It occured to me this afternoon, as I thought about my most recent post, that maybe I’m being bitter about all of my  experiences with the school district. Maybe I come across as angry and it turns off the admin so they don’t want to listen to me from the start. Maybe it’s all my fault that we have had such a difficult time getting special education services for our two kids. Well, I thought, I AM angry.  My children are precious to me and it angers me when school district admin don’t feel the same way as I do about my kids. I need to write about it. Maybe that will help me feel better.

Maybe it will help me feel less angry at the admin who told me “We don’t do IEP’s at this school”. Maybe it will help me feel less angry at the school psychologist who told me, “We can consider the private psychologist’s report, but we don’t have to accept it”, and “We don’t believe you and we’re not going to do the assessment testing”. Maybe it will help me feel less angry at the teachers who I saw literally turn their backs on the kids who were struggling because they didn’t want to get fired from their jobs. Maybe it will help me feel less angry at the principal who told me, “the wheelchair is a liability issue” and “we can’t allow the wheelchair on the playground, or in the cafeteria, so your son will have to sit in the front office during recess and lunch”. Or the VP who told me “Yes, you can volunteer at the book fair, but you can’t bring your son on campus because of the wheelchair”. Or the admin who turned her back on my son during his graduation ceremony and refused to shake his hand because I had argued with her about the wheelchair. Or the teachers who told my son, “There’s not enough room for your wheelchair in the library so you’ll have to leave…and if you don’t stay out you won’t be able to go on the field trip”. Or the district program coordinator who told me “We’ll agree to your request for eligibility if you’ll agree to non-public school placement”. It was a package deal.

Hey, you know what? I AM feeling better.