Q&A #149

Still off in la-la land, but I am cleaning out my email box and had these sitting in there so I thought I would get them answered and posted! Hope you all are doing well!

I thought I read or heard somewhere, Renee, that she was in the process already of adopting again (not sure where in the process though). Did you hear anything about that? I can't imagine anyone giving her another child period.
Yes, she was in the process of adopting from the Republic of Georgia... not sure where that stands right now.

Renee, do you know if other countries besides Canada would be acceptable?
I think it would depend on that country's laws concerning International adoption. Many countries have such tight restrictions on adopting Internationally. Andrea may be able to answer that for you. bamaroberts@comcast.com

I laughed out loud when I read about Hillary...my husband thinks im crazy! I would love to "borrow" this and post some time...I think I am going to print this out and pass it out to some of my team I see on a regular basis, they would get a kick out of it.
I hope you've already done it by now, but... Borrow away!! :)

I took it to Lexie's IEP today nd while ours have always gone very well I thought they may all get a kick out of it and it was a hit. I e-mailed it to her resourse room teacher who has since forwarded it to all of the special ed department in our district and I think most of the general teachers.
Thanks again
I'm glad they all got a kick out of it... it's fun when the IEP Team has a sense of humor! ;)

Some of these are so sad...I hope I never do anything to make a parent feel any of these things. The comment about having a child discussed in the teacher's lounge hits close to home. I have had to report colleagues more than once for discussing issues of a confidential nature. I do not eat in the lounge to avoid having others ask me questions about my student's. Several times a year staff is reminded about confidentiality. I can teach them, but, I can't make them learn.
It IS sad... and obviously, since I grabbed this from a well known site, it's a common problem.

dear queen of iep's and all her iep expert friends,
we got some private testing done for one of our kiddos that according to the results and tennessee rules would mean our kiddo would qualify for an iep. before even having a meeting or seeing his evaluation report the school psych asked me on the phone what i wanted. i told her my wishful thinking accomodation, and she said it was an administrative call. she asked me to send in his eval tomorrow and she would talk with the administrator about it. whatever happend to having a MEETING with a team to decide what my kid needs and what i think he needs? i asked in writing for my son to be formally assessed in the district or for them to accept his private testing so his needs could be met...and instead i feel like they are having a secret meeting to decide if they will help me. is this wrong? by the way, the administrator H-A-T-E-S me....so let's just say i am certain he will say i can not have what i want...and hope i go away. at that point, what should i do? go to the district again? they are the ones who sent me to the school site. if i end up needing an advocate....... how do i find one?
thanks in advance!
brook
LOL! Well first, I am nowhere NEAR an expert... I learned that quickly! Never go to an IEP meeting without an advocate by your side. I will let others chime in here as far as advice goes, but I WILL say that you can get an advocate through your local ARC. If you are in Middle Tennessee, click here.

Just coming back to say - what can we do to help? Maybe I can check with the Red Cross. Please let us know if there is anything we can do for you or your community from afar!
Yes, the Red Cross or Soles for Souls is another great organization giving back to our community right now! Thanks so much for asking!!!

I have been thinking about you and how you were doing. Everytime we drive through Clarksville I think about you and your family and mostly I wish that I had asked you for the name of a good place to stop for lunch. It sure is a nice town. I looked carefully at the pictures of the flooding. On Sunday my son was in one of those big rigs trying to drive from Alabama to Chicago through Tennessee. He was stopped and spent the night in a Wal Mart parking lot but managed to get through the next day. He said the flooding was unimaginable and felt so bad for everyone. I feel the same. Hope things dry out soon and that needed help gets there. My husband and I will drive through this summer and I hope it is back to the same beautiful place.
We will get there... eventually! When you drive through... off exit 11 there is Pancho Villas which has great Mexican food... if you're willing to drive a little further off the beaten path, downtown is the Blackhorse Pub and Brewery. Exit 4 has all the staples... Longhorne's, Logan's, Outback, O'Charley's, Applebees, Olive Garden, Old Chicago Pizza, Rafferty's and much more. Clarksville is a beautiful town! :) I'm so glad your son is ok!