HELP IEP ISSUE

[Guest guest]

I wasn't clear on whether it is you and your husband that wants the twins

separated or the school. If the only reason they are alternating them in a

special ed classroom is so that they will not be together, and they are both

doing well in the regular class, why not let them both be in regular ed and

be pulled out for services? If they interact appropriately with other

children when they are together, not just eachother, why not? I thought that

the theory twins should be separated in preschool was no longer strictly

followed (but I am no expert - I don't have twins). If you are not happy, do

not sign the IEP - take it home to review.

Oddly enough, I have the opposite problem - I want my daughter in an

inclusion class in her EI school (she will be 3 in June) next September, but

because of a new interpretation of an existing mandate, she needs to score a

33% delay cognitively to be approved for the special ed side of the inclusion

class - needing speech and ot is not enough to qualify. We know she does not

have significant if any cognitive delays, but I am actually hoping that she

will be uncooperative on the test and maybe score poorly. I originally

wanted her to be in the same class as a mainstream child, but now they have

ruled that the mainstream kids cannot receive any services whatsoever. So

she falls right in between the cracks and now I am frantically looking for a

private preschool that has small classes, is affordable, is within a fairly

small distance from where we live, and will allow her to be taken out for

services. Of course, most of the schools are full by now, because they only

told me about this problem several weeks ago - we thought she was all set for

September. And we really cannot afford the tuition on the few schools that

meet my criteria (over $6,000 - how ridiculous is that for a 3 year old), and

one of them has 24 kids and only a teacher and an assistant!!!

Hope everything goes well for you and your twins - good luck. It gets tiring

to fight for your kids all the time, but worth it in the long run!

Barbara

[Guest guest]

Hi Barbara!

I agree that if it's appropriate for your child to receive a certain

amount or type of therapy that he should be receiving it. I am very

concerned however about the cognitive issue for qualification -and

I'm not sure if you know the other side of the coin once those labels

are there -and how hard they are to get rid of - and why you don't

want them there if they don't belong.

From memory -I believe you are from the NYC area -and in NJ and Ohio

and California and Virginia and other states I know parents who have

and are battling against some type of mentally retarded

classification (MR) What most parents are not aware of is that the

label doesn't start as mentally retarded -it typically starts with

young children (preschool) as a label of having " receptive " delays

(translate that to understanding) Around the age of seven from all

the cases I know is where it gets a bit more difficult, and things

change - maybe because of testing, etc. the " receptive delayed " child

who is now in the public school and probably already with a label

of " learning disabled " is being looked at as having more

significant " cognitive delays " Around the age of nine is where some

type of MR label may first be mentioned or used for classification.

From the stories I've heard -if your child is proven to be

cognitively delayed -the school system can then withhold providing

certain types of therapy stating that the reason for the speech

impairment is cognitive ability and the for example intensive apraxia

therapy is not appropriate and will not help. In other words -your

child may still receive some therapy - but not necessarily the type

or amount that is sufficient for a child that has a severe or

profound impairment of speech. They will stop by using

the " cognitive " or MR label as the reason.

I personally know parents who are in legal battles with the school

over the MR or cognitively impaired label because the school district

wants to pull their children out of the out of district program they

are in -or out of the intensive Speech Therapy program they are

getting in district.

Mauri who runs the Children's Apraxia Network of PA just told me a

heartwarming story about her son Ari who is now nine. Ari -who as I

posted recently -only spoke in what sounded like grunts and used an

augmentative device to speak for him when I met him when he was seven

years old (he's now nine). Outside of speech - Ari played just like

any other child with my two boys, and played some computer games as

well -he came across as a very sweet and intelligent child. Mauri as

many of you know was and still is very aggressive with seeking out

all types of therapies and evaluations for Ari.

I was surprised today to hear from Mauri that one of the school

administrators said " horrible " things about Ari's intelligence and

cognitive ability over the years every time he spoke to Mauri

bringing her " to tears " He did not believe that Ari was not talking

due to apraxia as much as that he just didn't have the cognitive

ability to. This same administrator just recently saw Ari who's

recently been taking ProEFA for a few months and is now talking in

two word sentences and doesn't want to use his augmentative device anymore(it's

like that Folgers's coffee commercial

right? " we secretly replaced the french fry, bacon and pizza oil with

fish oil -let's see what happens next... " ) and..well you guys know,

(together now) " the administrator can't believe that Ari is the same

child and for the first time ever wants Ari to be placed in district

and is going to work out an Association Method communication program

for him right in the school!!! " Mauri -it's probably better if you

fill in the details, and Congratulations!! (and if you email Mauri

about this also let her know if you are attending the no charge

Kaufman CHERAB meeting which will be held May 2nd at the Atlantic

City convention center through the kindness of and the New

Jersey Speech Hearing Association. details at http://www.apraxia.cc

under " upcoming events " on top blue bar or under " index " )

Anyway -I hope others who are in these battles post too so that it's

not just coming from me. Please be aware of the dangers of the

cognitive delayed label. If your child really is, seek private evals

from neuro doctors to confirm. Advocate for appropriate therapy -I

know that some find homeschooling is the best way to go due to some

of these problems - there are some great teachers and SLPs and

schools out there, we just need to raise awareness and that will help

our children have a voice.

Barbara -I know that $6000 seems like a lot of money, however I know

children, many of them, in much more expensive out of district

programs that are paid for by the child's town school district. The best

thing to use to advocate are out of pocket evaluations from respected

neuro doctors, SLPs, OTs etc. If your school is not able or willing

to work out an appropriate program for your child then start checking

out the private schools -speak to the administrator that runs the

private school for advice -or an advocate or a parent from your area

that successfully got their child in out of district placement (top

secret information that we as parents can find out by asking around a

bit) and if all else fails look into getting an inexpensive or free

evaluation with a special ed attorney. Actually in today's world

there are two ways to fight -with legal and with media. Maybe write

an article for the town paper (and to the mom I spoke to today from

NYC -your child's story would make it around the world it's so

horrible what they are doing to your child!) Together we can make a

difference -ProEFA has been a blessing for speech -but horrible for

moral in raising awareness - parent's kids start talking and they

forget there are so many still out there with no help and no idea

what to do. We need to stick together and show we care -because the

rest of the world doesn't that much.

" It gets tiring to fight for your kids (and others) all the time, but worth it

in

the long run! " Barbara -you are so right!!

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