Heard back from school after my request-HELP!

[brandyf]

I have a meeting scheduled this coming wednesday morning at the school to meet with the Special Education coordinator and principal...not sure who else will be there but i am pretty sure this will be when they will tell me if they are going to do the evaluation or not. do you know what i should be expecting? is there anything i should be doing to prepare? TID

 

[Sheila]

You might want to spend some time reading threads in this forum and the Sp Ed Archives to further educate yourself.

I'd carry a extra copy of the paperwork and letter in case they haven't received the original.

 

[brandyf]

we had our meeting today and i freaked. my anxiety kicked in. could barely even sign anything for the shaking. it sucked quite frankly. but, i withdrew the request...i know your not going to be pleased, but they put me on the spot... and they did make some arrangements, modifications in his behavior chart at school, and they have added rewards. which i really dont think will count towards anything productive because he will never reach the goals. they are bringing in the school psychologist to meet with andrew. i told them, i would agree to withdraw my request at this time since we are just beginning to put andrew on mood stabalizing medications and just learnign about sensory integration but, that if he doesnt improve and his next grade card is still failing, i will re-request. they agreed and stated i had that right.

the ppl in the meeting, i knew each one personally except for the Special Education director. she was the head of the meeting but other than that, our school counselor was there, which is a good friend, the Special Education teacher was there, known her for a long time too, the speech teacher, well known plus his regular teacher, which is totally understanding that it is bipolar with him. they all agreed that they would be monitoring andrew and trying to see if the rewards would make a difference. then we are suposed to meet again in january to

i am pretty disappointed in myself. i am an idot. i know that behaavioral rewards..and charting isnt going to work. i mean it helps, but..come on... teh problem is his disease. oh well... i am going to have a one on one with his teacher in the morning and express some specific concerns that i have about what she is doing Occupational Therapist (OT) worsen his behavior and wait to see how she responds. gosh.

 

[brandyf]

i had a very long talk with his teacher yesterday. you wouldnt believe it, but she told me her mother was bipolar too. she said her brother and both of her sisters adn she believes one of her own daughters also is bipolar. she told me she understood how hard it is, and that she didnt think teh behavior charts were goig to last either. its like waiving a carrot in front of a bunny that cannot get it no matter how hard they try. she said that everyone in that meeting, has difficult child in their best interest and that she firmly believes once we find the right mood stabalizer we will see a huge cahnge in him and his grades. i still am in total shock. i guess she had a real hard childhood. seh said there were times that their mother would leave and be gone for 2 to 3 days at a time, they wished sometimes that she would never return. she was a very hateful mother i guess. so.. anyway. at least i am "getting" to his teacher and i feel like we might be building a relationship.

 

[TiredSoul]

That's great. It's nice when you can finally get to the point where they see you like a real person and vice versa. I feel like I am finally getting there with my sons teacher too. Hang in there and keep us all posted.

 

[brandyf]

well,, had an hour long talk with teh school counselor. she asked me to try and recommend books for her to read to catch up on the pediatric bipolar issue. OMG. broke down to her, told her bottom line my child is hurting inside and the teacher is killing him. she would say stuff like "let me talk to the principal...i will try to talk with the teacher, i am not that good with teachers...." i'm like, lady . i have talked to everyone for 3 years now... i even told her like i said our meeting with the Special Education personel that he has told me "he should die", and even has a flippin plan. somebody's heads need to be turning. she symphathized with me, reassured me "he isnt that bad yet". PLEASE. i even asked her just to point in a direction on how i can get ppl here at teh school to realize bipolar is a disease,...its not fake, its not made up... good greif. she is a ditz.