Goodbye ESY

Summer school/ESY services came to an end this past Friday, and I must admit that I am very glad.

For the past 5 or so years, ESY for Ashley has meant going to a central school location with a lot of other students with a myriad of disabilities.  From the beginning, I questioned just how much of the "I" in "IEP" was addressed during the summer, but since Ashley seemed to be having a good time - at least the first year or so - I went along with it.  But the past couple of years have not gone well.

I never know who her teacher is, who her aide is, who her interpreter is.  I have no idea if any of those people have any working knowledge of deafblindness.  The only status reports I receive say "Ashley had a good day."  Twice she brought home a cupcake from school - homemade, and I won't even go into the reasons why I threw those away rather than letting her eat them.  Apparently the class took a couple of trips into the community because I was asked twice to send money for a 'shopping trip."

But the biggest reason I am done with centralized ESY/Summer School services is that Ashley gets hurt- a lot - and no one can explain how it happens.  Last year, it was a serious abrasion and many bruises.  This year, she has come home almost every day with a new bruise.  When I asked the teacher (via note because I didn't have any other way to contact him/her), I was told they had no idea, that Ashley had two people with her at all times (aide and interpreter) and neither had seen anything.

So, in support of Ashley's health and safety, she will no longer be participating in this particular model of ESY services.  I strongly believe that she needs ESY services.  Heck, I went to due process and won over ESY services.  But the way it is currently structured just isn't working.

I'm not going to worry about it right now since it's over for this year, but next year, the IEP team will need to engage in some serious discussions on the subject.