Kyle's issues with School and Learning issues!

My son has had his shares of downs (not ups and downs) with the public school system. He did great in Kindergarten, reading at a 2nd grade level and even was great at Math. That is until the Kindergarten teacher decided to teach a kid who knew how to do Math at 5 yrs old in his head ,  how to count on his fingers! Thanks to a great Pre-K teacher he had for 2 years who taught him the right way. That totally confused him and he has been horrible at Math ever since.

 In 1st grade he was still reading above grade level but was falling behind in everything else. He wrote many letters and numbers backwards. The public school system said it was normal until 2nd grade.

 The end of second grade he gained an IEP and was still writing backwards but reading above grade level. He had many symptoms of Dyslexia, but they insisted Dyslexia was a reading disorder and then at this time told me its normal for kids to write backwards until 4th grade, which I knew for a fact to be bull! Kyle was also diagnosed with ADHD, and Anxiety at this point.

 By 3rd grade he was so far behind, and everything I ask them to do for him they would say they couldn't do or they didn't have the resources or some excuse. Kids on the school bus the last couple years punched in the stomach, punched him in the testicals, tea bagged him, slammed him against the bus window and on top of it always verbally abused him.  The school said they couldn't tell me what was done but the kids were always at school or on the bus the next day so obviously not enough!!

 In 4th grade he was Diagnosed with Tourettes Syndrome, began being made fun of and picked on by not only the kids but the teachers. The kids would also tell him to stop and so would the teachers.  Even through meetings explaining to the teachers that he cannot help the tics, the teachers continued to tell him to stop ticcing. It got to the point that I ask the school to please allow him to stand in front of the class and explain why he tics so everyone would understand.  The principle said no and that he didn't want kids going home and telling parents that a kid in their class had Tourettes because it would start  an uproar with parents thinking there was a child cussing in their room.  My son doesn't cuss, he just has a few noises and eye twitches that he makes. Later that year the principle called Kyle to his office and preceded to explain to him that what he has is a sinus infection, that he himself makes those noises when he has a sinus infection.  This is even though they have paper work stating that he was diagnosed with Tourettes Syndrome. So we went to the neurologist and got a note again stating his diagnoses and then to his pediatrician to have her write a note stating he was seen there and does not have a sinus infection. I managed to get the principle to put his "diagnosis" in an email so  I went to the board of education and told them what was said and sent them the email the principle had sent me. Needless to say he got in trouble but I know the rest of the year I didn't have any issues with him. We withdrew Kyle from the local school near the end of that 4th grade year and Unschooled him.

 I homeschooled Kyle for 5th grade and he was much happier but I was unable to really teach him all he needed to know, but it was a decision I hade to make to keep him safe and happy. I knew I couldn't really homeschool him for 6th grade and have him learn all he should. So I had to send him back to the hounds in the PS system.

In 6th grade he failed his way through, was beat up, hounded and even attacked verbally by teachers. They said he speaks so intelligently and is so smart and that I was allowing him to fail. That he was trying to fail and because I stuck up for him it was allowing him to continue. They even said he doesn't act like a child with Aspergers, but if you know what Aspergers is, it is not a stupid disease, the kids speak older than they are. The Math teacher would really abuse him so bad verbally he came home crying. My 6th grader was refused a bathroom break as they would say he was trying to get out of school, he wet his pants 3x in SIXTH GRADE!! He has been fully potty trained since he was 2, with NO accidents!! I WAS PISSED! They ended up failing him for 6th grade all because he failed his Math CRCT test. However...
... Thanks to the K12 program, Ga. Cyber Academy, who I explained the story to and they said the school should have never have failed him even though he failed the CRCT due to his IEP and they passed him on to 7th grade!! YAY! As you may or may not know the K12 program is a Public School (PS) program that runs, in this case, on the Georgia standards Curriculum. He made straight A's last year and was on the Honor Roll!  Not only that, but he met on 2 of his CRCT subjects and exceeded on the other 2 subjects!

In 8th grade he did the K12 program with GCA once again and did GREAT!! Was on the Honor Roll the 1st of that year also, but we had so many communication issues with them and the testing became outrageous, plus Kyle had already completed all of his OLS work so we decided to withdraw him after the holidays and begin 9th grade thru traditional homeschool!!  He can now write an essay almost completely without me pulling the words out or sitting right beside him. I am so proud of him!
He completed 9th grade through traditional  homeschooling.Went to the homeschool Prom this year! So far so good! We plan to finish out homeschooling through high school!

While K12 was a better experience by far than the regular school system, it is non the less the PS system, with tests, regulations, people controlling you and people making your child feel like a failure if he does not do well. They do still have to pass to pass the grade and I for one just would rather not set my son up for failure!  There was lack of communication to no end and things were due without warning etc. Just not for everyone for sure!

Kyle finished 10th and 11th grade, as he did 8th and 9th, in the same year and now he is going into 12th in August (2014). he is 15 and will graduate at 16. He is doing so well and I am so very proud of him!

He was diagnosed with Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalcula along with a learning disability by a school psychologist who came to our home this past summer. Needless to say I am scared to death and sad for my little boy !

He also has now been Diagnosed with EDS, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome recently! This all makes since now because all of these things actually fit into this diagnoses plus with his medical issues he has too!