Not Sure What the Advice Would Be Under

Start with the principal if you are unsatisfied with your answers. Complain to the school board. Let them know you are completely unsatisfied with the treatment and lack of help your son is getting. Also check and see how many times a week your son is actually getting his speech therapy. Mys on is suppossed to go 3 times a week. I just found out that he hasnt been going at all for a month or so now. You need to search down where they are failing him. Be as loud in your concerns and make sure that you heard. If you have concerns make sure they are answered toy our satisfaction. You are his voice until he can fight for himself so fight hard for him.

I don't really see any reason as to why they would hold him back. You should definitely talk to the teacher and the therapist again, I think. I would work with him at home. Educators almost never want to admit that YOU working with the kids on something like this would help. I honestly wouldn't worry overly much about it from the school standpoint, just look at your son. Talk to a doctor and a therapist about it and see what they say can be done. If the general consensus is nothing, then how will waiting a year help?

I don't understand why his speech would keep him in K. If he is doing the work, understanding instructions, reading, I see no reason to hold him back. Seems a speech therapist can just work with him on that aspect in 1st grade as easily as K! I've never heard of anyone born with 2 uvulas before, bless his little heart.

I homeschooled for many years and there is no one that will ever convince me that parents working with kids at home doesn't help. The ones I see now in my sons PS that struggle are usually the ones where the parents aren't involved. You can always tell which child has a caring parent at home! So continue working with him, it is making a difference.

Push the school for a answer...under the IEP they have certain responsibilities to the child and if they dont give you answers at school level go to the superintendent....don't be scare to speak up for your child...if you don't who will..
I have been having the same issue with my children and schools.

B.,

Sounds like you need to check with a physician. May need to have the second uvula surgically removed. However, continue to work with your son at home. As a homeschool mom, I am well aware that teachers in public settings often put down working at home with children. Strange response since it can only help their job. Even if you do not solve the speaking problem, you and your son will bond in a way never before. Time spent with your children is wisely invested. J.

Sorry the school system is failing you....I am with all the rest of the replies listed.....you speak up for your son! If that school principal does not seem concerned enough than you may need to find another school.

If it were me (and I have dealt with IEPs with all three of my boys) I would set up a meeting with the principal. Take your copy of the IEP with you and any written correspondence between you and the teacher about this. Is he on grade level for everything else other than speech? Either way, you need to push hard for a real answer. Don't wait until the end of the school year to get clarification.

Dear B.,
The first thing you should do is call Tennessee’s Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and get an appointment with their cranialfacial or cleft palate centers. Even if they are far away, at least start with them and after you have had testing, they can help you find someone in your area. If you have to have a referral for this, insist that your pediatrician give it to you, and don’t take no for an answer. You desperately need a diagnosis to get on the right track to help your child. The hospital is equipped to give your child appropriate diagnostic tests to find out the scope of his structural abnormalities, including a nasal endoscopy, which should be one of the first things that is done. Perhaps that is how you decide which department to make the initial appointment with – which department does that particular diagnostic test. (Both probably do.) The nasal endoscopy entails putting some medicine in your son’s nose and waiting about 20 minutes for it to deaden everything, and then they put a little tube with a light and camera down his nose so they can see all the structure up there. Your son’s double uvula is the part of his structural abnormality that can be seen, so you must find out if there is additional structural compromise and what it is in order to know if speech therapy will even work. This test will help make a diagnosis about his structure. That’s the beginning of getting him the appropriate help, and you must not delay doing this.
The reason I know about this is that my own son has a submucous cleft palate, and has had speech issues for years. Your son is at an age now that you don’t have any time to lose. Start the process right now. After you find out the diagnosis, Vanderbilt will help you understand your options, whether speech therapy alone can help this, or surgery combined with therapy. It’s important to have a speech therapist who has experience working with maxo cranial facial issues – your school therapist doesn’t have a clue and won’t be able to help your child. That’s why you need to have a more specialized therapist with real experience dealing with your child’s diagnosis – not a general school therapist.
I know this takes money. But depending solely on the school system because they are free will not serve your child’s interests. He will struggle and you will have all kinds of problems - academic, social, and emotional, and they will just compound. Spending money on him now may save you thousands of dollars later. You can probably get help from the insurance company with the speech therapy. Get a receptive and expressive language test done which will give everyone a benchmark of his capabilities to go by, and let you know if he is really and truly having trouble. Have Vanderbilt find you an appropriate speech therapist to do this test. If his receptive and expressive language test scores are extremely divergent, then you’ve got some work to do, and the speech therapist can help you. I wouldn’t begin to allow the school to hold your son back in kindergarten without that test being done. You can also demand that the school do a psycho/educational evaluation which will measure his IQ and tell them where his weaknesses and strengths lie, and how he learns best. This will help with his IEP to figure out the best ways to teach him. If you don’t want the school to do it, or if they give you a hard time, have Vanderbilt do it (sorry, not cheap.) Your insurance should help. The speech therapist that Vanderbilt helps you find can write a letter to the school detailing what he needs after this test is done, and that can be added to your IEP.
Talk to the principal, teacher and guidance counselor together and tell them that you need to know exactly where your child stands academically, in specific terms, not general terms, compared to his entire class. Write down the answers in front of them. Is he really at the bottom of the class? Does everyone in the entire class already read? How is his math and mathematical problem solving compared to others? What is their documented criteria for a child to pass or fail? They should give you real specifics. If they are saying he isn’t yet school ready or mature enough, ask the guidance counselor to give him the school readiness testing she gives entering kindergarteners. Does he pass with flying colors, having been in school for 5 or 6 months now? Try to shoot down everything they throw at you before allowing them to hold him back. I say this only because they should really convince you after all this testing that he needs to stay in kindergarten before you just accept what they say. This way you will be at peace with the decision, at the very least. I do want to point out that it isn’t that I believe children shouldn’t be held back – it’s just that I am afraid that the school doesn’t understand what’s going on with your child, and they may be taking the easy way out instead of really trying to understand. You have to be point person here and not just allow things to be decided. My own son was on the fence being ready to go into kindergarten, and after the testing was done, I decided to keep him in preschool for an extra year. It was the best thing I could have done, looking back 6 years later. So I’m not saying to not consider it – I am saying make sure that they are deciding this for the right reason.
Good luck with all this. I know it sounds overwhelming, but intervention now is crucial for your son’s life success. You can do this – be your son’s advocate and get him the help he needs. You’ll never regret it.

Hi B.,
I only know about the school systems in NC- I notice you live in TN. You said you had an IEP meeting- was a plan set up at that time? Are they following the IEP? The IEP should outline goals, services needed to attain those goals, how these goals are measured, and so much more (too much to go on about here). Also, the IEP should be reviewed every year to have the plan updated for that academic school year. If I were you, I would set up a meeting for the teacher, principal, and the guidance counselor. If his academic work shows that he is ready to go on to the next grade, they cannot hold him back because of his speech problems or shyness. That is called discrimination and it is completely against the law. When it comes to the school system, the squeaky wheel gets the oil in most cases. Keep pursuing this and don't stop until you get satisfactory answers. Or threaten to sue... You have the right to if they are disregarding his IEP and have "given up" on him for this year.
Good luck and hope things get better...