Thursday, October 30, 2008

UPDATE on school blocking our phone number....

I called the superintendent's office today to make sure Noah would not be counted TRUANT as I am having difficulty in getting anyone to communicate with me what I need to do in order to officially withdrawal him from school. I finally spoke with the woman I left voice mail message with yesterday. She of course immediately put me on hold when she found out WHO I was. I swear I could hear the chattering amongst themselves on my end. haha

Anyway.....she came back and KNEW who I was and why I was calling and when I told her the school had apparently blocked my home number and was not receiving calls from me (as the recording I got told me the party had refused my blocked number...etc.).....she flat out told me the school has no way to block a number so that was a lie!

A LIE?????? Like I have nothing better to do than sit around and make up silly crap like that??? I told her it was not a lie and what the recording said numerous times when I tried to contact the school and she got quiet and said "OH!"

Anyway I do not have to do anything else. They have Noah down as being enrolled in OVA and they will send for records and once that happens he will be officially withdrawn from their school.....but they are aware and know....etc. My social worker from the past has made arrangements to pick up all of Noah's stuff for us so we don't have to do it.

I then decided later this morning to try calling the school to see if my number was accepted and guess what? SINCE talking to the superintendent's office.....yes......my number now goes through and the staff answers the phone.

Incredible. Would anyone want to send their child to a district like that? I don't trust any of them and never would again. Obviously they have something to hide by the way they are acting.

ONE thing I know is this. I have found out it is FEDERAL law that anyone working with an autistic child has received education and training SPECIFIC TO AUTISM.....not just special education or such. SPECIFICALLY autism! MANY who worked with Noah had NO such training or experience. WHEN I asked for credentials about the staff working with Noah to the principal before she blew me off like it was not my right or business to ask and like the staff was more than qualified to work with Noah.....and she would ensure that....and that ANY AUTISM specific education and training was ONLY VOLUNTARY...they were NOT required to make their staff take it!

THAT IS NOT TRUE I have since found out and in fact goes against a FEDERAL LAW. OH I have found out a lot....could probably sue the district for sure for not providing "appropriate" services for Noah because they were not sufficiently trained and educated in autism or his needs.....methods to work with him.....etc.

TO sue however takes a special education attorney....lots of money and then what? If I would win or someone like me would win...you usually only get the district to pay up to provide for services they could not provide. At best they would have to pay out of their pockets for the placement of your choice which provided your child with the best possible scenario. IN MY district however there are minimal choices......and I am not sure they would be required to provide anything if I moved out of the district. I would definitely not want Noah to go back to that school even if the staff became trained and educated now...which is another thing they might try.

DUE process is an option but I am withdrawing Noah and personally just want to run as far away from these crazy inadequate people as possible.

The schools know most parents do not question squat when sending their child to school except us parents of special needs kids. We ask all sorts of questions and make sure the staff is doing their job and they HIGHLY resent us checking up on them. They also know most will not be able to afford an attorney.....and the time and money spent is not something we can afford with our child's futures. So what happens is they make it so difficult they run a parent and child out of their system.....because eventually as in my case with Noah....you no longer want to deal with them and the crap is too deep to move through. It is no longer worth it as it is also not providing any benefits to your child. SO we are pretty much forced to leave and go elsewhere. They just want to see us...the problem ...disappear.

The only thing suing would do is possibly ensure scenarios like this never happen again with another autistic. And even then there are no guarantees.

There is site however to refer to about the autism law. I find it extremely helpful and have used it in the past and even now. It also offers sample letters to pull up and use with schools....etc. GO HERE to check it out:

ABOUT AUTISM LAW

6 comments:

Betsy Brock said...

Thanks for this link! I'm going to check it out.

And I know what you mean...yes, you could sue or go above their heads and it would be the right thing to do...but...it's emotionally exhausting and time consuming and it's actually better for you and Noah just to walk away. Sad, but true.

Lora said...

OMG Melinda, I feel as though I was reading about my own personal story with the school/school district! Boy, could we talk for hours! I went to the Advocacy & Protection Agency or Organization.......whatever they were called, anyhow all they did was help me write a letter so that I could pull Griffin out of school properly and then I was basically on my own from there. They were very nice and all but not very helpful.

I've got to go do dishes but will keep in touch and you will see me here now all the time checking to see if you have made any progress. I will take a look at the site that you provided, I just feel that I've got to do something to compensate for having sent my child to this horrid school each day for a year......ya know? I feel so bad that I couldn't get anything accomplished to help Griffin and I am still angry about how both of us were treated.

The principal even went as far as to tell me to take something off of my blog! I can't remember if I put that part in my blog or not but I complied simply because I was so afraid of the repercussions. I didn't want Griffin to pay for something that I had done even though the blog entry was about his classroom and how I felt about the teacher and their choice of assistants.

Now I can get it all out and there's nothing that they can do but to get angry as well. They cannot hurt my child anymore and that alone makes me so glad that we are home schooling and things are much better than I had ever imagined they could be. Perhaps I am not the best at being his only teacher but I love and care for him and the bond that we have built is far beyond belief.

Melinda said...

haha..Lori I felt the exact same way when I was reading YOUR blog!

Anonymous said...

I think you hit the nail on the head with what you said about the school wanting "us ... the problem ... to disappear." That is exactly how Nigel's middle school treated us last year. It was terrible. I wanted to sue as well. Dealing with all of that was so hard! I'm sure Noah (and you) will be better off now that you don't have to deal with that school any longer.

Casdok said...

Sounds like you are doing the right thing. When are these places going to learn that we want what every other parents want and that is the best for our kids. And we arnt going to stand for anything less.
Good for you.

jodi said...

Melinda,I am so sorry to hear this.I am very thankful to live in Fairfax County Virginia..one of the top public school systems in the country.I struggle to stay in my house due to the support we have received over the years..I could not have managed without them.That is just heartbreaking...