I'm the stressed out parent today!

[bright sparks]

So the meeting went well although it baffled me that my son's homeroom teacher had no idea of the specifics of his special needs. LRT was there nodding in agreeance to my recommendations and that he can not possibly keep up with x,y & z in class the way it's being delivered to him and I was just gobsmacked at the fact that while the teacher knows what is in his IEP, he clearly had no idea why he was supposed to do any of the things. I am obviously disappointed in the LRT as well. What I have found out though is that she is only a half time LRT. She is the Gr6-8 LRT and there is another one for Gr 5 and below. Last year I had very little contact with the LRT but that was as a result of having an AMAZING teacher with not only years of experience but a very similar mind as my son. He excelled with her and her methods, growing leaps and bounds. There was never any need to call upon the LRT because his teacher supported him adequately.

I asked that my son have 1 on 1 time with the LRT to try and bring him back from these struggles and restore some confidence back in him. She said she would try but as she only has mornings to see so many kids because she teaches in the afternoon it would likely be a struggle. While I feel for her, I think it's appauling that because resources are not there, children suffer. You can come up with any explanation or excuse but at the end of the day it's the kids who pay the consequences. My son has huge potential which is not my opinion it is the opinion of every educator who crosses paths with him and those professionals who have studied and assessed him. His educators are failing him if they do not have time for him. It's obviously the system, not the individual, but it's just not acceptable.

LRT has said she will apply for him to get his own computer which he will keep till high school graduation. This will help him tremendously so I'm very happy about this. I asked for one back in grade 4 and his previous school said no.

My son's homeroom teacher made loads of notes and then told me what his plan of action would be. Yesterday my son already came home with an assignment I had previously told him stop doing, with an entirely different structure. I am very pleased and feel positive moving forward so there is for sure some good in all of this. I'm just bloody annoyed that LRT's are stretched to thin that it potentially causes harm to the kids. IEP's simply say 1 or 2 words about the accommodation, but it is so generalized and without explanation, it's no wonder IEP's don't always work without parents constantly advocating and keeping an eye on the schools.