My son hasn't been on one school field trip since his diagnosis...

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Hi all, I need some help. My 11 yr old son has epilepsy. He takes Topimax & Diastat (only in Emergency). Anyway, he's a great kid. He tests the same on his achievement tests every year...90% and above and he a an all around smart kid. Problem is this. For the past two yrs since we told the school about his epilepsy (Hes NEVER had a seizure in school!), he hasn't been aloud on ONE single field trip! And everytime, I'll get a phone call the day before the bus leaves telling me, he was missing an assignment so that's why he can't go. Yet all my neighbor kids, (one of whome is failing 3 subjects), still goes! Then today, I got a call telling me he couldn't go on the trip to Mihican. In MAY! 3 months away! Last week they said he could go if I went with him, now they say he can't go at all. To top it all off, they have informed me that legally they do not have to administer the diastat. Mind you, My son stops breathing during his seizures. So anything past 3 minutes & we've got a problem. Our ambulance response time SUCKS! So here's my question. Who do I call at this point. Because this goes all the way to the board office. Second, has anyone had any success with charter (ie: virtual) schooling for their child?I'm considering it based on several things. My son is capable of learning well with little support, meaning if he had tons of support, he'd probably be off the chart, so as far as grades, I don't see a problem. Also, he'd never miss another field trip because mom is the driver ;) BUT, i do worry about the social aspect. I love this little guy with all my heart, but at his age, Mom just doesn't cut it. Any suggestions for how I could make up for that? I'd appreciate any insight you can give. Please note: We have tried everything else with our district, but with them it's all about covering their $$$$. Yes, we've even used the word: DISCRIMINATION. I ponted out that their own forms that we filled out for the IEP boldy talked of DISCRIMINATION....and quite frankly...I don't think they give rats behind! Thank for any help you can give.

Comments

Re: My son hasn't been on one school field trip

Submitted by Stardust Mom on Wed, 2011-02-23 - 18:14

This definitely sounds like discrimination to me! The fact that you already have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) is a good thing. That is supposed to assure that your son receives the best possible education, in the least restrictive environment for him. I'd hate to see you pull him out of his regular school, to which he is accustomed, just because some beauracrat is afraid.

For the record, my daughter has had several seizures at school. Next month, she will be travelling five (5) hours from home, and staying for two (2) days, on a school-sanctioned activity. Yes, I have to complete all the standard medical paperwork (which is lengthier for her than most) and have the doctor submit a letter for them to administer (allow her to take) her meds. (She is 15 yrs. old.)

Ask your son what he wants, and don't give up. Make the school do what they are required to do by law (include him).

This definitely sounds like discrimination to me! The fact that you already have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) is a good thing. That is supposed to assure that your son receives the best possible education, in the least restrictive environment for him. I'd hate to see you pull him out of his regular school, to which he is accustomed, just because some beauracrat is afraid.

For the record, my daughter has had several seizures at school. Next month, she will be travelling five (5) hours from home, and staying for two (2) days, on a school-sanctioned activity. Yes, I have to complete all the standard medical paperwork (which is lengthier for her than most) and have the doctor submit a letter for them to administer (allow her to take) her meds. (She is 15 yrs. old.)

Ask your son what he wants, and don't give up. Make the school do what they are required to do by law (include him).

Re: My son hasn't been on

Submitted by bclark267@aol.com on Thu, 2011-02-24 - 08:26

First I want to say I am really sorry, and I know you feel. My son also has Epilepsy and other diagnoses. We are currently going through legal battles because we tried to push for a public education because we thought he needed that social aspect of school, how wrong I was!!! the school knew my son had multiply diagnoses and they still push him to the point that he went bulistick through a desk and hid under a table so they had him arrested and were trying to charge him with a couple of different charges, the juvenille judge could see my son was not understanding anything that was happening to him and the judge called for a compentence exam to be done, my son spent 3 days in YDC because of the public school system did not want to be bothered they even said they wanted him to be exspelled for the rest of the school until he was to transition to high school. They wanted to exspell him for 4 months, when you are dealing with a special education child you can not do this. they should not have went about this in this manner. The school specifically had written instruction on how to handle my son in these situation and they did not follow the provided instructions and now, my son is being home schooled and having a legal battle to go along with it. The main reason I telling you this is because you better pull him out while you can they have already shown they do not want to be bothered by him and contact a lawyer, a special education advocate, and any of the home schooling programs you find online are better than what he could ever get in school and if you look around for home school people in your area they have playdate and field trips and all kinds of other things to do with the kids that are home schooled. If a public school is doing this to your child it is called discrimmation and there is thousands of law suits in the United States for kids being discrimmanted againist, if you do not believe me put into google " special education discrimination lawsuit" they have thousands. by the way if you are worried about his social skills, you have many, many choices like scouts, county sports, special olympics, just search. I really hope this helps let me know if I can help you in any other way.

First I want to say I am really sorry, and I know you feel. My son also has Epilepsy and other diagnoses. We are currently going through legal battles because we tried to push for a public education because we thought he needed that social aspect of school, how wrong I was!!! the school knew my son had multiply diagnoses and they still push him to the point that he went bulistick through a desk and hid under a table so they had him arrested and were trying to charge him with a couple of different charges, the juvenille judge could see my son was not understanding anything that was happening to him and the judge called for a compentence exam to be done, my son spent 3 days in YDC because of the public school system did not want to be bothered they even said they wanted him to be exspelled for the rest of the school until he was to transition to high school. They wanted to exspell him for 4 months, when you are dealing with a special education child you can not do this. they should not have went about this in this manner. The school specifically had written instruction on how to handle my son in these situation and they did not follow the provided instructions and now, my son is being home schooled and having a legal battle to go along with it.     The main reason I telling you this is because you better pull him out while you can they have already shown they do not want to be bothered by him and contact a lawyer, a special education advocate, and any of the home schooling programs you find online are better than what he could ever get in school and if you look around for home school people in your area they have playdate and field trips and all kinds of other things to do with the kids that are home schooled. If a public school is doing this to your child it is called discrimmation and there is thousands of law suits in the United States for kids being discrimmanted againist, if you do not believe me put into google " special education discrimination lawsuit"   they have thousands. by the way if you are worried about his social skills, you have many, many choices like scouts, county sports, special olympics, just search. I really hope this helps let me know if I can help you in any other way. 

First I want to say I am really sorry, and I know you feel. My son also has Epilepsy and other diagnoses. We are currently going through legal battles because we tried to push for a public education because we thought he needed that social aspect of school, how wrong I was!!! the school knew my son had multiply diagnoses and they still push him to the point that he went bulistick through a desk and hid under a table so they had him arrested and were trying to charge him with a couple of different charges, the juvenille judge could see my son was not understanding anything that was happening to him and the judge called for a compentence exam to be done, my son spent 3 days in YDC because of the public school system did not want to be bothered they even said they wanted him to be exspelled for the rest of the school until he was to transition to high school. They wanted to exspell him for 4 months, when you are dealing with a special education child you can not do this. they should not have went about this in this manner. The school specifically had written instruction on how to handle my son in these situation and they did not follow the provided instructions and now, my son is being home schooled and having a legal battle to go along with it. The main reason I telling you this is because you better pull him out while you can they have already shown they do not want to be bothered by him and contact a lawyer, a special education advocate, and any of the home schooling programs you find online are better than what he could ever get in school and if you look around for home school people in your area they have playdate and field trips and all kinds of other things to do with the kids that are home schooled. If a public school is doing this to your child it is called discrimmation and there is thousands of law suits in the United States for kids being discrimmanted againist, if you do not believe me put into google " special education discrimination lawsuit" they have thousands. by the way if you are worried about his social skills, you have many, many choices like scouts, county sports, special olympics, just search. I really hope this helps let me know if I can help you in any other way.

just my opinion

Submitted by smallsock on Thu, 2011-02-24 - 12:08

Yes, sadly discrimination is alive and well in the public school system. My family is healthy, but we are black, so I won't bore you by beating that much-dead horse...

I would talk to your son about how he feels and see if he wants to change the way he is schooled. If it were a life or death situation I would pull him out immediately.

I think the socialization that kids get in public school has become overrated. Kids can socialize with family members, church members, community sport organizations, and many other places that even are glad to accept special needs kids. I am not pleased with the socialization that my 7 year old is getting at school. What he is mostly getting is a bunch of bad examples.

I would hate for your son to have to come out of his current school if he really loves it there, but frankly I don't know if it is worth anyone's effort to fight to stay in the current public school system.