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School bus transportation for special needs students

I have had issues establishing Quincy’s bus transportation to school.  The District is now doing what they should do for her, which is to provided door-to-door transportation from our home to school, but believe me it was a major battle to accomplish this.  It was not a battle to have bus transportation included in her Individualized Education Plan (IEP)…that was easy.  It was a battle with the people who coordinate Transportation for the district to bring a bus up our driveway for Quincy’s pick-up.  We have a short, sloped driveway.  A small bus can back-up it without any trouble.  The problem is that the bus contractor only uses full-sized busses with wheelchair lifts.  They cannot bring a bus of that size up my driveway.  Thus, the stand-off began.  We live in Alaska where the weather is downright brutal during the school year.  The district Transportation people told me they would only pick up Quincy on the street at the end of our driveway.  Quincy cannot be exposed to a -25 wind chill sitting on the street waiting for a bus.  Nor is it even possible to push a wheelchair up or down an icy, snowy driveway.  However the school district Transportation people looked at my yard said they would not come up my driveway.  I told them she would not be picked up on the street.  Long story short…I won,  but it was bloody.  I won because there are always good-hearted people who work for any company that are as frustrated as any of us about bad business and injustice.  I won because an employee of the bus company called me, asked to remain anonymous, and told me that the contractor had at least three small, 4-wheel drive buses with lifts that they were using for other students.  I won because armed with that information I knew that the district Transportation people were not concerned about Quincy but about the aggravation of having to re-work their bus schedules.  I won because it is the law that the school district transport my daughter to school…in fact, the district receives a lot of federal money to do that.  If we refuse bus service you can bet the district won’t refuse these funds.  I hate using the term “I won” but I think anyone reading this that has had to deal with school districts and their children’s rights to an education would equate many of their struggles to a battle.  It was a battle because in order to get the district to do what the law required I had to pull strings, I had to get angry, my blood pressure went through the roof, I cried, I lost sleep.  It’s amazing to me that sometimes even people employed to care for our children are the ones who can be the most insensitive.  I have great respect for the district employees at Student Support Services who have really been committed to seeing that Quincy gets the education that she needs.  Among this department are some amazing, professional, and sensitive people.  Ironically, the folks who contract the bus service, as well as the bus drivers and their monitors have been really incredible people, too.  It just the middle-men, the folks who handle Transportation for the district, who could use some training on disability awareness, sensitivity and even Wright’s Law.  Maybe they should be required to read rubysoup every day.  But, I’m afraid if they read this posting I may not see another bus in my driveway for a month.  Oh well….

What school transition should mean

Yesterday we met with Quincy’s IEP team to discuss her transition from elementary school to high school.  This is a difficult process for children and their families because it means a whole new school, new staff, new schedule…this is scary for all children, but particularly scary for children who have developmental disabilities.  What I was struck by during our meeting, is how thefolks from the school administrations seemed interested in making the transition process smooth for their staff and for Rob and I.  Transistion should not be so much about making new staff members comfortable or even parents, as much as it should be about Quincy.  This is her experience and everything that can possibly be done to make her feel safe and comfortable is what the focus should be.  Don’t get me wrong, these are good people with good intentions.  But, they just don’t seem to “get it”…they just don’t seem to be able to wrap their brains around what should be done for Quincy.  Rob and I do our best to articulate this, but so often you feel as if the message is lost in a world of rules, regulations, goals and objectives, etc…  The first day of high school for Quincy should be exciting and new and safe and as stress-free as possible.  She should be familiar with the building, equipment and adaptive supplies should be available and ready for her to use, there should be trained staff to greet her who know who she is and what she can and cannot do.  I do not expect this to be a stress-free experience, but it should be one that at least provides her a feeling of safety and security as she learns to adapt to a new environment with new people.  Transition is not about my comfort…I am never comfortable trusting Quincy’s care to other people, no matter how well-qualified they may be.  Parent’s raising children who are fully dependent on others for all their needs will never be comfortable sharing that responsibility with anyone else.  What we need is for our children to be comfortable with other’s doing their care-giving.  That is a very, very big difference and one that teachers and administrators should do a better job of trying to understand.

Tags: Special education, transition

Special education and parent advocacy

One of the most challenging issues we face raising a child with both cognitive and physical disabilities is school. Quincy attends the same public school that her brother and sister go to. That was important to us and an issue that we had to fight for…the opportunity for her to attend her home school with her siblings and the neighborhood kids.  This gets down to the essence of rights for special needs children…the right to the same education all other children enjoy.  And that means not busing them to sites set up specifically for intensive needs kids, but instead establishing intensive needs programs within their home schools.  But, this is just the tip of the iceberg.  When you allow a child like Quincy to be in the care of other people for six hours a day you must have a great deal of trust and respect for those who are caring for her.  Quincy cannot talk or tell me when she has been mistreated or scared or frustrated.  So the people, the teachers, aides and therapists, who work with her daily must learn how to communicate with her and respond to her cues.  This takes an incredible dedication of time and resources for training and education, and this is not something you find in public education.  So, we have done a huge amount of work on our own, developing lasting relationships with the people who work with Quincy.  We have developed an IEP team that is first loyal to Quincy’s needs and not so much the needs of the school district.  This has been tremendous  for Quincy, but isn’t always a smooth task.  However, Quincy is the first student in our district to remain in elementary school until she is ready to transition directly to high school next year, in effect skipping middle school.  The purpose of this was to allow her to remain with the same team as long as possible so she can have the maximum benefit of their expertise and to reduce the incredible stress that comes from transitioning to a new staff and building by simply eliminating the transition to middle school.  This works for Quincy because her academic gains are measured in very small increments and most of her time at school is with adults and therapists.  This should make the social transition from elementary school to high school fairly smooth.  For children who function at a higher level, this may not be the best choice.   There are social aspects of middle school that are important for adolescents to be exposed to and it may be awkward and inappropriate for most students to simply skip this important stage of life.  The main point is that we were able to mold Quincy’s school experience to what is best for her, not what is easiest or most economical for the school district which is all to often the way decisions get made.  Credit must be given to the leadership at our district for looking at new and innovative ways to educate and to be willing to listen and incorporate parent input into this process.  Parents must always advocate for the rights of their children, however stressful and time-consuming it may be.  No one is going to  fight for Quincy except her Dad and I…that’s just another reality of this life we lead.

Tags: IEP, intensive needs education, School, transition