Lee's Summit Autism Conference
Every year the district puts on a four day autism conference. Many of the individuals that worked with my son never attended this. I did.
On the first day of the conference they have a group of parents that bestow gratitude and love on the district. They were sorely unaware of just how little the district was doing for their children.
One mother had twin sons. One had autism and the other did not. She had very little positive to say about her son, but was in love with the school district. She spoke of watching a program on television that talked about how some twins are consumed by the other. At one point she said she thought, "If only."
Another mother talked of how intelligent her son was, but that he was placed in classes below his intelligence level because he was autistic. She thought the district was doing a wonderful job.
One mother was pleased that her autistic son spent the whole day being asked to get dishes out of a cabinet and then put them away. The woman working with her son never smiled, was never pleasant, and seemed impatient many times. I know because they showed us a video of this.
I, too, attended this conference early on. I was one of those parents that sat up front and spoke of how wonderful the district was. That was before I knew that they were doing nothing for him and that they would ultimately destroy him emotionally and psychologically.
At some point during the conference a parent in the audience asked how he should tell his son's baseball coach that his son was autistic. All off the parents on the panel told him not to tell anyone. Can you believe that? They didn't want anyone to know.
During a break I went over to that man and told him that they were wrong and that he should not be ashamed of his son. He was thankful because he couldn't understand why these people were telling him to hide his son's autism.
The conference had a lot of good information, but the district does not implement any of it. It states that an autistic child will never learn social skills simply by being with other kids. However, I have attended an IEP meeting where the district told the parent and the parent's attorney that the child will learn social skills simply by being in the classroom with other kids.
I have been made to look like a crazy woman by this district. The superintendent even asked another parent if he was working with "that Tucker nut". But, I will not stop telling the truth and helping parents fight this district. Too many lives depend on it.
On the first day of the conference they have a group of parents that bestow gratitude and love on the district. They were sorely unaware of just how little the district was doing for their children.
One mother had twin sons. One had autism and the other did not. She had very little positive to say about her son, but was in love with the school district. She spoke of watching a program on television that talked about how some twins are consumed by the other. At one point she said she thought, "If only."
Another mother talked of how intelligent her son was, but that he was placed in classes below his intelligence level because he was autistic. She thought the district was doing a wonderful job.
One mother was pleased that her autistic son spent the whole day being asked to get dishes out of a cabinet and then put them away. The woman working with her son never smiled, was never pleasant, and seemed impatient many times. I know because they showed us a video of this.
I, too, attended this conference early on. I was one of those parents that sat up front and spoke of how wonderful the district was. That was before I knew that they were doing nothing for him and that they would ultimately destroy him emotionally and psychologically.
At some point during the conference a parent in the audience asked how he should tell his son's baseball coach that his son was autistic. All off the parents on the panel told him not to tell anyone. Can you believe that? They didn't want anyone to know.
During a break I went over to that man and told him that they were wrong and that he should not be ashamed of his son. He was thankful because he couldn't understand why these people were telling him to hide his son's autism.
The conference had a lot of good information, but the district does not implement any of it. It states that an autistic child will never learn social skills simply by being with other kids. However, I have attended an IEP meeting where the district told the parent and the parent's attorney that the child will learn social skills simply by being in the classroom with other kids.
I have been made to look like a crazy woman by this district. The superintendent even asked another parent if he was working with "that Tucker nut". But, I will not stop telling the truth and helping parents fight this district. Too many lives depend on it.
Comments
When does the madness end and why are these children disregarded? Is it because they are a low ratio of student populous and that these students are expendable? My husband and I recently went to middle school orientation for our special needs daughter last week. I left the orientation disappointed and helpless; the emphasis was regarding advanced students and somewhat on the generalization of "normal students". When does the public and the families dealing with the special needs children get awareness? When do they get the faciliation needed to help these children feel successful? To function, to feel wanted and accepted?
Wouldn't you want someone to answer request for communication and co-operation to help meet the needs of what should be considered the "same page" with all those involved with your child? Where is the common sense of the misunderstandings, the public school education politics, the excuses of why special needs children cannot be facilitated correctly? These questions and requests have most often been denied and ignored. In my thoughts...it is unaccpetable, because it is MY child (and those like her) that suffer and the gift of intelligence and what she could accomplish is diminshed and disregarded. Therefore, our daughter seems expendable and it is still not right.
Supposedly there are laws and requirements that the school district is to uphold regarding our daughter; she has digressed immensely this past school year. We, her parents, believe that had IEP been instituted early on; our daughter wouldn't be in the mess she is in now. There is still much that the school district needs to prove to us and to our daughter.
It is very certain that the administration needs to be more aware of what will be covered at this workshop....please mandate/encourage the attendence of the facilty and strive to help these children, instead of the discouragement on everyone's part not understanding. Who in the adminstration will stand up for these children? When will the Secondary Board of Education in the state of Missouri realize the statues and requirements are limited and unjustified for special needs children? Unless the parents of these children strive and push the district, absolutely nothing gets done, nor accomplished. That in itself is sad.....
Of the district's 1,264 teachers, fewer than 80 attended the most recent sessions; half of those who did, Stacy Martin says, came from schools outside the Lee's Summit district.
The above ratio stated is unacceptable; make it so that an in-session staff developement day be scheduled for this. Being from a family of former Missouri educator's, I am not ignorant of what should transpire and those administrators/facilty that chose to be in education? Make it better for all students and not just the general populous. Truth hurt? Look at this from the aspect and ask yourselves...are we doing everything we can do for special needs children? Is there truly funds in the budget to facilitate special needs children adequately; there should be....aren't there funds for each of the special needs children within the district? Have these funds been applied for? Or have these funds been received and placed elsewhere within the district (i.e. football fields, sports departments, raises)?