Blog entries can be found here.
Self-advocacy doesn’t ocurr in a vacuum.
If circumstances were different would you advocate for someone elses child if your child didn’t have a disability?
What tools do you utilize to advocate for your child?
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I am in class today, Partners in Piolicymaking. If you advocate for yourself or anyone else, you really should see about enrolling in Partners.
I was reading a quote today, “You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.” – Charles Ketterling
The way I see it is our school district is focused on how David used to be, yesterday, not how is he tomorrow or today given the time he spent in placement in the residential facility. We need to get them to focus on what can be, not what was.
How do I do that? How do we do that?
Tweet #fighting4answrsSo today, in the midst of the chaos of trying to figure out what the best path is for my family, I got a call from our state Department of Public Instruction. (DPI)
A couple of days ago, I mentioned on my blog that I was submitting a request for a facilitated IEP to the Department. Today I got a call from the Department telling me that the school requested a facilitated IEP. A move that the Department admits is highly unusual. It is very rare for a school to think that a facilitated IEP is beneficial to them.
So why are they doing this? Is it in response to the attack on my daughter yesterday? Are they hoping that if they give with one child, we won’t push them on the assault issue?
I have been in contact with the investigative department of DPI as well. I asked them if I needed to file a report of the assault with their agency. I was informed that I should notify the sheriff. And that I should — well here is a quote.
“You have taken the correct steps in notifying law enforcement authorities when serious injury occurs. We recommend that any incidents of bullying be reported to the building teacher, counselor and principal for further investigation and follow up. You should feel comfortable working with your school to ensure the bullying behavior ends and follow up with your daughter regarding her perceptions about this as well; if the behavior continues, the school should continue to be informed. For the confidentiality of all students, understand you may not learn what consequences have been given to the bully, but trust and work with administration and your daughter. If you believe the building principal is not adequately addressing the behavior, you can reach out to the district superintendent for assistance. If you need to go on further, the school board can be contacted; most school boards meet monthly, their agenda is public and generally includes a public input session where parents and/or community can address them regarding concerns, issues, etc. By working collaboratively with the school staff and your daughter, you should be kept inform of how she is coping, responding and what supports are offered to her.”
Given the events of the last year and a half, none of this seems like it is likely to happen. But we will try. I have to try. To not try means that I am failing to protect my kids to the full extent of my ability.
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