My Child is in a Special Needs Class For No Reason?

Question

My son is 8yrs if age and is in a special needs class and really is being held back by the school district 2 schools have lied and sugar coated the kind of class my child needs and from my research and from proffessional opinions my child only needs Speech Therapy. They have tried too declare him autistic/mentally retarded but have been diagnosed the opposite...i dont know if this should become a lawsuit or not and if race is also a factor

Answer 1

I was in special ed for a lot of time and I am still enrolled in school but never go because I cant stand to think I will have to be in the special needs class. In the USA your child should have an IEp which includes you and the other professionals that you have had an IEP with. If your son does not need a special needs class you should get him taken out of it as soon as possible and depending on where you live I am sure some of it may be race seeing as how the USA works these days. I dont think this would go very far as a lawsuit inless you would be able to prove something more. Teachers that teach in mainstream classes dont wnat to have to waste there time with any child that they say is not "TYPICALLY DEVELOPING". Remember fight for your son and his education  or he will end up hating school and feeling like he is not learning anything. I hope your son the best hope the speech therpy works.

Answer 2

There are many children misdianosed or placed in the wrong learning environment.  Especially behavior problem kids.  I would talk to the school, and see why they are placing him in that classroom, and see what other alternatives there are.  Does he get any therapy outside of school?  What has his dianosis been medically?  

Be an advocate for your child, and try to get him in the right learning environment for him, but don't make it a big deal with the school district or you'll be on their bad side.

It's only a basis for a lawsuit if there is wrongdoing on the part of the school.  If you are a minority at a primarily white school race could be a factor, but it shouldn't be.

Answer 3

I'm going to tell you the straight up truth without the lies or the sugar coating. The school that I attended placed me in  special education back in the late 70's due to a speech impairment and nothing else. The reason being because they viewed me also as a "r****d" due to needing speech therapy at the time. BTW, I'm white. So therefore, race is mostly NOT a factor at all but it does sound like that your child's speech impairment IS a huge factor.

I'll also state this as a fact because back in 2004, after I got hurt at work, not only did the Communist-Wealth of Virginia deny me my right to Worker's Comp Benefits after getting hurt at work where I as a laborer but this d**n state had the nerve to call me "An extremely simple man" and tell me "You need to stick to jobs that you know how to do because people like you don't have the mentality to do anything else" which in the eyes of this worthless government means only one thing "Scrubbing some sh*tty, nasty *ss toilet" despite having almost 5 years troubleshooting computers. I did mention that I was white. Which again, just proves that race was NOT a factor here but my speech impairment was.

You can contact a lawyer but I'm not too sure if they would do anything. I state this as a fact because I contacted the ACLU when received this insulting letter from the Communist-Wealth of Virginia and they refused to help me. The ACLU pretty much informed me to "Get over myself."

However, what you should do is contact the Department of Education in your state, and if this still does not get you anyway contact the US Department of Education and get the federal government involved. If you do go this route have your child's IEP Test scores, the kind of work your child does, and any other school records (including report cards) ready because they will demand that you show proof of discrimination taking place because of your child's speech impairment. Good luck because you are going to need it.

Edit: BTW, at the age of 37, I'm attending college and maintaining a 4.00 GPA while working fulltime. My majors are Computer and Electrical Engineering which just proves that this "Extremely simple man" can actually do more in life than clean up after the "normal" people of society despite what the worthless government want to believe or other morons might believe.

Richard S. you are the dumb-*ss here. People with speech impairments all the time succeed in life. If fact, I'll be more than happy to challenge you to an IQ Test any day of the year. Better yet, let's compare academic awards. I've made the Dean's List every semester since starting college, I was chapter president of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society at the school that I attended last year, I've been invited to attend the 2008 Engineering Delegation in China by the International Scholar Laureate Program, I'm on the 2006-2007 National Deans List, and also received invitations from schools such as University of Virginia and Yale to receive my degree there. Can you say the same son? ....And no "These awards were not just handed to me because of my skin color either." I busted my *ss and earned every bit of it.

Answer 4

you have a right to request he be removed from speciaol ed-or that he be moved to mainstream (least restrictive environment)

you can request that he be removed from special ed completely and be given a 504 plan (accomodations for regular ed studnets)that includes speech therapy

Answer 5

If your child 'only needs speech therapy', then he has special educational needs. With no disrespect meant, if he has a speech problem, why should the school slow down their lessons, or even dumb-down lesson content, putting the other 29 kids at a disadvantage? And I doubt that they 'tried to declare him autistic' - it's much more likely that they felt they had cause to test him for it, in order to potentially better cater to his specific special educational needs.

Answer 6

By law, schools must have test scores to show why your son is placed in special ed. You had to be a part of the IEP team and also give permission to test and later permission to place. Placement cannot happen without your permission.

If you have some outside diagnosis from a medical professional or other evaluator, schools are not required by law to honor them.

It is not a lawsuit matter. If you want to remove your child from special ed, put it in writing, sign and date it then take it to the school. By law they will tell you they need to do another reevaluation before dismissing your son, which is true, but you can reject that as well. Just put it in writing.

(Mental retardation is an IQ less than 70. Autism has many facets as it is a spectrum disorder. It can be mild, moderate, or severe and must be diagnosed by someone outside the school.)

Answer 7

If you are in the US you should have been a part of an IEP meeting to determine your son's placement and educational program.  You should also have been advised of your rights if you disagreed.  You should file, in writing, your disagreement along with supporting documents ASAP.

I would also suggest contacting your state's special education advocacy program and the state department of education.

Answer 8

First of all don't trust the educational authorities, they do not support your needs or the needs of your child. If you can afford it get a lawyer. Go to the superintedent, write or threaten to write letters to the editor of the local newspaper, call school board members...do everything you can to advocate for your child and above all, resist letting them label him. I am a psychotherapist in Northern Virginia and I see this every day and am amazed that parents put up with this c**p. Get and document professional opinions, and threaten them, be relentless and don't believe they are on your side or care about your child, they don't. Most school systems are simply bureacratic corporate models who have lost touch with the idea that the consumers are the parents and the students-not themselves, very self serving and seem to be interested in  just turning children away, blaming the child and/or parent...without taking responsiblity. There are networks  that you should engage also. Our school system is evil and greedy (FCPS) and they have a staff of lawyers who are busy defending the system about countless lawsuits for these very reasons.