School Update for Frog

Since October we have been working with the school district to try and get Frog a TA to help him in class.  Frog has had a hard time transitioning to middle school organizational and responsibility requirements.  This leaves him trailing in the highly gifted program he is in, even though academically he is right where he needs to be.  It has taken 8 different meetings with various people in the school to finally get a work around for a TA assigned.  We have had Therapists, and Psychologists and Specialists in all flavors contact the school on our behalf and we have finally made progress.  A brief rundown of how our meetings have gone is as follows.

Oct 30- We had an IEP meeting to discuss how Frog was failing in his classes and how we can help him improve.  TA was mentioned but dismissed as to invasive.  Instead he was placed in a study skills class to help with breaking down assignments and organization. 

Dec 20- Second quarter ended and due to an insane amount of missing assignments, disorganization, and an inability to translate spoken direction into a written project Frog still was not progressing towards his goals.  It was hoped that the new semester would help him get organized with a fresh start (once again the school district dismissed my request for a TA.)

Jan 7-31- Teachers observe that the new semester and supports put in place in October were not of any help at all and Frog kept getting further and further behind in the expectations of 7th grade.  (As I had been telling them all along) Teachers

Jan 31- Another meeting to assist the team.  They asked more in class assistance as nothing so far was helping.  Special Ed teacher was kind enough to shadow Frog and come up with a list of ideas to implement along with submitting another request for a TA for Frog.  

~At this point and time I realized the school was making no progress with the district and I took it into my hands to step above them and contact the district myself.  There were numerous comments made to me to include "Well to support your son we would have to pull support from students that are of a higher need" which irritated me to no end.  Sorry someone else needs help, but their parents should be in here pestering you about it too. I can only concentrate on getting what MY son needs!

Feb 20- Another meeting this one with District representation to justify to the district Frogs need for a TA.  District states only with data can they provide him the assistance he needs and data doesn't show that it would help currently.  A decision was made (that I was very vocal I was not happy with) to assign Frog a TA for the last 5 minutes of class to help him get organized to ensure his homework at least got home ok.  While this helped tremendously with the homework issues, it obviously did nothing for actual in class study time.

Mar 24- ANOTHER meeting held to discuss how things with the TA were going.  More ideas were suggested to helping Frog during class time.  At this point the IEP team has been in agreement since JANUARY that Frog needs additional help in the classroom beyond what they are able to provide.  The entire battle has been against the school district who keep replying there is no funding for the assistance. 

~After this meeting, and multiple calls to the School District Special Ed Coordinator for our region, I decide that more power is needed.  I contacted the Disability Law Center to get legal help and advice.  They started contacting individuals on our behalf to see why nothing was being done to help my son. 

Apr 9- Another meeting with the IEP team and a few extras.  At this point it was written in Frogs IEP that he would have a School Staff Member act as a TA for his four core classes.  YAYAYAYAY!!! Progress, sweet progress.  This was written into the IEP TODAY and the five day waiting period prior to implementing a new IEP was waived.  This IEP will be in effect until the end of October this year when we are due our yearly review unless the entire team (to include me) agree that it needs to be revised.   We also wrote in that Frog is to have an alternate to the lunch room as the lunch room is not a safe or conducive location for him to spend any time.

So it only took us essentially his entire 7th grade school year, but Frog is finally getting the assistance he needs to work towards becoming self sufficient in class.  While I know this isn't our last battle, I truly hope it is a turning point for the war.  I am so thankful for Frog's teachers who kept pointing out how smart Frog is and how he is fully capable of being a functional adult who goes on to do great things.  He is capable of going on to an Ivy League college and being successful in anything he wants as long as he gets the support now.  THANK YOU to the teachers that have supported us this long and never gave up fighting for my boy.