carl, Author at Fighting for Answers

Mediation Request redux submitted

Well, I broke down and submitted the mediation request. The school as you may remember requested mediation in our quest for an IEP for David that would allow him to return to public school in his home district. I had written a rebuttal to their request.

Today I listed the 20 or so people on David’s team who need to be present at the meeting. With the change in key personnel at our Support Services group that the school utilizes, things should be interesting. Don’t know if they will continue to allow the elementary school principal to run rough shod over parents or not, but we will see. At any rate, we submitted the request.

If for some reason Mediation goes the way the Facilitated meeting did, we will be in Due Process by Christmas. I don’t see the benefit in Mediation, but am willing to try. We want them to start David with one hour a day, and see how he does. Once he proves himself, we will gradually increase the length of his day.

I am not blind enough to think that everything is going to be rosy, but wouldn’t put it past the school to somehow sabotage him on his return to school. What will we do if we suspect that is happening?

I don’t honestly know. But he deserves the chance to succeed or fail on his own.

At the facilitated IEP if they had given us written word that he could return to his home district if he successfully completed the program at the Ranch, we would have let him go there. However our superintendent and the principal weren’t ready to commit to that. I have to have it in writing, as I can’t trust them to keep their word.

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Open Your Heart to a Child

As my wife and I enter our 19th year together, I find myself reflecting on what our life has been. The love we share, the family we love.

Even with my health issues, we count ourselves lucky. Our kids are all reasonably healthy.

So why the reflection my part?

There is a child in Colorado who has parents who are facing one of the toughest challenges a parent can face. Here is a brief description of what they are going through.

[box] Need some volunteers from across the country to do a very simple thing! I have a friend with a 9 yr old son who will be having major brain surgery at the end of this month in Colorado. Not only does he have Epilepsy, but also Autism, Cerebral Palsy, and Sensory Processing Disorder, which each one by itself is hard enough on a kiddo, but to be battling all of these can make days and this surgery very difficult. We would like to flood his mailbox with a bunch of cards and pictures our kids have colored so when he is out of ICU, they can decorate his room! His favorites are trains and dinosaurs.[/box]

It is our hope and Jackson’s hope that he will get some cards while he is recuperating in the hospital. Can you help him realize that dream?

Great! [box type=”info”] Are you willing to help? If so, please send a card to the following address; the surgery date is June 29th (this is PO Box and not their actual home address): Special Happens / St. Aubin Family 9609 S. University Blvd. #630303 Littleton, CO 80163-0303 [/box]

It is believed that Jackson will be hospitalized through the month of July. So little care packages will be sent as well. If you want like an update about the care packages, send an email to carl at whynotfathers dot com. and we will forward your info.

Don’t have time to send a care package? Want to make a donation instead? go here

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