Ryne Culley

8/3/16
Eng101A
Final

Misunderstood Differences
In January of 2006, a six year old first grader was told that he was different from all his

friends. He had several learning disabilities, which explained why he could not read or write like

his friends and classmates. This first grader did not know that he learned differently than most

people. He now thought he was stupid and never would learn to read and write. The teachers at

Beall Elementary, his home school in Montgomery County Maryland tried to teach him how to

work around his disabilities. They were very nice, but he still felt dumb, hopeless and different.

It wasnt until much later that he finally believed his family and Mrs. Job (his private tutor). His

brain was wired differently. He was still the smart boy he thought he was before he went to

Kindergarten. Since his brain was unique, he needed to learn differently. He was not disabled,

just different. The challenge was to figure out how he learned. According to the Lab School of

Washington, an independent, college-preparatory school for bright children with learning

disabilities (differences), Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs all

struggled with a learning difference. Each went on to change the world (The Way We Teach).

My journey through the educational system of an award winning, middle to upper class well-

funded school system raises many serious questions.

Yes, I was that five year old boy. After extensive testing, Louis Essers, Clinical

Psychologist diagnosed me with three distinct learning disabilities: Dyslexia; an Auditory

Processing Disorder (APD); and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Dyslexia is

the physical/visual aspect of reading words, involving fluency, decoding and comprehension
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(Lab School The Difference is Extraordinary). An Auditory Processing Disorder involves

listening skills and memory for what you hear (The Difference is Extraordinary). My APD

involves receptive language, making sense of spoken and/or written language. I also have

problems with word retrieval and organization. I do not process sounds as others do, or recognize

subtle differences between sounds even if they are loud and clear. It is particularly difficult for

me to interpret words in a noisy or busy environment. I had to learn how to pay attention and

remember information given to me orally. Completing multistep directions is hard and I often

need more time to process information. ADHD is Difficulty with concentration, controlling

impulses, and attention; also, often difficulty sitting still, a need to be in constantly in motion

(The Difference is Extraordinary). ADHD can be a difficulty with impulsivity or distraction or

both. My ADHD problems concern sustaining my focus on a task, organizing and prioritizing.

While much progress has been made toward effectively treating children who have

learning differences, The Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) system has created a huge

special education bureaucracy that is unable to effectively accommodate all of its students who

have learning disabilities. In order to provide its special needs students with the tools to learn, the

MCPS must fix two key issues. First, they must develop teaching styles and programs that allow

for every student to learn effectively. Second, the system must start treating each student as an

individual case. Services need to fit the child not the opposite.

The most complex issue facing the MCPS system is its teaching style. The mission of

the Department of Special Education Services (DSES) is to provide, implement and monitor the

delivery of a seamless continuum of services for students with disabilities from birth through age

21, to prepare for career, college and community readiness(Department of Special Education).

Also in order to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement ACT
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2004 (IDEA), DSES is committed to promoting improved academic achievement for all students

with disabilities (Department of Special Education). For 2015-2016, the MCPS have 21 listed

Programs and Services (Department of Special Education). The most common learning

disabilities are language based, mainly involving reading, writing and spelling. Per the Lab

School, 80% of students with learning disabilities find reading a huge challenge (What is a

Learning Difference?). Using the MCPS own statistics Speech/Language and Developmental

Delay are the most common disabilities in grade schools. Generalized learning disabilities

account for 55.3% of the needs in Middle Schools and 81.4% in high schools (School

Summary Data). The MCPS have a multitude of programs and each disabled child is expected

to fit into one of them.

Despite these statistics only four of these 21 Programs and Services address

Speech/Language disabilities and Developmental Delays. Since only four programs actually

address the needs of the majority of learning disabled students, each child has to fit into one of

the following programs: Resource Services; Learning and Academic Disabilities (LAD); Gifted

and Talented Learning Disabled Services (GT/LD) and Elementary School-based Learning

Center (Department of Special Education). Resource services are provided in every MCPS by

a school based resource teacher (Department of Special Education). The student is pulled out

of regular classes for a period of time mandated by his Individual Education Plan (IEP). In

reality this system makes the child feel different and dumb and often is a waste of time. If you

are lucky you have 1:1 time with the resource teacher. However, I was usually joined by four to

five other students. The session was noisy and unproductive. The quality of the resource

teachers varies greatly. Often para-educators are used. In grade school the resource teacher

changes every year. Some helped me a bit, some socialized and some were awful. For example,
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one qualified resource teacher spent the entire year trying to teach me phonics. She said that

since I was dyslexic, phonics, where you hear the sound of the letters would help me read.

Despite explanations from my family, my tutor and discussions in my IEP explaining that I could

not hear and interpret the sounds, I had to stay with her for a whole year. The teacher could not

be changed and I could not refuse. It was apparent that documenting on my IEP that I received

this service was the goal. It was very frustrating and I hated it. The LAD services are available in

middle and high school. The student may be put in a self-contained class or go to a separate

school (Department of Special Education). The GT/LD services are available at all levels.

Because I was exceptionally good in math, the school representatives at my IEP suggested that I

go to one of the GT/LD schools. I visited the chosen school. The kids were all bright and two

teachers ran the class, but the classroom was unorganized and most of the kids appeared to have

disciplinary problems. I was not in any way a disciplinary problem. After talking with other

parents we learned that if a student disrupted his home school, perhaps because of unaddressed

disabilities, he was offered this option. The last program that is offered is the Elementary School

based Learning Center. Essentially the student is sent to a designated elementary school in his

cluster. Since I was progressing nicely with the goals of my IEP this option was never

considered. Obviously, none of the four programs available fit my educational needs.

While it is difficult to find a MCPS program that addresses a learning disabled childs

needs, getting the school system to even acknowledge that your child needs services is a huge

bureaucratic battle. A parent must navigate the MCPS web site, find the section for the DSES,

and follow the links until they find the section with the title How do I know if my child is eligible

for special educational services? Once there you will read:

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The Eligibility of a student for special education and related services is based on a

comprehensive evaluation process. That process includes considerations of assessments,

information based on how well the student understands the curriculum, observation

reports by educational professionals, teacher information, informations provided by

parents, and other relevant information. (Department of Special Education)

According to the MCPS Identification and Evaluation Process (Department of Special

Education), when a student is underperforming in school the teacher initiates a Collaborative

problem solving process with the parents (Department of Special Education). If the student

does not improve, he can be referred to an Educational Management Team made up of

educators with expertise in teaching, learning, problem solving and interventions. This team acts

as a resource to the school staff (Department of Special Education). If the student still does

not improve, the school might advise testing. This testing is done during school hours and takes

approximately three to four hours several times a month. A second evaluation is completed after

the testing by a learning disabilities expert. If everything goes perfectly your child might be

scheduled for an IEP after several months or a year. I was lucky. Despite my Kindergarten

teacher insisting that I would catch up and be fine, my family disagreed and paid for private

testing which would be accepted by the MCPS. I was tested in January 2006. My first IEP to

assess my testing was scheduled for 2/2/2006. My first official IEP meting to document needs

and resources was 3/2/2006. At the end of February, I started private tutoring several times a

week. I know Mrs. Job, a teacher at the NIH Childrens School, is responsible for all the progress

I have made. She developed a course of study tailored to my needs and adapted her teaching

style as needed. For several years, after school, we worked four hours a week, divided into

several short sessions since I could not focus for long periods. I also had homework. Mrs. Job
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rebuilt my self-esteem and confidence. At the same time, over the years, she successfully taught

me how to read and write despite the fact that I was being minimally helped in school and the

techniques suggested by the resource teachers were completely different.

The Lab School of Washington is known for successfully educating learning disabled

students. The Lab School believes that all children have the capacity to learn and accomplish

extraordinary things and has designed the school to help every child learn in a way that is suited

to their unique needs and strengths, regardless of learning differences. Note their mission

statement, as opposed to that of the MCPS. The Lab School of Washington is an innovative

community fostering scholarship and creativity in students with different learning styles. In an

environment of hands-on exploration, students learn to advocate for themselves and become

engaged members of a global society (Why Lab?) The Lab School's curriculum is multi-

sensory, experiential, and progressively rigorous (Why Lab?). The Lab School students take

the same college prep courses that are taught in MCPS but they are approached very differently.

The Lab School knows that their students learn differently, that their brains are wired differently.

The Lab School is unique because it sees each student as an individual learner. The student does

not have to fit into a program. The instruction is adapted to the student. The teachers have a

saying: If the teaching isnt working, change the teaching (Why Lab?). The teachers are free

to try or imagine any strategy to unlock each students potential (Why Lab). The problem-

solving strategies taught to Lab School students often give them an advantage over MCPS

students who do not learn these same strategies.

The Lab School believes in learning by doing. In elementary school students are grouped

by age and maturity instead of traditional grade levels. The students advance at their own pace,

developing necessary skills and strengths (Programs). For students ages 10-12, the focus is on
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transition. These students still learn at their own pace but with more structure. Executive

functioning skills start to become a priority.

The Lab School uses a Junior High for grades 7-8 versus the Middle School model used

by MCPS. Executive functioning, accountability, and structure are emphasized. Courses in

computer proficiency, science, literature and writing, and intensive remediation in reading and

math are part of every student's daily routine. In high school, students tackle college prep

courses. Experiential, multi-sensory methods are again used in the learning process (Lab

School). Students master difficult subjects including Latin, physics, chemistry, and calculus

(Programs). Executive functions, skills needed to get something done including time

management, planning, critical thinking, and analytic skills are emphasized (Programs).

Students have more responsibility for their work as part of developing skills they will need in

college and life. 90% of the students continue on to a college or university (Programs).

Nationally, 15.9% of public school students identified as learning disabled go to a four year

college (National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, 2009).

Cost is the only relevant and reasonable argument preventing the MCPS from adopting

the philosophy and techniques so successful at the Lab School. Money is a valid concern because

hiring and training teachers to deal with students in a different way would be very expensive.

However, we live in a county which is often ranked as one of the wealthiest in the country.

MCPS has a moral obligation, as well as a legal one, to provide educational programs that value

every student and their unique differences.

Works Cited
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"Department of Special Education." Montgomery Country Public Schools,

www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/special-education/. Accessed 2 Aug. 2016.

"The Difference is Extraordinary." The Lab School, www.labschool.org. Accessed 2 Aug. 2016.

Newman, L., et al. "The Post-High School Outcomes of Youth with Disabilities up to 4 Years

After High School: A report of findings from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-

2." nlts2.org, Apr. 2009, www.nlts2.org.

"Programs." The Lab School, www.labschool.org/. Accessed 2 Aug. 2016.

"School Summary Data." Montgomery County Public Schools,

www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability. Accessed 8 Aug.

2016.

"The Way We Teach." The Lab School, http:www.labschool.org. Accessed 2 Aug. 2016.

"What is a Learning Difference?" The Lab School, www.labschool.org. Accessed 2 Aug. 2016.

"Why Lab?" The Lab School, www.labschool.org. Accessed 2 Aug. 2016.