02/29/2012 Plans, Plans, and More Plans

Today is the last official day of February 2012.  Many growth steps were realized this week in regards to Harrison and the trails in which we are hoping to journey down in the next few months.

Yesterday, we met with a doctor who diagnosis Harrison with Autism in 2005 for the first time since the initial appointment (Really it was 2005 is what I said to her) and after leaving the office I had a few thoughts:

1.  Wow it was really almost 7 years ago that Harrison was dx with Autism.

2.  The Doctor seemed really surprised that Harrison greeted her unprompted and asked her questions about the appointment.

3.  That our fight with District 81 has been at least 5 years long in just trying to get services for Harrison and that most people would have given up by now. 

4.  We have the best support system in friends, family and Families Together! 

5. That I forgot that I had a few cards held back in my hand to play and they were re-discovered last night and it is the time to play those cards.

6.  That we are a family!  We do things that other families with children do, however we just do them at different times, and in different ways.  But we do them.

7.  Our Dream of Taking Harrison to Disneyland for His Birthday/Christmas has finally occurred 4 years after we wanted but it was at a time when we were already and the best part is that we were able to share it with Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong!

Summer is Here!

It has been awhile since I have updated everyone on Harrison and what is new!

It is amazing to look back at September 2010 when school first started and see a young man who was willing to try anything and determined to be successful in First Grade. I am so happy that Harrison is ready for Second Grade and the new adventures that that will bring. For those checking in we are still not receiving any Special Education IDEiA Services from Spokane Public Schools. We are looking forward to a 3rd year in our neighborhood school. The growth that he has had this year is directly related to his new found confidence and friendships in Cub Scouts.

This year Harrison and his Dad decided that they were going to try Cub Scouts. There is not an active pack at our elementary school so while going to yard sales last summer we found a Pack that met at a nearby school. Harrison and Dave joined the Pack and started their Scouting Adventure. We decided to start the scouting program based on Harrison's grade not his age so that he would have access to the entire program.

Harrison and Dad met with the Pack on Wednesday evening and worked hard toward the Tiger Badge Achievements with the group. With a pretty small pack with peers in the Tiger Den who were 1.5 years younger than Harrison it became clear that he needed to be with age appropriate peers as he would strive to meet them at their social and skill levels and more importantly he could do it and he wanted to be with the kids his own age. One of the joys of the Scouting Program is that accommodations are not a new concept to them. Harrison did wonderfully and achieved his Tiger Badge in January. They have awesome literature on line that describe autism and ASD related issues to leaders and other parents in such a positive way.

By February our family made a decision to leave that Pack and join another group who was better prepared to meet our unique needs in Scouting. It was bitter-sweet however a good choice.

We chose to move to Pack 479 in Spokane Valley at Trent Elementary. They were kicking off the annual Cub Scout Honey Sale. Harrison asked if he could have a Honey Tasting Party and invite our friends, family and neighbors to come, buy honey and support Harrison with working toward going to Day Camp this summer! Over 50 guests arrived to the Honey Tasting Party purchasing over $800 worth of Honey that day. When we finished the Honey Sale, Harrison sold 114 items totaling $1396. Harrison earned 4 entries into the Grand Prize Drawing, a $50 Walmart Gift Card, and self confidence that many have never seen from Harrison.

Harrison joined the Pack as a Wolf and worked hard in the 8 weeks before the end of the Pack year to earn his Wolf Badge. He learned to cook on a BBQ, made a food pyramid chart, visited a Park, to name a few things. He was so happy to receive his Wolf Badge and new Bear Book. Harrison has been showing his true leadership skills and is gain confidence each time that he meets with the Den. We are hoping to see those leadership skills transfer to the school setting this next year.

The best part of this past year is the acceptance and true friendship that has grown between Harrison and the boys from the Pack. Our biggest success comes with Harrison making his first "real" friend. As the parent of a child with Autism you always hope that your child with make a connection with another person their age and with the same interests. Harrison's friendship with the cub scouts in his pack is a dream come true for us. Harrison has been accepted just as he is, and is not only expected by his peers to do his part in the pack but also to be part of their non-scout lives with sleep-overs, play dates and all! Every Mothers Dream!

This summer will be full of fun! Harrison is going to Cub Scout Day Camp- Wild, Wild, West and Blast off! Space Camp, Shoot It! Build It! Burn It! Blow it Up!, Al American Sports, the Avista Stadium Scout Night and Camp Out, Cub Scout Family Picnic, Cub Scout Family Camp, SHOCK Scout Night, and Cub Country Resident Camp with Dad! Vacation Bible School, the Buddy Builders Group at Therapy!, Spokane Indians Baseball, and Fireworks...not to mention all the regular stuff that kids do in the summer! It is going to be busy and fun!

Parenting a child with Autism is not easy, but it is rewarding when you see the hard work pay off, and your child attempt to do the things that they love, and most importantly make a friend all on their own!

Spokane Public Schools-School Board Speech

I presented this speech on April 14th, 2010. I feel great about my decision to speak on something that is so dear to my heart. Change must happen and it needs to begin somewhere-no better person that me!:

Good Evening,
My name is Gerriann Armstrong, a parent of a child at Whitman Elementary. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. I came this evening for 2 reasons. The first is the April is Autism Awareness Month. My son Harrison was diagnosised with Autism when he was 4 years old. We participated in the Preschool Program with the District and I would rate our experience as successful. The transition to Elementary School was not so much. Without getting into too much detail last year we fought a self contained placement in a Designed Instruction Classroom to the point of costing the district thousands of dollars in legal fees as well as our family. The end result is the most important…we choose not to take special education services from District 81 this past school year and trust what we knew to be true that my son could manage a general education classroom and learn. Whitman is our neighborhood school and they were thrust into the middle of this stand off and I want to recognize the Principal Bev Lund and the General Education Teacher Kari Hammond for the wonderful job of rebuilding a relationship with District 81 that was severely damaged last year. My son still receives no special education services however I have learned to trust the staff at Whitman and believe that they understand where the line of services is drawn. We have shared that we are not leaving the school and that whatever they are able to offer Harrison there is appreciated but that he will always have a seat (yes a desk) in a general education classroom- this way he knows and his classmates know that they all belong together!

Secondly, I am concerned about our districts test scores concerning No Child Left Behind or the Elementary and Secondary Education Act particularly the ones related to children with Special Education Services. According to the District AYP Message in the Annual Report Card 2009 that was sent home the week after spring break a justification was made that because smaller school districts have less students they were able to meet the requirements. Looking the Proficiency Goals for all the grades, the category of Special Education did not pass in a single category or grade level. I ask you why…if a smaller school district with less kids with less money, can do it why cant we? What is different in those districts? It is my belief and one that I think needs to be said is the difference between us and the small school districts that passed…they don’t have segregated self contained classrooms for their children with disabilities (DI classrooms) because they can’t afford them. I am saying we can’t afford them either at the level we are using them.

My son attended a special education Integrated Kindergarten last year…he learned how to do school however the belief was that my son had such low cognitive functioning that he was unable to learn in the general education classroom and that he would be a life skills kid- counting change and riding the bus. Life Skills are my job to teach as a parent I expect the school to provide the academic knowledge that he needs to be successful in employment or higher education. This year my son is working at grade level in many areas. Because of his disability we have areas of work that most other children do not…however we have private therapies that are helping in those areas. My son is learning in the same general education classroom that we were told he was too low in cognitive functioning to make progress there.

In a general education classroom my son is an active part of the class not just a “visitor” who comes to hanging out furthering the indoctrination of the stereotype that people with disabilities are different and therefore must be segregated from the “normal people.” My son needs a little more access to the teacher to understand the assignment but does not need an entirely different assignment or curriculum to learn. Teachers can teach from a cereal box if they need to and all kids can learn. Many parents do not have issues with the general education teachers- many of us have found that they are willing to try anything to make it work however the issues comes from the special education teachers or administrators who are saying without saying the words there is no money to provide the support your child needs and since we have the special education self-contained disabled only classroom down the hall or over at a neighboring school that is where we are sending you because its cheaper for us and you have unrealistic views of your child’s abilities. I am sure that none of you have been told that but there are many families who have been told that…too many who have children with Autism or Aspersers. I am calling for the development of best practices for educating children with Autism in our district. With 1 in 70 boys being affected we need to implement or replicate best practices in our state or if we cant find something that will work for us then we need to be the leaders that our children need and develop them. All our children will benefit!!!

The Rest of the Story-School Year 2008-2009

If Special Education is a Service to assist children with disabilities and special needs to achieve academically along side non-disabled peers then why did we have to take a stand and revoke permission for our son with Autism to receive those special education services so that he could maintain a general education placement?

Harrison is a wonderful little boy, who will be 7 years old this winter. He has Autism, however that never has defined who he is or what he will accomplish in the future. Harrison participated in the publically funded Preschool program from the age of 3 through our local school district. Harrison participated in a specially designed kindergarten classroom last year that would provide the teacher and Harrison with the supports necessary to be successful in kindergarten. As my husband and I look back we should have done what our “gut” told us back then which was to place Harrison in a general education kindergarten classroom and wait and see. But, because Harrison was not toilet trained and needed assistance we agreed to a program that could accommodate those needs. Harrison had learned to do many things in the preschool program such as write his name independently with a visual prompt (we worked on these skills in private therapy and at home too) which is where our story of discontent with the school district and special education services starts.

Last fall Harrison stopped writing his name. When I approached the school staff I was told that Harrison was in the pre-stages of writing and that I should not worry as it was only the 20th day of school and the teacher was still getting to know him. When the writing issue became worse in October I met with the teacher, occupational therapist, and the principal and said that Harrison was regressing and all I was seeing coming home was scribbling- again I was told that this was ok because this was prewriting and it was only day 30 of school and we are still getting to know him. At our first parent teacher conference I was floored to see the work that was considered acceptable from my son when I told the staff he could do better. It appeared that Harrison started scribbling on any written work on day 3 of school and that it was never corrected.

I called an IEP Meeting specifically so that I could request extra support in writing for Harrison. I was told that in order to determine what extra support was needed a full assessment needed to be done- I was so naïve to think that the people were interested in assisting Harrison! The reports that came back basically said that Harrison was pretty much unreachable in the general education classroom and unable to understand simple directions and needed more intense one-to-one instruction in a special education classroom (special education is a service not a place). My husband and I listened to the assessment, allowed the team to set goals, and then we challenged why those goals could not be done in the general education classroom. Our school district determined placement based on what they had to offer not what was most appropriate for our son which was a Designed Instruction (DI) Special Education Disabled Peer Only Classroom. We Strongly opposed this placement option because the expectations were not the same as for disabled/special needs kids as the general education kids nor was the curriculum being used the same in order to assist the kids in a Designed Instruction (DI) Special Education Classroom to fully integrate back into the general education classroom with non-disabled peers for academic instruction. So we filed a Due Process Lawsuit through OSPI and enacted a stay-put for Harrison for the remainder of the school year while we hashed out what would happen next year. The school distinct was unwilling to allow a general education placement with pull out services so that a general education teacher was required to program plan for inclusion. Harrison would get to visit the “regular kids” while eating lunch in the lunch room but not with a general education class only his DI peers, and that he would have recess with them, and that he would attend regular PE along with Adaptive PE (which he did not qualify-yep 4 PE classes a week compared to 2 of his typical developing peers).

After 3 months of trying to make the district see our vision of what was most appropriate for the education of our son we finally went to mediation where we were told by the Department Chair that the DI placement is all Harrison would have access to or he got nothing. So in talking to our attorney and working with PAVE, and Families Together for People with Disabilities my husband and I had a very hard and scary decision to make…Do we allow a judge to decide and spend $10,000+ on autism experts? Do we give in and do what the district wants? or Do we take a stand for what we truly believe is most appropriate for our son Harrison?

So on June 1st, 2009 we took a stand…We chose to exercise our rights to revoke special education services on behalf of our son! As much as we had hoped to work with our school district to make a plan that was best for Harrison it was now about who was going to win…the School District or us Harrisons Parents and we had always said that when the focus was no longer on Harrison and his needs to be able to succeed then we would stop.

So we made the best choice we felt for Harrison. So we are finally in our neighborhood school, repeating Kindergarten and having the best time. The feel of general education is so different that that of special education. I am welcome in the classroom, needed as a volunteer and finally seen as the EXPERT on my child. The teacher has been accommodating of Harrisons needs. She sees and shares with us Harrisons strengths. She is willing to try different things to help him be successful without changing her teaching method or room. She is willing to ask for my help and sees me as a partner! She is the type of teacher I knew my son needed!

Looking back the heartache, pain and hours of tears that were shed last spring laid the foundation for the joy we now feel at taking a stand and believing in the abilities of Harrison! So with that we leave you with this thought to ponder:

“When your gut is screaming this is not right, not what is best, and it’s not going to work…listen and make the others listen too…you are the EXPERT on your Child!”