trainable mentally handicapped" as a catch all phrase.  My 6 year 
> old
> son taught himself to echo locate, to count to 100 by 2's he can easily
> spell over 100 words and can memorize children's books verbatim front to
> back.  His kindergarten teacher is amazed at his memorization ability.
> However, he does lack in conceptual development and that is the thing I 
> feel
> FSDB can teach him best.  But, this developmental delay makes him seem
> retarded on paper.
>
> We recently brought up a psychologist with 50 years of experience in
> evaluating children with varying visual impairment.  My son is lacking in
> conceptual development and I felt FSDB would be best suited for teaching 
> him
> this.  After speaking with various professionals that have close dealings
> with the school I have learned differently.  A University of Florida
> Psychiatrist's son attended the school and said psychiatrist felt the 
> school
> os sub standard in caring for children.  The psycholigist that evaluated 
> my
> son feels the same, as does an attorney that works with deaf children and
> has worked with the school in the past.  With that information we have
> decided to stay local and put our money toward private education.
>
> This is truely as sad waste of tax payers money and most people have no
> clue.  I now consider the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, "Florida
> Token School".  Their conscience is relieved in thinking that they are
> serving their community.
>
> If only Oprah could publish this story.  Feel free to pass the 
> information,
> we have documented the whole journey.
>
> Philip
>
> On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 4:03 PM, Patrick H. Stiehm 
> <stiehm.law at juno.com>wrote:
>
>>  Philip,
>>
>> What you have related is on its face appalling and inexcusable. As long
>> as you have done everything that they have asked you to do, I think it's
>> time to contact the  Governor's  office directly. This is not the type of
>> story that any government official wants the press to get a hold of.
>> (Remember the foster children that got lost in the state system under the
>> Bush administration? I'm sure the current governor would not want a
>> similar story that will raise the specter of  that incident.)
>>
>> In addition to the Governor's office  you should contact your state
>> legislators. Government employees are susceptible to the pressure that
>> can be brought on them by the chief executive of the state as well as
>> members of the legislature. He should not hesitate to pursue such a
>> course of action.
>>
>> Patrick H. Stiehm
>> Stiehm Law Office
>> Alexandria, VA 22309
>> 703-360-1089 (Voice)
>> 703-935-8266 (Fax)
>>
>> On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:31:25 -0600 Philip Breeze <pebreeze at gmail.com>
>> writes:
>> > Hello everyone, a few months back I posted an entry concerning my 6
>> > year old
>> > sons application to The Florida School for the Blind.  I have an
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > something severely wrong with an organization whose primary mission
>> > is to
>> > educate blind children and they refuse to do so.
>> >
>> > My thoughts and prayers go out to all of you that continue to suffer
>> > this
>> > sort of discrimination in our society.
>> >
>> > Philip Breeze
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
>>
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