STARFISH made a Difference to My Son, Oliver's Story!
by Oliver's loving mom
My son Oliver is diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, BP, ADHD, GAD, SID, Complex Partial Seizures, Hypothyroid, Abdominal Migraines, Insulin Resistance, and High Cholesterol.
Despite the fact that he has many issues impacting his daily life, Oliver is and was a very bright, happy, and loving child and did rather well in school until his middle school experience.
Oliver's middle school years were very difficult (to say the least) for us both. He entered middle school two-three years ahead in most academic classes and he left middle school about two years behind his peers. These were dark times.
For me, I was confronted with educators who knew little about my son's medical issues and how academic accommodations needed to be applied. These folks also failed to accept me as part of the team that would develop Oliver's education plan.
For Oliver, he was experiencing academic hardship and facing social problems (such as being bullied) he had not faced before.
Consequently, Oliver was becoming very unstable and it seemed life couldn't be much worse. I had to hire an educational attorney to help protect Oliver. Although the attorney was wonderful and did a great job, the expense was great and I still needed to be accepted and to be empowered as Oliver's advocate and become a part of the academic team working on Oliver's behalf.
Because there weren't any local support groups I could turn to, I searched for support on the internet and found STARFISH.
STARFISH offered the educational resources I needed to help my son recover and move forward into 'the light' once more. Here I found a place where there are other families with similar experiences and a place where I could learn how to empower myself to advocate on my son's behalf.
I posted questions and comments on the Education Forum and received many valuable responses. I took the online courses offered by STARFISH, and I read all the resources available on the website. I posted on the General Forum and found a soft place to land - full of other parents who understood our unique struggles.
Although I learned a great deal that has continued to help me be a strong advocate for my son, at that time his situation had become so complicated that I decided to retain the STARFISH Educational Consultant, Donna Gilcher, to work with me in developing Oliver's IEP. After becoming familiar with Oliver's needs and school experiences, she became my son's Educational Consultant for the IEP meeting.
I spoke with the school diagnostician who asked to speak with the Consultant prior to our scheduled meeting. Mrs. H. was so impressed with Donna's credentials and experience that she told me she was quite excited to have Donna participate via phone conferencing.
The IEP team members were mixed in their willingness to accept the resources I was offering, but Oliver's Educational Consultant and I were able to lead the team to meet Oliver's needs. Oliver got all the accommodations he needed and a much-improved positive Behavior Intervention Plan! This academic plan was successful thanks to both what I had learned from STARFISH and to how Oliver's Educational Consultant helped the members to become a true team for Oliver.
My son began to blossom with his accommodations. As often happens, there were some hiccups that year, but with the diligence and proactive approach of using "The STARFISH Way", those were worked out.
The IEP meetings since then have always been positive and tuned to providing Oliver the best education possible with whatever accommodations are needed, and thankfully my input is now welcomed and encouraged.
Update: Oliver has made either the all A or A/B Honor Roll consecutively now into his Senior and final year of high school. Oliver loves school and is now only taking two classes per day and working part-time during the week. He will graduate with more credit hours than necessary and with a regular high school diploma in May 2009. I am so proud of him!
I took all the online educational classes that SAA offered. What great information I learned. I still have the 5" binders for each class notes that I use as reference for myself and friends.
Teachers, doctors, school staff and I are amazed at the huge progress Oliver has made since he started high school. He sees nothing but a bright future ahead which is thanks to STARFISH Advocacy Association.
As Oliver's mom, I am asking you to consider making a contribution to the "POWER of ONE" so our community can continue to help more children like my son.
