Malakoff High School

Sadly the blue ribbon in front of this school does not reflect what actually happens inside of it. I have a child with autism and since moving here a year ago the school has systematically taken away every service that I fought to be put in place for her. Every ARD meeting was another chipping away at her services until this last one, they finally took it all away and started proclaiming that my child didn't have a disability and that it was in fact due to bad parenting that caused my child's behaviors. It broke my heart because I have fought so hard to educate myself on her disability. I have worked very hard to become a better parent than I would have instinctually been. In the time since her diagnosis I have grown as a human being and turned into a more patient, more compatent caregiver than I ever thought possible. Having a child with autism is one of the hardest things on this planet to deal with, I never knew how hard life could be until autism came into my life. One of the things that makes it so hard is when you have a school district that fights you every step of the way to give your child the best possible chance. I was gas lighted and made to feel as if I was imagining my daughter's disability. They disregarded the evaluation from a separate school district, they did not care that my daughter had gotten a diagnosis from a child psychiatrist, a behavioral psychologist, a neurologist, and speech/language pathologist. Any scholarly articles I presented to them were never looked at. They had no intrest in hearing what I had say about her unique challenges. Unfortunately I am not alone, the same thing happened to at least three other kids in her class. There are probably more children, but I only know a handful of special needs parents at this school and we all have very similar stories. They have done things like take speech therapy down to 15 minutes/ wk for kids who are nonverbal. Take away motor skills therapy for kids that have trouble walking. It's absurd what they have gotten away with. I have chosen to homeschool my child for now, but we will never be back to Malakoff Elementary. It's just very sad for all the kids who's parents don't have any other options. If you have a special needs child, please do not go to this school. They will not help and will do everything in their power to derail your efforts to educate your child properly.