Mentally handicapped accommodations

Parents Forum
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<p>Hi. I'm new to this forum. I have 5 children. Two are currently going to our community college, and one is going to be a junior in high school.</p>

<p>My son is currently in the 11th grade. He has been told by teachers (not doctors) that he is mildly mentally handicapped. He has been in special ed and has always gotten As. At his last IEP meeting, he asked to be put in regular classrooms. He has been put in a few regular classrooms but still has some special ed. He is excelling in all his classes, getting As and Bs on his interims. The teacher who is in charge of his IEP has told him he's "not college material" and probably never will be because they don't have aides in college. To me, it seems ridiculous. If he's getting As and Bs on regular as well as special ed subjects, how is he not college material? He has always wanted to teach. That's his dream and has been since he was in 4th grade. We have a vocational school that has a program on teaching professions. My son asked his teacher what he has to do to get into this class? The teacher told him to forget it, he would never be able to get into that class. My son is not socially as mature as other kids his age. He started to cry. This teacher had just dashed my son's life-long dream. The teacher told him, "See what I mean? You've just proven you're too immature to even think about college." This same teacher has made other snide remarks. When Jonathan took his finals, he got an A in math, which included a lot of algebra. He told his teacher. His teacher asked what he got in biology. Jonathan said he couldn't remember, and the teacher said, "and this is the kid that wants to go to college." This teacher also took it upon himself to make Jonathan's schedule out for next year. He has Jonathan going to the vocational school I mentioned but taking community service, which is also what he put the lower-functioning mentally handicapped kids in. They passed out certificates stating such with their names on them. As the teacher handed Jonathan his, he said, "another sign of a loser." I am biding my time. The end of the year is almost here. I don't want to say anything until Jonathan is finished with this teacher for the year so he doesn't give him even more grief. I plan to talk to the principal. We've written down all the comments this teacher has said to Jonathan. I plan on presenting it to the principal and insisting that Jonathan have no contact whatsoever with this teacher next year (if I decide to keep him there).</p>

<p>Anyone that knows Jonathan knows he's a go-getter. Other teachers have used him for an example of what a model student should be. He won't give up trying to find an answer on his own. He will ask if he needs help, but only as a last resort. He's also very self motivated--and always has been. He never has to be told to do his homework. At home, too, he won't ask for help unless he has exhausted all other resources. </p>

<p>I feel the school has been holding him back. I don't know why. Maybe they feel since he's a "special ed" student, he shouldn't be pushed very hard. Here, they group all "special ed" kids together and teach them all at th same pace. In sixth grade, when he learned that kids in regular classrooms were learning fractions and his teacher told him he wasn't ready, he went on the internet and, with the help of his brother, learned them. The teachers were surprised--and somewhat offended--that he learned them on his own. He was told he couldn't do algebra. Again, he went on the internet and, with the help of his brother (who is a whiz in math) learned basic algebra after which we insisted the school put him in an algebra course. It seems like whatever education he gets, we have to push them do accommodate him. </p>

<p>Jonathan was born prematurely and had to have a trach until he was a year old. Outside of the obvious precautions I had to take, I have always treated him as I do my other children. I didn't want him to feel differently. My kids have done the same. If he says he can't learn something, we tell him he can--and he does! He recently took the OGT (Ohio Graduation Test). He insisted on taking the regular test rather than the accommodated test. He passed writing but failed the other 4 subjects. My other sons (who are not mentally handicapped) have taken this same test. One passed 2 subjects the first time (they take them every 6 months starting in 10th grade until they pass all the subjects), 1 subject the next 3 times. The other one didn't pass any of them the first time, but passed 2 the next time and 3 the last time. What's ironic is that he had gone online (again) to brush up on writing, as that was his worst subject. </p>

<p>His teacher as well as his guidance counselor told him again he's not college material. The counselor asked him if he saw now that he works at a slower pace than other students. It seems to me he's learning more on his own and with the help of his brother than he is through the school. I am seriously considering an online charter school to finish his education. I never thought anyone could get a good education online until my son took an online English course through his college and learned quite a bit. I have always been good at English and social studies, and my one son has always been good at math and science. I think he might get a better education and be better prepared for college doing that rather than keeping him in this school. </p>

<p>So I guess I have 2 questions, really. Does anyone know about online high school courses and if they actually get a diploma at the end of it? Also, does anyone know if most colleges offer programs to mentally handicapped students? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>Sounds like he is in the wrong school with the wrong teacher. Move him to a different environment.</p></li>
<li><p>Given that he is taking pre-algrebra in 11th grade, he is not going to be heading to a real college in two years. He has too much work to make up, and perhaps he could use a couple of years to mature. </p></li>
<li><p>“Mentally handicapped” may be the wrong (and scary) word. Learning disabled, might be less detrimental.</p></li>
</ol>

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<p>There’s a forum on here dealing with Learning Disabilities and colleges. You may get additional information there, as well as ideas about schools to look at. Good luck!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>One of the best teachers my kids ever had was dxed as “slow”. He was deemed not to be college material. He went to Curry College which he says made a huge turnaround in his life. This college apparently has a lot of programs in place to help those who might need special help. He excelled there and is now teaching at a public high school, is coaching , married to another teacher and has 2 kids. He went to high school in an are that had very competitive students, and they just did not put much effort in helping those kids who were not in that majority category. </p>

<p>I know another very successful young man who was always considered severely learning disabled who did very well at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Doing much better than his siblings who went to colleges with better name recognition, and who did so well high school with no learning impediments. My husband’s cousin who was shunted over to special ed is the one of those 5 kids who is the best situation job, income, and life satisfaction wise. He was “slow”, and it did take him longer to “grow up”, but once he did, he was right where any parent would want his son to be. He is now in his mid thirties going to college at night. His high school absolutely said he was not college material. He’s doing very well now.</p>

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<p>Thanks, Toadstool and Chedva, for the advice. Toadstool, you’ve confirmed what I’ve been thinking for awhile now. Time to take him out of there. He still has 2 years before college. I’ll have to check and see, too, if he can go somewhere during the summer, too, to help him get caught up. Thanks, Chedva, for the link. I’m going to check it out now. You guys have been a big help.</p>

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<p>Teachers have absolutely no right to label your child and are woefully unqualified to do so. Please insist that the school refer him for testing and it should not cost you anything especially if money is an issue.
Both public and private schools do this kind of incorrect “diagnosing”. My D has always attended private school, and at one elementary school (we finally left!) was “diagnosed” by one teacher that she was either too immature or had ADD despite being top in her class and another teacher told her she would never achieve any success. This was in a very rigid so called Christian school that wanted every child to be very submissive and docile.She was never disruptive, unless you call getting out of line to get a drink of water!
Turns out she was just incredibly bored there, not challenged enough and just graduated valedictorian at her high school(different school, different city) and was a National Merit Scholar and will be attending a top 20 university.
I agree with an earlier poster that he may likely have some type of learning disability but it does not sound like he is mentally ■■■■■■■■ or disabled. Schools are obligated to provide accomodations for this once it has been correctly diagnosed.
Good luck on your journey to do the right thing for him</p>

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<p>^I agree. You need to know where your S stands, and you’re not getting that from his current set of handlers. It’s very encouraging that your S is “catching up.” That’s significant IMHO because it suggests that while he might not be college material right now, that he may be at some point in the future.</p>

<p>I don’t know of any colleges with programs for MH students. But there are many that will accept LD students who’ve shown abilities to succeed academically. Another school and/or teacher may help you determine where your S belongs.</p>

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<p>OP, NO teacher should EVER make those kinds of remarks to a student. I wouldn’t bide my time and longer, I’d go to the principal NOW. If you have a log of the remarks and the dates and so forth, and it sounds as if you do, I’m sure the principal will investigate.</p>

<p>Moreover, it sounds as if he is in need of a full professional assessment, if he hasn’t had one done already. And the school district ought to pay for it. That kind of thing is federally-mandated, I believe.</p>

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<p>Hope4freeride, thanks for your support. It’s amazing how some teachers continue being able to teach! This is why, even if I do take him out of the school, I plan on having a meeting with the principal. It’s really strange because this teacher was great up until Jonathan told him he wanted to go into teaching professions. Then he did a complete turn-around. It’s like he didn’t want him to achieve sucess. </p>

<p>How wonderful that your daughter was valedictorian and is doing so well. Congratulations to her (and to you) for not giving merit to what those other teachers said. She’s definitely on the right path.</p>

<p>I will ask that Jonathan be referred for testing. That’s something that should probably have been done long ago. Thanks for the tip.</p>

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<p>Whether or not your son is “college material,” I do not think a high school teacher should be telling him he’s not. I have no problem with the teacher telling YOU that he’s not, if that’s his honest opinion. There are a lot of kids heading to college that have no business going, for a variety of reasons (maturity, willingness to do the work, aptitude and desire in another area, inability to do the work), and I think it’s best for those kids and the adults that guide them to consider whether college is the right path. But making the derogatory and hurtful comments to your son that this teacher has made is unacceptable. I would be going all the way up to the school board if that’s what it took to have something done about this.</p>

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<p>Even if the dx is technically correct, it does not predict what any particular individual is capable of accomplishing. Traditional IQ tests only measure one narrow aspect of intelligence. Some one with high emotional intelligence and certain personality test will often do much better than someone who is supposed to be very smart, but lacks those other traits. Though certain types of work may not be the best fit for someone who is slower in doing certain skills, there is a lot out there that can make the most out of what skills a person has. Also, I can tell you that boys take a lot longer to grow up many times, than girls. I have seen many a young man who really took off long after family, teachers, etc gave up on him. </p>

<p>I have heard that Ohio Wesleyan has some good programs for nontraditional learners. (I see you are from Ohio). I certainly would not take that teacher or school’s opinions to heart. Good luck in finding some resources for J.</p>

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<p>New Hope, it is encouraging that Jonathan is catching up. He is not one to let obstacles get in the way. If he doesn’t understand something, he doesn’t give up. He works at it until he does. </p>

<p>Consolation, I do have a log of the remarks and most dates (I didn’t start documenting until it became apparent it was going to be an ongoing issue). I’ll call the school Monday. </p>

<p>Thanks for the input.</p>

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<p>mdoc, I agree completely. If Mr. S. would have approached me, I would have taken it into consideration and maybe talked to some of his other teachers. However, his other teachers have told me how well Jonathan is doing, as evidenced by his grades. I will definitely do whatever it takes to get this resolved. </p>

<p>Cpt, that’s just it. This has only been “diagnosed” by the teachers, not by an MD. I agree that a test may be able to measure some aspect of intelligence, but it doesn’t measure the amount of effort and determination that a particular student is going to put forth to achieve something. While Jonathan can memorize something with no problem, my other son (who is not MH or LD) had trouble learning to read and memorizing things. He was top in his class for engineering in high school, and he’s now going on to get his bachelor’s and possibly his master’s in engineering. I believe that a person’s determination is as much a factor of how well they’ll succeed as well as their IQ. I know my son better than any teacher does, so I definitely won’t take what Mr. S. says to heart. Jonathan, on the other hand, unfortunately does.</p>

<p>I have 4 boys and 1 girl, so believe me, I know how boys take longer to mature than girls! Thanks for the encouragement, mdoc and cpt.</p>

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<p>OP, I am very sorry to hear what you and your son are going through.</p>

<p>Some suggestions –</p>

<p>First, I would stop using the term “mentally handicapped” unless your son is of significantly below average intelligence (and it does not sound like that is the case). When people hear the term “mentally handicapped”, they think of someone with an IQ far below average, who likely would not be headed for college. Has your son ever had good psychoeducational testing done? “Learning disabled”, on the other hand, generally refers to someone of average to highly gifted intelligence, who has discrepancies between their potential and their achievement, due to specific learning problems.</p>

<p>Second, what your son has experienced this year is a lot of verbal abuse, and that really needs not to happen any more. Maybe you could find a good educational advocate/consultant who would perhaps give you a free consultation, after which you would decide whether you would need to hire them to observe your son in the classroom, and to advocate for him at the next IEP meeting. Obviously, by law the school system has to help him receive a “free and appropriate education”, and it is very questionable as to whether they are doing that right now.</p>

<p>Something else I would look into – some community colleges offer “Pathway to College” programs, and you mentioned that two of your children have attended community college already. Perhaps instead of taking mainly online courses – which could be somewhat isolating socially, when he may need social experiences – he could enroll in community college courses that are at a pre-college level, and work towards earning a high school diploma at the same time.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>Magicsmom, your post has been very helpful. I really like the idea of Pathway to College. I’ll check and see if our community college offers it. I also like the idea of getting an education advocate/counselor involved, but next week is his last week of school, so it’s probably too late for that. Thanks again for your ideas.</p>

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<p>Just to interject a light note here:</p>

<p>There are tons of students in college who I wouldn’t think are 'college material".<br>
Numerous examples when Jay Leno interviews students on “Jay-walking”, for the Tonight Show.</p>

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<p>This is true!</p>

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<p>I agree with the others - the teachers had NO business making those diagnostic statements to your S. Labels can be damaging and inhibiting. I’d seek different schooling since even if you discuss this with the principal the damage has been done and the teachers won’t change their attitude even if they can manage to keep their mouths shut.</p>

<p>Regarding ‘not being college material’ I say ‘balderdash’! He may or may not succeed in college but there’s no reason for him not to give it a try if he wants. He can always go to a CC and test the waters and see how it goes. He might end up going on to a 4 year college, might decide not to move on, or might find some area he likes that doesn’t require him to go on to a 4 year college but nevertheless will have ‘gone to college’.</p>

<p>Your S should be limited only by his own capabilities and desires - not the opinions of unqualified others.</p>

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<p>Just chiming in on what previous posters have said…first, absolutely no teacher should ever say such awful things to a student. The comments of his case manager in charge of his IEP should be reported to the school’s administration. You may also want to request that your son have a different case manager next year, if possible. Start by contacting the special education office at your school or district.</p>

<p>Second, while your son may not be ready for college material in some areas, it sounds like he’s enough of a self-starter that he’ll be ready in other areas. As a high school counselor, I would argue that not a lot of 11th graders are “college-ready” in many areas. Some are book-smart enough to handle college work, but not emotionally mature enough to handle college life. Some lack the organizational skills to juggle all the pressures of college life. And on and on. Of the 80+ seniors on my caseload who just graduated last week, some will be a success right away in college and others will take a bit longer to find their way. And that’s okay. Keep encouraging your son to pursue his dreams and work through his challenges.</p>

<p>On a final note, there are lots of resources for post-secondary education for the learning disabled student. Your local library and bookstore should carry some titles that may be helpful. There are quite a few colleges out there that have great programs for students with learning differences. Lincoln College in Illinois, for example, has several two-year programs designed to help students achieve a variety of goals - going on to a four-year school being one of them. Your son might also benefit from taking a course or two at your community college as well. Perhaps they offer a course that introduces students to the teaching profession. There may be opportunities for him to volunteer at a nearby elementary or middle school. Your son sounds like he has a lot to offer the world!</p>

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<p>I work in the public schools in the special education field. Where I am, we ENCOURAGE students to reach as high as they want to reach. There are many colleges out there with supportive programs for students with disabilities. If the student is motivated, and willing to seek help when needed, they can succeed. Schools like Mitchell College and Curry College are but two examples of programs that give all students an opportunity to realize their dreams of a college education. </p>

<p>I would suggest that the OP find an independent guidance counselor who perhaps specializes in college searches for students with possible needs. Perhaps this will be helpful.</p>