Home Schooling: Summer, Part Two

Since SensiGirl was losing skills at her ESY class, we decided to pull her to arrest any more regression of her skills. Her occupational therapists agree she has a distinctive lack of focus and needs lots more of large sensory input in the form of crashing and running around in circles. She hasn't been talking as much, this is such a change that her speech teacher was visibly upset last week. Both of her occupational therapists agreed that she was not able to focus as readily and was losing ground.

 Arresting Regression
 image via:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/20/belarus-election-violence-lukashenko-eu 

I talked with the ESY director and he didn't have any acceptable solutions. Such as it is, pulling her is hopefully the right way to go. Friday was her last day of ESY and I contacted the school and told the bus driver and aides that  Friday was her last day. If I had any reservations about pulling her from school, her performance that morning was enough to convince me that things couldn't go on as they were. She wouldn't get out of bed, wouldn't get dressed, didn't use the toilet and refused her breakfast. I got her out the door with literally two minutes to spare.

image via:  https://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=2883

I contacted a couple of the moms of her friends from her Kindergarten class and asked for some play time in the park with them. I also contacted the music therapist that both her speech therapist and her OTs suggested. I am hoping that we can fill some of the time with those things. I am going to check out swimming lessons for both SensiGirl and Random Guy soon.

I put together a summer school schedule for Random Guy two weeks ago, and we have been making progress on his math and reading. Geography, grammar and keyboarding are coming along as well.  My dilemma is how to school BOTH kids for the rest of the summer.  I worked yesterday on a complementary schedule for SensiGirl so that we won't interfere with the progress Random Guy has made and will bring Sensi's skills back up to acceptable levels.

image via:  http://www.betterworldbooks.com/comprehensive-curriculum-of-basic-skills-grade-1-id-160996330X.aspx 

We have three weeks until her intensive listening therapy starts, and it runs for two weeks. This may or may not cause some old behaviors to re-emerge from what I am told. Since that has already happened from two weeks of ESY, I am not terribly concerned.  I will continue to do school sessions during that time to keep things as normal as possible. I am going to take a little vacation towards the end of August. This wasn't originally planned that way, but it is turning out to be very motivating for me to know I will be getting a break from the kids for a few days during the summer.

image via:  http://article.wn.com/view/2011/08/06/Growing_Flood_Potential_Brainerd_Lakes
Area_severe_risk_late/ 

I never thought I would be schooling my children at home or that I wouldn't have them in summer school. Circumstances being what they are, we are being more typical than I thought we could be.

SensiGirl's Extended School Year

image via:  http://www.johnhaydon.com/2011/01/if-dont-know-do-do-opposite/ 

My SensiGirl goes to what is called Extended School Year. She has been attending for the last two weeks. She gets an extra 5 weeks of school over the summer to try to maintain progress she has made during the school year.  She attends school in the same building as her regular school year, for half days. In theory this is a good thing. In practice, I find that this year, not so much.
Her WunderTeacher worked to try to set up SensiGirl with the summer school special ed. teacher so she would know some of SensiGirl's quirks. She worked with them for over a week and checked in on them to answer any questions. I updated the getting to know you letter and WunderTeacher proofed it and added some things I omitted. I know that I wrote she is afraid of atriums and echo producing places. I checked that the teachers and paras read it. I even gave them a copy of her IEP. Still we missed some things.

The atrium in the school building. Fuzzy resolution, but you get the idea.
image via:   http://museum.spps.org/ 

This week they took my SPD child to a drumming show in the atrium of the building. Just hearing about it made me cover MY ears. I explained that SensiGirl was nervous about atriums because she had to participate in a parade with music and drums in the atrium two years ago. She has very sensitive hearing and is nervous about big echoing spaces. We made wonderful progress this past year on this issue, now I am not so sure where we stand.

image via:  http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/life/article2737899.ece 

I had told them after the drum show not to take her into the atrium for any other loud activities. The sound echoes and hurts her ears. I explained it would be best to keep her schedule as routine as possible. Still, today they wrote a note: "Climb Theater will have a music presentation in gym. Do you want her to go?"
The teachers told me there were other activities coming up: a visit from Ronald McDonald, (false faced creepy clowns, anyone?), a theater performance and field day.

image via:  http://www.porteracademy.org/Sensory%20Processing%20Disorder.html 

The problem is the new summer school teachers haven't worked with SensiGirl before. They also don't seem to understand sensory processing disorder very well. Kindergarten was a hard transition but with WunderTeacher and the crew we got through the fall without too much progress being lost from her time at preschool. By the end of the year, great strides had been made by small incremental steps throughout the year.

My girl, who wouldn't go near a gymnasium without a food reward waiting was participating in adaptive gym every day, (sometimes they threw in a balloon reward for good measure.) Heck, she participated (again, with assistance,) in the Lion King play that the Autism Program put on. They had drumming for the scene changes, but she only covered her ears once, because of the off key singing. They had play practice every day for two months. That is how she was so successful.

image via:  http://mixedmeters.com/2009/06/vinyl-one.html 

Now she is crying about going to school, she is becoming markedly upset at the merest mention of a gym and I don't know how to make it better for her.  I could take her out of school, but then she wouldn't have any time with the other kids who understand her and accept her. She is spending time with another girl who is actively trying to make friends with SensiGirl. I have to weigh everyday if I should keep her going to ESY. All I can do is show up every day for a debrief of her day, offer suggestions and answer any questions they may ask.

Magic words

image from:http://www.fengshui-doctrine.com/pics/words.jpg

  

 I have some magic words to share with you: Proven Framework for Mainstreaming.

That is the phrase I used in my emails and when talking with administrators while we were choosing a placement for SensiGirl's kindergarten.  I knew from her last IEP meeting that they only thought she could handle up to a maximum of 20% of her day in a regular education classroom, (if that.)  I knew it was important for her to go to a school that knew how to make the transition from a special education classroom to a regular education/inclusion classroom sometime in the future when she was ready.
The words came to me and I knew I had the concept I was trying to articulate when I was feeling dismayed at the other school choices I had.

image from:http://davidmacdonaldmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/magneticpoetry.jpg

Sometimes you can research the words into concepts, sometimes you have to sit with them and put them together yourself. The important thing is you find a way to convey what you want for your child.  When talking about extended school year be sure to mention regression and recoupment in the Fall, as well as "window of of opportunity" for educating your special needs child.

When discussing behavior issues involving your child with sensory processing disorder make sure to mention that what looks like bad behavior could be due to involuntary reactions to sensory overload.

When talking about classrooms or school, use the word appropriate, as in free appropriate public education (FAPE,) and a certain class room setting that is appropriate for a child with your child's disabilities.

It is helpful to be familiar with the terms already in use to be able to use them for your child's benefit.  Here is a handy glossary of the terms used in discussing special education.
http://www.disabilityrights.org/glossary.htm

Here is a link to Pennsylvania's Department of Education's pamphlet for understanding the language of special education. It has helpful sections on disabilities and behaviors, and educational terms.
Understanding the Language of Special Education: A Glossary for Parents and Educators

It can be tricky when you see or know of something you don't want for your child. You must find a way to frame or express what you DO want for your child. Many schools have policies about not reqesting a specific teacher by name for your child. I always make sure I express in Random Guy's IEP what kind of classroom and teaching style is helpful for him to make progress.
Use the magic words and you may find you get exactly what you want.

image from:http://img2.etsystatic.com/il_fullxfull.271509594.jpg

Extended School Year

image from: http://autism-support.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/kids-running.jpg

I swear SensiGirl always makes some big leap in skills or has a breakthrough right before the school year ends. Luckily she qualifies for Extended School Year here in Saint Paul. She attends 5 extra weeks of school during the summer to help her retain her skills and keep her from regressing.  That's the key. There are magic/legal words you need to use to get your child services. I will share with you all the magic words I know.  The ones for ESY are lack of progress and regression.  My son, Random Guy, doesn't qualify for ESY and hasn't since he was in Kindergarten. He does qualify for summer school with the school district and we have had success with having him attend regular education summer school. It only lasts 3 weeks, so I fill in with Community Education classes in things he likes, Legos, fencing, art, etc.  For Random Guy, he needs to maintain social skills over the summer, and our matrix fits the bill.
Different states have different standards legally that have been created in that locality. Do not take legal advice from school personnel is what the website is what wrightslaw.com advises.  As with most special educations issues we have entered the realm of legalese.  If it comes to a conflict with the school district about extended school year, get some more information from the Internet and then consult with a lawyer.  It can be hard to argue with all the legal terms used with this issue.  The disability services in your community usually have a list of lawyers who specialize in education and disability law.  


The basics of the law are as follows; regression is not the only factor in deciding if a child needs ESY services.  Several additional factors the IEP team should consider in making ESY decisions are:
Recoupment in the fall
Child's rate of progress
Child's behavioral or physical problems
Availability of alternative resources
Areas of the Child's curriculum that need continuous attention
Window of opportunity for educating a special needs child


What if your districts' summer school isn't appropriate for your child? Can you have services provided in your home?  Will the school district pay for a summer camp that has the services your child needs to maintain progress until school starts in the fall?  Is there a specific organization that they may have worked out a relationship to provide for special needs kids in the summer? If you want the school district to pay for services, make sure to broach the subject long before summer is upon you.  Explore and find out if they have paid for these things for other families. 

image from: http://stratecutionstories.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/question1.jpg

Sometimes you find you end up with more questions than answers.  Hopefully what I wrote today will get your wheels turning to find out what is available for your child this summer.

  Here are some links to check:

Special needs grant resources:http://www.kidspeech.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=812&Itemid=639

Find the right special needs camp:http://blog.friendshipcircle.org/2012/02/08/how-to-find-the-right-special-needs-summer-camp/

For ESY legal information see:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/esy.index.htm

Buzzwords, acronyms and other jargon

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Teachers sometimes speak their own language. We call it Eduspeak in our house. I am guilty of using myself.   It is sometimes used thoughtlessly as shorthand, shorthand for thoughtlessness or sometimes to intimidate parents into going along with the plan at hand. Below I provide the link to acronyms.com, some of the eduspeak doesn't come up at the top of the list, but its educational meaning is there in the list, just look for it. In testing it I tried the following:

ESY
SLP
IEP
IDEA
RTI

Try them yourself:  http://www.all-acronyms.com/

(For those in a time crunch the above are ESY -Extended School Year, SLP - Speech Language Pathologist, IEP - Individual Education Plan, IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, RTI - Response to Intervention.

There is an extra dialect spoken at meetings by special education teachers, occupational and speech therapists and school administrators. Here are some humorous but handy links of what some of the buzzwords in special education mean:

http://www.illinoisloop.org/buzzwords.html

http://kidfriendlyschools.blogspot.com/2012/01/guide-to-eduspeak.html

You may want to try it yourself, just for fun.
Eduspeak Generator


Humor aside, what you need to do when talking with educators, is to not feel intimidated by the jargon and acronyms. Check your copy of the IEP for anything unfamiliar when it is handed out at the meeting. Speak up and ask them what is meant or to use different words. Ask for straightforward language or just plainly ask what XYZ means. Knowing acronyms and buzzwords is not a measure of intelligence. You can ask to take the IEP home and to read it again before you sign. You do not have to sign a document full of acronyms and jargon you don't understand.
If you don't know - ask!  If nothing else, it will make everyone take a moment in the conversation to help you grasp what they are saying about your child and how you can to plan for success together.

image from: http://www.zazzle.com/iep_t_shirt_tshirt-235467725162104343