by Emma Riley Sutton

Created on: March 24, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

The decision to home school our daughter was made long before she was born. It started for the basic reasons. Public school is no place for children and many private schools in our area have turned into reform schools. We wanted more control over what she was taught and the pace in which it was taught. We wanted to be able to instill our values and convictions in her before society tried to indoctrinate her into an apathetic crowd follower. Those decisions are still important to us, but they have been overshadowed by a new development: our daughter needed special education.

It isn't that type of special education that most people might think. She doesn't have a disability. She falls on the other side of the education pendulum. We have discovered she is gifted and talented. This was surprised us. We always thought she was bright, but had no idea how bright. As first time parents, we just thought we were like other parents who think their child is extraordinary.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed with this news, we sought the advice of a pediatric development specialist. We also had doubts if her regular pediatrician was right. After several appointments and what seemed like endless testing, we were told that her doctor was right. She was, in fact, gifted and talented. Not just advanced, but gifted and talented. We learned that this was unusual due to her age. Our daughter was not quite three years old.

This new information made her father and I doubt our decision to home school. Would we be able to keep up with her? What would be best for her? Could we meet all of her needs - social, educational, psychological, and emotional?

The specialist wrote an order for Individual Educational Plan (IEP) testing that was immediately faxed, by her, to the local school district. It was explained to us that the school district would do further testing and decide how best to meet her educational needs. We were also told that once the IEP was in place, the state was required to follow that plan. We waited several days from the original fax to hear from the school district, but no call or letter ever came.

I finally called the school district. I spoke with the person in charge of the testing for IEPs. What she had to say shocked me. Yes, once the testing was done the school district had follow the results of those tests and come up with our daughter's IEP. There was a catch, of course. The school district was not required to do the testing.

"Even with a doctor's order?" I asked in disbelief.

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