Meeting with the school...

[unicorn]

I had my meeting with the school last week about Tiff. It was the usual cast of characters. Except this year, most of them are new to the school. So I gave them some backround and went from there.

I went to the meeting to request that the school do their own testing and evaluation in order to try to get an IEP finally.

I found out a couple of things in August that sent me off the handle. First of all on Tiff's summer school report card, the pretesting they did showed Tiff in a grade 1 1/2 math level and she was finishing 3rd grade. That is 2 grade levels behind! And her reading testing was about 1 1/2 years behind. And after I got back from the ocean the standardized test scores were in. And those just confirmed that she was below standards in math, and ok in reading. I knew she wasn't doing well in math, d's and e's were the first clue. but they knew she was that far behiind and never said anything.

I went with my packets for each person, of all those test results (even though) I knew they had them.

After all was said and done, they are going to test her in all areas and we meet again on 10/17 to see the results and for me to see what they propose for the next steps.

Yeah, it was about time!!

[misty]

Thats great that they are finally testing her! If she has a math LD & gets the help she needs, she'll excel! Shannon was 2 years behind in math too & is slowly but steadily closing that gap as she gets the proper teaching.

[unicorn]

I hope all this will help. We just had 45 minute math screaming battle over 4 problems that she didn't understand. And when I tried to help, the battle started. But now it is better.

[lillian]

Yes!!! I'm so glad you are doing the testing. See, this is the reason I'm for nationally standardized testing, though many parents of children with special needs choose to not test their children. If I had my way, my son would take the Stanford every year. I want to see how he's performing in comparison to other children outside the district and state. I don't want one school in one district telling me how he's performing.

[jill]

The testing starts for us this year 3rd grade and I am nervous however different testing then this one.

[kdmvjm]

I have just received letters from two people that have evaluated and some testing on my daughter. The Dr. believes she is ADD and wants to try a med. I am skeptical on the med for my daughter is already way under weight and I fear she will lose more. She also showed significant delays in her fine motor, visual motor skills. We had her tested through the school in 4th grade and she is not eligible to be tested through the school again until next year. She currently is struggling in math. I would like to know if someone out there can please give me some insight on these matters and advise me as to what I need exactly to meet with the school. Sincerely, Kim McVicker

[misty]

Well, don't let anyone pressure you into medicating her. Its the parents decision,& no one can force you. My 13 year old ADDer has done really well on the Omegas (fish oil). Several other parents here use them too with great results. If you're interested, theres a heap of info in the alternatives med board.

My daughter has a math LD,which the school caught when they first eval'ed her. Her IEP puts her in the learning support classes for math & its really helping. Look in the dyscalculia sub board here in the learning disability section for tons of tips to help with math related problems.

When I met with the school for the first time I took all her medical records, & samples of her work.

[charliegirl]

Kim,

I read this last night but wasn't sure how to reply to you. I've given it a lot of thought and realized I have questions before I can really suggest anything. I'm sure others here will have ideas also once we understand better what you are dealing with.

What did the school's eval show when they did it? What did they say about it? Did they indicate that they were willing to work with you or claim she didn't need help?

I'm unclear as to what specifically you are dealing with and you will want to target specifics when you talk to them.

I'm thinking you should be able to get her a 504 at least under Other Health Impaired (OHI) but it will be easier to figure out when we have more info.

You might want to check out the dyscalculia board here. Many times math is hard for someone with ADHD, especially if they have memory or processing problems but whether its ADHD or dyscaluculia, you might be able to find ways there to help her with her math.

[lillian]

kdmvjm said:

I have just received letters from two people that have evaluated and some testing on my daughter. The Dr. believes she is ADD and wants to try a med. I am skeptical on the med for my daughter is already way under weight and I fear she will lose more. She also showed significant delays in her fine motor, visual motor skills. We had her tested through the school in 4th grade and she is not eligible to be tested through the school again until next year. She currently is struggling in math. I would like to know if someone out there can please give me some insight on these matters and advise me as to what I need exactly to meet with the school. Sincerely, Kim McVicker

When you say she is struggling in math, what do you mean? Is she failing math? Is this the only class in which she struggles?

[kdmvjm]

Hello,

This is Kim and in regards to my daughter and her school struggles, she currently has a "D" in math and "C's" in three other core classes. Her tests in 4th grade revealed that she did not score low enough on their tests to qualify for any help, such as IEP or other assistance. However, she scored in a range that in the schools term said that she would have struggles and need a little extra help at our expense. Her 5th grade year she gradually declined in all subjects and grades declined as well and so that is when I sought help from our primary care physician to have her tested privately, because as her mother and the fact she was a preemie and had developmental delays I feel she still has delays or a learning disability of some sort and I simply want to seek help for her and not see her struggle or fail the rest of her school years. She is in the 6th grade now and this is when the school years become more crucial and difficult and I would like to catch these things sooner than later. She does show delays in visual motor and the developmental specialist stated that she feels if we can get her qualified for help, she is afraid that because on paper she appears and tests fine but in reality she does struggle and if we can't get her help she could fall threw the cracks was the term the specialist used. Sorry for such a run on and I do hope you can follow all this and make my situation somewhat clearer. Thank-you all for the input thus far.