Ok, here is the problem. My youngest has a really bad learning disability, everything must be modified, last year in elementary most of her subjects were in the learning assistance room. This year I was told everything was under control etc,, it turned out they put her in La for only english, and did not clue in that her biggest struggle is with math. She is at present in the class room for math she gets given math sheets , she does not understand, their she can not do it, I don't get it, so I am of no help. I went into the school today on unrelated issue but mentioned this problem with her teacher, and she is at awe she does not know what to do either, her hands are tyed she says, and as I am standing their I am thinking my little girl is going to get no help here. I had told her that I did not understand why she was not put in la for the subject which caused her the most problem, and she did not have the answer. At this point, I told her to talk to the L a teacher and set me up with an appointment so we could get this straightened out. One thing came up was for her to miss pe and get her into the learning assistance for math in that block, hopefully the powers that bee will alow that, if not, I am going to be one upset mommy. This is all because of the cut backs which is so frustrating. If I had the money I would get her into the sylvan learning centre but cost are really high 400-500 from what I was told before, math tutor is 20 /hr.
The thing that really erks me is at the end of the year last year we talked to her learning assistance teacher and she said everything was explained to the new school ( junior) and everything would be set up, and then we go for the visit to the new school, talk to the la teachers they went on to say again they are aware of her problems and everything will be fine, well as usual, it is not fine, I understand that their are alot more kids with learning disabilties than mine in the school, but I want the fact straight up if their is a problem tell me and we can figure it out not just say everything is fine and it really is not. I have went through this with my oldest also, and it is the same way, only now thier are cut backs which make it even harder.

By Mommmie on Friday, October 1, 2004 - 09:13 pm:

My son has learning disabilities too. He's in 4th grade. Don't worry about not being able to afford Sylvan. It's not designed for kids with learning disabilities. They have even admitted that. It's just for regular kids who need some extra help (at an outlandish price).

By Mrse on Friday, October 1, 2004 - 10:14 pm:

What? I thought that that was what sylvan learning centre was all about. Now I am glad I did not put out all the money for my oldest daughter when I was panicking about her education. ohhhhhhhhhh what a mess

By Feonad on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 07:01 am:

Doesn't seem right they can do this. Can you get a free mediator to come mediate this problem?

Ask the special ed office.

By Pamt on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 10:50 am:

Hmmm...you're in Canada, not sure of the federal regs there. In the US, all kids in spec ed must have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that states what services they receive, how often, what the goals are, etc. Do you have these in Canada? I would also contact a free family advocate to come to the next meeting to advocate for your daughter. If you were in the states I could point you in the right direction, but I have no idea how Canada handles special ed issues. Good luck and keep fighting!!!

By Mrse on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 02:48 pm:

Hello, well here she had an assessment has to be done every 4 years I think, and that assesment determines if she gets to go into the la room for support. Which she will always need support. It is just a matter of getting the right kind of support for her. I am going to be finding out on monday what they plan to do. I don't think we need an advocate, as I have been through this before, it is just a matter of figuring out what classes she is able to drop so she can get into that la room for math, with out the support we are sunk. I sure wish I was smarter. It takes alot of time to get dd to understand simple math facts, and even though she may know what to do today does not mean she will understand tommorrow. It is really frustrating. I would be happy if they just forgot about all the other math and did the basic math, just so she can add subtract, divide etc.. so she can balance a check book , every day life things that she will need. The L a teacher from her elementary already told the la teachers in the junior school, that I would be coming in, to make sure things were going ok, and I would be on top of dd problems, so I kind of think they knew especially from our first meeting at the beginning of the year that I was not a parent to sit back and let things slide.