He continued to receive speech therapy from the school, as well as from a therapist at The Monroe Clinic Hospital. His mother, though, offered to share his story from the family’s perspective.Īfter kindergarten, Darren headed to “junior first,” a step below the normal first-grade level. There are rules preventing school officials from commenting on specific cases, and therefore officials who worked in Lena at that time would not confirm or deny specifics regarding Darren’s case. With all of the regulations and mandates, and given the fact that every child with a disability is different, parents and educators can have a hard time understanding what kids are entitled to under the system, what they need and how to get it for them, she added. Special education is a maze, said Cindy Rackow, a youth education advocate with RAMP, an agency that helps families of special-needs children navigate the system. At a time when the population of students with special needs is growing, resources to meet their unique and specialized needs remain in short supply. “He couldn’t communicate with the students and teachers.”ĭarren’s story is not unique in fact, it’s all too common in schools large and small throughout the region. “I think it was hard for Darren, and that’s when the frustration started,” she said. The school started giving Darren speech therapy for 40 minutes a week, but there seemed to be no change in his condition, his mother, Debbie Nesemeier said. A bright kid, Darren knew what he wanted to say but was unable to phys Schools, parents need to cooperate to best help kids with special needsįREEPORT – When Darren Nesemeier entered kindergarten in Lena-Winslow School District 202 in 1998, his disabilities began to surface. The Nesemeiers moved Darren to Freeport School District 145, where he is now in sixth grade at Carl Sandburg School and on the honor roll with all As and Bs on his report card. Darren had a number of problems as a student in Lena-Winslow’s special education program and was all but out of school after the second grade in 2002. Original article no longer available The Freeport Journal Standard By Robert Lewis, The Journal-Standard Jan 29, 2006ĭarren Nesemeier plays trumpet during band class Tuesday afternoon at Carl Sandburg Middle School.
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