A Successful Resolution

I am happy to say we have reached what appears to be an amicable solution to our dilemma! (We were not hopeful) I am told that where we live, successful outcomes are an anomaly. Due to the confidentiality agreement, I can not go into details. All I can say is that everything we wanted was addressed successfully...except for a certain person who wants to charge me 35 cents per page of my son's records. It seems a bit high to us, but that is a small skirmish compared to everything else we have been working on.

That is not to say that this has not been a battle. I've had doubts that I could continue, I had lost faith in an otherwise fantastic school system, and I have moved all of my kids out of their current school in order to get them away from an administration that touted a "Zero Tolerance Bullying Policy" while effectively bullying my son and my family in the process. My husband and I have argued about how to proceed, whether we should proceed, and if we could afford to proceed if it became necessary to go to court. We have been fighting meltdowns every morning in getting our son to school and his sisters have been edgy waiting for the next one to erupt. I have run the gamut of emotions dealing with this drama. We have won this battle, but there is still a war going on.

When we told our son that this drama was finished, I could see him relax. He is now willing not only to go to school, but he gets on the bus without argument. At recess he has started playing soccer with some of the other boys who have willingly and patiently taught him. (This is huge! He approached them and asked if he could play!)

I am not stopping this fight, however. Our struggles were much milder than many others I have heard, but that does not make it okay and that does not mean there won't be another gifted Aspie struggling to make it through school. I am going to become an advocate. My advocates have been fantastic. They supported our position and were great cheerleaders. Just knowing we had someone who understood and had been through it and were there for us really made things easier. I want to do that for other families too.

The biggest lessons I have learned from this are to get an advocate before you think you need one, learn everything you can about how the IEP works in your area, and save every last piece of paperwork they give you. Know your rights and do not back down! Your child's future depends on it!

I am ending this blog here because things are slowing down and I have less to say in big blocks. I really thought this fight would last a lot longer, although I am not complaining that it is over. Any further news will be on my Facebook Page: Aspie Families. Feel free to like the page, share it, and join in the discussion. It's still new, but I keep up with it a little better. Feel free to share this blog as well, as I hope it helps others who feel hopeless where their children's education is concerned. There is hope, and success is possible, I promise!