The school kept saying he was an average student so therefore didn't need help.

As Dakylan told me the boy had hit him with something,on purpose, the boy walked away. I told Dakylan that I was sure it had been an accident, and I was going to be mad at him for his reaction when a man walked over to me.

I don't mean to be critical, but...

If this type of thing happens a few times, in which you distrust his version, he will simply learn to not depend on you, even if he desperately needs to. I am really glad that this teacher talked to you about this, because it shows a major issue that needs to be addressed.

Before you write off the 'fussing' the substitute teacher gave him, you might want to check the nature and how severe this 'fussing' was. It may be much more drastic than you were thinking, considering his reaction to her presence.

Dakarah,
My prayers are with you and your family. You have every reason to be scared. Sometimes we forget the most important things and the little things upset us. I know you are having bigger issues, but we are also having problems STILL, with Jacob. He's not applying himself, and what makes us mad, he won't try. Homework time turns into, "I have to go to the bathroom, I need a drink, I need a snack, excuse excuse excuse! I'm ready to rip out my hair.

Pandora-I hated that he had to go to ISD just because his work wasn't completed. Most of the students there are in there for causing trouble in class, and all of his teachers say he is not a discipline problem.

But... A big "YEAH" today! We had his meeting, and it went great!!!! We talked for almost an hour about modifications for him when the principal stated, "I think at this point we need to put in the minutes that he is being placed in special ed. No one had any doubt, at that point.

Between the school psychologist and her reports and the occupational therapist and her reports, everyone involved was able to see how overwhelming some things are for Dakylan. We agreed on several modifications-effective immediately-to help him transition better, and become more organized.

None of us felt like he really needed modification in doing the assignments, just more help staying on task, getting started, stuff like that. The occupational therapist was really good at explaining how Dakylan was trying to deal with sensory issues and function with his classwork at the same time.

She told them to imagine they had pneumonia and were deathly sick, and someone told them, "Well, while you're sick, here copy these questions down and answer each one with a full paragraph answer." That really amazed everyone. The principal even said she felt ashamed because she had never understood what he must be going through at school every day.

We decided to leave him in the regular classroom, with the option to take him to the resource room, if needed. Now he won't have to go back to ISD to finish his work ever again. He will just go to the resource room if he isn't finished. Needless to say, I was walking in the clouds when I left the office.

I think now he may actually get some help and be able to show what he is really capable of (the math teacher did say that she expected him to possibly be one of her distinguished math students on the CATS testing). We also agreed to meet back if we felt the modifications needed modifying. I am just so excited because I dreaded today and fully expected it to be a replay of "He's not trying, he's not focusing, he's irresponsible, etc.... Just when I thought the light at the end of the tunnel was a train coming the other direction, it turned out to be the opening!!!

Also, one other thing the OT recommended was some kind of a vest to wear under his clothes that gives a sense of tighting with every breath. She said this might fix his need to carry around that 100lb.(Ha! Ha!) backpack. Has anyone heard of this or how well it works? The school is looking into purchasing one for him. How great is that.

They are also going to get him a workbook that helps him work through some of his sensory issues. I just wish we had this kind of help and support when he started school. There is no telling what kind of a difference it could have made for him.

On a less great note we discussed how he could fall asleep even at the circus, and the OT explained that too much stimulation could cause him to shut down and go to sleep, which was great to know, but really makes me think about whether or not we should have gotten tickets to the circus tonight. Well, if he falls asleep this time, I'll leave him home next time.

And to think, I thought we were making progress with the circus-twice when he was younger we bought tickets just so I could sit outside with him while his father and brother enjoyed the circus because he would scream if I tried to take him inside. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how tonight goes!