I am happy today. It looks like the district agrees with our private assessment and that our son will get Occupational Therapy, Speech, and perhaps Adaptive PE at the district’s public pre-school plus transportation to and from the pre-school he’s in now. The district assessed him this morning, a swarm of specialists rolling him on giant rubber balls, tinkling bells behind his head and otherwise making a fuss. My son even kicked in with an unrehearsed look-how-rigid-I-am tantrum when he didn’t get his way. I was happy when they gave me a preview of his IEP. Yes, your son is autistic “but his cognition will carry him,” which is pretty much what the private psych said. He will get help. There is no conspiracy to deny him what he needs. Of course, nothing has been signed; there won’t be until the end of the month. But there’s hope…
Plus last night the Lakers won in Boston, plus I ran across this article that supports what I think is true: that poor students fail not because of their crappy teachers but because they’re poor:
The impact of poverty on education is most obvious in the state’s poorest school districts, where many students still struggle to pass state tests. But disparities also exist in suburban schools, where, despite the perceived advantages of attending some of the best public schools, disadvantaged students still fail at a high rate.
So what do these kids need? Hello! They need attention, they need support. They need to be like Juanita at my school. She was having trouble with her reading so she got a little one-on-one. Guess what? She’s getting better. She’s on the rise!
So booya for Juanita and booya for our schools. Booya for my little boy. May all kids be so lucky.