My Special Needs Kid

My name is Diane Hesseman and I've spent the past four years trying to find a good school for my son with AD/HD. I have pulled him out of school each year for two-four weeks at a time just to stop the phone calls from the principal informing me of another melt-down and suspension. Twice I placed him in "alternative" schools, only to find that these were even worse at handling his needs.

I began to learn that even though the "No Child Left Behind" Act (NCLB) of 2001 guarantees every child a "free and appropriate public education" (FAPE), my child was being left behind. You see, now public schools were required to mainstream special-needs children in the regular classrooms. And while the objective was that these kids would no longer be isolated and stigmatized in "special-ed" classrooms, regular-ed teachers were ill-equipped to handle special needs kids in their classrooms. My son, bright, inquisitive, and friendly, was disruptive in a classroom with 25 kids and only one teacher who had been doing things the same way for 25 years. In third grade he started to hate school because he was always the "bad kid" who couldn't stop talking or sit still. He was getting suspended for behaviors that I knew were beyond his control. He was being bullied too.

I had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), but no one seemed to know what he needed and few cared. They just didn't have the time, resources or expertise to provide him with an appropriate environment or accommodations.

My frustration grew into desperation. I applied to a private school, but they wouldn't take another child with AD/HD. I looked into a remedial school, but my son didn't qualify because he was at grade level academically, plus this school was a whopping $14,000 a year, which I couldn't afford. I also tried a charter school, online school and home schooling, all of which did not work for him.

I began asking around, talking to other moms, asking how I would find a school that had a great track record with special-needs kids and I found that there was no such resource.

Finally, after hearing a few positive comments about another local public school system, my ex-husband moved to that district so that our son, because of shared custody, could attend that middle school. The difference has been remarkable. Our son is a new person. He has teachers who care, and know how to handle his behaviors. He has an assistant teacher or aide in every class. "Interventionists" work with him every day. He's in an after-school gaming club (restricted to kids on IEPs) with video games, pizza and pop where he's made friends. He gets counseling in social skills with a specially trained teacher once a week. While he still has self-control issues, his teachers are committed to helping him progress in every way. I no longer expect the phone to ring every day with a call from my son's principal. The right school makes all the difference.

That's why I decided to create this site. Why is it, I wondered, that schools are rated on a scale of one-five based on their state test scores (School Report Card) and not on their ability to serve the one-in-five children who have special needs such as AD/HD, aspbergers, autism or learning disabilities? No state agency (such as the Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities) is even allowed to recommend one school over another in terms of special needs education. There is no rating scale.

The goal of this site is to create such a resource. Together with others who've had the same frustration I have, I plan to create and share a school rating system to help people locate the best school system for their children. The concept is to evaluate schools on their quality of education for special needs kids using three criteria: parent surveys, teacher credentials and test scores.

I am working hard to make this resource a reality as soon as possible!

Please feel free to make comments, and PLEASE give any suggestions you have for this endeavor.

Sincerely,
Diane Hesseman