Help is Available for Special Needs Students
By Kate Copsey / STAFF
When you have a child who is struggling in school, you do your best to ensure that he or she gets the help they need. Unfortunately not all kids get that assistance, and in some cases the assistance seems to ignore the problem. Eventually, as the student falls further and further behind, the time arrives for the parent to take action.
For Richard and Brigette Stanley, that action point was reached when their son Deven was going into high school. Deven had learning issues, and math was just one of the areas he had problems with. According to Richard Stanley, Deven “was passed along fromgrade to grade without retaining very much.”
The final disappointment with the public system was that although he had an IEP (Individual Educational Program), his support team wanted to put him into themainstream algebra I class. The Stanley’s heartily disagreed with that decision. Like many other parents before them, they started a search for a more suitable learning curriculum in the private sector.
For BriannaAustin’s mother FransoirAnderson, the turning point was reached when Austin was finishing grade 7. It was clear that she was not going to be prepared for high school if she continued on the track provided for her by the public school. Austin’s reading and math were both weak.
“She has a hard time remembering and needs lots of repetition,”Anderson said. “They cannot provide that in the public school.”
Anderson and the Stanleys both decided to transfer their students to College Living Prep in Roswell, and both have seen a tremendous improvement in how their youngsters view learning.
Any child with learning issues benefits from a personalized and flexible program that can address their specific educational needs. Overwhelmingly they also benefit from very small class size where there is less distraction. For Austin, a quiet atmosphere and having time allotted to allow her to concentrate was important for success.
The success of places such as College Living Prep (CLP) with these students is their initial assessments of the strengths and weakness, plus their ability to take each child from where they are currently and bring them up to grade level.
“They build one skill before building the next step,” said Pam Raymond of Educational Services of America (ESA).
CLP also has the unique ability to draw on the experience of knowledge gained from other schools in the American Education Services network.
By the time Khalief Stamps, the Center Director at CLP, gets students for initial assessments he said “many are below grade level.” It is his responsibility to ensure that these exceptional students “show progressive growth.”
It is also important to carefully rebuild the self esteem of the students, who have often been traumatized by their previous school experiences. Stamps is also very aware that a child who is used to failing in math or reading, will resist trying to learn.According to Richard Stanley, for Deven, “just going into a classroom and knowing that he didn’t know what the other kids knew” was excruciatingly difficult. Getting these kids to accept that they can learn and they can do math takes time and a unique teacher who understands all the problems.
The whole school experience of exceptional students can be affected by a lack of social skills. This is particularly important in the teenage years when social cliques and outcasts tend to be formed. Teaching social skills is a subject not addressed in public school, so a child such as Deven Stanley will not only hate the academic side of school, but he will be reluctant to talk about his day.
In a school such as CLP, those crucial social skills are taught alongside the academics. The school day includes individual research projects and group projects, plus social topics such as “The Power of Choice” and “Active Listening.” Both Deven Stanley and Brianna Austin now talk about their day, including what they have learned as well as other students. This major milestone is a relief to the parents who have watched their children become resistant to recalling the painful day at school.
ESA also has a support system for those students who are starting college. Starting in the schools, a transition program is put into place.
“The transition is not usually done very well, and it is left to the parents,” said StephanieMartin, SeniorVice President of Operations at ESA. Consequently she said ”many students bomb.” The challenges of college life include everything fromscheduling classes and navigating around the campus to enrolling in new classes and making lists for food and necessities.
Martin works with the students in community colleges, vocational schools andmainstream universities. The students get two hours of tutoring per week per subject plus use a mentoring program. The mentor “walks beside” the student and encourages them to integrate with social groups and use the library and cafeteria. The mentor is a professional in the field such as a graduate student in education or psychology.
With exceptional students, the struggles become part of their way of life. Enrolling them in a school where they can overcome their failures is important. Getting their self-esteem back to normal for a teenager is important.
However, when the parents at CLP came to see an oral presentation of the work their teenagers had completed on global warming, one parent left in tears – she couldn’t believe that her child could come so far, in so short a time. That’s when you know that you have made the right choice in educational environment for your special student.