Yeah, well, he is in a school that is devoted to Autistic Spectrum students, so to some extent, I do understand his statement. My problem is the patience level in explaining to him that just because he does not exhibit the same behaviors of his classmates, the ones that irritate him, does not mean that he could handle a mainstream classroom. He was mainstreamed until he was in eighth grade and we finally convinced the school that mainstream was not the appropriate environment for him, even if it is the least restrictive.

Pet Peeve rant: US Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Everyone is entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education in the least restritive environment possible. Why do administrators focus on LRE instead of Appropriate. When mainstream is determined to be not appropriate why can we not look at the most appropriate first (assuming that parents agree) instead of going through all the steps to get to the appropriate environment.

I firmly believe that if Billy had been put in his current school first instead of RSP or EDD programs he would have been much happier and productive there.

I would not be sitting here in Starbucks while he takes the profieciency exam to leave school early and move on to community college.

That was another fight and if it were not for our home district's current assisstant superintendent it might have been harder, despite having the school behind me. When we first approached him with the idea he was prepared to agrue against the idea. Every child should have the opportunity to graduate from high school. I do agree with him. But the individual needs of each child must also be considered, especially when on an IEP.

Billy is behind in his credits because he is unhappy and therefore unproductive. He's intelligent and knows that at 18 he can drop out and leave with nothing and he's unhappy enough to do that. This way at least he has something. And his father and I are agreed that if he wants a roof over his head, his education will continue, even if it is part time at the community college and he must be working toward a goal -- certificate, AA, transfer. What changed the administrators mind was not only our assurance that this would be a beginning, not an end, but the example that I gave of one of my college professors who attained a PhD having never graduated from high school. She earned her GED as a single mother and worked her way up.

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Perspective Alters Reality

For most LD's LRE with resource and accomodations mainstream is usually enough. For students with social, emotional, behavioral disabilities (and they are becoming more predominant for some reason) Appropriate needs to become a higher priority because mainstream even resource or main campus ed is not always appropriate and that does not serve the educational needs.

If I had the money, I'd be going back right now earning my SE credential and working on an MA in SE primarily the needs of ED students.

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Perspective Alters Reality

Our school district used to be one of the best in response to SpEd. We had great resource, an award winning Moderat/Severe program, and a fantastic continuation school, as under one administrator. Then a few years ago the then Ass Sup (who's now the Sup) decided that since he had a SpEd background he should take over for the SpEd Administrator, wanted to put him back into the classroom, mainstream everyone, and closed the continuation school and our brilliant school board (which has since been recalled in its entirety) wondered why the community was so upset by them appointing the man Superintendent.

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Perspective Alters Reality

Yeah, and pay attention to what school board members are voting for. Ours got so focused on IB and Ag that everything else got forgotten. What happens to the kids who prefer AP or want a career in something other than Ag? Something other than Ag in the Napa Valley, heresey!

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Perspective Alters Reality