pamela
I'm not a Dr. just a mother with four children. One of my daughters has ADD and I have a sister who is severly mentally ill. As far as your child being removed from his family and home I can't see where taking him away from his support system and the two people who love him the most will "reach him". Tonite I just visited my great nephew who is 5 years old. He was born with only half a brain developed. He can't talk, walk, eat without being fed,he's mentally retarded and has numerous other conditions. Yet this child is so happy. His mother was going to bring him home (they were at my sister's house, grandma's and grandpa's) and Jordon (my great nephew) started to get upset, he didn't want to leave his grandpa (a very important support person for Jordon). The point I am trying to make is; this child Jordon will never be able to do anything on his own let alone perform academic requirments. I think you should get other opinions on what is best for your child. I know how hard and frustrating it can be with special needs children. But, sometimes we think that others can handle our situations better than we can ourselves. The missing piece is the tremendous love we have for our children. Not just anyone can offer that. I think you must think of all the aspects of your child's life. I have a normal child that is 7 years old and I can spend the same amount of hours as you do helping her with her homework. Think of what is in your child's best interest. Is being away from him ,his greatest support system, the best solution for him or is it just easier for you. And as far as the academics go...my great nephew will never have to worry about something like that. All he has to worry about for the rest of his life is will someone be able to put clothes on him and feed him. We all want our children to be the best THEY can be and because each person is different the best each person can be can be different. Work with your child on what HE can do and not on his performance on just some nonpersonalized, standardized, performance test. Also link up with support groups with similar special needs children, they are very insightful.