it depends on the school they go to..

The reason why you went out into the real world and expected breaks is because you learned how to be helpless. Special education students are not exempt from state testing. They simply receive modifications for these tests based on their individual condition. For instance, how fair would it be if your right arm were mangled, but nevertheless you were forced to write a paragraph with your right hand? What about brain damage. Would you force someone with brain damage to be able to perform at the same level as a person without brain damage? There IS an excuse for an 18 year old to be reading at the 3rd and 4th grade if he/she is handicapped and can not process any better than that! It is completely ignorant to think that EVERYONE no matter what should be at the same level and take the same tests the same way! Do you actually think “the world would understand” more if you took a state test the same way others took it or were forced to read something you couldn’t read? Any teacher who has that attitude shouldn’t be teaching!

Well, whether it set you up for failure in the 70’s, you’re old enough to escape that now. They don’t even have special schools for just LD now, since the IDEA passed in 1976, it is the law that every child attend the school that is the least restrictive environment (LRE). There are some schools for severely disabled children, and that’s it. It’s a fine line between working them at their own level and pushing them. If they are LD, then it’s not appropriate (or fair) to the child to put them in an environment that not only sets them to fail, but destroys their self esteem in the meanwhile. However, the teacher must always be assessing how they are doing and be willing to change the curriculum or level to keep challenging the child.

I have several children with disabilities, they learn differently. Schools will do the minimum required, of course, and that’s why every parent should be completely involved in their kids school. Very rarely will they just automatically provide an aide, I had to fight for two years to get one for my autistic daughter, two years before she was even in regular classrooms, I started when she was still in the DevDel preschool. When we had a bad/untrained aide, I sent a letter to the school and the district coordinator that she was not acceptable and we got a new one. I had to point out the law over and over, I had to point out that her LRE was in a mainstream setting, while they wanted to stick her in the autism classroom. That room is fine for some kids, in fact, there are many kids who NEED to focus on lifeskills. Most kids don’t need that though, and they DO need pushed in academics.

My daughter was one, and I can tell you the school got very tired of me coming in, we had IEP meetings monthly to address her progress and plan the next steps. However, I ceased to care what the school thought, because in fifteen years, it’s going to be my daughter who will pass/fail based on what she’s learned, and the school will still be there plugging away. I can say that several other children benefited from my pushing, the school decided since they had those supports in place that they might as well use them for other kids. BUT IF THOSE PARENTS would have been fighting for the same assistance, instead of just me, it would have probably taken less than two years to get them in place.

The same goes for curriculum, they spend a lot of money on one particular curriculum, so if you go in there and say “My child isn’t learning from this, and studies show that ABC curriculum is effective for teaching, they don’t want to buy it. They’ll use every ineffective permutation of the curriculum they already have, until the child is beyond failure.

I could go on and on, but every parent on here who is struggling needs to have www.wrightslaw.com saved on their webbrowser…and try to attend one of their seminars, it’s worth the money.

What kids with learning disabilities “ARE” in 2007 has very little relationship to what was done in YOUR school 30 years ago! The laws in this country attempt to address the issue of insuring that all children get an appropriate education. It doesn’t always work. But states, school districts, schools, and teachers all vary, so you cannot expect that things will be the same everywhere. Some places LD kids get an excellent teacher and other places they get crummy ones. Just like all the rest of the kids!

Of course it’s setting the child up for failure.

But it’s worse than that–and today’s schools are jsut as bad (putting children with disabilities in a segregated classroom that happens to be physically a part of a regular school is NOT inclusion).

The reason I say the situation is actually worse is that LD students are, more often than not, assigned work BELOW their capabilities. “Their own level” is a proper strategy only if it means “at a pace that is consistant with the student’s abilities” (some may simply take longer–but will get the material if they have that time and proper support).

Only a small minority of LD students are not able to master basic academic material. Most of the ones who do not, however, could–and are victims of a broken system and the preconceptions of the people around them–including educators.

Yes I do !! My son is autistic and they are not helping him they are just putting him through the system which doesn’t work and I have heard every excuse you can think of!! I can’t believe someone would say that to you !! They were the ones that needed help !! What a stupid thing to say to anyone !! That is definitely setting you up for failure!! Pay no attention to them . I once had a teacher tell my Mom that I was so stupid I might as well quite school now well I was ahead!! I now work in a major hospital in a high pressure job for over 27 years so who’s laughing now!! LOL

I’m not sure if it sets someone up to fail, but it certainly doesn’t help them. Fortunately I think they’ve come a long way in helping children with LD. Every disability has it’s own drawbacks and I think they now try (with various tests) to determine what exactly the disability is and how best to deal with it to the child’s advantage. It was a terrible unforgiveable thing to tell a child he couldn’t be helped, because it’s just not true at all.

It depends on the teachers and what the parents do with the child at home. My daughter has an Intellectual Impairment (Level I) and has a lot of trouble with many aspects of education. She has a full-time teacher’s aide with her in the classroom to help keep her focused on her work and the task at hand. She will bring home the same homework as the other students which we slowly go through at home at her own pace.

Her first report card was amazing. Sure there were a lot of recommendations for “Support Required” but that is really a given. However, her teachers have said that she has a better memory than many of the other students in the class (who don’t require extra help) which is a major bonus for her.

So, in response to your question, I believe that is has a lot to do with the extra work that is done with the child at home. Always encourage them and focus a lot on what their strengths are and encourage them at every chance you get.

Hope this helps and have a great day/night!!!

xx K

It depends on how active the parents are in the education process. I have special needs kids, they all have educational profiles that are written by the special aid district to help them to learn in a productive environment. I think that because my wife and I are active in their studies and in ensuring their teachers stick to the profiles, they are more successful than they would be had we stayed out of it.

Unfortunately, in the 70’s there may not have been organizations in place to help. They were probably trying to keep those with learning disabilities out of the mainstream classroom so that they were not chastized and demoralized by other students. I don’t think they were setting you up for failure, but it doesn’t sound as if they were very productive in helping you either…

That was a terrible thing that was said to you. I wish there was some way to undo the damage it has caused you. Shame on that person! Since the 70’s there have been improvements like an individualized plan for each student in special school. It lists goals, and plans for the future. The student, teacher, parent and counselor contribute to making this plan and evaluating it regularly to make sure each person does their activities. It is never too late for you to accomplish your goals. Colleges will admit you with LD and give you assistance to succeed. If you are needing reading assistance you can contact the Literacy Council. Believe me, no one’s education is perfect. You have a right to pursue your dreams and there are people who are willing to help you! I work with people with Autism and a lot of them feel like the system gave up on them. I would urge you to contact a local university and make an appointment with adult services and enroll in a class of interest to you. Tell them you have an LD and you would like assistance. Best of luck to you!!

now, LD kids are in a regular class and expected to do the same work as regular students with little or no modifications…it all depends on the student…sometimes the student takes the easy road and asks for more modifications and sometimes they’ll rise to the occasion and try their best and do as much as possible on their own and so what if they don’t get one hundred…passing w/o any modifications is like getting one hundred due to the added disability