whats happening Now?

Whats happening now?
Well, it’s been a busy week between kids, work and study. on the dyslexia front I have 3 new exciting things to mention.1st youngest son has improved his writing by about 1.5years in less than 1 year - I know this might not sound much but fir him its a huge jump forward and his basic facts are now very good. Yippee! Progress has been made.2nd Middle son has had a fantastic reassessment and in 3 years gone from 3 years behind in most areas to being 2 years ahead in most areas' - I believe its due to him doing the danks Davies method of tutoring its been fantastic but time consuming.3rd eldest son, still having communication problems with his high school they seem to think that everything can wait till next year, next month or next week and have no sense of urgency. My son will be entering year 11 in 2007 but we still have no Individual education plan - which is the recommended process for all students with special needs from the ministry of education in NZ. I think my plea for an inclusive cooperative process has fallen on deaf ears and now Xmas is here and I am still struggling to have his needs acknowledged.

Today the eldest and middle son entered the dash for cash competition with my husband they had a great time running around the CBD with there dad collecting clues and points along the way.

Schools are out and school holidays can begin for the older two the next two starts there school holidays Wednesday next week.

Over these holidays my plan is to teach my children to type – I’ll let you know the progress.

Bye for now

the story so far

Hello,

Let me start by saying through my posts and experiences I hope others will benefit from my experiences, Maybe out there is another family won't feel as alone as i did in the beginning.
Maybe my advice will help someone else.

I discovered more by accident than plan three years ago, that my then year 4 (9 year old) son had dyslexia His classroom teacher wanted to refer him for further assessment he was very good at maths but was struggling to read at a 6 year old level, his writing was also very immature for his age. She advised me that she would put in a referral for him but it would take 18 - 24 months before he would receive an assessment. I looked at going privately for the assessment and found out that I would still need to wait 3 months for an appointment and it would cost $350.00 for 2 two hour sessions.

I also had a 7year old son who displayed similar tendencies so I decided that I would get both children assessed privately. They both were diagnosed as Dyslexic.

I was very sad and embarrassed at first my children were special needs students but I came to terms with the news and began reading and exploring how to help my boys.

The boys primary school was fantastic they set up IEP's for my boys and involved me in the whole process at first I felt lost and unsure but it empowered me to keep learning more and finding ways i could work with the school and support my boys.

but last year i began to worry about

My eldest son, he has always had trouble with his handwriting but his reading is very good and above his chronological age but as he progressed into intermediate

His reports kept pulling up his handwriting and spelling began to be a problem.

I spoke with his intermediate and clearly stated he had two siblings with dyslexia and should we get a referral to the RTLB for him?

But they felt it wasn't necessary and could be developmental. So we waited – he was doing excellent in most academic areas.

At the beginning of year 9 I spoke with the dean for his year level and told her that he has 2 siblings and cousins with dyslexia

I was concerned about his handwriting and was told that she would keep an eye on Him and if she saw a problem would get in touch with us ASAP.

By the end of year 9 his report clearly showed that there was something wrong he was doing extremely well in math's and science the top but English and social studies he was barely passing.

I contacted the school but the Dean had left for end of year holidays I was advised I could only speak to her regarding this so I would need to talk with her next year – And so begins my year of hell with the High school

At the beginning of this year I spoke the dean who asked me to wait till the term one reports came out in April so we could see if there was still a problem or if it was an abnormal end of year result.

Once the reports came out I then had to wait a further two weeks to see the dean (she was very busy).Once I spoke to the dean she spent the next 2 weeks investigating weather the classroom teachers had a concern with him,

Followed by a further week of well there might be a problem but he would need to be referred to the RTLB system.So I went in and filled out the referral form – which got lost – I only found out it was lost when I contacted the dean a week later to find out how long before a assessment would happen. This was now the end of May 2006 so I went in again and filled in the form and gave it to the dean.

I contacted her at the beginning of June and asked when a referral would happen she informed me that it would not happen because my son was not considered a priority case

He was coping at school and there are worse cases that needed attention. She said if I wanted to go privately she would have no objection!

Needless to say I did go privately and still had to wait another 2 months for an assessment that showed he had learning difficulties that needed addressing! Namely dyslexia!

So when I contacted the dean again she was to busy to see me – So I contacted the principle and complained with the inaction of the dean and how our case had been handled.

The principle spent a week investigating my complaint and then we met to discuss it – only to find out he hadn't done anything because he wanted to see the assessment before he looked into it!

So the next week we met (September 2006) and he explained to me that with a school roll close to 1000 it was hard for deans to know what was happening for individual students
he explained there is limited funding for extra help, teachers aren't trained to recognize or diagnose dyslexia they are trained to teach, Sorry that it seems your son my have slipped through the cracks.

He wasn't going to punish the dean for her response because she was doing the job she had by the book.The school was without an RTLB till October due to staff changes

Parting comment In 17 years as principle at my sons school he had not met another parent with as much determination and drive – but the tone was less than sympathetic or kind

I contact the chairperson of the BOT after I had had a few days to calm down and explained I was an unhappy parent, I wrote down my complaint and some suggestions for improvements and then waited for a reply – which came within 2 weeks.

The board agreed that things could have been handled better, but it was up to the principle to sanction staff not the board and that my child's referral to the RTLB system would be a priority case once the new RTLB started at the end of October 2006.

So again I waited – once the RTLB started we discussed what would happen now – Well this is the funny bit- She saw my son, then 2 weeks later had a meeting with me

At the meeting she said that since the RTLB unit only works with kids to the end of year 10 (and there is only 4.5 weeks of term left) did I want her to see Harrison again!

I was very grumpy at that point for all the effort he had 1 session with her!

I asked that she apply for assisted tech-knowledge and see if we could get a laptop or alpha smart unit for my child to use at school (which is a recommendation in Harrison's assessment) but she informed me it's quite a lot of paperwork and effort which might all be in vain– I told her to preceded its worth trying.

Then when I asked to set up an IEP for my child the RTLB said it was a good idea she would coordinate the Head of department for English and dean and we would met on the 29^th November 2006. This meeting was canceled due to something urgent coming up on the RTLB's diary the meeting was rescheduled for 4^th December 2006 and we disc cussed my child's needs again. but again we left the meeting without any clear results.

I contacted the Group special education unit here in Auckland and they are now aiding me in my communication problem with my sons secondary school

All we want is the best for our child's so he wont be disadvantaged next year when he is doing his NCEA level one. as most of his subjects have an internal assessment component it is vital that He is assessed fairly and under the right criteria. But his high school has dragged out what should be a simple process and made it into our families HELL