A Little Bit Special: Parents to the left, Feds to the right, and general ed all around

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Sunday November 04, 2007 · 8:01 AM PST

2007/11/04 · 08:01

Last week Frankenoid put up a diary talking about being tired from the parent perspective. When she first brought it up, I realized that I, too, could come up with a comparable diary from a special ed teacher's perspective, especially that of a sped teacher who's also been a sped parent.

I have been guilty of expecting the sped teacher to "cure" my child. I have been guilty of wanting the magic wand. I have been the one crying on the shoulder of a teacher.

And now I'm on the other side. And I do get tired, especially now that I realize what those teachers were going through--and that was pre-NCLB!

joycemocha

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Sunday September 30, 2007 · 9:41 AM PDT

2007/09/30 · 09:41

Why can IEPs (Individual Education Plan/Programs) be a challenge for both parents and professionals?

This often misunderstood document is a yearly plan for a student with disabilities in the school setting. Far too often, it can be a poorly written amalgamations of parental requests, consultant demands, and the desperate stab at solutions of a special education teacher who often does not get sufficient time to devise appropriate strategies that will actually get implemented by general education teachers for students receiving services in the mainstream.

Note: What I write here is affected by one parent/professional's experience with IEPs as both a parent and a professional. Both come from the experience in one state, two districts, with higher functioning students. Mileage may differ, especially with students with more severe disabilities. My experience in that area is limited.

I could write much more than this--but this is just a quick and dirty look at what an IEP is.

joycemocha

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Sunday September 23, 2007 · 6:58 AM PDT

2007/09/23 · 06:58

This is just a quick and dirty discussion of the special education eligibility process from the perspective of someone who's been a special ed parent in the system, and is now a special ed professional.

Caveat: What I'm telling you now is reflective of one school district's process, in one particular state. While the general principles of the process hold true, the specifics are affected by where I work and where my kid's gone to school. I also do not work with severely disabled students, but with kids capable of functioning in the general education setting. Therefore I don't have experience with severe autism, mental retardation, or physical disabilities. My caseload includes kids with mild to moderate autism, learning disabilities, ADHD, and mild emotional disturbances.

Additional Caveat: The details also change from year to year. The generalities hold true, for the most part, but the Feds can and do issue procedural rules which affect the process.

With that, let's go take a quick and dirty look at the process, shall we?

joycemocha

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Sunday August 05, 2007 · 6:44 AM PDT

2007/08/05 · 06:44

The job of parenting is measured by distinct and noticeable landmarks. The first tooth. The first word. The first step. The first day of preschool. The first day of regular school. The first sports team. They’re all wrapped into a line and sequence of firsts, each memorable in their own way, no matter what the gender or cognitive level of your child is. As a parent, you remember those firsts, and keep them locked away in your heart, to savor, reminisce, and, sometimes, cringe over.

The first day of preschool with my son sent us down a pathway which completely and totally changed my life, leading to a profession that I had not anticipated.

I am a special education teacher. But before I was a sped teacher, I was a sped parent. This diary is a brief look at how my parenting experiences led me to the profession.

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A Little Bit Special: Parents to the left, Feds to the right, and general ed all around

A Little Bit Special: The IEP

A Little Bit Special: Eligibility

A Little Bit Special: From Parent to Professional