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Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old
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realAlbertan
Apr 2, 12 9:28
Post #1 of 36
(1356 views)
Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old
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This sickens me. To put this little one into a wheelchair now will impair her long term physical development. My daught is also learning to walk with a similar device. This is one of those things that is a now or never and to take away her mobility is just wrong.
http://houston.cbslocal.com/...y-from-using-walker/
http://www.youtube.com/...youtube_gdata_player
___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M - 1500 metre Freestyle
Half Fast
Apr 2, 12 9:34
Post #2 of 36
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Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [realAlbertan]
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realAlbertan wrote:
This sickens me. To put this little one into a wheelchair now will impair her long term physical development. My daught is also learning to walk with a similar device. This is one of those things that is a now or never and to take away her mobility is just wrong.
http://houston.cbslocal.com/...y-from-using-walker/
http://www.youtube.com/...youtube_gdata_player
I attended TX public school. I can count on one hand the number of teachers that I encountered that I now consider "smart." The remainder were on the state employee teat.
rick_pcfl
Apr 2, 12 10:57
Post #3 of 36
(1273 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [realAlbertan]
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Wow. If they're truely concerned with her safety, they can ask the mother to sign a waiver.
I have a son who is autistic. When we started main-streaming him - I was concerned that he didn't cause a disruption to the education of other students. I probably would have moved him if it had been a problem. Fortunately, it wasn't. But, tying it to this story - I don't see how this little girl could be a significant distraction or danger. More likely, they didn't want to allocate resources to watch after her to make sure she wasn't trampled.
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Rick Smith - Founder of Bus Bulletin
Parent notification software designed for pupil transportation ~ Providing information while it still matters.
http://www.BusBulletin.com
Eppur si muove
Apr 2, 12 11:01
Post #4 of 36
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Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [realAlbertan]
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I agree, that's sickening. Too bad we don't have competition in educational systems, so that she could enroll her child with a competitor instead.
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"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin
jkca1
Apr 2, 12 11:05
Post #5 of 36
(1256 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [realAlbertan]
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I wish this was unusual but I think it's more of the norm. More litigation coming...
"They are all crooks, both sides of the aisle."
rick_pcfl
Apr 2, 12 11:17
Post #6 of 36
(1238 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [realAlbertan]
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I have a coworker who has a son who was born blind. You would think he was a prime candidate for the Florida school for the Deaf and
Blind
in St. Augustine. However, blind children require more resources than deaf children, so they denied his child. They even labeled his son as retarded.
This little boy learned how to use a form of echo-location (by clapping his hands) to determine if there is a wall or opening in front of him. He can tell his parents where they are on the ride home by counting the number of traffic lights they've encountered. But, he's retarded - they say.
My coworker hired a lawyer and fought the school - but finally gave up. Fortunately he has the resources to pay for a private tutor to help his son outside of school, and the ability to drive to a school all the way across the county that had a teacher experienced working with blind children. How many children from poorer families suffer because the school denies entry - even though it is a state funded school?
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Rick Smith - Founder of Bus Bulletin
Parent notification software designed for pupil transportation ~ Providing information while it still matters.
http://www.BusBulletin.com
Haim
Apr 2, 12 11:17
Post #7 of 36
(1238 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [Eppur si muove]
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Too bad we don't have competition in educational systems, so that she could enroll her child with a competitor instead.
Yes, I am sure that this is exactly the kind of student that schools in a competitive system would strive to enroll. I also have no doubt that the "competitive" health insurance industry is beating their door down trying to sign this child up.
Haim
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"Sometimes you need to think INSIDE the box!" -- ME
"Why squirrel hate me?"
JSA
Apr 2, 12 11:34
Post #8 of 36
(1221 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [realAlbertan]
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We are missing a great deal of facts here. If she has CP, she is in special ed. That being the case, federal law requires an IEP (Individualized Education Program). The IEP team is comprised of the special ed teacher, the special ed coordinator, and usually another member. The IEP team would have to meet with the parent and must consider the medical devices provided or recommended by a treating physician. If a doc prescribed the walker, they have to give it to her.
So, there are facts we are missing. Based on the incredibly limited facts presented in that article, the District is going to lose and lose bad (unless there are a lot of extenuation circumstances of which we do not know). For all we know, the child's own doc may have been the one who said she should not be in a walker. We don't know -- that's the point I am trying to make. Let's not jump to conclusions. Now, I realize this is the LR and that is what we do, but ... ;-p
_______________________________________________
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” - Will Rogers
Emery's Third Coast Triathlon |
Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team |
Push Endurance |
GLWR
LorenzoP
Apr 2, 12 11:40
Post #9 of 36
(1214 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [realAlbertan]
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I don't know the particulars of this case - but many schools/districts are seriously under-manned when it comes to staff trained and available to help students with special needs. It's likely that's the case with with school - they may not feel like they can keep her safe without staff making sure she can get from room to room - and they just don't have the staff. For example, she may need to go the restroom, who's available to accompany her there?
realAlbertan
Apr 2, 12 11:47
Post #10 of 36
(1203 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [JSA]
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There is another article that says her doctor's orders are to use the walker.
___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M - 1500 metre Freestyle
JSA
Apr 2, 12 11:54
Post #11 of 36
(1189 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [realAlbertan]
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realAlbertan wrote:
There is another article that says her doctor's orders are to use the walker.
I suspected that was the case and assuming that is true, the District is sunk, should the parents decide to go to court. The IDEA (federal law governing special education services) is pretty strict in what is required. The District either did this without consulting legal counsel or they have some extreme facts that have not come to light upon which they are relying.
_______________________________________________
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” - Will Rogers
Emery's Third Coast Triathlon |
Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team |
Push Endurance |
GLWR
realAlbertan
Apr 2, 12 12:02
Post #12 of 36
(1171 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [JSA]
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The special ed director was baiting her to take them to court. I would think that would make the districts legal team see red.
___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M - 1500 metre Freestyle
burnman
Apr 2, 12 12:02
Post #13 of 36
(1168 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [realAlbertan]
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As I recall, there was another component to this story related to the mother - perhaps her refusal to cooperate in a timely manner or obtain the proper authorization from the doctor. Don't hold my feet to the fire on that though. I can't recall when or where I heard that, but the story rings a bell. Like all public trials these days, I'm sure that we're well short of the minimum information for conviction.
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Francois
Apr 2, 12 12:07
Post #14 of 36
(1154 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [Commando]
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I can only agree. A few years ago, I debated leaving the wonderful (political) world of research, grant chasing etc and considered going into secondary ed
teaching (not much work, when you know what your topic is, summers off, and the pay isn't bad, and I could spend the rest of my time with my coaching business).
So, here I go...I contact the Board of education to figure out what I need to do to teach HS Mathematics...And surprise...I pretty much have to go back to school...
Apparently, over 60 peer-reviewed publications, federal funding, and a PhD in math/computer science aren't enough for the great state of Texas. I also have to
take the TOEFL to demonstrate that I master English...because even though I'm half aussie, I went to school in France so clearly I don't speak English...during the
discussion I told the lady, 'well if I were not able to speak English, ....' she interjects 'you see...it's if I was...'
Long story short, I thought the bureaucracy was crazy just to get certified to teach so I surely didn't want to see how it'd be to work with these idiots.
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http://www.fmcoaching.com
http://www.elpasotricoaching.wordpress.com
LorenzoP
Apr 2, 12 12:08
Post #15 of 36
(1152 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [JSA]
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Agreed. And if the District still feels she is a 'danger' to herself from falling, then they would need to allocate a staff person to accompany her across the parking lot and from room to room inside the school - and to be available should there be a building emergency.
Eppur si muove
Apr 2, 12 12:22
Post #16 of 36
(1133 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [Haim]
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Yes, I am sure that this is exactly the kind of student that schools in a competitive system would strive to enroll.
I sense that you're trying to be sarcastic, but why not? From the article, she sounds like a very dedicated and promising youngster. She might be more expensive to educate than another student, but if the parent is willing to pay the cost, then I'm sure private educators would be happy to have her. In this case, I suspect the parent might be more than willing to do that, if there were a level competing field.
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"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin
Eppur si muove
Apr 2, 12 12:27
Post #17 of 36
(1122 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [Francois]
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during the discussion I told the lady, 'well if I were not able to speak English, ....' she interjects 'you see...it's if I was...'
I'm always amused when native Americans show themselves less knowledgeable of English than immigrants from non-English-speaking countries. That includes the ones calling for "English only" rules, too.
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"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin
Francois
Apr 2, 12 12:31
Post #18 of 36
(1112 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [Eppur si muove]
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Hey! Since I'm half Aussie, I'm not quite sure how to take your comment! ;-)
Are you calling Australia non-English speaking?? (you'd have a point...)
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http://www.fmcoaching.com
http://www.elpasotricoaching.wordpress.com
Eppur si muove
Apr 2, 12 12:41
Post #19 of 36
(1092 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [Francois]
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Anyone named François (cedilla deliberately included) is French in my book. Anyway, Aussie sounds neat but French has more romantic flair to it, so take it as a compliment.
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"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin
Francois
Apr 2, 12 12:45
Post #20 of 36
(1088 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [Eppur si muove]
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Fair dinkum mate.
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http://www.fmcoaching.com
http://www.elpasotricoaching.wordpress.com
Haim
Apr 2, 12 13:31
Post #21 of 36
(1070 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [Eppur si muove]
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She might be more expensive to educate than another student, but if the parent is willing to pay the cost, then I'm sure private educators would be happy to have her.
And if the parents are unable or unwilling to pay the cost? Should we suspend compulsory child education for them? Private schools already exist for children with all manner of disabilities, however without the benefit of revenue from a pool of taxpayers (not all of whom are parents), the benefit of averaging the costs of high needs students with those of less needy students, nor the economies of scale, they are at a funding disadvantage and priced well beyond the ability of most parents to pay. Considering the additional financial burden of raising a special needs child, these parents likely have even fewer financial resources available to pay for school than parents of other children.
I am very familiar with the private lower/middle and high schools in my area. Tuition runs ~$35K per year, not including annual fund raising drives and capital campaigns which can easily add $10K+ per year to the annual cost, and they are all significantly (3 to 7+ times) oversubscribed. That is more than three times the average cost of a student receiving a public education (without the additional obligation of accommodating significant special needs), and while they do compete for the most highly qualified students for their particular program, not one of them is competing to fill their available seats with
very well qualified students.
Haim
-------------------------------------------------------
"Sometimes you need to think INSIDE the box!" -- ME
"Why squirrel hate me?"
timboricki
Apr 2, 12 14:03
Post #22 of 36
(1053 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [realAlbertan]
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Wow, WTF is wrong with people?
I have a buddy with a mild form of CP. He is a BAMF and if he was told to sit in a wheelchair when he was 5, I am not sure where he would be today.
Check out this article on him from a few years ago -
http://www.ocregister.com/...-paddock-soccer.html
He set a bunch of Division 2 records as a goalkeeper in college soccer.
He has since Cimbed Mt Kilimanjaro and raised nearly $1 million for early child hood development centers. (And an award winning documentary was produced about his climb.)
He has done 2 1/2 marathons and 1 full marathon.
He did his first Sprint Triathlon last year.
He will be doing the Hawaii 70.3 in June
He is training for Kona right now and if he finishes, we will be the first person wtih CP to finish an Ironman unassisted. (Yes, he was granted a starting spot to be one of the Special Interest stories that they follow).
Check out his page here
https://www.facebook.com/...nning#!/omfoundation
FLA Jill
Apr 2, 12 14:32
Post #23 of 36
(1041 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [Eppur si muove]
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Eppur si muove wrote:
I agree, that's sickening. Too bad we don't have competition in educational systems, so that she could enroll her child with a competitor instead.
In most states, there are public charter schools. But, unlike the traditional public schools, said public charter schools in most states are not required to educate the severely disabled if they feel like it would cost them too much to educate the kid. Most public charters will limit their IEP services to something like speech therapy and some extra tutoring for the student. The charter schools willing to educate the kids so disabled they effectively need a 1:3 staff:student ratio to meet their IEP are few and far between because you can't make any money running that kind of school unless you've got a special deal with the state/local folks to pay for necessary staff.
realAlbertan
Apr 2, 12 15:34
Post #24 of 36
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Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [timboricki]
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This is my point. Its now or never for these kids...
___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M - 1500 metre Freestyle
Eppur si muove
Apr 3, 12 6:35
Post #25 of 36
(944 views)
Re: Texas School district takes walker away from 5 year old [Haim]
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As I already acknowledged, educating special-needs kids can be more expensive. But it certainly doesn't help matters that their parents, if they go the private-school route, have to pay for BOTH school systems, since they continue to pay taxes in support of public schools. What kind of competition is it when you decide to patronize competitor B instead of competitor A but still have to pay competitor A's price anyway?
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"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin
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