[blindkid] Pressure on the school

[holly miller]

Hi Eileen!
We are in Oceanport, eastern side of Monmouth County.
It's a teeny tiny district.  One elementary school, one middle
school.  Roughly 80 kids per grade.
For HS the kids go to a 4 town regional HS.

 I'm sure the problem is that they have virtually no experience with more
complex SNs of any type.
Back in the summer I had chatted with the principal.  She's worked for the
district in various roles for over 20 years.  She told me they never had a
student that used Braille in all that time.  They are well versed in
Autisim, ADHD, Auditory Processing issues.  They know what to do with that.
 Our older son has Aspergers and they have done a fabulous job meeting his
needs since day one.  His IEP meetings have always been all smiles & nods.
I never had to ask for anything, they offered the right things right up
front. This is part of what is so frustrating.  Because we are a small
district, I'm dealing with the same people for both kids.  One kid they are
getting it perfectly right, the other kid they are getting it so very very
wrong....  Also I guess it's lulled me into a false sense of security.  That
if I explain things to them the right way, they will do the right thing
because they are reasonable people (ok, stop laughing!!!)

Not an excuse, not by a long shot.  If I can find all this stuff on the
internet, so can they.  I've already spoon fed them quite a bit of info.
They know me from 9 years of our other son.  They know I take the time to
educate myself on the issues involved.  They know I'm not a PITA, hysterical
mom who makes pie in the sky demands.  I got *very* offended when the
caseworker said the other day "You can't know this isn't going to work" (re
45 min once a week)
Excuse me.  Just because you haven't bothered to educate yourself on the
subject, don't you dare assume I haven't.

Nothing more dangerous than a mad mom...

Holly


On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 4:39 AM, <EMMOL at aol.com> wrote:

>
> Holly,
> I was wondering... where in NJ you are located & which school district  you
> are in?
> Although I live in eastern PA and have had  great deal of  success with our
> district (although not every year is easy or perfect), I work  in NJ and
> have
> had many dealing with the Commission, most of them frustrating.  Although I
> am
> a speech pathologist, I am in a small school district in  NJ and wear many
> hats, one of which is that I coordinate the I&RS  Team. Having a blind son
> I have
> become the building "expert" on  blindness related issues, so I deal with
> the
> Commission for our Visually  Impaired Student. Carol has been a great
> resource for us over the years  regarding our son, who is now in high
> school, but if
> there is some way I might  be of assistance regarding your son in NJ,
> please
> let me know. It seems  like you are on the right path, but it does take a
> lot
> of time and energy  to fight the good fight!
> Eileen
>
>