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Full Version: "Can anybody help me please?" forwarded from djock
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djock Wrote:
I REALLY didn't know where to post this on here so if i posted in the wrong place please forgive me

My name is Donna and i live in Jamestown NY that is in Chautauqua county i have a 11 year old son who is low  functioning autism

now for 6 years he has gone to the same Elemtary school then at the beginning of 2005 they told me that 2005/2006 would be his last year at his school because he has outgrowen it so he would be going to the middle school

well a few days before the 2006/2007 school year started i was sent a letter saying my son was not going to go to that middle school he would be going to a different one in are [our] area because the other one was getting remodeled

ok no problem this one is closer to where we live and my oldest son goes there so maybe Gerald would feel better knowing his oldest brother was with him :wink:

boy was i ever wrong :cry: Gerald's first day started out so sad when the bus stopped in front of my house to get him there was no aide on the bus for him luckly my oldest son rides the same bus as the bus driver had no idea that Gerald needed a aide he didn't even know he had autism  when they got to the school the driver was just going to let Gerald off the bus till my oldest son said no he could go by him self my 12 year old son took Gerald by the hand and walked him into the school and when they got to the office the lady there started talking to Gerald and asking him questions and when he didn't answer she looked at my oldest son who told her that Gerald has autism she said oh i didn't know

well Gerald's first week at this middle school was sad they had no aid to work with him it was a different person everyday then his second week of school his aid that would be working with him came and her and Gerald hit it right off which Gerald normally does not take to people he does not know  

well a few days later Gerald started having these bad fits as the school calls them so they called a IEP meeting with me and i was told this school was not working out for him and he needed a placement someplace else they said Chautauqua county Boces well i told them i wanted to look at this school before i agree to send my child there

so i went and looked at the school and i was shocked to see they wanted to place my child in a class room with children that are severly mentally retarted :mad: my son has autism he shows signs of autism he slaps his self but in a different way then these kids was doing my son is learning to talk

no no no i was not agreeing and i told the school this which turned into a big fight with them telling me they would pick my son up and take him to BOCES with or without my consent i told them if my child went to anyother school besides jamestown i would have somebody arrested for kidnapping

well a few words later i won round one and gerald was allowed to stay at washington but yesterday there was another IEP meeting and now they have two more schools for me to look at one is in Falconer ny about 5 miles or more away from where i live and the high school here in jamestown same class as the one he is in now but bigger class

what i'm fighting for is when my son was at rogers he had 12 other kids in his class that had autism some of these kids was moved to Boces one was moved on to the high school and it was so much of a change for him he is now in a state hospital and the rest of the children only God knows where they

are my question is if this school can spend money to send my child to another school why can't they use that same money to open a classroom for children with autism i want to fight for this but i don't know where to start there are some big shots at the school that agree with me but they don't dare to say anything because of their jobs please somebody out there help me help my son.

I wish I had a real answer for you - I don't - but I say:  keep fighting for what you think your child needs!  Maybe some creative thinking on everyone's part is needed.

It sounds like this school simply has no experience with autism, and may not have any other autistic children attending.  That is probably why they are reluctant to open a special class there.  But, if it turns out one is needed, and needed at this location, then fight for it.  Find out, if you can, what the other parents are doing and what they would prefer to be doing, and see if you can all work together to suggest a better solution.

In the process, see what you can find out about district hiring policies, teacher / student ratios, exceptions for children with special needs, etc.  You will need to know these answers to understand if all the "buts" the school comes up with are real, or imaginary.

GOOD LUCK finding a situation that will suit your unique child.  It is never easy.
Donna,

I posted a reply to this on the other page where it was originally posted - but I thought I should post here too incase you didn't get it.  

I am the mother of a 6 year old boy with autism.  Until recently I was also a special education teacher who work with children with aspergers.  What I said in the other post was that you need to find yourself an advocate.  Parents have a ton of rights, they just don't realize it.  Find an advocacy group in you area and they can help you fight for what you feel you child needs and what he is legally entitled to.  I hope this helps a littleSmile

Gretchen
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