 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Parent Report |
PARENT REPORT Concerning Stephen January 21, 2002 Prepared for Ms. Janet Woods Principal, Barnett Elementary Anywhere, USA In Conjunction with the ARD meeting scheduled For January 25, 2002 at 10:45 a.m. Prepared by: Alisha Leigh |
| Title Page |
| Table of Contents |
|
| Introduction to Stephen 3 Stephen’s Home, Parents, Siblings, and Extended Family 5 Medical and Mental Health History 7 Social History 12 Behavior Wise -- What’s Worked/What’s Failed? 13 Major Concerns 17 Strengths and Weaknesses Summary 18 Parent Questions, Comments and Summary 20 Attachment “A” -- Memo to Ms. Katherine Todd, January 16, 2002 Subject: Stephen Leigh - Behavior/Discipline (Not published) Attachment “B” -- Memo to Ms. Lynda Adams, Diagnostician, January 10, 2002 Subject: Pre-ARD meeting (Not published) |
|
| Introduction to Stephen Leigh Stephen was eight years old on his birthday, December 14, 2001. Stature wise, he is typically one of the smaller children in the classroom. At home, he displays a good personality and disposition and is a delightful child. He is a complex individual; he has anxiety related to school that is exhibited at home. Stephen enjoys the following which includes but is not limited to: playing with other children, swinging, playing baseball, watching movies, building things with Lego’s, playing games (Candyland, Yatzee, Tic-Tac-Toe, dominoes, and Go Fish), free-hand drawing, reading and being read to, Monster trucks, playing with his PlayStation (car racing, motor cycle racing, Spiderman, and Power Rangers), playing games and working with educational software such as Jump*Start and Sonic’s Schoolhouse, Phonics 4 Kids on the computer, boat riding, fishing, riding his Yamaha 50 motorcycle, riding his four-wheeler, frequenting Splashtown during the season, swimming, watching cartoons on the television, going to the park, etc. Stephen never fails to be fascinated with the zoo in Lufkin although it is small and we have been there many times. Other than Touched by an Angel, Walker Texas Ranger, and cartoons on weekend mornings, he has very little interest in watching television. Stephen’s favorite books at home are Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, a bible story pop-up illustrated by John Patience entitled Daniel in the Lion’s Den, I’ll Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, Oh, Tucker! by Steven Kroll and everything and anything involving dinosaurs and sharks. We often read his school library books after school and/or during breakfast before school. His present library books of choice lean toward Clifford, the Big Red Dog. Stephen came to live with us in March 1999 -- he was 5 years and 3 months old at that time. By comparison, his social skills have improved considerably but they still need work. His vocabulary and speech annunciation was delayed. As of March 1999, Stephen had had near zero teaching/schooling. He could count to five and knew some of the primary colors. He did not have a clue about letters or the alphabet; he had never heard the alphabet song. It was apparent that he had rarely held a pencil or crayon in his hand. The best we could determine, he had never been read to. Through no fault of his own, Stephen missed out on thousands of things children are ordinarily taught just through a cursory effort at parenting. Although untrained in Child Development, it was obvious to us there was much work to do. We began that work immediately by purchasing and introducing educational materials and toys together with trying to instill a sense of “home,” safety, values and behavior boundaries. Stephen started asking questions about any and everything the minute we picked him up in Beaumont, Texas, and did not stop for approximately one year while in our presence except to take a breath or while he was sleeping. While the reader of this report may think this is an exaggeration, I assure you it is not. We absolutely would have to tell him it was necessary to take a “10 minute break so our ears could rest.” Every 20 to 30 seconds, he would ask, “Are they rested yet?” “Is time up yet?” He was literally starved for information. (And our ears really did need to rest -- sometimes they would ring from being bombarded with questions! And the way he jumped from topic to topic would make anybody’s head spin!) Although not apparent to an outsider, because of his life experiences, Stephen was an emotional wreck. For lack of a better description, his emotions were “locked.” With all the sudden changes going on in his life, he never cried for his birthmom, his sister Haley -- or for any other reason for that matter. Further, he exhibited no tears or emotions from physical pain in instances such as falling down while playing. This little boy had been with us for about two months before we ever saw him shed a tear (except a one-time event caused by his birthmom’s intentional manipulation) and that was due to a previously untreated cavity. He wet the bed a few times within the first two weeks he was with us. He had long-term episodes of uncontrollable urine release and sudden, uncontrollable diarrhea. He had nightmares for a short time. He would get numerous fever blisters which we later came to learn are typically manifestations of stress rather than illness -- and that’s still the case today. In short, we felt it best for Stephen to become settled and bond with us and our home for a time before starting “school.” Therefore, Mom took off work for a time in order to be home with Stephen everyday. During this time, Stephen was introduced and encouraged to hold a crayon and pencil and “write” or draw in an effort to begin the education process as well as strengthen muscles in his hand necessary to perform this task. Morning, noon, and night we played games on the computer and started using the Pre-K Jump*Start computer program. We played with numeral and alphabetical flash cards. We worked with number and letter books. We drew many a “connect thedots pictures. We explored the Internet looking at pictures of bears, sharks, elephants, dinosaurs, etc. While driving we would sing the alphabet song and play the game of, “What color is that?” and “Words that start with an “a” are…. Words that start with a “b” are…? After a few weeks, Stephen was enrolled in a Montessori school in the mornings to attend Pre-K. Considered alone, was this enough adjustment time before introducing another major change? In our opinion, no. However, besides the education, he needed to learn more social skills before entering kindergarten and we were pressed for time in this regard. Prior to enrollment, pertinent information was conveyed to the Montessori School Director regarding Stephen’s background, immediate past events, and advised of his lack of even the most rudimentary education before March 1999. It worked out that the Director was also Stephen’s pre-K and Kindergarten teacher -- and she was a Godsend. As Stephen became more comfortable from being away from home, the time at “school” increased, i.e., rather than being picked-up at noon, we would pick him up at 1:00 p.m., then 2:00 p.m., then 3:00 p.m., etc. After about two or three months, he could comfortably attend school in the mornings and stay at “school” the rest of the day playing. It should be noted here that we did not discontinue our efforts to educate Stephen at home just because he started pre-K. Many, many, many hours outside of school were spent trying to help him “catch-up” in various areas -- all the while attempting to make it all seem like a game, and rapid shifting from one interest to another as is typical of a very young child. As would be expected, Stephen needed time for adjustment. He did fairly well in the Montessori pre-K class. In part because he was doing well and there was such a short period of time between his starting pre-K and time to start Kindergarten, we felt it was in his best interest to remain in the familiar Montessori school environment. Academically, he thrived in a classroom of five or six students. A short time after Stephen started Pre-K, the director approached me with the possibility that Stephen might need assessment for ADHD. In her opinion, he was exhibiting most of the ADHD symptoms. In that he did not exhibit the symptoms at home, we did not seriously consider having him tested at that time and assumed he just needed more time to adjust to his placement with us as well as to the Montessori and daycare environment. Sometime in the Fall of 1999, the director again approached me and advised that we should give serious consideration to having Stephen tested for ADHD. We knew next nothing about ADHD at that time. So again, in that we still had not seen atypical attention problems at home, we felt he just needed more adjustment time. He was in motion a lot and fidgety but it was nothing we classified as “hyper” (though we did envy all that energy!). It was not until the Spring of 2000 that things began to reach a crisis point at school and at home, that we sought out a psychologist specializing in children and had Stephen evaluated. Stephen had just turned six and his attention span and behavior at home was by then starting parallel that seen at school. He was diagnosed with ADHD in May 2000. Stephen is strong-willed and typically independent. As with other children, he does have moments wherein he tests boundaries. He is old beyond his years in some respects and appears very immature in others. He is very bright in many areas and struggles in others. His ability to “think on his feet” throws people off. He sometimes exhibits uncanny insight that can be related to things learned during his native learning period by people that really know him and which those removed from him wonder how one so young arrived at that statement. He then turns right around and pulls a major bonner easily equivalent to the actions of a three or four year old. In many instances, Stephen is unrealistically expected to maintain the positive attributes across the board -- and he is not capable of it. All said and done, Stephen is a very complex child and keeps everybody on their toes. |
|
| Stephen’s Home, Parents, Siblings, and Extended Family Stephen resides with his parents in a three-bedroom/two bath home on 24 acres in rural Montgomery County, Texas. He has a 25-year old half-brother (same dad) who lives in Jefferson County, Texas and whom he idolizes. Stephen has a 12-year old half-sister (same birthmom) named Haley who lives with her single father in East Texas. When Stephen first arrived in No Name, Haley had become Stephen’s mother figure -- he remains very emotionally attached to her today, but as a sister rather than a mother. Grandma, Papa and Aunt Gale live on the adjacent 24-acre property. Uncle Bobby lives nearby. Stephen’s paternal grandmother, Granny, lives in Houston, Texas. He has a multitude of aunts, uncles and cousins who live in the triangular area of No Name, Lufkin and Houston, Texas. Once or twice a year he has supervised contact with his biological maternal grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins. They reside in East Texas and played major roles in his life until he was approximately 4 ½ years old. Stephen has a total of 48 acres on which to play and explore. Thankfully, he still keeps pretty close to the house; unfortunately, this is because he has an unrealistic fear that bears or wolves will “get” him (completely disregarding our assurances there are no bears in this area and the wolves [coyotes] do not come close to the house during the daytime). The only thing we do not like about where we live is that there are no children near Stephen’s age for him to play with. Consequently, we have again become proficient at playing CandyLand, Tic-Tac-Toe, and Yatzee. Stephen has his own bedroom which is approximately 12 feet x 12 feet. He sleeps in his bedroom alone. The lights in the hallway and bathroom adjacent to his room are left on at bedtime because he is afraid of the dark. The hall light is turned off after he goes to sleep each night. Stephen’s bedroom is furnished with a twin bed (plus a trundle bed underneath), one bookcase, one entertainment center, one chest of drawers, and one toy box which is too small as exhibited by the toys stacked in, on top of and around it. He has numerous books and VCR movies. It is accented with Pokemon comforter and window coverings. It perhaps would be more accurate to say that Stephen has two bedrooms. The bedroom immediately adjoining his is referred to as the computer room. It is furnished with a desk for homework utilization, a bookcase that contains some of mom’s books, a separate desk with a computer, and a roll-a-way bed utilized for the occasional overnight in-house guests -- primarily Haley. The homework desk contains crayons, coloring books, tracing paper, writing paper, pencils, markers, etc. Stephen is the sole user of the desk and computer except when Haley is visiting; and of late, there has been a “stray” race car tracks, Lego designs, and other toys discovered there which have been redirected to “his” bedroom. The homework desk was set-up in the computer room when Stephen started 1st grade with the specific intent of giving him a quiet place to do his homework and to cultivate good study habits. Such naivete on our parts -- as I type this I am laughing aloud. By the time he gets home from school, his ADHD medication is pretty much out of his system. “Stay at that desk until your homework is finished,” plays out as him staying in his chair at the desk (sometimes) but without fail drifting off to reading, coloring, doodling, etc., rather than completing homework. One thing mom and dad are having second thoughts about is allowing Santa Clause to bring Stephen a PlayStation for Christmas (December 2001) -- it mesmerizes him. Time on the PlayStation has to be monitored. On the up side, it has proven to be an excellent “loss of privilege” to use when administering discipline! We are hopeful that as the “new” wears off, Stephen will redirect his attention on his own. Until that time, he will continue to get help from mom and dad. Pets include two dogs: Casey and Freckles. Actually, Freckles belongs to Grandma; Freckles just rarely recognizes it. The dogs are very protective of Stephen. It is not uncommon to see the three of them rolling around on the ground playing or to see the dogs trotting along behind Stephen following wherever he might be headed. We also have one very spoiled, very aloof, 20-year old domestic cat who Stephen has repeatedly tried to love on. The cat only likes adults -- she deplores other cats, dogs, and barely tolerates kids that tend to run through the house disturbing her peace. She resents having to give up her status as “an only child.” They are making progress, however, occasionally I hear a proud, “Look Mommy, Kitty let me pet her!” By the way, Stephen is also persistent which is not necessarily considered to bad thing -- he just needs to learn how and when to apply it. In any event, over the last 2+ years Stephen’s sense of “home” and “belonging somewhere” has gone from, “I don’t have a home, but may be moving to an apartment with a pool,” to our 24 acres and everything thereon belonging solely to him. |
|
| Medical and Mental Health History Stephen’s birthmother’s name is VT. Reportedly by VT, the pregnancy was not a problem pregnancy nor were there any complications during the delivery process. VT was an alcoholic and drug addict -- she had previously been hospitalized/institutionalized because of her addiction. She had also been ordered by a Judge into re-hab due to a drunk driving conviction. Reportedly by VT, she stopped smoking, drinking and taking drugs immediately upon learning she was pregnant (gestation at that time unknown). We were advised by VT that Stephen “had allergies” as an infant, but grew out of them. He was hospitalized as an infant with pneumonia once, possibly twice. He had multiply ear infections. Otherwise, it was reported that he had normal childhood type occurrences of colds and short-term viruses. Other than that, he reportedly was healthy. Immediately before his fifth birthday, Stephen did have chicken pox -- residual scars were still evident when he arrived in our home. When Stephen came into our care in March 1999, his childhood vaccinations were up to date. Stephen was originally place with us via a Court Order resulting from intervention by CPS related to VT. He was examined by a doctor and dentist before placement. Upon his arrival in No Name, we immediately began having his cavities filled -- reportedly by CPS, he was not in their custody long enough to begin the dental work required. One cavity was too far-gone, and it was ultimately lost. Subsequent to March 1999, Stephen has been taken into the doctor several times for general check-ups, ear infections, and respiratory congestion. He rarely has a cold; he did have the flu immediately following Christmas in 2000 but recovered prior to school resuming subsequent to the Christmas break. A short time after he came into our care, we learned he had been exposed to Hepatitis via VT and had not been taken to a doctor. We immediately took him in for blood work. It was negative. The recent meningitis outbreak made us a little nervous -- Houston, Humble and Conroe is not far enough away from No Name to offer much protection from exposure to this deadly disease. He was taken to the pediatrician and given a shot to prevent him getting that particular meningitis strain. If I recall correctly, the shot is only effective for approximately five years, and it is not effective on all strains of meningitis. At the time Stephen was placed with us, CPS caseworkers were questioned as to whether we should get Stephen into counseling. We were told that he had experienced “abuse and neglect” and that the terms “abuse and neglect” had very broad meanings. Although Robert is Stephen’s biological father, they would not release specifics because of VT’s right to privacy. We were told that we would just “know” whether he needed counseling. Dr. K. Harris, a practicing clinical psychologist in Houston, Texas, evaluated Stephen for ADHD and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Stephen was diagnosed as having ADHD in May 2000. Dr. Harris advised that it was his opinion Stephen did not have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and we needed to consider Speech Therapy. Stephen’s Full Scale IQ was in the low to mid-80’s as I recall, and Dr. Harris said the ADHD was likely depressing the score approximately 10 points. I personally did not give a whole lot of thought to Speech Therapy. I thought perhaps the Houston professional had run head-on into a deep, deep East Texas drawl and found it “lacking.” Actually, it was atrocious. I have worked with him ad nausea on annunciation and grammar, but I am beginning to fear that, “I need a drink,” will forever be “Gimme a draaank.” That is not too promising in the future job market in my opinion. Dr. Harris’ diagnosis was submitted to Stephen’s then pediatrician, and they also telephone conferenced. Dr. Harris recommended Stephen be trialed on Adderall. The pediatrician elected to prescribe Ritalin, 5 mg, once a day. As a parent, we were and remain concerned about our son being on long-term medication. But it had reached the point where there really was not another known option -- Stephen must be educated. An immediate difference in Stephen’s overall concentration ability was noted at school. Ritalin worked well for about six to eight weeks -- then suddenly lost any semblance of effectiveness. In the time frame of approximately August - September 2000, after much “to do” with the pediatrician, Stephen was prescribed 5 mg. of Adderall, once a day. It was effective and longer lasting. Subsequently, his medication was increased to 5 mg. of Adderall in the morning and 5 mg. at noon. His medication has recently been increased again; the dosage is presently 10 mgs. of Adderall in the morning and 5 mgs. at noon. Each increase in dosage has come after reports over time from school pertaining to escalation in not paying attention, not following directions, classroom work not being completed, etc. Until recently, Stephen was not given his medication on the weekends unless we were going to take a long car ride or were going somewhere that we felt he might need the medication in his system. There has been some recent concern expressed via Ms. Davis, School Counselor at Barnett Elementary, from one of the teachers that it appears Stephen does not get back into the groove of things until Tuesday or Wednesday and thought perhaps that was attributable to his not medicated on the weekends. In response to this, I telephoned Stephen’s new pediatrician, Dr. David, to inquire about his opinion. He advised that Adderall is indeed “quick in and quick out” and Stephen not being medicated on the weekends should not have any bearing on the problem. It was my opinion before talking with Dr. David and after talking to Dr. David that this is related to transitioning -- Stephen does not transition well. Nonetheless, we did start administering his medications on Sunday. The best we can tell, it has not helped. Parents, caregivers, teachers, counselors, etc., that have no intensive knowledge of a child and/or no mental health training do not “know” anything about the child. Prior to final disposition of the case, CPS brushed off our shock that Stephen never cried for his birthmom or Haley, concerns related to his intermitnent uncontrollable bladder and diarrhea, his reactions to Court Ordered visitation with his birthmom, etc. He was “…just nervous and needed time,” “he’s in a strange, new place,” “he’s a very resilient little boy, he’ll be okay -- give it more time.” On the surface it made sense, but something did not ‘feel right.’ After a while, we started charting these behaviors. Suffice it to say, CPS was dead wrong. Stephen was not okay emotionally. He gave the appearance of being a laughing, happy-go-lucky little boy without a care in the world -- a child that just loved living. Not true. It was not true then, and while he is better, it is not true today. Stephen is very adept at hiding physical and emotional pain and still can not verbally express it. Transitioning from Montessori Kindergarten with a large uncluttered classroom of 5 or 6 students to 1st Grade at Barnett Elementary with 22 students in a small cluttered classroom was a difficult experience for all concerned. Combined with the fact that classroom structure and teaching methods were so different, it all pretty much overwhelmed Stephen. It was also about this same time that Stephen started comparing his present lifestyle and our behavior and values to that of his former life and birth mother’s. (He draws his own conclusions -- we do not speak in a derogatory manner about her in Stephen’s presence. When he asks the question, “That was wrong, wasn’t it, Mommy?” the answer is, “She made a mistake.”) For whatever the reason(s), Stephen’s behavior deteriorated at an alarming rate. He was out of control at school and typical and/or procedural disciplinary measures were not effective. On various occasions, we conferenced with Ms. Janet Woods - Principal, Ms. Kathrine Todd - Assistant Principal, Ms. Annie Jordan - 1st grade teacher, and Ms. Jessica Davis. Stephen’s behavior had deteriorated at home as well. The more pressure everybody put on him to “perform” and “conform,” the worse his behavior became. I recall that in our meeting with Ms. Woods she made mention of one solution being to transfer Stephen to the Alternative school, however, she was reluctant to do that because he was so young and very little academics are taught there. In response to this, it became necessary for us to regroup and seek other solutions. I researched and evaluated behavior management techniques. Robert and I decided on The Voucher System. It was easily adaptable to enable us to attempt controlling Stephen while at school. Ms. Jordan’s behavior chart was very instrumental in helping us in this regard. This system also proved to be useful in teaching other things at home such as table manners, accepting responsibility, teaching and reinforcing other social skills and respect such please and thank-you, etc. It took about two months for Stephen to begin to grasp the meaning of The Voucher System and begin to respond to it. It required “tweaking” from time to time. His positive behavior and performance at school has never been consistent day to day over long periods of time. At this same time, it was recommended by Ms. Todd or Ms. Davis that we should consider counseling for Stephen -- three or four sources were named as possibly getting the type counseling Stephen needed. I interviewed each one. Dr. Ross with SHSU was our choice -- another Godsend. I felt even more comfortable we had made the right choice when Ms. Davis advised she had seen positive results from children counseled there. Stephen entered counseling near the end of November or in early December 2000. Sometimes I am a little slow -- it was not until the third appointment that it dawned on us that Robert and I was in counseling also! I thought we had been interviewed during Stephen’s first and second appointments just to relay information to them about Stephen. Robert and I continued weekly counseling until we were dismissed in May 2001. We point blanked asked if it was their opinion whether either one or both of us were contributing to Stephen’s problems in any respect -- was there anything else we could do? Could we adjust our parenting skills to become more effective? Was there anything we had overlooked that could possibly help Stephen? Is there a way to determine whether inappropriate behaviors are attributable to ADHD, emotional trauma, just being a kid or willfulness? Paraphrasing, the answer was, “You are doing all you can do -- keep doing what you are doing. Stephen did not get this way overnight, and he will not recover from it overnight -- it will take time. It can be equated to an ocean and waves. There will be peaks and valleys. There will be periods of storms and calm. There will be swells. But over time, the storms and swells will become less frequent. No one can determine what Stephen is actually thinking or feeling. No one can know all of Stephen’s triggers.” (Journal entry not published.) Stephen has made progress in dealing with his past -- but he has a ways to go. He remains in weekly counseling as of the writing of this report. He is under the care of Dr. Emily Tallon. Our recent conference indicates Stephen has made some progress, however, he is hard to reach and has many emotions/experiences “locked.” I delivered Stephen’s Lifebook to Dr. Tallon recently in an effort to give her another “in.” We are hopeful the Lifebook will assist her in this regard. I had sent her the above excerpt from my journal last summer -- the best I know, the information did not prove fruitful -- Stephen sides steps being engaged in conversation or play about anything related to it. |
|
| Social History Robert and I married in July, 1995. He has a son, Michael, by a former marriage. Prior to our marriage, Robert had told me of the possibility that Stephen was his son. I had never birthed a child. I did participate in raising three former stepchildren for 19 years. Robert and I wanted to have a child, however, after two or three years of numerous doctors’ appointments and a surgery for me -- we accepted that was not to be. Then one day, God more or less dropped Stephen right in our laps. It was with greatest joy that Stephen was brought into our home. He was very much wanted -- I have never for one moment regretted our decision to pursuing making Stephen a part of our family. The first five years of Stephen’s life were spent in the care of his birth mother, VT. She has bipolar disorder. It was diagnosed in the summer 1998 after she was involuntarily committed to a mental institution subsequent to committing assault on a close family member. She was in the hospital approximately three weeks that time. After she stabilized, she was released. She never refilled her medications. Rarely is her disorder treated on a regular basis. Rarely is she even under a doctor’s care. She was not “stabilized” long. Apparently, VT’s bipolar symptoms began to appear about 12 to 15 years ago. She had had “some problems” while still in public schools, however, reports were she began to really “change” about 12 to 15 years ago. From various sources, inclusive of 200+ pages encompassing 10 incident reports we finally obtained from CPS, we learned some extremely disturbing information. CPS’s early information that “abuse and neglect” has very broad meaning was an understatement. Stephen has had life experiences that most adults have never had -- and certainly those that a child should ever have to endure. The abuse and neglect reports began when he was 18 months old and end when he was pulled from her care in the middle of the night by CPS and placed in foster care. And she was not the only perpetrator. At the time, VT and Stephen were residents in a homeless Mission in Texas. While in foster care, Robert was contacted by CPS and advised they had taken custody of Stephen and he had been named as the biological father by VT. We immediately arranged to visit with Stephen, obtained an attorney, filed an Intervention and asked for custody. Within two weeks of the time he was taken into custody by CPS, Stephen was home with us and he’s been here from that day forward. In June 1999, the Judge granted us sole custody of Stephen, ordered supervised visitation with VT, dismissed CPS and closed the case. Subsequently, VT signed a Voluntary Relinquishment of Parental Rights; I filed adoption proceedings. Almost two years to the day after Stephen was placed with us, the adoption was granted. Stephen’s social skills were reported as being very weak in pre-K and Kindergarten. We can say that for the first six months he was with us, we paid particular attention to his interaction with other children. Not knowing him long term at that point, we were not sure how he would behave in different circumstances. We have never seen Stephen be aggressive (hit) other children in anger, however, it has been reported to us by his teachers that Stephen is presently hitting for no apparent reason and this behavior has accelerated in the recent past. Getting this under control is a priority for us. |
|
| Behavior Wise -- What’s Worked/What’s Failed? This is also a complex area. In our opinion, difficulty in managing Stephen’s inappropriate behavior stems from many sources including but not limited to: prior abuse, lack of prior structure during very formative years, prior transient lifestyle, other native learning factors or the lack thereof, lack of impulse control, inability to screen out distracting sights and sounds, short attention span, restlessness, difficulty managing time and tasks, problems transitioning, missed body language cues, lack of age-appropriate social skills, mishearing words, confusion, forgetfulness, anxiety, frustration, and sometimes if appears to be purely strong-willed nature. The following in its entirety was previously provided to the school in August 2001. Excerpts related to the behavior section of the report have been copied and pasted below. |
| Information, Suggestions and Recommendations Re: Stephen 08-12-01 |
| Tentative homework schedule. (Not able to do homework on Tuesday evenings.) Call Dr. Emily Tallon for additional clarification of testing needs @ (TALLON) TALLON-TALLONX. Needs structure and consistency, consistency, consistency. Be wary of allowing one thing today and not tomorrow or next week. Though doing much better, Stephen hasn't learned that circumstances sometimes allow for flexibility in the rules -- he tends to be a "bottom line" kind of guy. Example: Bedtime is at 8:30 p.m., but tonight we have to stop by the hospital to visit an ill relative. Consequently, he doesn't get to bed until 9:00 p.m. The reason behind getting to bed late doesn't always register with him -- it's the bottom line that matters. He was put to bed at 9:00 p.m. tonight -- why not 9:00 p.m. every school night? Rule at home -- if work is not done while at school, it will be done at home. Needs clear rules/expectations. Suggestions: 1) Saying, "It's time for math" will not cause the expected result of changing his focus. To Stephen this type phrasing implies an option to continue what he's doing rather than refocusing. Be direct, i.e., "We are going to do math now." 2) Stephen is immature in some ways and consequently still interprets many things literally. Until we're in contact with such a person, we don't realize how often we speak in incomplete sentences and/or use language shortcuts. A statement such as, "Check your math work," will result in Stephen placing check marks adjacent to the math problems -- not the intended direction of reviewing the work for accuracy. 3) Saying, "We don't tap on the desk with a pencil in this classroom" is insufficient instruction and will not be interpreted as direction to stop the behavior. (And if he taps on the desk with a crayon and is again corrected for "tapping," don't be surprised to hear him say, "But you didn't say not to do it with the crayon.") Again a more direct statement of, "Do not tap on the desk," or perhaps at first, "Do not tap on the desk -- it's against the rules and it's disturbing to others," is the best approach. In these instances, he's not trying to be difficult; he processes and interprets things differently than the majority of children. Needs help getting and staying organized. Examples: 1) Getting homework in backpack. Often homework never gets home because it never gets in his backpack. Nor do many school notices get home. Ex: The notice for school photos taken in January 2001, didn't make it home until April after a "desk cleanout." Even with the exact routine day in and day out, if I don't make sure he leaves home w/his backpack each morning, it will not get to school. 2) Getting work turned in. He has to be reminded to turn in classroom work. When his homework is completed, it's placed in his folder and the folder is then placed in his backpack. He'll have to be reminded to turn his folder in when he gets to class. 3) Keeping desk orderly. I strongly recommend at a set time each day, maybe allow him 5 minutes to straighten and organize his desk. Several times last year he came home with anywhere from 40 to 60 pages of various stuff [from completed work, incomplete work, to art projects] crammed in his backpack. This causes several problems because the rule is, "complete the work at school, or complete it at home during your free time -- either way, it's going to get done." The sheer volume of paper overwhelms him even though he may only have to complete 7 - 10 assignments per day until he's caught up. In turn, it causes frustration with school and poor attitude toward school. It's just better all the way around to handle this more systematically. Presentation of assignments is important. Even the perception of too many papers at one time overwhelms Stephen as does too many problems on one page. This causes him extreme anxiety, frustration, and avoidance of even attempting to do the work. His first reaction is always, "I can't do it -- it's too hard -- it's too much." He gets so caught-up in counting the papers and/or counting the problems to be done, he can't get focused enough to even attempt to do the work. 1) Suggested solution: If possible, do not give him a document containing 3 or 4 pages of math problems. Only give him 1 or 2 pages at a time. 2) Most times Stephen will display resistance to doing any assignments containing new content. Encourage him to try to get started alone. When he says, "I need help," he does. He needs one-on-one instruction to show him what's to be done and also help (reassurance) to calm his anxiety and his fear that he "can't do it -- it's too hard." We've been through this scenario many, many times at home. What works best for me is to reassure him he can do it, one-on-one physically show him how to do one problem (sometimes two if it's actually something new to him -- not just something in a new format), and then expect him to continue working on his own. For example: Stephen says, "I can't do it." I say, "Sure you can -- give it a try." Stephen says, "I need help." I say, "Okay, I'll show you how to do one, then you'll have to do the rest by yourself." And then I show him -- occasionally I have to show him a different method than the one taught at school. Most of the time I get a big smile and the response, "This is e-a-s-y." And then Stephen continues on. If it's truly something new and if he's feeling overwhelmed, however, I sometimes do have to keep redirecting his attention to getting the work in hand done, and not to worry about, "How many more after this one?" Many times he's completed 10 assignments at home in 30 minutes or less, whereas the whole day at school it would appear he wouldn't/couldn't attempt the work. Miscellaneous information: 1) Stephen often gets hung-up on erasing and re-writing numbers and letters. I'm not sure why. He's made the statement to me several times that he wants to make "E's." I've told him that making E's sometimes requires more than just getting all the answers correct-- the work has to be written neatly and punctuated correctly, and the only way to do that is practice, practice, practice. He gets confused because he hasn't figured out exactly when it's all right to write "in a hurry" or take more time in order to write neatly. 2) It's helpful if he's given what I refer to as "lead time" which helps him change gears, i.e., "Bedtime in 10 minutes…bedtime in 5 minutes…we'll be leaving in 10 minutes…5 minutes until we leave." 3) If he's given directions and just kind of looks at you with no expression -- give him 10 to 15 seconds or so -- he's mentally processing what's been said. 4) It's best to make eye contact with Stephen when speaking to him. (It doesn't hurt to ask him to repeat directions back to you. That way you'll know he heard you and he understands.) 5) Sometimes he's a contradiction. He's easily distracted at a time when you'd think he best be able to focus -- like while sitting quietly at his desk and working. Other times, he can carry on a conversation with someone else, the television is blaring, and he'll hear every word said in a totally separate, simultaneous conversation not remotely involving him. 6) His environment greatly affects his performance. The more people, objects, noise and/or activity in a room, the more difficult it is for him to focus on his work. On the other hand, he can't concentrate if it is too quiet. The steady hum of the fan on our central AC unit helps out at home. 7) After a point, increasing pressure to perform causes just the reverse of what normally could be expected. And he will absolutely shut down and be uncooperative about everything. This distresses everybody. He hasn't as yet learned how to compensate for his ADHD. As parents, our primary goal is for our very bright son to get the utmost out of the education process. However, we do realize that he is immature is some respects and above all, do not want to cause long-term emotional distress or damage. Therefore, if he reaches the point where he's shutting down, he'll respond best to just backing off for a while (which reduces his stress level) and letting him settle down. As long as he's not disrupting the class, we're not going to get unduly anxious over his not doing class work for two or three days. This should not be misconstrued to mean we don't care about his class work or grades -- quite the contrary. 1) The Voucher System is used to help reinforce positive behavior at school. Ms. Jordan's behavior chart was very instrumental in the success of the system last year. Need to continue the daily behavior charts or something very similar. The Voucher System is not meant to replace school discipline -- it's the one consistent way we have of backing the school up. 2) Though doing better, Stephen does not read body language well. Consideration to designing a hand signal(s) to redirect his attention back to task might prove beneficial. 3) Isolation from all students makes an impact on Stephen. "Timeouts" which include leaving him in the classroom will not likely be successful. He has a naturally fun personality, which we perceive to be a good characteristic, however, he hasn't yet learned sufficient impulse control. If/when he's being disciplined in "time out," don't give him an audience to entertain. 4) Assessing pushups as a form of discipline has proven to be very beneficial at home. My base assessment is five pushups. If he continues on with an unacceptable behavior, I keep adding an additional pushup. Thus far, he's only had to do up to 12 or 13. This has happened only twice. Typically the word "5" gets his attention. The pushups are to be done immediately upon demand and in the proper form. In fact, they are only counted if done in the proper form. The world stops until the pushups are complete. Again -- no "audience." He has never refused to do the pushups. If he's ever so inclined, all privileges will be suspended until he complies. Privileges in our home are defined as absolutely everything except food, housing, adequate clothing and love. 5) Please do not use restriction from exercise as a punishment -- Stephen needs to burn off energy, it releases stress, and helps produce the missing chemical his body is deficient in manufacturing -- exercise helps him to be better able to concentrate. That request doesn't necessarily mean he's to be allowed to play with other children. He can swing alone or run track, etc. (Hint: he doesn't like to run track). 6) Typically Robert (Stephen's dad) or I can be reached throughout the day @ (XXX) XXX-XXXX. There is some confusion on my part about specific behavior interventions utilized at school, what works at school; and what does not. Looking at his behavior chart, it sometimes appears nothing the school tries is effective. As parents, we sometimes have a hard time reconciling this in our minds. By comparison, it many times appears as if you are dealing with a different child. On the other hand, the environment at home is quite different than that at school. To the best of my knowledge, the things that have been tried include moving Stephen’s desk near the teachers’, allowing him additional time to complete work, and something(s) else that slips my mind at the moment. Detention does not work. BIC makes an impression -- he hates it. The new behavior chart has promise, however, it needs to be modified. Stephen reviews it daily when he gets out of school, often times before he gets home. It is difficult for me to interpret, and even more difficult for Stephen to interpret. This could easily be rectified if the happy faces were marked in one color and the frowney faces in another -- but not the color red. I have sent additional thoughts pertaining to the new chart to Barnett Elementary, however, I have received no feedback to date. Please refer to Attachment “A” for additional information applicable to this section. (Not published) |
|
| Major Concerns This child has been to hell and back many times, yet survived. In the same manner that traditional parenting skills are “inadequate” in some areas of raising Stephen, traditional teaching techniques and school disciplinary measures are likewise inadequate. Today: Self-esteem damage Anxiety Trouble getting to sleep -- unknown whether this is attributable to residual medication effects, fear of the dark, or something else. Fear of the dark at bedtime seems to be on the increase. At first he slept with no lights on in the house; then he needed a night light in his bedroom; then he needed the night light plus the bathroom light left on; then it became the bathroom light and the hall light; within the last two weeks this problem has once again accelerated -- now he wants the bathroom, hall and bedroom light left on. No clue as to why except he’s “scared.” Attachment issues - on the surface this appears to have improved Non-detailed feedback from school officials and teachers Non-provoked hitting as indicated by teachers Aggressiveness at home like slapping at the walls when agitated. This has subsided to a degree of late. Age-appropriate, socially acceptable behavior Receiving an education Receiving the support he needs to obtain a proper education Develop friendships on his own that compliment his personality rather than accentuate the negatives Undetected learning disorder(s) Whether he is on the best medication and dosage for him Whether he is learning to adequately self-adapt to ADHD Long-term medication side affects Trust factors Developing good judgement skills Developing higher level thinking skills Literal interpretations Whether he will ever be able to put body language, inferencing, etc., all together How we are going to correct his mishearing of words Future: All of the above Maintaining the progress he has made to date and experience continued progress Maintaining a C or better academic grade across the board Being ostracized by his peers because of his disorder and/or behaviors Relationship problems Developing a poor reputation and relationship with teachers and school officials Entering adolescence with unresolved emotional issues Whether he will be able to function on his own in a safe, responsible manner What he will do just to “fit in” Whether he will develop the fortitude to say “no” in the presence of peers Whether he will be able to go to college and have a successful college career Self-medicating with alcohol and/or drugs ADHD children are notorious for having run ins with the law Developing bipolar disorder Entering the teenage years, period, and all that entails anyway! |
| Strengths and Weaknesses Some of Stephen’s strengths and weakness have been addressed throughout this report. Overall, they include but are not limited to: Strengths: Independant Resilient He still wants to please parents and teachers Bright in some respects Quick minded in some respects Good sense of humor Compassionate Loving and affectionate Personable Good disposition Good with his hands After he learns something, he tends to have good memory recall Able to bath, dress and brush his own teeth (requires supervision) Able to fix simple foods such as cereal, make sandwiches, toast bread, pop popcorn in the microwave (microwave use requires supervision) Good coordination Generally healthy Reading Math Drawing Broad range of interests Spelling Perseverance Weaknesses: Comprehension Processing information Inferencing Unable to read body language Interpreting everything literally/concrete thinking Often misunderstands jokes, sarcasm, cliches Often mishears words which completely change the meaning of a sentence Except for cartoons, he still does not understand the difference in fantasy and reality completely Social skills Does not automatically convey respect to elders, it has to be earned. Due to too many adults letting him down. Anxiety Requires a lot of consistency Forgetful Unorganized Resistant to attempting to learn new material Easily overwhelmed with paper work Native learning Impulse control Sometimes displays OCD tendencies Distractible - sensitive to movement, colors, clutter, talking, etc. Short attention span Uses "I don't know" as a defense mechanism Restless Does not deal well with frustration Time management Task management Transitioning Hyperactive Strong-willed Manipulative Shuts down and becomes uncooperative when his system has reached it's pressure limit Tends to be easily frustrated Standing in line/waiting his turn Requires frequent reassurance Maintaining self-esteem Will not talk about some things he needs to talk about If you misstate something to Stephen and it “sticks,” in his mind he was lied to Does not use adequate language to relay thoughts If you say we are going to lunch at 11:30 a.m., and circumstances are such that you do not go until 11:45 a.m., you loose credibility with him |
|
| Parent Questions, Comments and Summary Some of our questions and comments have been set out in Attachment “B,” however, due to Ms. Adams’s schedule subsequent to our pre-ARD meeting additional questions pertaining to the Evaluation have not been answered. As of today, we have not been provided the CAPD SCAN report together with qualifications of the person conducting the report. The Physical section of the Evaluation states that is was reported that Stephen has no sensory or motor problems. Who reported this and what are their qualifications? We were not contacted to discuss these issues. Are you aware that Stephen has several indicators of Sensory Integration Disorder? The Sociological section of the report does not mention Stephen’s lack of pre-academic teaching prior to March 1999. Where and how was this considered or factored into the Evaluation report? The Assistive Technology section of the report indicated Stephen has normal vision with glasses. To my knowledge, Stephen does not need glasses. The term “unique” was utilized to describe Stephen’s language skills in the Language section of the Evaluation. What does this mean exactly? The top of page six states that based on current assessment related services are not needed at this time. What are “related services?” Just for the record, I asked Ms. Adams to rate Stephen’s “level of effort, comprehension of materials, and the cooperation he put forth” as set out in the Summary. Ms. Adams rated this “average to above average.” Conclusions state, “No significant educational, emotional, behavioral, or developmental deficits are noted.” By whom and what types evaluations were done to arrive at the opinion Stephen has no significant emotional deficits? Reviewing the Recommendations, we have been under the impression that Item 2 has been in place for some time. Likewise with Item 3. We have previously recommended items 4 and 5 along with additional suggestions/recommendations. Regarding Item 6, Stephen does participate in Little League Baseball. Regarding Item 7, how is it reconciled that Stephen is making satisfactory progress and is capable of performing everyday school tasks when it appears he spends most of the time in trouble for not doing his work, disturbing the class, not following directions, etc., etc., etc.? Were his daily behavior charts taken into consideration in forming this opinion? Were his disciplinary records via office intervention taken into consideration in forming this opinion? Are you aware that Stephen also uses “I don’t know” or “That’s too hard” as a defense mechanism and to express “I don’t understand; I need help?” While I have no expertise in interpreting test scores or subtest scores, the information appears to me to indicate Stephen either "knows his stuff, or bombs out” -- there appears to be very little middle ground. It indicates to me that there are definite comprehension and processing skill problems. If I am understanding the Confidence Interval of 95%, that computes to a 10% spread for margin of error. That is a pretty wide error margin most specifically as it pertains to areas wherein he has been charted as being below average on the “Test Summary” page. In addition, based on our discussion of a 10-point variance indicating problems -- the Reading subtests falls into this category. Not all of our concerns about the Evaluation report are contained within this report; however, my opinion has not changed since our pre-ARD meeting. All factors considered, we are not comfortable with it and disagree with the findings. In addition, it remains our contention that Stephen can not be expected to perform to the same performance level and intensity as it is indicated he exhibited during the Evaluation process. |
|
|
| July 1, 2002 Update: In January 2002, our son was denied eligibility for an IEP via IDEA by the school district solely because he did not meet the 15-point significant discrepancy criteria and his academic grades of A's and B's. The report reflected Stephen's IQ as 104. He was denied eligibility for a 504 plan via Section 504 for the exact same reasons. Although the school district accepted and acknowledged the ADHD diagnosis, according to the school district diagnostician, Stephen's problems in school were solely attributable to a need for more structure in the home and his unwillingness to do school work. Stephen's Parent Report was provided to the diagnostician, however, it was not shared with all ARD January 2002 committee members. Ultimately, it was given zero consideration in January 2002. After asking a lot of questions, we discovered that many of the tests initially performed in conjunction with the initial evaluation involved "screens" or were done via "informal means." Certain that the school district's conclusions were in error and that underlying problems had not been identified, we were not satisfied with the District's Full and Initial Independent Evaluation. Subsequently, additional evaluations were performed. This time around, we did not assume the professionals would contact us for pertinent information or parent interviews -- a copy of Stephen's Parent Report was personally distributed at the on-set of the evaluation processes. Evaluations performed subsequent to the January 2002 ARD meeting included the following: |
| An Independent Evaluation by an audiologist revealed that Stephen has Central Auditory Processing Disorder. Among other classroom modifications, the audiologist's report recommended use of an auditory trainer in the classroom. The Speech-Language evaluation performed by the school district indicated no "significant" problems were identified. The Independent Evaluation performed by the Pediatric Occupational Therapist identified components of sensory integration disorder and problems with fine and gross motor skills. SID therapy was recommended; estimated time for treatment was indicated to likely span 2-1/2 to 3 years. The school district's Occupational Therapist's report indicated tactile defensiveness and problems with fine and gross motor skills. The school district report recommended fine motor skill therapy. Stephen was also evaluated by the school district via a child psychologist specializing in ADHD. It was the psychologist's opinion that Stephen is not emotionally disturbed. He reaffirmed the ADHD diagnosis. Stephen's severe anxiety was not addressed in the report. The psychologist's report included recommendations for classroom modifications and continued private counseling. The Independent Educational Evaluation rated Stephen's IQ in the 80's, but concluded with the opinion that it likely falls in the 90's. |
| . |
| It became necessary for us to seek out a child advocate. A few days before school was out in May 2002, a second ARD meeting was convened. Our son was again denied eligibility for an IEP based on the 15-point significant discrepancy criteria. He did qualify for Section 504 and related services. If the Section 504 plan does not perform to its intended purpose, it was agreed that eligibility for an IEP will be revisited. Due to the time lag in getting adequate evaluations and an individual educational plan in place in a timely manner, Stephen unnecessarily suffered months of severe school performance anxiety. Within a three to four week period after school was out, all but one of the symptoms associated with his anxiety had disappeared. The meetings with the school districts' representatives in May 2002 included the diagnostician, principal, school counselor, both Stephen's second grade teachers, both of his soon to be third grade teachers, a Special Education teacher, speech pathologist, occupational therapist, child advocate affiliated with Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, and me. The Special Education Director did attend the ARD meeting. At the writing of this update, Robert and I are optimistic that Stephen's third grade experience will be much better than that of previous years. We are also hoping he will begin to recover from some of the related self-esteem issues that developed. |
| Disclaimer: The information and direction to web sites contained herein is educational and not intended to be legal or medical advice. The information is not a substitute for discussion between patients and their doctors nor clients and their attorneys. References to all information and opinions should not be considered an endorsement. You are hereby advised to fully investigate all options in order to determine a course of action or treatment that may be most appropriate for a specific situation and/or individual. Copyright 2001- 2003 Alisha Leigh. Use of the material contained herein is unrestricted as long as it is used for educational purposes and I am notified by e-mail of link usage. I would very much like to know how this information is being used. Reciprocal linkage to your site is requested. |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
| The names and localesdepicted in the report above have been changed to protect our son's privacy. Except for non-published areas of the report and dates, it is presented in it's original form. We received very positive feedback on the report from professionals who evaluated our son in conjunction with IDEA. A copy of the report was also provided to Stephen's pediatrician. The pediatrician has specifically requested that he be provided a copy of any updates. A school district's "failure to identify" can have a devastating, life-long impact on children and their families. It's my opinion that this report proved beneficial for our son. |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
