Most public school systems are ill equipped to handle special needs students, especially those with behavior disorders, and quite frankly rarely have the students best interest in mind. There are some schools districts that don't want to lose out on funding by transferring the student to a specialty school, so they cobble together an in-house program. On the flip side, you have some schools that don't need to worry about the budget impact, and quickly send the student out of the district to protect the reputation of the school.
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- Thread starter SoapyCy
- Start date
Given the young age of the child it seems very unlikely he would be able to bring a gun to school and do anything. Unless the parents are complete nut jobs and assist him in getting a gun to school, it seems very unlikely he could sneak a gun into school without someone noticing, and even if he could it seems unlikely he could effectively operate a gun to the point he could really shoot someone. Even a handgun would be difficult for someone that age to operate. Not saying it couldn't happen, but the whole scenario seems very unlikely. Still, it is very disturbing, and you have to wonder where he is getting this at home.
I am currently taking a Special Education class here at Iowa State and I've discovered that a large amount of parents actually don't want their kids tested for special needs/get special assistance because they don't want their kid labeled.
Schools can still test the kid and show the parents the test results, but if the parents still don't approve after seeing the test results, then the school can do no more.
Schools can still test the kid and show the parents the test results, but if the parents still don't approve after seeing the test results, then the school can do no more.
My nephew is special needs. He's actually normal socially, and a really good kid, but he's got an LD of some sort and is way behind. My brother seems to be too busy putting his faith in God and avoiding "labels." Luckily my sister-in-law seems to be working on it and had an extensive conversation with my wife (elementary teacher) about having him retested and getting him the help he needs.
The fact of the matter is that small-town rural communities are ill-equipped to handle the influx of meth babies and etc in Iowa. I can tell you from being out of the state for 15 years, I'm amazed at how bad small towns have gotten (not saying that there aren't still good people, but the difference between when I was a kid and now is astounding).
My nephew ended up being ignored because the school is dealing with 20 other LD kids (in a class of 50) and he doesn't actually cause any trouble (he just can't read). They recently moved and the new school seems to be doing a great job, but it's a bigger school with more support staff.
For any parents out there, get over yourself and your pride and do what is best for your children. LDs need to be identified in order to get the help they need. Do it early, and you give your kid a fighting chance. Please quit worrying about your offspring being labeled since 95% of the time you're more worried about being labeled as the parents of the LD kid...
There are a heck of a lot of people that need to grow up... /rant.
The fact of the matter is that small-town rural communities are ill-equipped to handle the influx of meth babies and etc in Iowa. I can tell you from being out of the state for 15 years, I'm amazed at how bad small towns have gotten (not saying that there aren't still good people, but the difference between when I was a kid and now is astounding).
My nephew ended up being ignored because the school is dealing with 20 other LD kids (in a class of 50) and he doesn't actually cause any trouble (he just can't read). They recently moved and the new school seems to be doing a great job, but it's a bigger school with more support staff.
For any parents out there, get over yourself and your pride and do what is best for your children. LDs need to be identified in order to get the help they need. Do it early, and you give your kid a fighting chance. Please quit worrying about your offspring being labeled since 95% of the time you're more worried about being labeled as the parents of the LD kid...
There are a heck of a lot of people that need to grow up... /rant.
Corporal punishment may help with children that are rowdy, but I don't think you can beat the mental issues out of anyone.
Maybe parents got sick of everybody's kids getting ritalin thrown at them like it was pez. Not every kid that talks or is restless has ADHD like they were diagnosing 5-10 years ago. Schools lost credibility in diagnosing problems, now nobody wants to believe what they have to say. I'm sure it's more complex than that, but thats my opinion, based on my dealings with school systems.
Man, you sound like someone with an axe to grind! If the administrators and teachers don't have students best interests in mind, why are they working with kids? It ain't to get rich, brother.
Not equipped to deal with significant needs? Probably true. Most schools don't employ behavioral specialists, mental health counselors, or psychologists. That s the extent of truth in your statement.
You do know that it's DOCTORS who diagnose, don't you? You do know that the mental health community came up with the diagnoses in their DSM manual? Not schools?
I think what gets to the heart of the matter is whether or not a child has an inherent right to a public school education even if they are not mentally or socially capable, or are not inclined to take advantage of it (the latter may be that the parents are not inclined to be involved). At some point, I think it needs to be recognized that their right to an education ends at the point where they start to become a hazard to other children or the staff, or when their needs cannot be met in a public school setting. I would be fine with a voucher of some sort that gives credit for the cost of a normal education to something more specialized.
I agree but... The problem is, in a lot of communities, there is no other option.
If the kid literally sees devils in the timeout room then he has a serious mental health issue. He may be hearing voices also. He needs to be evaluated by mental health professionals.
It doesn't excuse doctors from prescribing Ritalin out of Pez dispensers the way they have in the past, either. I'm not saying that kids with ADHD don't need a medication to control their hyperactivity (trust me - I had a kid with ADHD when I was a day camp counselor 15 years ago, and when she didn't have her medication, let's just say "uncontrollable" was an understatement). What I'm saying is not every kid with a mental disorder should be medicated and we don't need to be zombifying our kids just because they're acting like kids.
This is just another sign that as a nation we still don't know how to handle mental illness, and patchwork legislation just makes things worse.
And it's not just "small" school districts that have problems handling special needs kids. I grew up in the Davenport School District - I'm not too confident in their special needs programs. They used to have a special needs school (Truman Elementary), but they ended up disbanding the program there and integrating the school because of "labels". But, like I said, I'm not convinced because of that the special needs kids get the attention they deserve anymore.
Ya it is the doctors prescribing the pills, but the system worked this way. Teacher and school nurse tell the parent to see their doctor about ADHD because the child is acting a certain way. There is usually a veiled threat like, putting child in special needs or holding them back. Trusting parents take kid to doctor and get prescription based off this information no questions asked. Doctor doles out pills, teachers don't have to "deal" with it any more.
Doctors giving out prescriptions without asking questions seems like a doctor problem, not a school problem.
I'll take some blame for posting from my mobile which may have caused some of your reading comprehension issues.
Never blamed the teachers.
Never said anything about anyone getting rich.
Adminstrators make decisions based on the specific needs for that school/district. For cash strapped districts, sending the students to an outsourced program means less money for the school. So instead of losing the money, they will cobble together an in-house program just to keep the funding. There are some schools which change from in-house to outsourced every couple of years as a result of ths cobbled approach. For a student with special needs, the lack of consistency doesn't help one bit.
For some schools without funding problems, and since these are often times in well-to-do areas, administators don't want the parents to think their children are co-mingled with special needs kids. So they decide the outsourced method is the way to go. Out of sight, out of mind. This is especially true with behavior disorder kids. The last thing they want are parents finding out there are repeated problems as a result of the "bad" kids. The parents pay good tax money for their kid to be in a school without problem kids (actual comment from one administrator).
I am asking the moderators to remove this post.
This post is breaking confidentiality and should be removed. You have put private information of a child, an adult, and the school policies on a public forum. Your wife is not supposed to tell you anything in relation to a person’s health at school. Also, you should not be putting this information online. Someone could use this information to identify everyone involved. If this happens your wife will not have to worry about her problems at the school for much longer. Think before you write on a public forum.