Special education program?

Julee Lanham: Are you able to do some home schooling? Special Education is a supportive program for all kinds of students with mental and physical disabilities. You can be in a Special Education classroom, but have a few classes with your peers in other classes such as gym classes.Students are really more accepting than you think. You can ask your mom apart of your IEP or 504 plan is to see your guidance counselor at least 3 days a week. There will be a need for you to talk to someone since it will be a new transition in your life....Show more

Mahalia Brindle: I am sorry you feel so badly about your program, but it isn't necessarily special ed. In order to be in special ed, there is a long process including tons of testing for ability and any other possible learning disabilitie. Then a committee sits down with you and your parents and makes the decision to identify you as a student with special needs. In your case it would probably be under the category, Othe! r Health Impaired, rather than it being a disability. If you have not had that meeting and you do not have an Individualized Education Program, you simply are not in special ed. Many schools have these kinds of classes for kids who for whatever reason, haven't been able to make up their credits or have fallen behind. They are kids, just like yourself, with no apparent disability and who have average or better intelligence. It could be that having an a teacher experienced in helping kids like you to accelerate their learning would be helpful. There are some other ways of doing this, though, as the previous writer mentioned, there is virtual school at most high schools and you also may get a tutor for particularly difficult material. You can also make up credits in summer session.In case you find yourself in the same situation as before, missing lots of school due to illness, you might have your mom ask for the Hospital Homebound program, in which a teacher comes to your home! around four hours a week until you can get back to school. Th! is comes under the category of special ed, but is only temporary and does not appear on your records.Finally, there is a regular ed program called the 504 plan, which is not special ed and you can access it through your school counselor. This plan can provide accommodations, such as more time for testing, transcriptions for long writing passages, taking tests in a smaller group and providing a desk copy or outline for anything on the white board or lectures delivered verbally and many, many more. This can be very helpful, especially since sometimes when you don't know the answer well enough to finish doing the answer in the time allotted, you can receive more time. If you do take the class, remember this is temporary and this too shall pass!...Show more

Cecil Derenzi: Hopefully you are getting some treatment for your depression.You should talk to your mom, your teacher, and a school counselor. They need to know how you feel. I think the idea behind the Academic Interv! ention Program is to help you catch up on the information you missed while you were sick. In addition, if depressing is interfering with school work that should provide you with some assistance in order to complete it.Talk calmly to these adults and explain how you feel. They will respect you and treat you as a partner in planning for your needs.Good Luck!...Show more

Frederick Mccoach: Getting the appropriate help so you can learn is not stupid at all. It's very 'smart'. Then you are able to learn the material which you will need to succeed in life. A 'counselor' cannot solely give a 504 plan even if this is what you need. They did not study special education and take the specific licensing for it. This is a separate professional training. And they are not the people who tested you/test other students. Depending on the district the person is either called a psychologist or diagnostician. They are specifically in the special education department, and yes they are spec! ial ed. Yes, seeing the school counselor might be a service which coul! d be part of this plan. But the counselor could not be the one which would write it up keep it in their office--they would (in that case) only be one of the providers.It would be dangerous and unprofessional for somebody who is not licensed to keep 504 documents in their office. Not to mention illegal. A 504 plan and all other documents are kept securely in the special education department and are not released around the general school---including to counselors without appropriate training. This is a legal safety issue. Your parents would still have the final say so about your getting this plan unless you were 18 or over. You can attend these meetings and provide input on your progress/services you are obtaining. But you cannot sign yourself out as a minor. Be grateful. Other students don't get to provide any input about anything which the school is doing for them. They don't even get to decide how many pep rallies the school has. The government says your school legally! has to invite you to planning meetings about your own education. This is a lot of power which other students never have....Show more