Mentally handicapped accommodations

Parents Forum
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<p>Ucsd, I agree with your way of thinking. As I stated previously, I have always treated my children the same, so he didn’t realize there was anything different about him until they started labeling him at school. What you say makes sense as far as another school. While I would insist he not have any interaction with this teacher in future years, he would still inevitably pass him in the hallway or whatever. Based on his past actions, my guess would be that if he was reprimanded and was allowed to stay on, he would be very vindictive towards my son.</p>

<p>Isu, I was so glad to see a post from you. Along with Mr. S., J’s guidance counselor was also discouraging him. After taking his OGT (Ohio Graduation Test), she asked him if he saw now that he worked at a slower pace than the other students and why she and Mr. S. told him he was not college material. </p>

<p>Thumper1, I commend you and your school for ENcouraging rather than DIScouraging your students. I sincerely believe that a teacher can have a positive or a detrimental effect on his/her students. It’s just a shame that all schools don’t have that attitude. </p>

<p>Thank you for all the wonderful tips. I had J read your posts, as well, and he is very encouraged by them. He also thanks you.</p>

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<p>I don’t understand…how has this child been diagnosed? Did the school give him neuropsychological testing and academic testing (i.e. the WISC and the WIAT) in order to determine his strengths, weakness, and proper placements? </p>

<p>And regardless of the diagnosis, no child should ever be subjected to the kind of verbal abuse you referenced. I would not wait any longer…you need to see the principal now. You should not stand for your child being treated this way…if he has an IEP (which he must if he is in special education, unless he only has a 504) there are laws to protect him.</p>

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<p>First WOW I didn’t realize we still had teachers that treated our students that way. I am an advocate for children with special needs, so this post has my blood boiling. My oldest D has Down’s syndrome and just graduated HS. Yeah for her. We are looking into Community college for her. </p>

<p>Here are some ideas:

  1. Have you child go through a complete evaluation to determine all areas of suspected disability. This is done by the school at no cost to you. After this is done, the professionals that conducted the tests should be able to give you a clear picture of your S strengths and needs.
  2. Write a letter to the teacher, cc the principal and the SPED director on how you do not like the way in which she has been addressing your child. Especially the demeaning language she has used to discourage your S. This should NEVER be tolerated and has to be reported otherwise the abuse will continue.
  3. Because you S is on an IEP he has the right to a program that suits his individual needs, the I in IEP. If this means adding on-line classes to his current schedule then the school has to pay for it. Remember that under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) you student is entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), which means that anything that his IEP team consider that is going to make him successful and assist with access to his education should be considered.
  4. As part of his IEP, you and the team may consider him taking a class at the community college so that he gets to learn what it is going to be like, he can then come back to the school and with the assistance of his SPED teacher develop strategies that are going to teach him how to best approach his classes, etc.
  5. Also because your son is on an IEP, he may stay in HS until he is 21, so this may be a way of assisting him in going to take those college courses as part of his IEP goals.<br>
  6. Your son should have transition goals as part of his IEP, if he doesn’t the school and his IEP team have failed to prepare what his transisiton plan will be once he leaves HS. Request another IEP once the evaluations have been completed and make sure that you have the team develop one.
  7. All community colleges that receive Federal funds, must comply with the ADA, which means they cannot discriminate against individuals with a disability. Therefore you son can attend college as long as he meets the admissions criteria.
  8. HS diplomas are based on the Dept of Ed of your state requirements. Check with them to see what your son needs to obtain one. Some states just require the completion of set amount of credits, others may need specific High stakes testing requirements (State tests) others may just give a certificate of completion if you student is on an IEP. Check, check check.</p>

<p>I know this is a lot. Another resource is your local Parent Training and Information center (PTI) a link to all the US PTIs can be found at:</p>

<p>[Technical</a> Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers National Center (ALLIANCE)](<a href=“http://www.taalliance.org%5DTechnical”>http://www.taalliance.org)</p>

<p>Good luck!!!</p>

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<p>db44126-
Apologies if I am repeating what others have asked here. I see your s has had IEP’s, which suggests he’s had formal evaluations. Have you had him tested privately? Schools usually focus their evaluations on addressing what services he will qualify for. Even though he’s in the 11th grade, you might want to consider a private eval. That will help clarify diagnostic issues and also help you with future planning. Depending on your state,t ehr sheould be programs available for year round schooling if he qualifies. Also, as he was premature and needed a trach, he may have been hypoxic at birth?? If so, he might more appropriately fall under the “OHI” (other health impaired) category in your school, rather than the “LD/MBD” classification, or whatever category they use. It might open up a few doors to programs and after school care plans, especially if you are looking at changing schools. Good luck!</p>

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<p>The fact that your S is doing so well in regular classes makes me wonder what you meant when you said he is “mentally handicapped.” Has he been assessed as having a learning disability or was he assessed as being developmentally disabled?</p>

<p>Make sure that you fully understand what his “handicap” is supposed to be. LD, for instance, doesn’t mean that someone has a low IQ. Someone can be very high IQ – and succeed in college and grad school – yet have an LD. They just may need accommodations.</p>

<p>If someone is of such low IQ as to be considered developmentally disabled (■■■■■■■■), they shouldn’t be able to get good grades in regular classes. It’s possible for someone to be misdiagnosed as developmentally disabled due to errors by the person giving the test or lack of cooperation or understanding (possibly due to illness, shyness, hearing probs.) on the part of the test taker.</p>

<p>My younger S had IQ tests from an early age because he was in a study for kids born prematurely (He was born at 28 weeks). His first few tests, his score was at the ■■■■■■■■ range because he was so shy that he refused to do anything. Later, in elementary school, he was tested again, and got a very low score, which didn’t make sense to me. I know the test because I was trained as a psychologist, and when I looked at his scores, I saw that the test giver had made several errors, including in how she administered the test (She administered it in a large gym-like room when there were people outside and sounds were echoing into the gym. That’s not the test is supposed to be administered). She also wrote down his birth date incorrectly. One’s birth date is important in calculating the score.</p>

<p>He took the test 2 years later, and scored at about the 98th-99th percentile, was put into gifted programs, and now is in college doing well.</p>

<p>When I was in grad school, my boyfriend was a Phi Beta Kappa med student at Stanford who in elementary school had been steered toward special education because the teachers thought he wasn’t very smart. His parents intervened because they correctly realized that he was very bright.</p>

<p>So… make sure you understand what your S’s disability is supposed to be, and if he seems to be performing above what would be expected, then have him assessed again because the original assessment may have been wrong. It’s always possible due to the reasons mentioned before for people to perform lower than their capabilities on IQ tests. It’s not possible (unless they do something like find out and memorize the right answers) for them to perform above their capabilities.</p>

<p>Please also complain about the teacher because no teacher should say what that teacher said to your son.</p>

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<p>Can you clarify, OP-- is your s in regular or special ed classes? Regultions say he should be in the least restrictive environment, so if hes doing so well in special ed, he may well be better and more appropriately served in regular ed.</p>

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<p>OP, you and your son may find inspiration in the autobiography of the inspirational speaker Les Brown. When he was in school, he was classified as “educable mentally ■■■■■■■■.” One day a substitute teacher took over his class, and asked Les to do something at the blackboard. Les refused, explaining, “I’m educable mentally ■■■■■■■■.”</p>

<p>The teacher replied, “Don’t let someone’s opinion of you become your destiny.” Les took that advance and eventually became a well known inspirational speaker.</p>

<p>As Les has put it, “No one rises to low expectations.”</p>

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<p>Developmentally disabled is NOT synomous with low IQ (“intellectual disability” is the proper term in North America [“learning disabled” is used to indicate low IQ in the UK]; many, many people have average to highly gifted IQs and purely or primarily physical developmental disabilities.</p>

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<p>^I agree. My son has many learning deficits - auditory, visual, fine motor but his IQ was tested at 140. </p>

<p>Op - I am so sorry your son was treated this way. His school is not doing right by him. You have to be proactive as you can as an advocate for him.</p>

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<p>RTR, I do remember my son having tests conducted by the school psychologist in kindergarten, at which time they diagnosed him as being developmentally delayed. I was told that, in layman terms, this meant he was mildly mentally ■■■■■■■■. When Jonathan and I requested his being put into regular classes, the person conducting the IEP (the teacher who has been so verbally abusive this past semester) said he wouldn’t do well in regular classrooms. I pointed out the fact that he was getting all As. He said that regardless of his grades, his comprehension skills were only 50% to 60%. Can that be possible if he was getting As?</p>

<p>Bandie Mom, Congratulations on your daughter’s graduating HS–and going on to college!! How exciting for her. Next, thank you for all your ideas. I have made a copy of this page in order to get started on them. I’m sure this will be a big help.</p>

<p>Jym626, I haven’t had him tested privately but have considered doing so. And actually, the NICU doctor told me when he discharged him from the hospital (at 3 months of age) that because of the high concentrations of oxygen he required before his trach, he may have some mental or emotional disabilities that would be noticeable as he got older.</p>

<p>Northstarmom, as I stated above, my son was told by the school he was developmentally disabled or, in layman’s terms they told me, mildly mentally ■■■■■■■■. What you say makes a lot of sense. He shouldn’t be able to do so well, especially in regular classrooms, if he’s developmentally disabled. As I said in an earlier post, he was actually able to memorize things quicker than his older brother, who was never diagnosed as having an LD and who graduated at the top of his engineering class and is now in his second year of college for engineering.</p>

<p>Thanks again, everyone, for your advice. It’s all going to be very helpful.</p>

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<p>1) It’s not too late to get an education advocate or lawyer involved, at all. Late May and early June are prime times for parents to get involved in this stuff, because this is when you prepare for the fall. (The other stressful time is September, when parents find that the school is not following through on plans made now.)</p>

<p>2) Hire a lawyer: one hour at $150 or so, will be well worth it, and the way it went for us was that just mentioning that meeting and bringing what the lawyer said to the school, was enough- we never had to pay more for the lawyer to actually come to the school; then again, you might have to pay another $150 for the lawyer to come to a school meeting, if things continue to be difficult</p>

<p>3) If you can’t afford a lawyer, there are other resources, including advocates (even free ones, who are training with organizations like the Federation for Children with Special Needs). You can also call the Office of Civil Rights at the Federal Dept. of Education, or the state liaison for your school district.</p>

<p>Regardless of whether you get a lawyer, advocate, or talk to a public or private resource, find out if you can sue this teacher, or file a formal complaint with the state or feds. This behavior is completely unacceptable. Do you have a parents’ group for special ed? Consult them too.</p>

<p>4) Get a diagnosis. I have not heard anyone use the term “mentally handicapped” in a few centuries. The school is obligated to test him, if he has never been tested, and you can also look into or talk with his MD about private testing, which insurance sometimes covers. Teachers cannot “diagnose.”</p>

<p>5)Online courses can be rough for kids who have any trouble working on their own. We have tried them with two of our kids, and they were great for one (who is talented academically), terrible for the other (who is a “slow processor”). Does your child have friends and activities at school, or does he prefer being around the home? There are so many aspects of life at this age beyond the academic.</p>

<p>6) Investigate other school situations, if your child is eager for change. The community college Pathways idea is a great one. We know a kid with “learning disabilities” (we call them “learning issues”) who did that and ended up flourishing at college in her jr. year.</p>

<p>No matter what you do, you are facing a choice as to whether to advocate in a way that helps your son stay where he is (and perhaps helping others by standing your ground), or withdrawing to the home or to find another school (which might help him but lets that teacher and school get away with it, and continue to hurt others). There are times when it is best to just do the latter, because the battle just take a lot of energy and takes away from the positive focus you might want to have. But, then again, it stinks that teachers like this continue in their jobs, and that schools do not serve students in a more effective, not to mention empathetic, way.</p>

<p>p.s. Somehow I skipped the second page, so this repeats a lot of what others have said, including the OP. Just adding that any testing done in kindergarten is not necessarily relevant to the present, and testing needs to be redone. But I am confused about what has been done in the past.</p>

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<p>db, you are not making sense. You child legally can NOT be in a special education class as a high school student unless more recent reevaluations were done since kindergarten. Federal legislation requires a re-evaluation every three years to determine if a child continues to have a disability and requires special education services. Has your child had a re-evaluation since kindergarten??? If so, when and what was done? If not, you need to ask WHY?</p>

<p>A developmental delay can be used to define a disabililty in students until a certain age. Federal legislation allows this to be used until age nine, but each state has guidelines that define the rule for that state. For example, where I live, the developmental delay category can only be used until age six.</p>

<p>A developmental disability is different than a developmental delay. Where I am, developmental disability encompasses students with a variety of disabilities ranging including but not limited to neurologically impaired, autistic, intellectually disabled. Developmental disability is NOT one of the disability categories defined in the federal legislation.</p>

<p>Does your child have a special education IEP? Does your child have a special education case manager? Does your child have annual reviews of his special education program?</p>

<p>Or is your child NOT in a special education program?</p>

<p>If your child is in a special education program, I urge you to contact the special educaton director to get things clarified. </p>

<p>If your child is in a special education class but has not had recent reviews or a current (within three years) re-evaluation, you need to talk to the school principal. ASAP.</p>

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<p>db might not be American. Laws vary in other countries.</p>

<p>I do agree that the child needs an evaluation if he hasn’t had one in three years. And either the previous evaluation (if it was done in the last three years) or the new evaluation (if one needs to be done) should be explained, in detail, to both child and parents. </p>

<p>The current vague diagnosis will not do. Student and parents need to understand exactly what the student’s disabilities are, and what his strengths are.</p>

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<p>CF…according to the screenname of the OP, they are from Ohio. The special education laws for students attending public school in Ohio are the same whether you are an American citizen or not.</p>

<p>I was wondering if perhaps this student attended PRIVATE school where they can make their own rules. But the OP does reference an IEP meeting…making me think that the student does have an IEP…I’m just not clear on the evaluation timeline the OP provided. There is a requirement for re-evaluation and kindergarten was WAY too long ago.</p>

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<p>Wow, I hope that teacher gets fired. What an awful man! Who would say things like that to a kid??</p>

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<p>Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t Albert Einstein get pegged as being mentally deficient somehow in elementary school?
Good luck,OP with getting your son correctly diagnosed and placed in not only the right classes but the right school!</p>

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<p>Thumper1, you’re probably right–I don’t make any sense because I’m not familiar with a lot of what everyone here is talking about. This is all new to me. The school J is in has always referred to him as being “mildly mentally ■■■■■■■■” or having a “developmental disability.” They have never mentioned developmental delay or learning disability. There are IEPs held once a year, usually shortly after the beginning of the year, but those attending got to be fewer and fewer. When he was in elementary school, the school psychologist, the school nurse, the principal as well as the different teachers involved were present. The last IEP meeting consisted of only the teacher in charge of his IEP (case manager and special ed director are titles I have never heard mentioned in his school), his world history teacher, a liason from a vocational school where he was to be in community services next year, his speech and English teachers. The school J attends is a public school.</p>

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<p>As a substitute teacher for a number of years, I was in many special ed classrooms as well as regular ed blended classrooms (with a significant special ed population). I never met a single teacher who did anything other than encourage his/her students to be the very best they could be. I cannot imagine any teacher being so negative. This is utterly unacceptable. The man should lose his job.</p>

<p>I am concerned about the lack of understanding about your son’s diagnosis. In my state, the intermediate school district is responsible for overseeing the special ed programs in the individual districts. I have known parents who were unhappy with what was happening in their own district … they went to the intermediate district for support. I don’t know if Ohio has intermediate districts (or county districts) - but that might be a good place to go to request a formal diagnosis. At the very least, you should be able to get a very detailed explanation of your son’s current diagnosis, as well as information about how & when he was last evaluated.</p>

<p>Even if your son is not quite ready to go to college when he might traditionally be expected to go, that doesn’t mean he can NEVER go. I believe public schools are required to provide educational services to developmentally challenged students until they are 25 … so if your son is actually developmentally challenged (as opposed to learning disabled), he should be able to get additional educational services to further prepare him for college. Insist on this. Perhaps your son could go to community college & have it paid for by the public school district (just as a regular ed kid can have CC classes paid for if what he needs is not provided in his own school).</p>

<p>Is it possible to move your son to another district? One of D’s middle school classmates had a lot of difficulties in his school - his mom moved him to a neighboring district where he was provided with a program more suitable for his needs. Because my state has district of choice, it was free for his family.</p>

<p>Best wishes to you as you continue to advocate for your son.</p>

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<p>That teacher is full of it. Colleges have disabilities offices. If he’s been in Special ed, then all the office would need would be documentation of his problems, and if his accomidations wouldn’t be too hard for the college to do (extended testing time, etc) then they could help him.</p>

<p>I myself have both ADHD and Asperger’s syndrome, and they were able to meet my needs (extended testing time, testing in a different room, using laptop in class to take notes, taperecorder, permission to leave room if needed) and if i have a problem all i have to do is go and see the disability director.</p>

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<p>OK…I confess to being more than confused now. You indicated that your child was called developmentally delayed when he was in KINDERGARTEN. You indicate that he has been in special education classes until very recently (10th grade). You indicate that your child has an IEP. How can this be new to you? </p>

<p>For every IEP meeting you have had, you should have received a full copy of that IEP including the proposed goals and objectives, progress reports on previous goals/objectives, and the program in which your child was to be part of for the upcoming year.</p>

<p>Federal law also mandates that you receive progress updates (if your child has an IEP) on these goals/objectives with the same frequency as regular report cards.</p>

<p>An IEP meeting MUST HAVE in attendance…a representative of the school district which is typically a school adminstrator or special education administrator (not a teacher…an administrator), AND your child’s special education teacher, AND all related service providers (speech, OT, PT, etc), AND any other special education personnel who have evaluated or worked with your child (school psych, counselor, etc), AND a regular education teacher at your child’s grade level (if your child is in a regular education class, that teacher would attend)…AND YOU the parent.</p>

<p>Are you having these meetings or not??? Is your child in a special education setting or not???</p>

<p>OH…and another thing…anyone on the team including the PARENT (that would include the OP) can request an IEP meeting at any time to review the student’s program. It must take place within a week in my state…may be longer in yours but not by much.</p>