Special

There's a bit of broo ha ha going on regarding an Autistic child. His parents are suing the school district and the county board of education over the treatment of their child.

There seems to be so many parts of the story missing. What did the IEP say? Were the parents notified of the "problem" before the "solution" was put into place? There are several allegations.
Finger pointing all the way to the principal. I dont know enough about Autism to have two cents or about what actually took place.
But what the story does bring up is the question many of us "Special Education" moms often have. When, how or do you ever "main stream" your child? My goal has been for Joseph to be in main stream kindergarten. He may require additional "services" for his fine motor skills (they may have to provide him special scissors or help with lunch time tasks) but Dominic and I work hard to help him figure things out and we dont intend to just send him out into the world expecting someone will help him we are not that naive.

After I read of this recent incident and talked to another mother of a child that attends Joseph's school for the first time I felt a change of heart, if Joseph is not ready I will not "force" mainstreaming on him or his educators. It's just not fair, it just wont help him be successful which is the main and only goal. This other mother totally disagreed. Her son is in a wheel chair and requires lots of "services" and she states firmly that her son is just as capable as Joseph (?) and her son will mainstream. I have to bite my tongue every time she says this. I do not think a right side hemi is in any way the same as a wheel chair bound child. Cognitively perhaps yes but as far as being able to manipulate the world without assistance at the age of 5 is a bit of a stretch. That is not to say that her child or even my child wont be able to mainstream perhaps later on.
The funny thing is Dominic will not lower the bar ever for Derek. I know Derek gets "lazy" sometimes. But for Joseph sometimes Dominic lowers the bar very easily. I am just the opposite. The bar dips a bit for Derek and for Joseph it is sitting firmly in concrete. Hopefully it's a good balance for them.
I stand by my school district and county employees. Perhaps I am very very lucky but I have yet to encounter a single employee that did not treat me and my son with the up most respect.
As I've said there are two sides the story and I have only heard one. I find it hard to believe the allegations. I see Joseph's teachers and therapist as part of the team and in some cases part of the family that continue to help Joseph grow and thrive. They are not the enemies ever. I trust them, I question them from time to time and voice my opinion just as they do there's.
I hope this family and the board can settle the manner. I don't think the $5 million suit is reasonable or what the schools need to do their jobs better and I dont think the $5 million will help the little boy either.
You can read the story here. http://tracypress.com/content/view/7416/2/