In a message dated 3/27/00 1:40:52 AM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: << Wow things sure have changed since I was a kid. When I was growing up thee was only one option and that was the special school system. This is where I started out my educational career. I have moderate CP and I went to school with others with varying degrees of disability. The teacher taught to the lowest common denominator, that being those with cognitive disabilities. I don't fault her but I don't think one teacher can possibly meet the needs of a group of kids ranging in age from 3 to 16 with all kinds of differnet physical and mental impairments as well as those kids with normal and above normal IQ's. I only started making progress when I went into the regular classroom. >> My child started out in a special ed classroom and this was our experience too. We have been so much happier with regular classroom with learning support for reading. The teachers have been great and the classmates help my son get his coat and lunch bag etc. They want to come to house to play with him and sometimes he goes to their houses. He's in second grade so I'm wondering how middle school will be? Only problem is recess because the others want to burn off energy and he can't keep up. But the special ed classroom was taking in emotional problem children who were so disruptive that my child wasn't getting the education he deserved. The LIU teachers were making him walk up stairs when his walking was so horrible that he was falling on level surfaces and we didn't find out until an IEP; we hit the roof because they had another child that was recent brained injuried that they were placing in the elevator. We never knew he had to go upstairs for library , music, and speech. So special ed teachers can be just as clueless. Our learning support teacher has more awareness and concern for our child than the LIU teachers, to them it was obviously just a paycheck because the teacher would cover for the therapists when they never showed, etc. I hope the sucess continues for our son through out his schooling or I may need to resort to homeschooling. Cindy