There's No Such Thing As Too Smart for Special Ed

I’m fairly wise to the ways of the world, so I usually know when someone is trying to pull a fast one on me. When I got the paperwork prior to my son’s annual IEP review and planning session, I realized his school wasn’t planning on doing any planning. They planned to boot him out of special education all together.

I was stunned. We had just received a report noting his—and their—failure to meet the goals set in last year’s planning session. How, I thought, could they justify reviewing his eligibility for services when they hadn’t met their goals?

I was ready to raise hell. I’ve gotten pretty good at it; getting my son the education he deserves has been an uphill battle for a long time. See, my son has a high IQ and was in the gifted program in his school. He also has ADHD. Before he was diagnosed, everyone just thought his failing grades were the result of laziness and defiance. We tried punishments, rewards, interventions, conferences and detentions. Still, he continued to fail.

Hand a kid enough failure and sooner or later he’ll give up. Our son did. He became depressed. We spent thousands of dollars on testing and came out the other side with the ADHD diagnosis. I took it to the school; I demanded they open a case study then cried with relief in the meeting where we learned he qualified for services.

Throughout middle school, my son’s special education team helped him get organized and socialized. By graduation, he was a happy kid again.

Our experiences with special ed in high school couldn’t have been more different. My son rarely saw his resource teachers, who were teaching students who struggled in different ways. He was pretty much on his own to see his IEP goals were met.

The eligibility review meeting was surreal. The school officials presented evidence of my son’s high IQ and his ability to score well on tests. They ignored the fact that he hadn’t met last year’s goals. They ignored the fact that he still fails classes that demand intensive reading and writing. Finally, one of the officials turned to me and said, “Special education is really for students who are at the other end of the scale.” There was no question but that my kid was too smart for special ed. My son wants to go it on his own now, so I didn’t blow a gasket in the meeting, but it was hard.

My son never wanted anyone to know he got special ed services and I never understood why until now. Who would want to be labeled one of the students from the bottom of the scale? There is no such thing as too smart for special education. Special education is for students who struggle in the regular classroom without accommodations. Period.