Expert: Valerie Herskowitz - 4/4/2009

Question
Hi my name is Mandy and I have a 9 year old son who has epilepsy with a severe development delay. My son attends a special education school in our small farm town of North Platte NE. This school is small and it seems that the teachers do not care for his proper education. I have tried contacting the Special Education coordinator on this problem and she seems to ignore my requests. She contacts the principal of the school and when he contacts me he is rude and vulgar and he tries to tell me that my son is receiving proper education. On my son's IEP's  there is a lot information on what he seems to be completing but when I play with him at home he seems to know absolutely nothing. They say he is completing tasks with colors and shapes but when I work with him he seems to not even know what is going on. He doesn't even know how to use a pair of scissors.Also when I pick him up from school he is always in this chair that has restraints on it and all he is doing is sitting in this chair with a book in his lap and the teachers aren't even paying attention to him. There are plenty of teachers. 2 teachers to a class and 5 para educators to a class. Am I over reacting or is this something the schools should be paying attention to? What can I do about this problem? Any suggestions would be extremely helpful. Thanks Mandy Muhlenkamp

Answer
In your state, you have an Autism Society Chapter that should be somewhere near to you. Please call them and find out the name of an advocate that can help you in your district.

If you don't get any help from there, please do a search on the computer for school advocates near to you. It doesn't sound like you are getting the proper attention that you need.

Let me know if you get anywhere with my suggestions. If not, I will keep brainstorming for you.

Valerie Herskowitz, MA CCC-SLP
valerieherskowitz.com