Russell has just competed his first year of high school, and on the whole I’m satisfied, although I would like to see them make a bit more effort toward inclusive education. He spent 10 years at an elementary school in which he was included in a regular classroom. Only occasionally was he pulled out for extra help, and that was after we decided not to have him take French. So for the last few years he used that time period for extra reading help. His experience was so positive, and he had wonderful peer support.

Those same peers have also been great so far in high school, eating lunch with him, and helping him out should he be in their class, but high school is really not set up the same way. Our board has a philosophy of inclusion, and until a few years ago all students were in a regular classroom. However, parents started pulling kids out of the board and putting them elsewhere, perhaps because they didn’t get the support they needed to be successful. The board created a special education program, and now kids with special educational needs attend regular classes half-time and get their core learning (reading, math, and life skills) in a segregated (they call it congregated) setting.

It’s not bad, but I had to insist that Russell be moved to the next level, because the initial placement had him bored to tears. Just because he pretends he can’t read doesn’t mean he can’t. Ultimately this is where my frustration comes in. In the regular classrooms the teachers think he’s amazing. He’s cooperative, independent, and eager to learn. In the special ed classrooms he’s less of all of those things. They don’t see the connection, but I sure do. I’ve also had to fight them a bit for him to be independent. They want to mother him and babysit him, and he hates it. He catches the bus to and from school, and hasn’t got lost yet. Some days he stays late to lift weights and I pick him up, but next year we’re going to teach him how to catch the later bus, which doesn’t go directly to our house. I was late one day and found him starting to walk home. I had a bit of a negative reaction (ok, maybe not just a bit), but after I calmed down I realized that he should also know that route.

We’re all ready for the summer here with drama and basketball camps and some time just kicking around home. Russell is excited to be going into grade 10 and taking science, which was his first choice when picking subjects.

Have a great summer, everyone! This picture attached is of Russell’s ball hockey team on winning the consolation final of their league.