school stuff

On Friday Rick went to Ricky's parent teacher conference because I couldn't get away from work. The teacher was very concerned about Ricky. She sees him moving backwards in many skills and possibly having a learning disability (which the school psychologist once told me is impossible before third grade -- like they suddenly develop it at that age? Give me a break!).

For instance, he can identify a letter if you show it to him. But if you show him a bunch of letters and ask him to locate a particular one, he has a problem. This is a sign of a specific learning disability, apparently.

So he's looking at definitely having summer school, and most likely repeating kindergarten as well. The summer school would be a stop gap measure to keep him forgetting everything he has learned.

I need to talk to the kindergarten teacher, obviously, but what I'm concerned about is Ricky's IEP. The last thing I had heard, he was having the testing done. I requested this IEP back in December so we are, by law, due to have the meeting regarding his future plans for special education. I had called the school psychologist numerous times and she hadn't called me back.

Friday (when all of this was happening) was an inservice day and there was no secretary in the office, so I randomly dialed an extension and got... the principal! He transferred me to the teacher, and I expressed my concerns to her. She said she'd speak with the psychologist and have her call me. I also called the district office to complain about the IEP taking so long (there's a limit by law as to how long the whole process can take, I think 50 days).

This morning, bright and early, I got a call from the school psychologist on my cell phone! And before I forget, what she said...

1. She is continuing to do testing. He will only pay attention and sit still for 10-15 minutes at a time. He also gives strange answers as if he's just trying to get out of the session.
2. She wasn't able to call me back because she's been too busy. She's forever in meetings, plus the February holiday break set her back in progress.
3. She needs to consult with the adaptive PE teacher and the speech therapist before she can make a final determination.
4. I expressed concern about him being kept back in kindergarten. She stated that if he qualifies for special ed (and she is certain he will) he may not be retained. (Is this good? I can't decide.)
5. He shows signs of depression. We talked about this. I reminded her that he sees a psychiatrist every week (who she was supposed to call, and hasn't) and has been on meds.
6. She is shared between two schools, the special ed preschool, and private schools, which is why she has a hard time getting everything done. I reiterated what I keep saying, that every school should have a full time school psychologist. Maybe I should write to the school board.
7. I stated that Ricky's speech problems are fairly obvious, and asked if the adaptive PE teacher was consulted with because of his clumsiness. She stated that it was because he has trouble walking in a straight line, walks strangely on his feet, and may need PT services.
8. I told her I looked forward to hearing from her about scheduling the IEP meeting. She said that regardless of the testing being finished, she would contact me to schedule the IEP meeting once the consultations were done. This made me happy.