4.11.2007

In Which I Bang My Head Against the Wall Even Though That's Usually Leelo's Job

In Which I Bang My Head Against the Wall Even Though That's Usually Leelo's Job

Leelo's first ever report card came home last week, stuck in his communication folder. I didn't know kindergarteners even merited report cards.

Leelo's card had ratings in many categories, not only for this term but the previous one. I did not expect him to be on the honor roll, but Leelo does have a lot of academic strengths and I figured those at least would be recognized. Except, no.

His teacher rated Leelo either Fucking Horrible or Not So Fucking Horrible But Still Deplorable in the subjects Identifying Upper and Lowercase Letters, Identifying Numerals, Identifying Shapes, Sorting Items by One Category, Writes First and Last Name, and Identifies Letter Sounds. If you had been there, this would be the part where you'd have heard crickets as I stared at the report card with cold fury.

Leelo mastered the first three of those subjects before he was two years old, and mastered the second three well over a year ago. So not only is he not learning anything new, but his teacher has no idea what he actually does know. If I had seen Leelo's grades any time before last week, I would have been that teacher's own personal Hellbeast or Furie. But now we've permission to leave, and I want to focus on getting him out of there as fast as I can. I have to wonder if she sent home the report card out of spite, seeing as it arrived two days after I informed Leelo's IEP team (which included her) that Leelo performed at age level for all sorts of matching and verbal identification tasks during his most recent visit to The MYND Institute.

It's been six days since I first saw that report card, yet thinking about it still makes me feel queasy. Thank the stars and the people who live amongst them that it's Spring Break and I don't have to see his teacher for almost a week, praise the gods of Instructional Aides that Leelo's 1:1 aide is so phenomenal and can support him despite working under a teacher who just does not grok Leelo and his autism.

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