So, let's discuss what happened at Open House that I touched on a bit on Monday's blog. Doodle is now switching classes like regular ed 6th graders her age. She has a home room teacher and has to report to two other classes, which are reading and math. In math class they also teach how to interact with others in social settings. That was one of the things I was demanding at the bad school. The teacher she had previous had been doing that in the classroom with her kids. She had even taught them how to play and interact with one another. What comes normally to most kids doesn't come naturally to mine. Her math teacher hands her the work sheets to do in class and before instruction can be given to all, Doodle is just about finished with the work. And in order to keep Doodle on pace she's already farther ahead of her classmates. She gets the math and it clicks with her. This is thanks in part to the good school and the fantastic teacher and para that we had. In math Doodle doesn't really need one on one help. Reading she's a little bit slower and Doodle might need a bit more help. She's always rushed through reading. If she slows it down she will get it. Another issue where she needs to be taught to slow it down and focus on the words in front of her.
I really have no dog in the fight regarding Ella Bell because I did exactly as she's proposing. I segregated my child to an all special needs school. Would I do it again? In a heart beat! She is now being taught and her peers are all special needs of all forms of disabilities. She's allowed computer lab, art classes (she was denied this at the bad school), library and eating lunch without being hidden away in a classroom. She's treated as if she's a regular ed student.
Our school now has an ABA classroom where the students who need ABA can be taught in a least restrictive environment. They get lots of therapy, distraction and positive reinforcement. Now Doodle did have ABA in her IEP last year. And it was removed off of her IEP at the end of the school year because here in the county that we live in ABA is for aggressive behavior. If you go back to the beginning of the blogs you see the behavior go from mild behavior and about the middle it will hit that she's become like Mike Tyson in the ring. Her teacher last year knew how to handle a child on the spectrum and had no issues with keeping Doodle on task and pushing her in the work. Unlike the bad school who kept her on kindergarten classwork which peeved Doodle off to no end. So yeah my kid railed against the machine. No shock. But we longer receive ABA because like I said, she got a teacher last year that didn't babysit.
Our school offers music therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy. I'm sure they even offer feeding therapy but my child doesn't need it so I'm not 100% sure on that. Our school is advancing every single day and year. Our principal believes in a clean well taken care of school that encourages, enlightens and lifts up the students. She keeps illness away by making sure that every inch of the school is clean, from classrooms to hallways. Even the gym doesn't have one speck of dirt on the bleachers or floor. And it almost smells like a doctors office when you walk in the door.
Doodle is kept on task. She is allowed breaks when she needs it and they have laying areas with pillows where the kids can stop and take a break and take a nap if needed and she gets up and gets back to work. They work her hard. When I say they work her hard I mean if she already knows the work, they give her the next lesson. Doodle's match class is on 10's integers. Please don't ask me what that is. I'm horrible at math. Doodle is already on hundreds. So she's pretty far ahead. (Side note: contacted friend who knows math, math by whole number.) Doodle is already doing this math for 100's. So that should tell you that they teach by ability. She's not stuck with you have to keep up with everyone else. She's taught at her pace. And that's what all parents even those with regular ed students want. And guess what, I got it!! Which is why I don't see a problem with what Ella Bell is suggesting.
Now we all know that there are reports of kids with special needs being bullied. The horror stories that come across our Facebook feeds. Do I have to worry about that anymore. Nope! And that's the biggest worry lifted off my shoulder. Will I have to worry about Doodle being slapped by a teacher ever again? Nope, the principal monitors that school like a hawk! First indiscretion and the teacher is gone! There is no if's, and's or but's about it! This principal doesn't play. Of course the bad teacher learned the hard way that you don't hit Doodle as it turned her into Tyson. Doodle hit one para so hard it put her on disability. And this is why you don't slap kids in the classroom or in the halls of the school. You don't lay your hands on a child what so ever! I still blame the teacher for the cut on Doodle's forehead. My child is not so wild that she would run into a pole. That's excuses of a victim. Doodle said she was pushed, though she didn't know who pushed her into the metal pole. I have my suspicions and God knows the truth. I never trusted the woman ever again.
So let's boil it down. I did what Ella Bell is proposing. And I'm not the only parent who has done so. Did we make the right choice? Yes, and we will do it again. We will place our children where they are better accommodated and are taught at their capacity. We no longer have to fight on our contracts what we want for our children. We now have more time to enjoy being parents and enjoying the time that we have with our children. It's that peace of mind that matters the most. If the schools that Ella Bell is proposing and they are set up like Doodle's current school. I am all for it. No more having to pay for outside services. Saving us on co-pays or out of pockets if most don't have insurance.
If you have a child that is special needs and goes to a public school, look at what your school is offering and tell me if you are truly happy with services and education compared to the other students? Are you allowed everything that you have requested for each IEP? Are the notes in the IEP matching up with what you've asked for?
If you want your child to have everything that is a right through IEP's then you have to work for it. It's almost like a full time business. If you don't put in the work you don't get to have the benefits. This goes back to the parents that like to just complain and not do anything about the situations. Put in the work, reap the benefits. That's all there is to it.
See you guys on the flip side.
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