special education

can somebody explain special education? My grandson has ADHD, mild depressive disorder, SID and emotional problems. He was removed at age 3 from his parents due to neglect by the parents who were heroin addicts. At 15 months he tested positive for being exposed to opium, benzo.... basically everything except marijuana through a hair folicle test. The mother was using drugs  and breast feeding. She drank heavily in the early stages of pregnancy and used drugs;however when she found out she was pregnant she stopped when she was 2 months pregnant.The child came from a violent home where the father was charged and found guilty of domestic violence. The father recently got visitation after not visiting or contacting his son for 3 yrs the court ordered supervised visitation-his girlfriend called to say she couldn't get him to all the days he had asked the court to grant him for visitation.even though she agreed since he lost his privilege to drive from a 3 DUI She told me she has raised 5 dogs in the past 2 yrs and she is worn out from her dogs, the father has said he is in a relationship so he can't visit but every other weekend and that will not be for as long as he asked the court he shortened the time to 2 hours vs. 4.. The father and his girlfriend argue at the visitation, so I refuse the girlfriend access to my grandson during the visitation and as a result the father continuously texts her while with his son. I am taking him to OT next week, in the process of setting him appointments for counseling(he has been in counseling for the past 2.5 yrs. and then our counselor relocated) I have found someone after a dilligent search and am anxious to get him back to seeing someone that can help him work through his behavior issues. I clearly don't understand the Special Education realm. I am curious if he would qualify for OHI(other Health Impaired). All Diagnosis were done thru a psychologist who did testing and neurocognitve eval.: Hyperactivity with more Impulsivity, mild depressive disorder, difficulty with fine motor skills and SID.
I know the info. I gave regarding the father and his girlfriend probably sound like Trailer Park Trash but that is the reality of our situation for now.

[specialmom]

Hi there.  Well, I must say---- thank goodness your grandson has YOU!!  It sounds like a sad situation from his parents and I think protecting your grandson from them and their addictions, drama and volatility is so very important.  Stay strong with this.  I would only allow supervised visits with the father's history of violence.  We just had a little boy die in my city after being returned from foster care to his bio dad who had initially lost custody due to violence.  Soon upon returning, this boy was beaten and killed.  So sad.  So, it is a hard job to provide some access to a bio parent and still keep a child safe.  Bless you for doing the job you do.

So, education for kids with special needs has one thing in common in every state----  it is covered under the "no child left behind" law.  From birth, laws cover development of children.  Every state has a birth to three program for 'at risk' kids or kids identified with some type of disability.  A state/city will contract with agencies to evaluate kids and then help provide services to help the child on a sliding fee basis based on a families income.  Then from 3 to 5, the local public school system takes over.  They provide early intervention through a special preschool program.  Kids are evaluated by the professionals affiliated with the school district and then placed in the preschool.  Often kids without disabilities are intermingled as 'inclusion" is quite common these days (meaning that kids with challenges are often in a classroom with everyone else and will leave the room from time to time for their services like speech, they often will have an aide with them to help if their disability qualifies them for this).  Then at 5/6----  a child enters kindergarten and will go under a school plan to help them learn and manage in school.  This can be called an IEP if a child has an academic issue (individual education plan).  That plan would have things in it that are specific to help that child overcome their challenges in the classroom.  If a child doesn't have any academic issues but has behavioral issues, a 504 plan can be put in place to help with that.  

My son has sensory integration disorder.  Something that could be on his plan would be----  he has to have movement breaks to help him focas, so he will get X number of movement breaks a day, he will visit the OT 1 time a week, etc.

I am not sure how old your grandson is at this point.  How old is he?  

Our school has an inclusion policy.  Kids with special needs are generally in our classrooms but taken out for various services or classwork they do independently of the group.  Some schools have the old special needs classroom but this practice is less popular these days.

So, I don't know if this answers your question-----  if I can help in any way, I will try.  Good luck

[margypops]

check out the ADHD and ADD forums .there are members there who know a lot about this ..good luck

[specialmom]

Hi there.  Well, I must say---- thank goodness your grandson has YOU!!  It sounds like a sad situation from his parents and I think protecting your grandson from them and their addictions, drama and volatility is so very important.  Stay strong with this.  I would only allow supervised visits with the father's history of violence.  We just had a little boy die in my city after being returned from foster care to his bio dad who had initially lost custody due to violence.  Soon upon returning, this boy was beaten and killed.  So sad.  So, it is a hard job to provide some access to a bio parent and still keep a child safe.  Bless you for doing the job you do.

So, education for kids with special needs has one thing in common in every state----  it is covered under the "no child left behind" law.  From birth, laws cover development of children.  Every state has a birth to three program for 'at risk' kids or kids identified with some type of disability.  A state/city will contract with agencies to evaluate kids and then help provide services to help the child on a sliding fee basis based on a families income.  Then from 3 to 5, the local public school system takes over.  They provide early intervention through a special preschool program.  Kids are evaluated by the professionals affiliated with the school district and then placed in the preschool.  Often kids without disabilities are intermingled as 'inclusion" is quite common these days (meaning that kids with challenges are often in a classroom with everyone else and will leave the room from time to time for their services like speech, they often will have an aide with them to help if their disability qualifies them for this).  Then at 5/6----  a child enters kindergarten and will go under a school plan to help them learn and manage in school.  This can be called an IEP if a child has an academic issue (individual education plan).  That plan would have things in it that are specific to help that child overcome their challenges in the classroom.  If a child doesn't have any academic issues but has behavioral issues, a 504 plan can be put in place to help with that.  

My son has sensory integration disorder.  Something that could be on his plan would be----  he has to have movement breaks to help him focas, so he will get X number of movement breaks a day, he will visit the OT 1 time a week, etc.

I am not sure how old your grandson is at this point.  How old is he?  

Our school has an inclusion policy.  Kids with special needs are generally in our classrooms but taken out for various services or classwork they do independently of the group.  Some schools have the old special needs classroom but this practice is less popular these days.

So, I don't know if this answers your question-----  if I can help in any way, I will try.  Good luck

[margypops]

And as I said we do have a forum that is especially focused on this ..good luck

[payton76244]

My grandson is 6.5 yrs. old. I went to the school district to see about OT services thru the District and they told me he didn't qualify. He has been diagnosed with SID thru the OT(Private entity that I pay for) so I thought I could get the School District to give him OT services instead they did a 504 giving him preferntial seating, given longer time to complete assignments. I like the fact that your son was given breaks in his IEP, I really wish I had thought to ask for that in our 504. As far as academic-he is brilliant-he just can't focus long enough to complete or sometimes even do the assignments in class therefore, his 6 weeks progress report does not indicate that he is intelligent. He constantly has to be redirected in class according to the teacher-which I have the same problem when I work with him. He does excellent whenever he has 1 on 1 doing his academics at home. Of course, the teacher can't give him one on one;she has 20 students. The teacher has even commented how bright he is; she was teaching about weather and he wasn't paying attention so she put him on the spot and asked him to go in front of the class and give an explanation for this subject matter and the answer he gave was so advanced that she was absolutley shocked. We do brain teasers sometimes in the car when we take a long trip and his sister is in 7 th grade so its on her level and he will answer some of the questions and shock all of us.
I am of the opinion that whatever you try the first time usually doesn't work and something different will have to be implemented and revised. What would be my next step once the 504 they gave him isn't adequate for him to excell?I believe in early intervention and I feel like I am already running behind in assisting my grandson.
Just want to say thank you for all your expert, hands-on advice.You are a  truly amazing mother, your son is so fortunate!!!
Blessings-
Payton76244