Monday, February 26, 2007

Update on speech

Grrrr, I'm cross, so if I sound irrational, just bear with me, the real me will be back soon!

I kept Ethan up as I had to be at the school at 1.00 for the meeting. When I'd got there they had already done the assessment on Liam (I knew they were going to). So, he has his assessment with a woman from OzChild. It all goes well. He gets a sticker. He's happy. I go in for my meeting with her, along with Liam's teacher. She tells me all about the IQ test she's done on him, and how wonderful he is. Perfectly average. He scored 100. That's great... I am wondering why he's having an IQ test though... it's speech, and he's had about 8million speech assessments now. Then she tells me all about the tests into learning disabilities, physical disabilities etc etc etc, and goes on to tell me he's fine in those areas. HELLO I know! We are here for speech! So, half an hour later finally get out of her, that his speech is not bad enough and she will not be refering him on for therapy within the school system. BUT she then goes on to tell me, that she can see that he has had speech therapy, and the wonderful building blocks it's given him. And that "OH YES, HE DEFINATLY STILL NEEDS SPEECH THERAPY. What the? She can sit there and tell me he definatly needs speech therapy, but she will not refer him on to go through the school system. The government provides speech therapy for pre-school children through the hospital, but once they are of school age, they have to be transferred to the school system. So what do you do when the school system won't put their name on the list! Go private again... Take him out of school, and pay $50 for a 30 minute session every week. None of which is claimable either on Medicare, or even as part of your tax return.

What a load of CRAP!

I've spoken with the assistant principal, who also thinks that's a load of crap, and is going to look into it for me. Grrrrr.
OK, vent over. I can put my other head away now.

15 comments:

Jess said...

That's really unfair Katie! Hopefully the assistant principal will be able to over-ride the teacher and have him put on the list for it.

Good luck.

Jess

Anonymous said...

how frustrating katie. i will be watching/reading with interest to see how it pans out for you. my daughter is three and has just started speech therapy for stuttering and prolongong...and for mnow i know it is free but i am worried about the future...
hope all works out for you..i hope the assistant pricipal is assertive! LOL!
cheers
janine

Karen L said...

Oh Katie I can sympathise with you. My daughter has a speech problem too - not in the speaking but with receptive speech. It has impacted on her schooling all her life - but she also wasn't quite bad enough for them to warrant giving her speech through the school system either. Probably because being responsible parents you try and do the right thing by providing what you can and then they miss out, because they are not quite bad enough. Boarderline case. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Know how you feel.

welcome to my world said...

It's not fair for you and Ethan especially after all of the hard work you have put in.

Unknown said...

How frustrating for you, Kate. I'm sure there's a way around it...just stick to your guns. Make statements rather than ask questions. All my experience as a teacher tell me that's the way to get stuff done. Here's another idea - do you live near a University? When I went to Flinders Uni in Adelaide, they would bring in children for free speech therapy for 3rd and 4th year students. All supervised, of course. You basically get professional help for nothing. It could be worth checking if money is an issue.

HTH and hang in there! :)

kathie said...

How frustrating Katie! I hope you can get it resolved.

Megan said...

How totally sucky Katie. Hope the principal can help sort things out.

Anonymous said...

Katie......what a bummer!I'm reading between the lines here Katie....
It sounds like Liam is not as bad as some of the other children at the school.The person who did the assessment probably could see that Liam may need to continue with some speech help but maybe she didn't explain herself properly. They do prioritise the children in the school and usually the resources are really being stretched....Liam sounds like he has improved because you are such a caring mum and Brett is a caring Dad and you have got onto his speech very early....which is just wonderful Katie. Chance are his speech will improve by itself now he is at school and socialising with other children on a regular basis. I'd be still checking with the As. Principal though....and ask why Liam doesn't meet the criteria for school assistance. I think you'll find they may give you and the teacher some some activities to continue with Liam and they may then review him in a few months.
I'll be interested to know how you get on with this Katie. Don't be angry.......instead give yourselves a pat on the back girl.....'cause you have helped LIAM so much.....just wish there were more parents like you two around!

Lyn

Lou Spiden said...

Ditto to waht Lyn said. Although I work in Kinder and the system is different getting ANY assistance for children that just need a little bit extra is IMPOSIIBLE. Instead the funding goes to children that are severely behind with their development or other serious condition. Lots of time the assistance for them really is not doing them much good anyway. The funding would be much better split for those just requiring a bit extra. It really sucks!
Lou

Sofi said...

Katie, I really sympathize. Maybe what she was trying to say was, Liam is doing so well, that it's not critical; but on the other hand, can see he is "almost" there.

Hope all can be resolved, you guys should be proud that you've helped Liam so much with his speech.

Cass said...

Crap. Total and utter crap. I hope you can make them see reason.

Anonymous said...

Katie,
I totally sypathize with you. It's just so impossible to get help in the state school system. I was nagging for help with my Harry through the whole of grade 1 and 2 at the local primary. His handwriting was terrible, it was painfully slow and he hated it, so he just didn't write. We had him tested, privately because the school wouldn't. Five fantastic sessions later we were given a full assessment which included a three page list for his teachers to implement in the class room to help him. They did nothing and we kept getting the worst school reports, yet we knew he was really very smart, he just couldn't write at the same speed as his brain could work. Whenever we complained we were met with the same response "he's not the worst in the grade", in other words, we can't do anything for you.
We got him into Woodleigh in grade 3, they assessed him (with our permission) in his first week there and set up private at school sessions with an occupational therapist within the first two weeks. We have to pay and it's really expensive, but it has been such a blessing. He only has one session a term now and at the start of this year (grade five) he got his full pen licence!
Unfortunately the state system doesn't have funding or the resources that are so desperately needed. In the end you just have to do whatever you think is best for your child and I'm sorry to say but you will probably have to pay a fortune for it, just like us.
Good luck :)

Anonymous said...

oh, you must be so frustrated- hope it all works out, the girls have given some good advice there too
J

Anonymous said...

Oh gosh Katie! I hope something can be done about the situation.
Hope you are okies, love Gems xx

Anonymous said...

Katie, hun that just sucks!!!

Fingers crossed that you can get him seen through the school soon!!!

xoxox
Will