Racist or Rapacious (yes, it's a real word)

We have had issues with the school system in Idaho since we moved here.  Both our girls were getting speech therapy in Vermont.  Both had IEP's.  Long story, short... We were told before the school officials even met our children that their IEP's would not transfer and that they would not qualify for services in Idaho "because they are Chinese" and "Why did you move here?  Don't you know Idaho is ranked low for education?" and " We can't have too many minorities in our special education".  Yes, those are their exact words.  We were told during Claire's testing that she was just the same as other kids her age.  I was speechless.  Well, Paige was given the boot even though she was 18 months behind in speech and is hearing impaired.  Claire scored a higher percentile in speech than Paige, but when I insisted the OT come test Claire (she failed every question), the speech and development people retested and magically she then qualified for speech and development when her OT score got her qualified.

We knew it would be tough with Seth, too... even with his cleft lip (which is an automatic qualifier is most every other state in the nation for speech services), he had to be in the 7% or lower to get help from the school district.

I had Seth's speech therapist from the Infant Toddler Program test his speech and language.  Seth did not have focus needed to complete the speech test.  He did, however, complete and FAIL the language test with a 6%.  When these numbers were presented to the school district, we were told that they did not want to give Seth an IEP.  They said that since he was from China, they needed additional time to observe him to make sure his delays were indeed physical and not a result of his birth language.  They kept using the term "Native Language".  Doug noticed in the huge legal packet they presented, that "native language" is defined as: "The language spoken by the child's parents" and "the language spoken in the home".  That's it.  We immediately realized that the whole issue could be resolved by changing his native language to English since, in reality, that is the legal definition.

We ended up having a meeting with the lady in charge of the entire district's special education program.  She first reinforced their desire to have him observed.  When confronted with his test score she told us she could keep him in preschool under the Title I program for poor income families.  We told her we did not qualify for this program.  She told us that she could choose whoever she wanted to qualify for the program.  We stated that we wanted speech, not free preschool.  She then asked if we wanted to have him labeled "special needs" (like it was a disease or something).  We said, "YES!  If that's what he truly needs."

She then tried to tell us that he needed to be tested in Chinese to which I laughed and said, "Grrrrrrrrreat!  Let's do THAT!  He doesn't know a word of Chinese so I guarantee he'll qualify for EVERYTHING!"  That didn't seem to make sense to her after my comment.  So she relented and said, "OK.  He can have an IEP"

He started Preschool and what we thought was speech therapy services.

FAST FORWARD

On Tues, Doug and I went to Parent/Teacher Conference for Seth.  I was eager to hear how his speech was coming along as we haven't really noticed much improvement.  The teacher handed me his ONE goal.  It was a goal from her.  I asked about his goals with the SLP (Speech Language Pathologist).  She said he had none.  She went on to say, "This was the only goal I could make for him to have an IEP."

I was shocked to say the least.  Why was this the only goal she could make for him to have an IEP?  I used to teach special ed and I know that the educator/team can make whatever goals they need.

I also asked if his speech had been tested.  She answered no and would talk with the SLP about this request.

Got a phone call on Friday.  The teacher (she is very young.  very nice.) tried to explain to me that if the SLP tests his language he may not qualify anymore.  I explained again that his language has been tested.  We are looking for a speech evaluation- which was not completed in October.

Just then the SLP walked in her room.  She handed to phone over to her.  She seemed very annoyed from hello.  I explained the situation.  She told me that he doesn't have goals because he doesn't even qualify for an IEP.  I explained that he was 6%.  She said, "No, he's not."

"HUH?"

"He doesn't qualify because his native language is Chinese."  she said.

"His native language is English according to the law," I explained the law.

She disagreed.  I asked her for documentation to support her claim.  She didn't answer and when pressed said she'd have to look.

She then proceeded to yell at me (and yes, I succumbed to my Mama Bear tendencies and yelled back).  She went on and on about how he should never have been tested in the first place, he had better speech than most of the kids in the class, & she knew ALREADY he would not qualify for speech.  If you know Seth, you're laughing now because his speech is horrible... very hard to understand... he speaks in 1-2 word phrases.  I've worked in the preschool.  There is not one kid there that I couldn't understand.

I told her I thought she was a little bias and was nervous to allow her to test him.  She said she has no bias... (even when she said he wouldn't qualify??) HUH??  I tried to explain our experiences in the past, the fact that we know the speech testing is very subjective, and that he has a cleft lip/palate which generally requires speech therapy.

Hung up.

Doug was so angry he called the same Head District Lady.  She told him that the SLP was "morally and ethically opposed to testing Seth because he came from China.  She would NOT write goals for him."  The district lady apologized and said she'd be sure another SLP tested Seth, due to the bias.

ARE YOU KIDDING?  And they didn't force her hand to help our son?  Speechless.  Even breathless. 

Awaiting further meetings...  All I can say is that SLP better beware.  Doug is going to be at the meeting.  'Nuff said.