I mentioned it before, but we homeschool. Shortly after we were married, my husband said that our kids would be homeschooled. I was totally blind-sided by that. Both of us had a good mix of public and Catholic schooling from kindergarten through college, so I assumed that our children would have the same. But after long and careful discussion, we agreed that it would probably be best as long as we could do so and still responsibly provide for the family. Lucky for us, with some practical sacrifice and some tough decisions, it has worked out.
Fast-forward a few years and kid #1 was diagnosed with autism. It's a long story, but the shortened version is that our previous school district offered him therapy twice a week at their school that we could work into his homeschooling schedule. They were awesome. But before we could jump into that, we moved a few towns over and into a better-ranked school district. I was pretty stoked at first!
For confirmation's sake, I had to provide them with all of the previous diagnoses as well as make kid #1 available for testing. They also confirmed his autism diagnosis.
Here is where stuff gets aggravating:
This district, ranked best in the state, tells us that they will offer him 30 minutes of therapy classes twice a week and he will be mainstreamed the rest of the time. I told them we were homeschooling, but I could commute him to the classes. They told me that he had to be in regular attendance at a local public or Catholic school in order to receive the therapy. I told them that mainstreaming was statistically harmful to kids with an autism diagnosis and I would not subject my son to that so that 2% of his time in their institutions could be spent getting what he really needs. We registered with their homeschool liaison and have stuck to their ridiculously invasive rules to keep him homeschooled.
What fries me is that he's registered with the district and has a confirmed autism diagnosis. This gives them more funding for their Special Education programs. These are the very same programs he can't use unless he's occupying a desk at their schools.
Furthermore, he has to take the standardized testing required by the district at the appropriate grades (3, 6, 8, and so on). He took it this year, and he blew it out of the water. Guess what that means? The district will be making even more money off of my child.
All of this on top of the taxes they take from us every year.
I am positively mystified that this is how the system gets away with "functioning." They are making money off the back of a kid they refuse to help, and who is thriving without their help.
I sometimes wonder if I'm whiney about all of this. Have I become one who feels entitled to free help because my son has a more and more common diagnosis? I really, truly do not think so. My thought process is more along the lines of wanting every opportunity for kid #1 to have the absolute best chance of a regular life. Not a "normal" life, as I think his father and I will do a good job making that impossible (haha!), but a regular one that involves some close friends, a trusted support system, a learned trade for steady income, the option to attend college, and the ability to objectively reason through situations that arise in his life.
Guess what? I don't have all the answers to making all of that happen. He has the double-whammy of being my first, my "guinea pig" child, and having autism. The people with the district have been trained to specialize in helping kids like mine. It's not like we AREN'T paying for it! Like I said, we pay our taxes, they have his diagnosis on record, and he tests at shockingly high levels. So why is this avenue of help made unavailable to him?
Even if he never gets help from these people, he's doing well where he is and I will never regret keeping him home. It doesn't mean, however, that I don't want the help for him.
Those are my thoughts for today.
No comments:
Post a Comment