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Thursday, June 18, 2015

School, Unfortunately

I have loved Jimmy's school and his teachers, especially the one he has had for the past two years. He has an IEP which we meet yearly to update.  This year the week before the IEP meeting, his teacher wanted to meet to discuss his behavior. I was under the impression that this was an informal meeting. I get there and not only is his IEP teacher there, but his speech therapist, occupational therapist and his IEP teacher's boss. I'm not going to name names, but I am still furious with them and no longer trust them. At this meeting his teacher's boss brought up all these services that I should sign Jimmy up for. Medicaid....what, we have insurance. DDS (developmental disabilities services). I really felt blindsided by this meeting.

We had just received the autism diagnosis in December and to get in to Children's Hospital for autism services it's a 6-9 month wait for some doctors.  I had not had the chance before this meeting in March to talk with a doctor yet.  This meeting ended at around 2pm. I had told them I wasn't sure about these services, even though the IEP boss said I needed to look into it right away.

About 9am the next morning Children's Services called me and said that someone from the school, the investigator said she could tell it was someone from the school because of the way they described his disabilities, reported that I sent him to school in clothes covered in urine and feces and he was dirty and smelled (he is sent to school bathed and in clean clothing!). As she was talking to me, I suppose she could see all his medical appointments or records on her computer, she said, "I think someone at the school has it out for you, because if this were the case, it would have been reported by one of the many doctors you see at Children's."


I cried for 3 days. I could not believe that I was being investigated for neglect of a child that I have stayed up with for 48 hours during some periods when his meds were keeping him awake. Everything I do is for my kids!

My thinking is that when I downplayed the Medicaid and DDS, the IEP boss went back to his office, he called 241-Kids and reported me, anonymously to get an investigation going, perhaps as a scare tactic.  If I were to get on Medicaid, the school could bill Medicaid for his therapies at school. When the school was called the investigator said that they reported to her that I wasn't doing enough for his autism, which I now question whether or not he really has, but that will be my next blog.

Last week I finally received notice from Children's Services that the complaint was unfounded and the case was closed. They never saw my son, they could just see from all his medical records that I was doing everything I could.

No longer do I trust the school. I have revoked their permissions to talk to his doctors. I allowed them to talk to them while he was being tested for autism. The school had already labeled him as autistic, before the diagnosis. That got them $11,000 per year, for Jimmy. That get this every year for each autistic child. I'm so happy Jimmy is such a benefit to them. I wonder what they would get if I signed him up for DDS. He is so precious to me, it is appalling that the school would try to get to me by calling Children's Services on us! I am still so hurt by this. His IEP teacher I had nominated for teacher of the week, which she got. I don't think she called, I think her boss did, but I do think she knew he was going to do it!