Because of Savannah's diagnosis (Albinism) she is disabled. The diagnosis itself labels her as such. So, she qualifies to receive services, whether she needs them or not. Well, when she turned 3 (last May), she received an Individualized Education Plan.
I thought it was a good plan, seeing as this was my first time to experience this within the school district. But in February I realized things were off. Her services were not being followed through with. All of the therapists and teachers were severely confused. Savy appears to be normal, so she was not watched and worked with. She slipped through the cracks because she is so average. Now, almost 2 months later, things are finally worked out after much work on my part. And Spence and I are mad. Mad that we had to figure out the glitch in the system. We had to find out what went wrong, and find the phone numbers to fix it ourselves.
The worst part is that Savannah went to preschool an entire 7 months without the help she has needed to learn. My daughter was robbed of this opportunity. I cannot reclaim the past school year for her to learn. Plus, we paid over $500 in tuition when she actually should have been in it for free, but because of the mishandling of paperwork, we were told to pay, and now cannot be reimbursed. I am mad. Disappointed. Bothered.
Yesterday I finally called the FEC Director to get things worked out. Yes, I had to go to the top of the totem pole to tattle tell on all the confused people under her. And it worked. Things are fixed, I hope. She told me she has never seen a more confusing, messed up situation as ours. That makes me feel great. I am the parent of the most mishandled child in Davis County's special ed program. Do I get a prize? How about my $500 back? No? OK.
Savannah loves to paint. She will paint anything! She loves dark colors, and usually uses black and brown first. I am looking forward to her girly pink and purple stage!
6 comments:
I'm sorry that sucks. I still have no idea what I am going to do about Ava's education, I'm worried she really won't thrive in public school.
Oh Julie! My heart goes out to you and spence. I have sat in on hundreds of IEP meetings at hundreds of different schools and I can tell you this: NOTHING will get done if the parents are not advocates. All the teachers/therapists/service workers will do as little as they possibly can to squeak by and won't follow the IEP unless they are accountable to the parents. In my experience, the cases that were the most successful were because of parents like you and spence and their CONTINUAL involvement in all aspects of services. I've even been in IEPs where lawyers are present from both sides (parents and district) because things had gotten that bad.
Keep doing what you're doing. Drop in on the teacher/class especially on days when therapists/workers are supposed to be there. I've found that really helped. Demand a communication book be kept and written in every day. Demand to see progress notes from ALL workers on a weekly basis. Keep copies of everything! It's sad that you have to be such a fighter through all this but Savy will thank you for it later.
anyhow, I hope it gets better and stays better. Hang in there and make sure you keep them on their toes.
I'm sorry you're having a rough time :( but it sounds like things are getting better. And Jaime's right, stay involved, be persistent. For public school it seems like the squeeky wheel gets the grease and all others just skate by.
That is too bad I am sorry Julie! We love the Charter schools!!!
Top o tha marnin!
It's a website called picnik.com and it's free and super fun. Enjoy!
Good work, Julie. You are doing the right thing for Savy AND she will be alright. She is very bright and will catch up with whatever she missed. Of course, the money loss should not have happened and you should get a refund! Jaime sounds like the perfect resource with great experience in the system. Your cousin, Teri, is also a super resource with her experience with Ben's dyslexia falling thru the cracks and how she hounded and whipped those teachers and principal into shape and made them accountable to her.
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