On Thursday evening I wrote to the teacher of the ILC (Integrated Learning Center) which is the class at the middle school that his current class is based off of. I wrote the teacher this email:
"Hi Mrs. F...",
I met you briefly when I observed your classroom a couple months ago regarding my son -- (Who will be in 7th grade in the Fall; has Autism and Bipolar along with a borderline IQ; and has been in a substantially separate room since Kindergarten). Although I plan on observing both (Your and Mrs. C's) classrooms again in February or March, I also have some questions. With my son being as complex as he is (With a mix of cognitive, emotional and behavioral concerns), it's clear (To me and administration) that neither classroom will be a perfect fit. We'll have to try whichever one seems better, add in extensive accommodations needed and go from there.
In his current placement, his classroom has a "Time out space" which I've been told nothing like that exists within (Middle school). He has times when life becomes too much for him and he needs time somewhere that he can tune everything out and regulate. How would you accommodate that?
How do you each deal with aggression (For example, beginning with throwing chairs, but escalating to kicking, punching, hitting, scratching and spitting) directed toward you and other staff members who might work in your rooms? His current plan utilizes his classroom's time out space and restraint when needed to keep him and others safe.
How do you deal with a child who refuses to go to lunch or assemblies (Likely due to being overstimulated sensory-wise) or UAs? (Especially when if made to go to things that are overstimulating, the child has a tendency to get aggressive as the fight or flight response becomes activated.) Do all children in your class have to go out to UAs? Have any ever been within your class for the entire day (Except lunch)?
From what I seen when observing your classroom, my main concern would be my son being lost academically and cognitively. He has various delays in many areas. During your classroom instruction on the day I visited, the words you used seemed to be way above his level which I could see easily frustrating him. Do you individualize that based on the children's needs in your classroom?
I am interested in hearing more information about how your level system works. Could you explain that to me more or send me information about it?
Do you have experience with children who have Autism and/or Bipolar?
What do you think about frequent home-school communication?
My son is on medications which help control his Bipolar and keep his mood stable. (His Autism, is another story, because that still affects his everyday life and most likely always will.) When he was six, he was placed in a psychiatric hospitalization for two weeks where they did a med wash and got him stable. The psychiatrist he's been seeing for the past several years has been awesome with changing things before they get to that point. Part of the reason why I believe home-school communication is important, is because it can help me document his moods on mood charts and inform his psychiatrist so she can make changes if necessary before things get too severe. By doing so, we've been successful in preventing him from needing another hospitalization.
My son can be so caring and sweet, but struggles with changes and understanding a lot about life. I know that he'll likely struggle with whichever placement the IEP team picks for him next year, because he even struggles with little ones (For example, the new OT and PT people this year who he's tested more than once). Next year, he'll be out of his comfort zone at Dexter Park where he's been for seven years and flip flopped between only two teachers throughout those years.
Thanks...."
I met you briefly when I observed your classroom a couple months ago regarding my son -- (Who will be in 7th grade in the Fall; has Autism and Bipolar along with a borderline IQ; and has been in a substantially separate room since Kindergarten). Although I plan on observing both (Your and Mrs. C's) classrooms again in February or March, I also have some questions. With my son being as complex as he is (With a mix of cognitive, emotional and behavioral concerns), it's clear (To me and administration) that neither classroom will be a perfect fit. We'll have to try whichever one seems better, add in extensive accommodations needed and go from there.
In his current placement, his classroom has a "Time out space" which I've been told nothing like that exists within (Middle school). He has times when life becomes too much for him and he needs time somewhere that he can tune everything out and regulate. How would you accommodate that?
How do you each deal with aggression (For example, beginning with throwing chairs, but escalating to kicking, punching, hitting, scratching and spitting) directed toward you and other staff members who might work in your rooms? His current plan utilizes his classroom's time out space and restraint when needed to keep him and others safe.
How do you deal with a child who refuses to go to lunch or assemblies (Likely due to being overstimulated sensory-wise) or UAs? (Especially when if made to go to things that are overstimulating, the child has a tendency to get aggressive as the fight or flight response becomes activated.) Do all children in your class have to go out to UAs? Have any ever been within your class for the entire day (Except lunch)?
From what I seen when observing your classroom, my main concern would be my son being lost academically and cognitively. He has various delays in many areas. During your classroom instruction on the day I visited, the words you used seemed to be way above his level which I could see easily frustrating him. Do you individualize that based on the children's needs in your classroom?
I am interested in hearing more information about how your level system works. Could you explain that to me more or send me information about it?
Do you have experience with children who have Autism and/or Bipolar?
What do you think about frequent home-school communication?
My son is on medications which help control his Bipolar and keep his mood stable. (His Autism, is another story, because that still affects his everyday life and most likely always will.) When he was six, he was placed in a psychiatric hospitalization for two weeks where they did a med wash and got him stable. The psychiatrist he's been seeing for the past several years has been awesome with changing things before they get to that point. Part of the reason why I believe home-school communication is important, is because it can help me document his moods on mood charts and inform his psychiatrist so she can make changes if necessary before things get too severe. By doing so, we've been successful in preventing him from needing another hospitalization.
My son can be so caring and sweet, but struggles with changes and understanding a lot about life. I know that he'll likely struggle with whichever placement the IEP team picks for him next year, because he even struggles with little ones (For example, the new OT and PT people this year who he's tested more than once). Next year, he'll be out of his comfort zone at Dexter Park where he's been for seven years and flip flopped between only two teachers throughout those years.
Thanks...."
The response I got:
"Thank you for your letter. I am forwarding it to my supervisor who is better qualified to address your various concerns."
My response to her response:
"Are
you the teacher in the ILC or did I email this to the wrong person? I
was hoping to get your answers, not the administrations. Sorry if I
asked things too complicated. I am not interested in hearing how your
supervisor would deal with these situations."
Her next response:
"I am the teacher who works in the Midddle School ILC. Ms. C works in the Bridge Program."
My next response:
"Please
tell your supervisor to disregard my email. I'll get the
administration answers at a meeting towards the end of this school year
as far as how things are at -- in general. I was asking you for your
answers and your experience to help me decide if your classroom would
be a good fit for my son. I guess I'll go with what I've gotten and will
get from observations instead. Thanks for your time.
Her next response:
"My
supervisor is the head of the Special Education Department for -----. I am sure she would be
delighted to help. I will tell her, however, that she should disregard
the forwarded email."
Next, I wrote back to her letting her know I am very familiar with the Special Education Director, since I've been the Chairperson of the district's Special Education Parent's Advisory Council for the past several years. From there, I forwarded the email communications between me and the ILC teacher to the SpEd Director, myself. In part, my email to her said how I emailed Mrs. F asking a few questions to help me determine what placement would be a better fit for Honeybunches, how she refused to answer any of my questions, that I was not asking how the school in general deals with things or their policies but wanted to know specific things from the teacher to help me know which placement would be best. I told her, I will learn about the middle school's policies and how the school as a whole can accommodate him at our meeting at the end of the school year once his placement was finalized. I told her that while I was leaning towards Mrs. C's class being a better placement for him, I wanted more information from Mrs. F to come to a conclusion. I asked if that school had a policy against answering questions from parents.
The SpEd Director wrote me back that next morning. She said: "Thank you for sharing the email you sent to Mrs. F, her reply and the concern that you did not receive an answer to your questions. I spoke with Mrs. F this morning and she will be emailing you back either this afternoon or tomorrow with the information you requested. This is going to be a big transition for (Honeybunches) and the more information we all have the better we will be able to make good decisions regarding programming and supports...Thank you for including me on this email thread..."
In my next post, I am going to write what I learned about Mrs. F, since this one is long enough already lol. For now, I will say I did NOT have a good 1st impression of her by the way she would not answer any questions I asked her. That really made me dislike her... ALOT!
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