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Testing update Grades and School Absenses (long-term)

fourcatmom

By fourcatmom,
in The Learning Challenges Board

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fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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So in our IEP meeting the other day I was told that my dd, 13 will be getting F grades for the first learning period of 8th grade. She has been out of school on a medical note since last May. I really think the school (charter school) blew it and should have had her on a home/hospital program this whole time so that she could have done something so that this wouldn't happen.

 

Now they are talking about moving her to either an IEP or the home/hospital program, 10 months after the injury. I had repeated discussions with her CT (teacher) last year about her work and how she was struggling but was told everything was fine. Now, she is starting the year with 6  letter F grades.

 

This doesn't seem fair to me. Is this normal? Why wouldn't they just give a NG or I or something. The way it looks is that she just didn't do school with no explanation or documentation of the doctor's note or injury.

Thoughts?

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Lecka

Lecka

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I have heard of people getting Incompletes instead of Fs.  I have also heard of them retro-actively withdrawing kids from a class.

 

I have also heard of them assigning credit for the number of weeks that were completed, so maybe she gets a few credits toward graduation.  This is one that lets kids get a few credits, and also they don't have to go back to those classes if that is not in their best interests (like they would have to with incompletes).

 

So those are options I am familiar with, when kids have had a medical issue and needed to leave school mid-semester.  

 

 

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fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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I really have no experience with this, but it seems wrong. Do you have to keep her enrolled in the charter school? Can you withdraw her and notify that you are homeschooling? Then you would not have someone other than you assigning grades.

 

We are homeschooling, through the Charter School and yes I would like to keep her enrolled. I am suppose to be able to grade with the support of the CT but I guess since she is not doing anything they think she deserves all F grades.  I really don't think they know what to do. I am sure what should happen with her grades but giving her all F's just seems wrong when she has a doctors note and from multiple doctors.

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displace

displace

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This IS wrong and they seriously dropped the ball. If you cannot withdraw her then fight it. Absolutely fight it. She deserves an incomplete. She was not allowed MEDICALLY to do any work. She DOES NOT DESERVE F's. They were informed, they have the documentation. Fight it.

Ita
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fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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This IS wrong and they seriously dropped the ball. If you cannot withdraw her then fight it. Absolutely fight it. She deserves an incomplete. She was not allowed MEDICALLY to do any work. She DOES NOT DESERVE F's. They were informed, they have the documentation. Fight it.

 

Thank you for that. I think it just helps (me) to know that I not off my rocker when I go to fight something that others would too. It gives me a little more encouragement to fight even though my gut was saying it's way wrong to do this to her.

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fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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Thank you. She sees the doctor tomorrow and I am thinking they will release her to start doing some school. They are going to start doing assessments on her and today they added PT and OT assessments due to balance concerns and the fact that she seems to be the only kid at the barn that gets hurt. Once they do the assessments they can write up the IEP (I am assuming she will qualify) so I will have to see what will happen in the interim because she won't be full schedule for a bit still.

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fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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And she was released today to start some school on Monday. They are allowing her 7.5 hours a week for the next three weeks to see how she does. She also has about 13 hours of assessments they want to do. 8 hours of Neuro/Psych testing (2 with the school and 6 with the medical center), 2 hours of academic testing, 1 hour for a health assessment, 1 hour for a PT eval and 1 hour for an OT eval. She is not going to like all that.  :ohmy:

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displace

displace

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And she was released today to start some school on Monday. They are allowing her 7.5 hours a week for the next three weeks to see how she does. She also has about 13 hours of assessments they want to do. 8 hours of Neuro/Psych testing (2 with the school and 6 with the medical center), 2 hours of academic testing, 1 hour for a health assessment, 1 hour for a PT eval and 1 hour for an OT eval. She is not going to like all that. :ohmy:

I'm glad the school changed the grades. That was ridiculous!

 

I assume the Neuropsych will break up testing into many sessions. If not I'd insist upfront. I doubt she'll have a long reserve for testing. The school you may need to press the issue.

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fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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I'm glad the school changed the grades. That was ridiculous!

 

I assume the Neuropsych will break up testing into many sessions. If not I'd insist upfront. I doubt she'll have a long reserve for testing. The school you may need to press the issue.

 

Yes, thank you. Right now they are scheduled for 1 hour sessions and they start tomorrow. She will only have two a week (one this week due my health). I did let them know that she had a hard day yesterday and I wasn't sure she would even be able to do the hour and so they are prepared for that and seem open to stopping when it gets too rough. The only problem is that I wont be in the room so their idea of being enough might be different then mine, she'll pretty much will just put her head on the table when she's had enough so hopefully it wont be an issue.

 

That is the psych and academic testing with the school but the Neuro testing at the medical center will also be in 1 hour segments. Since she does 45 minutes of CBT and does okay we just decided to start with a hour goal and reduce as necessary.

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fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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I hope her first testing session went well!

 

Yes and No. They added several more hours of testing just to get through the first "2 hour" part. They said it was unusual to have to break it up so much as they normally just do all the testing in one sitting but they realized after that first day that was not going to work. She spent the whole hour there but they did not accomplish an hour of testing. And the testing with the medical center just got approved so there will be that too. She had a huge meltdown that night, it's just hard on her. I get it. I want the answers though and I think this will help us get a very clear picture of where she is right now and how to help her. But I feel it's going to a very long month. :sad: For both of us.

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MerryAtHope

MerryAtHope

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Yes and No. They added several more hours of testing just to get through the first "2 hour" part. They said it was unusual to have to break it up so much as they normally just do all the testing in one sitting but they realized after that first day that was not going to work. She spent the whole hour there but they did not accomplish an hour of testing. And the testing with the medical center just got approved so there will be that too. She had a huge meltdown that night, it's just hard on her. I get it. I want the answers though and I think this will help us get a very clear picture of where she is right now and how to help her. But I feel it's going to a very long month. :sad: For both of us.

Ugh! I hope it gets better. I agree, though, the answers are worth it. Just wish it didn't have to be so hard on her (and you!)

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fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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First week of testing is complete! Two more weeks to go and we already have the IEP meeting scheduled to go over everything for the 16th of November. So far it's actually going very well. They have told me a few things and she has shared a few things too but overall I really think it's boosting her confidence. She was told she is somewhere between 6th and 8th grade in Math which is way better then either of us expected. She was also told she should be an English major since she was so strong in her grammar and spelling. The psychologist shared with me that my dd thinks I push her too hard and she is anxious. He has said that two years is not uncommon for a child to be struggling after a TBI so he's been a pretty big support. It will be nice to have some info so that i know where to push and where to give her breaks. The resource person complimented her on being very polite and respectful and they both see her as being very social. The best part is she really likes both people who are working with her right now, which is a huge bonus.

 

Next week we have more testing, we meet with the nurse to do a vision and hearing test and she has the first part of her PT and OT evaluations. So, we are making progress. Overall, I am very happy we moved forward with all the testing. We were both exhausted but she is learning she can do it.

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fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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She had her initial OT and PT evaluations this week. I am so happy we did this. She still has one more visit for each before we get the information and in OT they are going to do some vision testing but today during the PT session they told her that they think the problem is in her neck. I have often wondered this but they haven't done anything to check her neck as of yet. The way she was thrown into the rail (she hit near the back of her head) and I know she complained about neck pain after. I think they were so focused on her brain though that we just have missed this. Her first concussion was also more of a whiplash so this is all making a lot of sense to me right now.

 

I don't know what this will mean but maybe it will lead to some further investigating that might provide us with more answers.

 

Feeling positive about all this testing... ;)

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fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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I know, it makes so much sense. I am actually feeling hopeful. I have no idea what tests to push for though to confirm or rule it out? MRI or CT ( I would hate for her to have another CT scan) but another MRI which focused on the neck might be good. Not even sure what they could be looking for but it just makes sense with all the headaches, the strain, the fatigue, why she likes to lay in bed....

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  • 2 weeks later...
fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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The MRI came back normal on both her brain and neck so that is great news. Doesn't help me figure anything out but at least I know all is well inside. They are going to go ahead and request a clinical PT evaluation to see if there is some things they can do to help her neck now that we know inside it's okay. They did say (and they have mentioned it before) that she has Cerebellar tonsillar ectopia. What I find interesting is that in her MRI in 2013 which we did because of the sudden onset of double vision and headaches they noted

"There is crowding at the level of the foramen magnum, but no cerebellar

tonsillar ectopia.".

 

In this MRI is states, "

Cerebellar tonsillar ectopia. The remainder of the examination is    unremarkable."

 

He wants to do the MRI again in another year and see if it has changed. So this Cerebellar tonsillar ectopia can lead to something called Chairi malformation which tends to cause headaches and double vision but they see no evidence of this so the MRI is essentially normal and she does not have the Chairi malformation.

 

This was the message from the doctor, "The MRI scans did show that the brain tissue looked fine and no abnormal masses were seen and in the neck no disk herniations were seen and the fall did not cause any structural abnormalities in the neck. The radiologist did note cerebellar tonsillar ectopia, which is where in the back of the brain part of the brain tissue juts out a little. This can lead to something called a Chairi malformation, which can lead to obstruction of flow of fluid in the back of the brain that can lead to swelling in the brain and cause a lot of headaches and possibly blurry vision. On the MRI no signs of obstruction were seen and so she does not have Chiari malformation now and this would not cause her headaches but I would like to check an MRI again in 1 year to see if anything has progressed from before. Unfortunately the MRI does not explain her headaches."

 

Anyone know anything about this?

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Tiramisu

Tiramisu

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The MRI came back normal on both her brain and neck so that is great news. Doesn't help me figure anything out but at least I know all is well inside. They are going to go ahead and request a clinical PT evaluation to see if there is some things they can do to help her neck now that we know inside it's okay. They did say (and they have mentioned it before) that she has Cerebellar tonsillar ectopia. What I find interesting is that in her MRI in 2013 which we did because of the sudden onset of double vision and headaches they noted

"There is crowding at the level of the foramen magnum, but no cerebellar

tonsillar ectopia.".

 

In this MRI is states, "

Cerebellar tonsillar ectopia. The remainder of the examination is    unremarkable."

 

He wants to do the MRI again in another year and see if it has changed. So this Cerebellar tonsillar ectopia can lead to something called Chairi malformation which tends to cause headaches and double vision but they see no evidence of this so the MRI is essentially normal and she does not have the Chairi malformation.

 

This was the message from the doctor, "The MRI scans did show that the brain tissue looked fine and no abnormal masses were seen and in the neck no disk herniations were seen and the fall did not cause any structural abnormalities in the neck. The radiologist did note cerebellar tonsillar ectopia, which is where in the back of the brain part of the brain tissue juts out a little. This can lead to something called a Chairi malformation, which can lead to obstruction of flow of fluid in the back of the brain that can lead to swelling in the brain and cause a lot of headaches and possibly blurry vision. On the MRI no signs of obstruction were seen and so she does not have Chiari malformation now and this would not cause her headaches but I would like to check an MRI again in 1 year to see if anything has progressed from before. Unfortunately the MRI does not explain her headaches."

 

Anyone know anything about this?

 

I know a little about this from information I gleaned from a board geared to those who have inherited connective tissue disorders. I am by no means a specialist but I will share what I learned there with the caveat that I have no idea as whether or not this has been carefully researched.

 

I'm guessing your dd had an MRI when she was lying down. According to some, that can mask some cases of Chiari Malformation. On the connective tissue board, it has been recommended for people who have symptoms of CM and the typical MRI doesn't show anything to get another MRI done in an upright MRI machine. The upright MRI images should show if the cerebellar tonsil drop below the foramen magnum when the person is upright and gravity comes into play. 

 

I'd be curious if your dd shows any laxity. One way to check is for her to gently bend her thumb downward and see if it can touch the inside of the wrist/forearm. This might help. http://www.physio-pedia.com/Beighton_score

 

You can google about upright MRIs and CM. But judge your sources. When I have more time later, I'll try to see if there's anything I can find in a peer reviewed journal.

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fourcatmom

fourcatmom

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That is very interesting. Of course I don't want her to have this but I find it interesting that her MRI has changed in 2 years. The first one noting nothing but crowding and the second one saying she now had what wasn't there before, just not confirming CM. Headaches, double vision and balance issues. Hum...worth digging a bit more into. Obviously these symptoms could be other things too but it makes me wonder.

 

Yes, she was lying down. This is all the child who has a pelvic tilt and scoliosis. Wouldn't this all be related?

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Tiramisu

Tiramisu

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That is very interesting. Of course I don't want her to have this but I find it interesting that her MRI has changed in 2 years. The first one noting nothing but crowding and the second one saying she now had what wasn't there before, just not confirming CM. Headaches, double vision and balance issues. Hum...worth digging a bit more into. Obviously these symptoms could be other things too but it makes me wonder.

 

Yes, she was lying down. This is all the child who has a pelvic tilt and scoliosis. Wouldn't this all be related?

 

No one wants anything like this but as moms we sure want answers when our kids are suffering.

 

Yes, it *might* be related but most of the time these things are unclear.

 

Scoliosis is listed among symptoms of inherited connective tissue disorders. 

 

Pelvic tilt? I'm not sure. My dd pelvis tilted when she developed a spine problem (spondylolisthesis). After surgery, her pelvis changed again and you can see in her xrays she has pronounced lordosis, but she hasn't had further problems and looks normal on the outside. She is not formally diagnosed with EDS but her surgeon noted lax ligaments.

 

Sometimes people can develop scoliosis if there is instability in the lumbar/sacral area, which would account for the pelvic tilt. Has your dd ever had an xray or MRI of her lumbar spine? Not that you need another thing to look into!

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