What IS Your Story??????????

Okay this is my 1st LAMP training assignment:

I had to explain to the group tonight( its a training thing I got nominated for at the Utah Parent Training Center-they deal with helping parents with disabilities and the school etc)what our "story " was. I get to do teh conference online as I live so far out here :)
This is what I shared with the group:

My Story.........

I guess you could say my "story" began with the birth of my son Stinger.

To say he was a high needs baby simply doesnt do justice. I still to this day remember crying night after night as he cried and cried trying anything under the sun-what every book said to do

to soothe him. He had to be constantly bounced, juggled, and swaddled up really tight each and every night. Touchy to noises, sunlight. Not responding to his name-running away.....

Stinger being my first child, I think I missed alot of signs. Limited imagination play, eye contact, lining up toys, walking on tip-toes, aggressive play with others and objects, banging head,spitting. Things like this I must have just dismissed -after all he was my first child-my baby and he couldnt have been more PERFECT. :)

I'd say he was abt 2 1/2 when my mommy gut started telling me something was off. He had such a temper and I never knew what was the matter.

I called Early Intervention and he started a 1:1 play therapy where they signed and sang songs. He showed improvement and he was moved up to EI pre-school. They then recommended Head Start where he again did fairly well. My fears subsided as I quickly dismissed his behaviors as a maturity issue he was just growing out of.

Kindergarden started out well, but day after day the phone calls started coming in. "Stinger is hitting, Stinger wont share, Stinger cant learn his alphabet or his numbers, Stinger wont participate in class." Again I dismissd it blaming the teacher as she was known to have favorites and she well..she just hated my son....LOLOLOL But as the year went on I realized it was more than that.

1st grade we started the process of evaluating for special education. It took more than a year-yes, I wasnt familiar with the time frame laws then- for the school and I to agree on what the issues were-in the meantime they just decided to do nothing abt anything...sigh....

It was at this time that the word Autism became known to me. I started living at the computer. I just could not believe how the signs of ASD( Autism Spectrum Disorder) fit my son. I fought with the school all year abt which evals and testing scores-they had no idea and wouldnt even accept their own test eval results. They wanted to classify him as ED(Emotional Disturbance) I knew it went much deeper than that. I even had some advocates go to bat for us at some of the meetings-nothing changed.

During all of this nothing was being done. Stinger was getting suspended, I was getting calls every other day to come and pick him up etc. He was smacking, running away, kicking throwing things-his behaviors were just getting worse and worse.

I finally went outside the school to get him evaluated at a Childrens Hospital. There they diagnosed him with Pdd-Nos, Anxiety-Nos, and adhd tendancies, SID( sensory). I went back to the school with these papers in hand and he was finally classified as if by magic.

By the end of 1st grade everyone was overwhelmed and had no idea what to do. Stinger was getting Speech therapy, group therapy at mental Health, 1: 1 with some academics and things were just getting worse. I guess in my mind I thought their magical "system" was going to be able to fix everything-yes, I was very naive and way too trusting.

They incorporated a time out room just for Stinger which only served to escalate his behaviors-he was running every day now-afraid to be put into the timeout room. So they would use it more and more and not tell me about it.

The school at the middle of 2nd grade basically told me they could no longer handle my son-even though the aide I requested had helped tremendously and it was charted. We ended up talking about a change of placement.

About this time last year he was transferred to a self contained classroom. Having been lied to by the homeschool abt the time they had my son in the timeout room I was alread having trust issues and when NO phone calls came from this new school and visiting rights were denied I was starting to have doubts as to what exactly they were doing there. Stinger also started having accidents at school.

I guess the last straw came when Stinger got off the bus, with no note or phone call, all scratched up-his face, back and chest, raw red marks under his arms where they had been forcing him to stand, bruising ard both his wrists where he had been dragged to the timeout room. And Stinger explained to me abt a "box" he was placed in that they locked.

We immediately had an emergency meeting and they procedded to brush me off simply stating that they had all just had a "rough" day.

Later I found out that they had put him in that box frequently, covered the little window, locked the door, and he was not allowed to use the restroom while he was doing his "time" in there. They also had him in there for numerous hours where he would miss his lunch and wet himself and was required to clean this up himself.

THIS was when I said ENOUGH-I GIVE.

This past summer I pulled him out of the "program" if thats what youd call it.....

Trust has been broken, my sons spirit was broken and he and I will never get over what these individuals did in the name of " treatment."

I was done.

Done with the fighting, done with the retaliation whenever I said something was unjust. They treated him worse when I fought for his right to an education. Due Process was the only next step and even then I had no desire to even be in the same room with these people, let alone fight in court only to have him placed right back into their evil arms.

This summer I decided to Homeschool Stinger. Its as if he has been reborn-the once happy boy I once knew-the once happy smiling boy has come back. Behaviors arent an issue now that understanding, love and patience have been introduced to his learning. Its been wonderful and Im seeing growth each and every day. He is so far behind academically as the schools seamed to think his punishments were more important that his education. And we have our days. But everyday he is learning more, becoming more confident and growing into the young man I am so proud of.

One day I hope to try Public School again. I let the schools intimidate me and my son as I lacked the courage and known every law( which is basically what you need) to really stand up to them.

I am still studying every day and will continue to learn all that I can so that when and if we do decided to go back we will be able to stand strong and get the supports he needs and we will NOT stop fighting until my son gets a fair and appropriate education.

I look forward to getting to know you all and am looking forward to this training.