VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
As mentioned, in the midst of the ebb and flow of animosity, for a brief
moment during Ivey's time at Alto Park Elementary, the heavens opened up once
more and the angels sang as Mrs. Erica McKinney entered Ivey's world as her
classroom teacher. For the first time, the role of the intervener and Ivey's IEP was
supported, as written, by the classroom teacher/case manager. Erica was a veteran
teacher with much experience under her belt, but she had not taught a student with
deafblindness. Erica embraced the challenge of pursuing Ivey's sensory losses and
multiple educational needs, as she navigated the newness of the role of the
intervener in her classroom. After two years, Erica left the classroom. She would
reemerge later as Ivey's TVI.
Then, in preparation to transition from Alto Park Elementary to Model
Middle School, we hit a very hard, and hopefully final, brick wall. Transition
plans, which excluded the IEP team, swirled with contentious meetings with
central office administrators. The reason -- a special education administrator made
unilateral decisions without consultation or confirmation from the IEP team,
including the parents. At the behest of this administrator, decisions were being
made from the determination of Ivey attending middle school in our district,
classroom placement, ability to access communicating peers, and renewing service
providers under contract, to the now quintessential issues centered around
