In the Meantime...HELP!

[katiekat]

Another delay-Now I will have to cancel Sean's cardio. appt. for the EKG because the psych. never called back and I need a referral from her. The appt. is tomorrow so I am out of luck.
Right now I am so discouraged as I look back at all the things we have TRIED to do to help Sean and realize that we have accomplished nothing at all and things are just as bad as ever. We've had no help from the school(2 eval. requests denied). Only 2 months left and he still does not recognize all of the alphabet. He can barely copy words and letters, and cannot read even 2 letter words. I don't know any child who could not read when they entered 1st grade. I guess EVERY child I've ever known is a genius if I believed what his teacher says. I think reading when you're 6 1/2 is normal and average but what do I know. I'm not a teacher.
Behavior wise I think things are even worse. At this time last year I thought Sean's ADHD was the extent of his problems but over the past 6 months so many new things have cropped up. I have had limited success with things helping for a week or 2 but then they're right back in the toilet. In addition to the typical ADHD issues we have the OCD behaviors,the anxiety and depression coming and going, the nightmares and it goes on and on. His behavior is odd and I really have no other way to explain it. We've been to a psychologist, neurologist, and now the psychiatrist and nothing. (Well thankfully the meds. for sleeping have taken care of that). I feel like we're just being passed from one "expert" to the next. If it were a physical problem that my son had it would have been helped long ago but since it's not...
Sorry to ramble on but it's been a bad morning here and morale is at an all time low.

[charliegirl]

Would your ped be willing to give you a referral to the card. for the tests? I'd give him a call and check to see if he will before I cancelled.

[katiekat]

Tried that angle since the ped. is 30 seconds from my house I thought that may work. I called the cardio. and was told that since the psych. requested the EKG and she is the one who would be prescibing the meds it needs to be from her. Also the referral had to have a DX on it. Boy am I curious to see that. Anyway they cancelled the appt. and said to re-schedule after I get a hold of the psych. The only good thing is that getting an EKG only appt. is easy and you only have to wait a week at the most.

[katiekat]

Well I did get to the psych. and I now have the referral. But now I have a new question. I have always been concerned about Sean having some type of LD(s) but the school just blows us off. Now yesterday the psych. says to me "you need to have him evaluated" She believes that there are LDs and that academically he is way behind where he should be. I told her that we requested an eval 2X and were denied. She told me to write up another request. I think this is a complete waste of time because I know they are just going to deny it. Any thoughts???

[charliegirl]

Write up the request and include the statements that "You may consider this permission to do them" and " If you choose not to do them please send me a Prior Written Notice and include this in his permanent file".

If you have already done this and been ignored, you need to get a statement from the psych that he says Sean needs to be tested and send that to them. I would also report this to the state as by law, they have to give you a PWN.

[notellin]

Ask for an evaluation again, and attach a letter from your doctor that states why the evaluations are recommended. And, as stated above, ask for a PWN if they deny the evaluation. Sean seems academically behind to me. I would be concerned. If you hand them a private eval report and they still refuse to act, I would seriously consider filing for Due Process. I know it can cost $10k, but this is outrageous IMHO, and it would cost you more to school him privately than to force them to do their job. I'd be up in arms by now if I was in your shoes. I would have an advocate breathing down their necks. Have you called the county's special edcuation department and ask them to get involved? Do they have a dispute resolution department? This is so not right.

[charliegirl]

Do a search for CHADD, your state. They often have a list of resources for your area. If they have advocates listed, it would be a great idea to get one.

[katiekat]

I have been looking into the advocate but I'm having a hard time pinning down exactly who I call. Any time I find something on line it is in the North Jersey area which is way too far. My former students mom told me what town it's in but she wasnt exactly sure what it's called as it was years ago when she had to get an advocate for her daughter. I have been looking through the phone book looking for something that sounds right but so far no luck. We have another appt. at the psych today so I am going to ask her for a letter. There were A LOT of problems with Sean this weekend and I have some things I need to talk to her about as far as a DX goes.
As far as the school goes I have had it. Now they have gone as far as to cancel our monthly INRS meetings saying they are no longer needed. A message was left by the social worker on my machine so I could not even question or argue this decision. Another phone call I have to make. This is turning into a full time job and at this point I feel like I need to be put on some meds. Xanax anyone?

[katiekat]

Ok well I did find a phone number and left a message, even if it's not the exact place I want to contact I'm hoping they will be able to head me in the right direction.
The psych. is going to write a letter to the school district regarding her belief that he should be evaluated. I guess that's the good news.
When I picked him up from school today his teacher told me that he had been doing great for about a week and she thought perhaps we had turned the corner. However now things are back to normal, which is not too good. Today he was pushing and calling names. Then the psych told me some things which have me upset and very distressed. Things I just cant even think about at this point. I guess that's the bad news.

[charliegirl]

Good luck finding one. It will be so nice for you to have someone go into the meetings with you who knows the laws and whom the school knows can't be snowed. Hopefully an advocate will make it much easier to get the help Sean needs.