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Hello! I am Mom to a nine-year-old with ADHD, SID, severe anxiety and suspected Asperger's.

Just a quick recap:
Pre-K: Disaster. His teacher was very rigid and Dom spent the entire year staring off into space. By the end of the year he couldn't tell you the names of anyone in his class, including his teacher.

Kindy: Lucked into an awesome teacher with special needs experience (even though she was then teaching at the GenEd level). She went above and beyond, working out accommodations "off the record" for my son, doing extra sensory work with him, etc. He thrived under her care, and she was able to choose his first-grade teacher. I attempted to get a 504/IEP/something in place so that these off-the-record accommodations would continue, but it was denied because there was no "educational impact," even though my son tanked music, art and had incredible difficulty focusing, even with the accommodations in place. The school decided that since my son was performing on grade level, he was fine.

First grade: Another awesome teacher, accommodations continued, yet we were again denied a 504/IEP/something because there was no "educational impact" and my son was performing on grade level. At that meeting, I looked at the school team and said, "He's going to fall apart when he loses these accommodations, and it's on you when that happens."

Second grade: He got a new-to-teaching teacher. She tried to continue the accommodations, but she was overwhelmed just trying to survive. His anxiety ramped up more than usual, and he began to suffer migraines. We squeaked through the year somehow.

Third grade (this year): He started at a new school. At the beginning of the year I gave all pertinent personnel my usual "intro to Dom" letter, in which I noted the things that can set him off and the accommodations he received at his old school. Despite my mention that he needed speech therapy and accommodations, nobody ever set up a 504/IEP/whatever meeting. He complained all year about migraines and missed a lot of school as a result. Something happened at his school around 4/24/15, as he has refused to go back ever since. To keep from returning to school, he has attempted suicide twice (he is NINE!! !! !), brandished and thrown knives, thrown himself down stairs, run into traffic, and physically attacked me, his stepfather, security guards and neighbors. He has had two week-long admissions to a child psychiatry unit, and we are one session in with a therapist. He was released with a prescription for Prozac, but he won't take it because of the mintiness (and he can't swallow pills).

Last week the school finally convened an IEP screening meeting, at which I was AGAIN turned down for any sort of formal support plan. I was given a list of things the therapist needed to work on to get my son back to school, and that was it. Again they argued that there is no "educational impact," as he was "doing fine" at school before he stopped attending. Yes, he won't go to school because of his anxiety, yet it's not affecting his education? Huh?

They wouldn't do any testing, wouldn't agree to supports to help get him back to school, and then simply told me to go ahead and file a complaint if I disagreed. Which I will. Oh, and they're putting him through to fourth grade, even though he missed fourth quarter.

We live in one of the top ten school systems in the country.

I am a SPED teacher. I know the law, they know I know the law, and they still try to break it. The system is broken, it screws kids over (don't even get me started on what I see at work!), and I am seriously considering homeschooling my son from now on.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Hey VivJ welcome.