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-=> On 04-28-97  23:05 Dan was talking about Re: Hello? to Erica <=-
 
 HI Dan!
 
 DT> Yes I am kidding though we are about due for another round of
 DT> something  in here..any ideas??
 
I've been "lurking" for some time...and I haven't quite found what I was
originally looking for...I wanted to see if this was an echo strictly for
teachers, or anyone interested in children's education.
 
What I'd like to know from anyone who might be willing to help or at least
to just listen, is how do I get my daughter help in school?
 
My daughter, Chelsea, is 7 years old, and was diagnosed with epilepsy in
Sept 95, right before she turned 6.  She is a very well behaved little girl,
with good manners, a caring personna about herself, courteous and respect-
ful...but she is also a very nervous little girl.  Since she was old enough
to start picking her nails, she's done so...to the point where they bleed.
She's also very shy, and she shakes and stammers when approached.  When
pressured for answers at school, or when forced to read in front of the class
she stammers and if pressured further to perform, she shuts down and totally
loses her train of thought.  She is in a Chapter I reading program, and
when her reading teacher continues to pressure her for an answer, Chelsea
shuts down, and begins to cry.  
 
The problem that I'm having is that the school seems to feel that Chelsea is
reading below first grade level.  She was in the "higher" reading group for
the first 5 months of school, then they removed her from that group and put
her in the lower reading group.  Chelsea could read the books in the higher
reading group, it's just that they were moving at a pace much to fast for
her to keep up with and she wasn't able to fully learn and remember all her
new words per week.  At that time, they were reading approximately 2 to
3 new books a week, all with new words in them.  My son is in fourth grade,
and even he gets a full week to learn new words.  Well, since they put her
in the lower reading group, she is doing very good, and is able to keep up
with the new words, although they move at such a slow pace...i.e. one new
book every two weeks.  Even though my daughter is doing very well in reading
now, they continue to give her marks which indicate she is reading below
first grade level.  Why?  The way her teachers explained it to my husband and
I is because they grade both reading groups the same.  So even if she is
excelling in the lower reading group, she is graded as though she is in the
higher reading group, thus getting U's in reading.  :(
 
I take my daughter to a Neurologist about an hour from where I live every
three months for a blood draw and examination (only doctor near my vicinity
that is on the BCMH).  He suggested that Chelsea have a psychological
evaluation done at school to see what areas she may be having difficulty
in, and perhaps as well, try to find out what makes her so nervous at
school and try to come up with a strategy plan to help ease her nervousness.
He also suggested that because Chelsea was 7 1/2 weeks early, and when
delivered the cord was wrapped around her neck twice, and MAY have caused
a few seconds of lack of oxygen to her brain, and therefore, she may need
additional help in school, and may even need to be in an LD class.  Chelsea
is also left handed, and because she shakes so much, her handwriting is not
acceptable to her teachers and they feel she should be able to write much
better than she does for being near the end of the school season.
 
Here is where my struggle is.  Because Chelsea is such a well behaved little
girl and NEVER gets into trouble at school, the school has told me that she
does not qualify for LD classes, or an LD tutor.  In February when report
cards came out, she had 8 U's on her report card.  When I questioned the
school, and asked them how far under average a student had to be to qualify
for LD tutoring or LD classes, I was told in order for her to be in the
class, or have a tutor, she would need to have a psychological evaluation
done on her.  I requested this last November and they did not "think" that
testing Chelsea was necessary.  Well, here it is, nearing the end of the
school season, and I have fought with the schools all this time to get her
some needed help.  Her Chapter I reading teacher is suppose to be working
with her at least 2 to 3 times a week...Since March 17 this teacher has
worked with her FOUR times.  When I questioned them about this, they told
me that I had to realize that Chelsea isn't the only student at her school
and that I was expecting too much...but when I contacted the Special
Education Director and Curriculum Director for our school system, they
both concurred that her reading teacher is SUPPOSE to be working with her
2 to 3 times EACH week.  I've mentioned this to all her teachers and all
I get is snide remarks about I'm wanting them to give my daughter special
treatment and lay out the red carpet for her without consideration for the
rest of the students in her class.  
 
She needs extended help in math as well...but I cannot get anyone at her
school to give her additional help or to put her in LD classes.  At our
last conference with her teachers, her teacher told me that she felt that
my complaints were because MY pride was hurt that Chelsea was getting such
low grades.  I was absolutely furious!  Of course every parent wants there
children to excel and do well in school...but Chelsea's failing grades have
nothing what-so-ever to do with my pride!  I'm deeply concerned about
Chelsea, and question her teacher's ability to handle her handicaps and
their ability to teach.  Chelsea pays attention in school, is not a class
clown, does not daydream or wander off to another galaxy...so in that area,
I cannot come down on my daughter for not paying attention and doing her
best.  Chelsea writes all the time at home, is reading all the time...she
WANTS to do well!  She practices reading, writing, and math ALL the time!
Although Chelsea is Epileptic and takes an anti-seizure medication, is on
a low nerve medication, and has other physical handicaps which the school
will not recognize, she deserves an education just the same as every
other child does...and I fear that she is not being helped in the fashion
in which she should be, and is therefore, left to fall by the wayside.  The
last wonderful statement her teachers told my husband and I at our last
conference in March, was that because Chelsea is not in a gifted program
for high excelling students and because she isn't in a LD class, she does
not qualify for any kind of special help.  I looked them both in the eye
and said "So basically your telling me because Chelsea's IQ isn't 140 or
40, she's screwed???"  They reply..."Basically...Yes."
 
What do I do????  How do I get this school to recognize that just because
Chelsea is a well behaved little girl, she still needs help????  Is she
destined to failing grades throughout school just because she is a good
little girl????  HELP!!!  I'm so frustrated, and Chelsea gets so upset when
she doesn't understand something and *I* get upset when I am unable to
explain things to her in a fashion that she understands it well enough to
do well the next day.  My husband and I do everything we possibly can for
both of our children to help them in school.  We are a big supporter of
reading at home, they join the reading club at our local library every
summer, and they both have so many books, we lost count...over 500 each.
We have bought my daughter one of those boards you use the erasable markers
 
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