Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Rage Beyond Rage, plus a bit of Despair

Today I am feeling rage beyond rage. In past postsI have talked about my son Keegan, and how he has been struggling for years now with a language delay. He was in a pre-school speech and language program, which did wonders for his language development, then was promptly kicked out upon reaching the school system. The "wise" reasoning behind this? Because apparently students receive these services through the school board and they can't "double-task".

So, at the end of June last year, I sat in a room with a bunch of teachers and therapists etc., who told me that they were going to apply on Keegan's behalf to enter a program that is one term long, called the early language development centre. Then I was told that because he didn't spend a JK year at the school, he was not elegible for the centre in September, and they would reapply for the February-June session. I was supposed to hear one way or the other by Christmas break. I didn't. I called the school today, and apparently, they received "rejection" letters yesterday, and Keegan was one of them. No reason was given in the letter. And apparently, if I want more answers I have to call the school board.

All of his assessments, from the developmental pediatrician, to his speech pathologist, to the educational assessment psychologist all agreed that Keegan has a language delay that puts his language 2 years behind where he should be. If he does not receive intervention at school, he is at risk of a learning disability by the end of Grade 1. So, here we are.

I was so counting on him being accepted into this program. Everyone was telling me that he was a perfect candidate, and now he gets nothing. Rage. Beyond. Rage. And...despair...at the thought of having to carve a new and difficult road outside of school for his learning opportunities. Eff.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's tough. Poor Keegan, and you.Did you call the school board?

Anonymous said...

ooops I forgot to sign the last comment . It was me,

Lori