joanne <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dear Deri,

> Thank you for starting this thread and for your input. I just
> had Alex's ( 5 yo)IEP this afternoon. He is now too old for the
> Sp. Ed preschool but certainly nowhere ready for K. I'm not
> about to repeat  Alex's medical history here but let it suffice
> to say that before he received the spastic quad dx. at 22 mo he
> already had a medical chart that was 3 very thick folders. We
> are starting # 6 as we speak. The schools have him labeled SXI
> and POHI ( severely multiply impaired and physically and other
> health impaired)Interestingly in the past year he has had SDR
> and bilateral adductor releases and as his legs became less
> spastic and he gained more control over balance and could use
> his hand to work more efficiently he has gone from profoundly
> MR to educable MR. His first 2 years of life were spent
> literally fighting for every breath and every ounce and pound.
> He lost the chance to grow and thrive those two years and they
> just are not years he'll ever get back. He does move forward
> consistently however if we keep the medical issues under
> control and no new ones pop up. In fact he has managed to take
> his first independent steps this past week as he walked between
> parell bars and carried it over and cruised a little bit
> holding on the back of the couch :)

> Alex will be in a self contained class next year. There will be
> a wide range of ages in the class as they teach by  achievement
> level rather than age.Mainstream seems to be the rallying cry
> to special need parents and it something I want very much for
> Alex. This program seems to work the best of both. Academics
> will be handled with lots of individual attention and yet
> social time such as recess, gym, art music etc will be with the
> rest of the school. Alex needs the more individual attention,
> especially at this young age as we figure out how to teach him.
> His vision tends to be very inconsistent with him not being
> able to "see" a large print picture on a page but he will see
> the tiny little page number and correctly identify it. He tends
> to "see" things on the right and he has no side vision. He is
> also having a surge in seizures and has just had a 24 hr eeg
> scheduled to take place. In a totally mainstreamed situation
> Alex would fall through the cracks as the teachers would be
> unable to give him the individual attention to notice these
> things. When every thing is working AOK Alex is one smart
> cookie just like my other kids ( hey people just stating the
> facts...not like I was just a proud mom or anything :-))

> I do have a question for you though. How do you move from a
> Spec Ed school to mainstream America and leave the stigma of
> being a spec ed student behind?

Two things:-

   1) I went from Special Ed boarding school to mainstream
      University in the UK at age 19.

   2) If there is a stigma attached to being a Special Ed
      student, I am afraid I have not come across it personally.

> Joanne
>
>

Cheers

--
Deri James