Child Advocate???

[bekkaboo]

Hi everyone, my name is Rebecca. I'm the mother of three. My oldest, 11 year old boy, has ADHD as do I. Cody was expelled from school today because of an explosion. I also think that his doctor and I deciding that medications were not in Cody's best interest at the moment was a factor in the expulsion. The doctor instead prescribed a behavior study and acessment with a review to follow when he receives the results. I agreed to reconsider medication at that time. This doctor's visit came after the behavioral specialist at the school called last week demanding medication and a thinly veiled threat stating that " we wouldn't want to punish Cody for a disability". I need help. We have a meeting scheduled for next Wednesday, September 21. This meeting was set up to address Cody's "behavioral problems". They have set this meeting up to include 10 of them and one of me. I have heard rumors of the existance of a Texas state ADHD child advocate. If anyone knows if this is true please reply with that information. Contact information would also be very helpful. Any ideas you have on getting through this meeting would also be wonderful. I truly believe that this meeting will determine the sucess or failure of this school year. Thanks in advance for your help.

[Kaiti]

Hi Bekkaboo and welcome to the family.

I'm not in Texas, but I looked on the web and found this site.

www.keepkidshealthy.com/medicine_cabinet/adhd/school_performance_review.html

I hope it's a help, I did scroll down a bit and it was dealing with how to deal with the schools.

Look around there si a wealth of information here, and a few memebers from Texas as well, they might be able to help you a bit more than I can.

Take Care
Kaiti

[tridlette]

www.tourettesyndrome.net/advocacy.htm THIS WEB SITE IS A LIFE SAVER about special ed laws. (this one takes a few days to digest, but has a lot about advocacy)

You will get more replies, but START right away reading up on self advocacy just in case you don't get a professional advocate. The site will take several hours to work through. have a pencil and note pad ready, you want to take lots of notes!

Good luck, keep us posted. We will do our best to help you through this. And the school CANNOT demand medications... they need to stay out of the medical business! Unless the person telling you has a medical degree, he needs to keep his nose out of it! IMHO.

Laurie

[sportsmom]

Another website that I found very helpful is www.schwablearning.org

Also if you have an intermediate school district in your area call them and see if they a list of parent advocates in your district. In fact before your meeting go to the school and demand to get a parent handbook for special education~~this book should also have a list of advocates in it (at least my does).

Good luck to you and your son and let us know what happens.

[finnmom]

:)Bekkaboo and welcome!!

I agree with other´s, study, study, study. The school cannot demand for medication by no mean´s To medicate or not is totally your decicion!!

Your upcoming meeting sound´s pretty unfair to me If you cant find and advocate, then bring on a person you do trust and know will support you in there, ask around, they might have a parent´s network around there.

The most important thing, IMHO, is to not go there all by yourself, or ... if you have to go, then study hard, get all the fact´s together and FIRE Dont let them indimitate you!!!

[catseye]

WELCOME ABOARD!!

I dont know about texas specifically, here in michigan I used www.causeonline.org... If you contact them they might help with finding an advocate in texas?

A great one if you try to advocate yourself iswww.wrightslaw.com... Which is going to say the same as all of us here, they can NOT demand you put your child on medication... It is illegal, and I would veil a threat of making it known that the school system was attempting to force medication... Weather I contacted the local newspaper or the board of education one way or another I would be a squeaky wheel... ;D Hang in there, this is so unbelievably stressfull and overwhelming!!

cat

[bekkaboo]

My thanks to everyone. I did manage to find out who the state's advocate is for my region last night around 4 am. Maybe that should be this morning. The advocate is out of town until Monday. I most likely will not be able to get her to attend Wednesday's meeting. As of now I am compiling a sort of written presentation for the meeting. I intend to include the physiology and the psychiatry behind ADHD. After that I plan to state my desires for the future and back that with the law. I am allowing my son to write a paper detailing what happened yesterday and also a list of expectations he feels are fair. Such as he can expect that teachers will not be grabbing at him and attempting to force compliance when he is in sensory overload. I hope to have everything typed up and made into a booklet to give everyone attending the meeting. Goodness guys, I don't know what to do here. My only real idea here is to be better prepared than they are. I've spent the summer studying the condition and applicable laws. I became so intreged with it that 3 weeks ago I returned to college and am majoring in child advocacy law. Just because I know what the laws are at the moment and I can drown them in statute numbers doesn't mean I even know where to start. Thanks again for all of your help and please please please keep the ideas comming.

[Kaiti]

Bekkaboo, I feel for ya.

Please don't be me, who thinks I can handle it and then all of a sudden during the meeting am breakin gdown crying thinking they know what's best.

NO THEY DO NOT KNOW WHaT IS BEST FOR MY CHILD


I personally do not medicate Mikey, and those on the board know that I respect that they do.

I just don't feel the need for Mikey's hyperactivity. We have diet modifications along the lines of the Feingold Organization www.feingold.org, we have a 504 educational modification, and he has me.

My kid is pulled outta my butt sure as the sun rises in the east. I know what he is thinking before he thinks it.

So in that I know how best for him to learn. I have been blessed with a principal who's son has adhd and she WISHES that she could stand and do this.

She didn't and regrets parts of it.

Good luck

[Linda]

and welcome.....I think everyone here has got it covered for you.

You already know you are your childs best advocate and I admire your courage to go back to school and study child advocacy law.

You do know what to do....go get em