can somebody explain special education? My grandson has ADHD, mild depressive disorder, SID and emotional problems. He was removed at age 3 from his parents due to neglect by the parents who were heroin addicts. At 15 months he tested positive for being exposed to opium, benzo.... basically everything except marijuana through a hair folicle test. The mother was using drugs and breast feeding. She drank heavily in the early stages of pregnancy and used drugs;however when she found out she was pregnant she stopped when she was 2 months pregnant.The child came from a violent home where the father was charged and found guilty of domestic violence. The father recently got visitation after not visiting or contacting his son for 3 yrs the court ordered supervised visitation-his girlfriend called to say she couldn't get him to all the days he had asked the court to grant him for visitation.even though she agreed since he lost his privilege to drive from a 3 DUI She told me she has raised 5 dogs in the past 2 yrs and she is worn out from her dogs, the father has said he is in a relationship so he can't visit but every other weekend and that will not be for as long as he asked the court he shortened the time to 2 hours vs. 4.. The father and his girlfriend argue at the visitation, so I refuse the girlfriend access to my grandson during the visitation and as a result the father continuously texts her while with his son. I am taking him to OT next week, in the process of setting him appointments for counseling(he has been in counseling for the past 2.5 yrs. and then our counselor relocated) I have found someone after a dilligent search and am anxious to get him back to seeing someone that can help him work through his behavior issues. I clearly don't understand the Special Education realm. I am curious if he would qualify for OHI(other Health Impaired). All Diagnosis were done thru a psychologist who did testing and neurocognitve eval.: Hyperactivity with more Impulsivity, mild depressive disorder, difficulty with fine motor skills and SID.
I know the info. I gave regarding the father and his girlfriend probably sound like Trailer Park Trash but that is the reality of our situation for now.
So, education for kids with special needs has one thing in common in every state---- it is covered under the "no child left behind" law. From birth, laws cover development of children. Every state has a birth to three program for 'at risk' kids or kids identified with some type of disability. A state/city will contract with agencies to evaluate kids and then help provide services to help the child on a sliding fee basis based on a families income. Then from 3 to 5, the local public school system takes over. They provide early intervention through a special preschool program. Kids are evaluated by the professionals affiliated with the school district and then placed in the preschool. Often kids without disabilities are intermingled as 'inclusion" is quite common these days (meaning that kids with challenges are often in a classroom with everyone else and will leave the room from time to time for their services like speech, they often will have an aide with them to help if their disability qualifies them for this). Then at 5/6---- a child enters kindergarten and will go under a school plan to help them learn and manage in school. This can be called an IEP if a child has an academic issue (individual education plan). That plan would have things in it that are specific to help that child overcome their challenges in the classroom. If a child doesn't have any academic issues but has behavioral issues, a 504 plan can be put in place to help with that.
My son has sensory integration disorder. Something that could be on his plan would be---- he has to have movement breaks to help him focas, so he will get X number of movement breaks a day, he will visit the OT 1 time a week, etc.
I am not sure how old your grandson is at this point. How old is he?
Our school has an inclusion policy. Kids with special needs are generally in our classrooms but taken out for various services or classwork they do independently of the group. Some schools have the old special needs classroom but this practice is less popular these days.
So, I don't know if this answers your question----- if I can help in any way, I will try. Good luck