The battle rages on...

My son's academic career has been somewhat of a battle given his ADHD & ODD. I've had to fight for every little bit of assistance he's given even though by rights, it supposedly his for the taking. As long as all parties involved, i.e., the psychologist that wrote the initial report that identified his diagnoses, the psychiatrist he's currently in treatment with, the school (inclusively, the learning support teacher, his class teacher, the principal & vice principal), his father & I are all on the same page.

Currently, I am trying to get an accurate & complete IEP (individualized educational plan) in place for my mini-me and a half-hearted, woefully inadequate effort was presented to me earlier this week. The recommendation that he be put on an IEP came down in February 2005 when Dr. G did her psychological assessment, defining his diagnoses as ADHD and ODD, with a reading disability and possibly a writing disability; but she couldn't definitively prove the writing disability because she couldn't get him to produce enough written work...ummmm...doesn't that tell you something????????

The school is miles from where I'd like them to be, but somewhat in their defense, they're not entirely at fault. I know our schools need a major overhauling. Kids aren't learning effectively and children like my son are falling through the cracks and often end up as highschool dropouts. Everybody complains that the schools are failing our children, but nobody seems to be doing anything about it. The collective faculties of education & teacher's colleges across Canada and the United States continue to churn out teachers overwhelmingly unprepared for today's issues, using teaching modules that haven't evolved since God knows when.