John and Eva Heisch PO Box 13 Summerton, SC 29148 September 6, 2013 Summerton Early Childhood Center Attn: Thomas Bell 8 Church Street Summerton, SC 29148 Mr. Bell: As you are aware, we had another situation with your school yesterday regarding my daughter’s needs. At this point in time my husband and I have not decided which course of action to take. We feel as though the constant issues arising regarding our daughter’s attendance at your school are adversely affecting her to the point where it will negatively mar her outlook on school in future years. We have attempted repeatedly to work with you and your staff, yet we have an overwhelming feeling and belief that her needs are being disregarded and not met. When we say “needs” we do mean “needs”. For my daughter, needs are not the same as they would be for a child that does not have Autism. No matter how abnormal anyone at your school feels they may be, her norms are not the same as an ordinary child. We have, with the assistance of her psychiatrist, attempted to insure that she has her needs met. However, we are constantly dealing with the fact that we cannot seem to make your staff understand that things prescribed for her are in her best interest and need to be adhered to. When I have picked my daughter up I have learned that she has not had necessary fluids throughout the day, that she has not been given an opportunity to have her snack (it has always been returned), that she has not been changed adequately (returning with wet clothing), that she has not been given the proper doses of prescribed medication, that she has not had body brushing or joint compressions, that she has not had adequate time to eat her lunch, that she has not had access to her therapy tools, etc. We have also dealt with you regarding Ms. Lang and our original agreement to have Ms. Lang act in lieu of her service animal temporarily. Although any parent would be absolutely crazy to believe that their child is cared for at school as they are cared for at home, I would at least hope parents could take their child to your school and hope that they are not neglected when it comes to their needs, especially medical needs. Neglect is a strong word to toss around, however, I am not finding another adequate word to describe the situation. As a special needs child she has certain medical needs that go beyond giving her prescribed medication and those needs are not being met. Until we have decided what course of action to take here, we must keep Sophia enrolled yet keep her at home for her well being. We will advise you next week as to what we have decided when we have more time to go over the situation and our options. Whether we have to file in court, have to take this up further with the State Dept. of Education, have to get the ombudsmen involved, have to attend school with her daily with her service animal has yet to be determined by us at this time, but we will definitely be looking at all options. In the meantime, we would like to have copies of our daughter’s medication log showing when she was given her medication and how much she was dispensed for all days she has attended. We would also like to receive copies of the log for her brushing, compressions, and diaper changes. You should have these since they are done at the nurse’s office and are considered medical. We will also need to make arrangements with you for her psycho educational evaluation to be completed and we will wait for a call from you to address that issue. Your staff and the psychologist have had sufficient time to do this and it should have been completed. Sophia being medicated is not an excuse for not completing this and since she will be on her medication while in school that is the only way for you to assess properly, even though I have made concessions and allowed the psychologist to consult with the psychiatrist about whether or not it would be appropriate to do the evaluation without medication. If you can take a moment and try to understand my point of view as a parent on this. I want to be able to drop my child off at school and know that she is going to have her necessities and her necessary services. I also want to be able to pick her up from school without her being in complete distress from her lack of care at school. Although we and her doctors feel that these are necessities and necessary care, it appears as though your staff does not see it this way. We can agree to disagree, but we as parents of a child we love very much cannot let them slide and we cannot put her at risk by allowing things to remain as they currently are. We have greater doubts when it comes to her teacher’s ability to focus on her as well. We received her daily progress report back a couple of times and it wasn’t even filled out. This is the progress report that gets sent home for all students in her class each day. We have been sent homework that has not been graded that we have had to send back and yesterday we were not even given her homework folder. All being said, you can contact regarding the issues addressed in this letter or you can wait to hear from us at the beginning of next week. In the meantime, every effort possible needs to be made by your school and the district to make certain her pending IEP determination is still in the progress stages. We will be consulting you about having an evaluation through our private insurance when we get that in order as we anticipate the possibility that we may need another party to look into her situation, as well as an attorney. John and Eva Heisch
Posted on: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 18:14:03 +0000
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