Busymommie
09-20-2006, 10:03 AM
The thing with changing the label from DD to MR or OHI~the whole story to that is:
Our school system, not sure if it is just North Carolina or not, will only label a child as DD until age 8. A re-eval is done at 8 to determine a new classification. Then Re-evaluations are done every three years.
A concern I have with changing her classification to MR comes from what I have seen in the upper grade levels at several schools in my area ( I worked as a one on one for a while in one of the separate high schools)
I have seen the same thing your friend said about "giving up" on the MR kids. Not as in they don't do anything, just that the expectations are lowered and the focus turns into life skills not education. Before I get stoned for saying that- Life skills are very important BUT so is education.
There is no way to know what a child can achieve in their lifetime, those with disabilities and those without. I met a lady recently who has an adult son with autism. When he was two she was told that there was no hope for him to be anything, and when she bucked against those words she was told " you can't make a silk purse from a sows ear" Today her son is a college student in Boston and works part time for an insurance company. At his last yearly job review he received the highest raise of anyone else in the company.
How many other kids like him are out there only being taught "life skills" due to the MR label? I don't want that for Riley and I know you don't want that for Tom.
Last year when I got Rileys IQ results from the school I was crushed, those numbers said she is MR. That is one thing that makes me anxious about the neuropsych testing. I know she has made some gains over the last year but like Dr. Boyd said the gap between Riley and her typical classmates is widening and becoming more evident. Testing for a 7 year old who has been in school for two years is not the same as what you would do for a 5 year old who has yet to start K yet. Those numbers, no matter how much I prepare myself for it are going to knock me off my feet.
From what I understand, and know as of right know OHI is a better classification to have and leaves more doors open educationally.
This is a snippet of why I am so glad I have the opportunity to attend the Wrights Law workshop next month.
Sometimes I wish I didn't know, I sit on the phone on hold at work a huge portion of the day and think about Riley's future and how self sufficient or how much support she will need at age 20, 30, 40 ect.
Our school system, not sure if it is just North Carolina or not, will only label a child as DD until age 8. A re-eval is done at 8 to determine a new classification. Then Re-evaluations are done every three years.
A concern I have with changing her classification to MR comes from what I have seen in the upper grade levels at several schools in my area ( I worked as a one on one for a while in one of the separate high schools)
I have seen the same thing your friend said about "giving up" on the MR kids. Not as in they don't do anything, just that the expectations are lowered and the focus turns into life skills not education. Before I get stoned for saying that- Life skills are very important BUT so is education.
There is no way to know what a child can achieve in their lifetime, those with disabilities and those without. I met a lady recently who has an adult son with autism. When he was two she was told that there was no hope for him to be anything, and when she bucked against those words she was told " you can't make a silk purse from a sows ear" Today her son is a college student in Boston and works part time for an insurance company. At his last yearly job review he received the highest raise of anyone else in the company.
How many other kids like him are out there only being taught "life skills" due to the MR label? I don't want that for Riley and I know you don't want that for Tom.
Last year when I got Rileys IQ results from the school I was crushed, those numbers said she is MR. That is one thing that makes me anxious about the neuropsych testing. I know she has made some gains over the last year but like Dr. Boyd said the gap between Riley and her typical classmates is widening and becoming more evident. Testing for a 7 year old who has been in school for two years is not the same as what you would do for a 5 year old who has yet to start K yet. Those numbers, no matter how much I prepare myself for it are going to knock me off my feet.
From what I understand, and know as of right know OHI is a better classification to have and leaves more doors open educationally.
This is a snippet of why I am so glad I have the opportunity to attend the Wrights Law workshop next month.
Sometimes I wish I didn't know, I sit on the phone on hold at work a huge portion of the day and think about Riley's future and how self sufficient or how much support she will need at age 20, 30, 40 ect.