When my son, Ben, was 2 1/2 he had a severe speech delay. He spent six months with Early Intervention before transferring over the the Arlington Heights Nursery School at the age of three, where he spent the next year and a half. One of the things that was regularly brought up at the parent/teacher meetings was that my son was disruptive and they would often have to chase him around the classroom. Since both I and my sister have ADD, that was the first thing I asked about. The teachers assured me that this was normal behavior, even though none of the other kids were behaving this way.
When Arlington’s early childhood program (or whatever they call the preschool SPED program) declared him cured of his speech problems and dumped him back into my lap, I chose to home school him. That way he couldn’t distract others, and there was little to distract him. I did this for three years, and for those three years he was a happy boy who interacted with people of all ages. He may not have known everything a kid his age should’ve known, but he could comprehend some things they couldn’t.
One summer, I had him tested for ADD, since he was having trouble paying attention to me and it was becoming frustrating for both of us. He was diagnosed with ADHD, as well as having significant issues with processing information. While I was reading up on these things to help me teach him, someone “squealed” to the Arlington SPED, who informed me that I was not capable of teaching my son, that he needed experienced teachers and a real school. Concerned about what could happen if I refused, I complied. I’m now regretting that decision.
I just returned from Ben’s IEP meeting. He is now in the 8th grade, and will not be graduating because he is failing two classes. They claim it’s because he hasn’t been doing his homework, which I find amusing because he has always had problems with homework and has always maintained B’s and C’s (with the occasional D) in the past. Why all of a sudden is it having such an impact THIS year? Mrs. Chertoff, the Ottoson SPED liason had the nerve to ask me what I was doing about his homework. Well, I’ve been hovering over, and threatening, him for seven years. That obviously hasn’t worked, so this year I had the Homework Club written into his IEP, but the school refused to waive the fee for the AM/PM pass needed to participate, so arrangements were made so that he could stay after with her and get his work done. And yet, he’s still coming home with homework chasers the length of my arm.
The only way he’s going to make it into the 9th grade, now, is if he goes to summer school. Which I have to pay for. Did I mention my son lost points on his autobiography report because I couldn’t afford to buy dress shoes to complete his “costume”?
Hi, my name is Babs Powers, and I’m the mother of an 8th grade drop out.
