One of the struggles we have had throughout our baby's life has been solving her educational problems. When she was a toddler, she qualified for Early Intervention Services. It's easy to get into these - you can self-refer your child, the child is assessed by a group of great folks who do nothing but take care of kids with special needs, and they treat what they find. But when the child turns three, they age out of that system and must be taken over by the local school district. Even that wasn't so bad - the district looked at the evaluations done by EI and pretty much agreed to continue the special education, speech, occupational therapy and physical therapy she'd been getting in a special preschool.
Then we came to kindergarten. The school looked her over, declared her "caught up" and dropped her IEP (Individualized Education Plan). I found out later that "caught up" means "only a full two years behind other kids her age." She struggled thru K and 1st and then we discovered that she couldn't SEE. We asked for more help. We were told she didn't need it. Second grade, same. By the end of third she was barely funtioning at a 1st grade level and I put my foot down and insisted she be held back, so she had some time to do some catching up. She is closer to where her classmates are, but still has to struggle with a lot of basics, despite repetition at home as well.
And now the medical stuff. So last week our social worker from dialysis took on the school district. And now, after all this time, they are going to assess her for an IEP! Dang, all it takes is a deathly illness and the school suddenly pays attention! (Sarcasm intended.) The bonus of this is that she is finally going to get assistance academically that she should have had all along in my opinion.
I guess every ugly cloud has some silver lining.
DeeDee
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