School has been a nightmare since 3rd grade. The teachers are always asking me for answers on how to motivate him at school, and how to get him to do his work. Since I do not have a degree in teaching, I have no clue.

Because of the bullying and teasing he has been and is subjected to at school, he totally hates school. (And, sadly, yes, the bullying and teasing continues.)

Even during the IEP Meetings, the staff constantly keeps trying to put the responsibility for my child’s difficulties off on our family and the treatment providers instead of looking at what would truly benefit my child.

Personally, I think there needs to be a complete reform of the entire Special Education system. This idea of having school district personnel decide who gets an IEP is absurb. Of course they (the school district) will do everything possible to avoid having to put a child in Special Education because it costs considerably more money to educate that child than in a regular ed classroom.

I believe that whether or not a child qualifies for an IEP should be determined by a core group comprised of education personnel, medical personnel (both physcial and mental health providers), and parents/grandparents; not just school district personnel. They key to addressing many problems in educating special needs children is EARLY INTERVENTION; which is something that sadly our school district never does!!!

In my child’s case, his elementary education was wasted trying to get him an IEP, while he did nothing in class. As a result, he is now way behind in everything, with no chance to ever catch up or get on track again.

I, personally, am very, very disappointed with the Springfield School District. I feel that they have short-changed my son’s education; and I believe it may already be too late to undo the damage done.

FYI: Do you know that just because a child has a documented medical disability does not mean that it is an “educational disability”; i.e. just because your child has been diagnosed with autism does not mean that he meets the criteria for “educational autism”? I didn’t know that either until just last year. I don’t understand why there needs to be a distinction between the two.

Thanks for letting me vent and ramble; and Good Luck to Mellony Burlison and her son. I will pray for them and for your son, Eli.

Springfield has had a history of not working with children who have special needs, especially Austism Spectrum Disorders. The history goes back 10 years at least.

Unfortunately, most regular classroom teachers are not specifically trained in dealing with Autism and so they cannot exactly be blamed for not understanding that traditional discipline escalates the situation.

Some schools have been more progressive, but many have not. Many of our outlying school districts are much better at providing services to children who have disabilities than Springfield Public Schools. It comes down to money.

Keep us posted.