[blindkid] Specifying a particular school in the IEP

Mike Freeman k7uij at panix.com
Sat Dec 13 18:29:16 UTC 2008


Doug:

You're welcome. These things are worth pondering in that (1) it's your 
child's future that's at stake and (2) the messages you send to her by 
the attitudes you exhibit are as important (if not more so) than your 
advocacy efforts.

In that vein, I'll take one more stab at the philosophical end of this 
and then cease and desist. There are enough dead horses around here that 
we don't need any more beaten. (grin)

AS I say, I don't begrudge you (and, in fact, give you kudos for) your 
efforts on behalf of your daughter. That's what makes you a good parent. 
Wish we had more like you.

But I still have a problem with one thing you wrote below. You say that 
you wouldn't use blindness to get your daughter into the special program 
but don't object to using blindness to get her a higher priority. 
Frankly, this disturbs me.

Let's put this in another context: you are with your daughter in a long 
grocery line to the check-out counter. Someone ahead of you offers to 
let her jump ahead because she's blind. What do you say? Remember, your 
daughter is listening. Do you ascent, thus reinforcing the views of the 
sighted public that the blind need to be coddled and given special 
perks? At the same time, are you not teaching your daughter the same? Or 
do you say, as I indicated somewhat coarsely in another note: "It's her 
eyes that don't work; not her legs!". Thus, while the person offering 
the place in line may be offended, your daughter will learn that 
blindness doesn't mean she's owed any favors or special privileges.

To me, the gifted program is exactly the same. Work your darndest to get 
her in but don't use or even contemplate using her blindness to get her 
higher up in the pecking order. For one thing, she may not know now but 
it'll get back to her later and it may cause her to question whether she 
was really good enough to make it in on her own merits. And what's more 
important, it may cause others -- like potential employers? -- to wonder 
whether she made it in just like everyone else and if they hire her, 
will they have to extend her special privileges or make special 
allowances for her.

I realize this may seem harsh; I don't mean it so. But despite what most 
would have you believe, it's a competitive world out there and anyone 
who says otherwise is probably doing very well by peddling such 
nonsense. You want her to be able to scrap with the best of them, 
mentally, spiritually and attitudinally. Give her that chance!

Warmly (and I mean that),

Mike Freeman, President
NFB of Washington (state)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doug Gottschlich" <doug.gottschlich at gmail.com>
To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 13, 2008 7:54 AM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Specifying a particular school in the IEP


Hi,

Thanks for all the comments, especially Mike and Carrie.  You have good
points -- the issue is "necessary", not just "best".  I should clarify, 
we
don't want to get her in unless she can pass the academic eligibility 
test
-- and I agree we don't want to use her blindness to get her considered
eligible.  But I don't mind using it to get her a higher priority in the
pool of kids who are eligible.  After all, I don't hear anyone from the
Program Improvements schools or those with siblings at the school 
saying,
"Oh, we don't want our kid to get in just because they are in a bad 
school
or because they have a sibling there already".  In any case, we recently
learned that the entrance information we initially received was 
incorrect,
and that actually most kids who are eligible do get in.  So hopefully we
don't have to pursue via the IEP.  We'll find out early next year. 
Thanks
again for your comments.

Doug


On Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 10:00 PM, Doug Gottschlich <
doug.gottschlich at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> My school district (California) has a "Gifted and Talented" magnet 
> school
> for grades 3 through 8.  We are very interested in getting our 
> daughter into
> that program when she starts 3rd grade next year, and are wondering if 
> we're
> allowed to specify a particular school in the IEP.
>
> Of course, she must have the academic ability to get in, or there is 
> no
> benefit in her going there.  However, all her teachers expect her to 
> easily
> pass the entrance exam.  The problem is that there are more students 
> that
> pass the exam than there are slots at the school.  The slots are 
> filled by a
> not-so-random lottery from the pool of eligible students that have 
> passed
> the exam.  (Its not so random because first priority goes to eligible
> students whose home school is a"program improvement school" under No 
> Child
> Left Behind, second priority goes to eligible siblings of current 
> students
> at the school, and the remaining eligible students get lowest 
> priority.)
> Since we are not in a program improvement school, and because our 
> daughter
> has no siblings, her chances of  getting in through the lottery are 
> 50% at
> best.
>
> This Gifted and Talented school focuses on "Differentiated 
> Instruction: a
> change from the traditional pace of the curriculum that eliminates
> repetition, relieves students of boredom from work in less challenging
> curricular areas, and allows students to use the time that they have 
> saved
> to to pursue enriching activities".  We firmly believe that this 
> program
> would significantly benefit a VI child's education: repetition is very 
> time
> consuming and unnecessary as she picks things up quickly, and the time 
> could
> be better spent on the additional VI skills needed.  We'd prefer not 
> to
> gamble with odds from the lottery, and want to write this school into 
> her
> IEP.
>
> I'd love to hear any experiences/insights anyone may have.
>
> Thanks,
> Doug Gottschlich
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