Re: Aides in school

March 8, 2008

Help everybody!

I need some advice...

I know a mom who is about to go into a school conference next week and

request a full time aid for her son. He is about 14, runs away a lot... the

principal has been seen in a panic running down the hall screaming ³Has

anyone seen him?². Not exactly in control. This child is in danger.

This child runs away often, was hit by a car last year (had a double

compound facture in his leg) when he escaped from a babysitter... he is non

verbal and pretty severely affected but I see the things clicking inside of

his head and think that if he had the right teacher he might make some

amazing progress.

What advice can I give this mom about asking for an aide? She has asked

before and the school staff just says ³No.²

Is there a website I should look at? There are no ³educational consultants²

around here that I know of. I searched ³www.educationalconsulting.org² and

found none in our state (Indiana).

How does she argue for this?

To me if there was ever a child who needed an aide desperately, this is the

one, but I worry that if she does get an aid for him it will just be someone

who is not trained.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated ... the conference is next week (I

think Tuesday) so I¹m kind of in a rush to find something to help her.

Caroline

March 8, 2008

I read " You're Going to Love This Kid " and provided a copy to my son's

school. This book is GREAT and specific to kids on the spectrum being fully

included in a classroom. I took a copy to the IEP and when the Principal

told me " we don't provide aides, " I pulled out my copy and read a short

paragraph towards the beginning about least restrictive environment that

starts with " The (IDEA) law says... " . The district psychologist immediately

gave him a full-time, 1:1 aide with no further arguments or discussion.

My 5 y.o. son went through a phase recently where he was running away in

school. He was trying to tell us that his day was too full! His kindergarten

is 6 hours a day, and he was getting another 6-8 hours a week of ABA after

school (while waiting for a social skills program to start), plus homework

(he has 1-2 hours of homework/week). We were in the process of ending his

afternoon ABA program anyways, so we speeded up the process and ended

earlier and the running away problem stopped. Also, when the problem

started, we implemented a " rewards board " , which is a racetrack shaped

drawing with laminated Cars stickers that he earns for completing tasks, and

when he has earned however many, he has 'earned' a privilege he chose

(usually computer time or playground time).

I have also heard that some kids run to 'tell' their caregivers that they

are being overwhelmed by their environment (too loud, or too busy, etc).

Best of luck to your friend.

Kristy

Re: Aides in school

Help everybody!

I need some advice...

I know a mom who is about to go into a school conference next week and

request a full time aid for her son. He is about 14, runs away a lot...

the

principal has been seen in a panic running down the hall screaming ³Has

anyone seen him?². Not exactly in control. This child is in danger.

This child runs away often, was hit by a car last year (had a double

compound facture in his leg) when he escaped from a babysitter... he is

non

verbal and pretty severely affected but I see the things clicking inside

of

his head and think that if he had the right teacher he might make some

amazing progress.

What advice can I give this mom about asking for an aide? She has asked

before and the school staff just says ³No.²

Is there a website I should look at? There are no ³educational

consultants²

around here that I know of. I searched ³www.educationalconsulting.org² and

found none in our state (Indiana).

How does she argue for this?

To me if there was ever a child who needed an aide desperately, this is

the

one, but I worry that if she does get an aid for him it will just be

someone

who is not trained.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated ... the conference is next week (I

think Tuesday) so I¹m kind of in a rush to find something to help her.

Caroline

March 8, 2008

have you looked at www.wrightslaw.com? It's a very good site for these

types of situations

has there been a Functional Behavioral Analysis (FBS) completed?

What does the Behavior Intervention Plan look like for prevention of this

elopement?

I would want to make sure that they are keeping good data-on how many times

it happens, what was happening before, what purpose the behavior served...

I would also advise the parents to immediately send a letter stating their

disagreement with the IEP if there is not an aide. They should include their

concerns about life/safety. They should also get a letter in writing from

the school stating WHY they will not provide one-on-one support. Some

schools do not have " personal aides " but have a statement that there will be

an adult with the student at all times, allowing them to have different

individuals, rather than one specific one.

Make sure that the Director of Special Education for the District is at the

meeting and aware of what is going on--that this isn't a unilateral decision

being made at a lower level.

Contact the state's department of education/special education to see what

they say about such situations.

Parents should have someone else there with them at the meeting-whether it's

an attorney, professional advocate or even another parent(s) who can be

there to listen and record the conversation.

Ann

On Sat, Mar 8, 2008 at 8:41 AM, Caroline Glover <sfglover@...> wrote:

> Help everybody!

>

> I need some advice...

>

> I know a mom who is about to go into a school conference next week and

> request a full time aid for her son. He is about 14, runs away a lot...

> the

> principal has been seen in a panic running down the hall screaming ³Has

> anyone seen him?². Not exactly in control. This child is in danger.

>

> This child runs away often, was hit by a car last year (had a double

> compound facture in his leg) when he escaped from a babysitter... he is

> non

> verbal and pretty severely affected but I see the things clicking inside

> of

> his head and think that if he had the right teacher he might make some

> amazing progress.

>

> What advice can I give this mom about asking for an aide? She has asked

> before and the school staff just says ³No.²

>

> Is there a website I should look at? There are no ³educational

> consultants²

> around here that I know of. I searched ³www.educationalconsulting.org² and

> found none in our state (Indiana).

>

> How does she argue for this?

>

> To me if there was ever a child who needed an aide desperately, this is

> the

> one, but I worry that if she does get an aid for him it will just be

> someone

> who is not trained.

>

> Any advice will be greatly appreciated ... the conference is next week (I

> think Tuesday) so I¹m kind of in a rush to find something to help her.

>

> Caroline

>

March 8, 2008

She needs to present the school with a letter at her meeting telling

them they have 10 days to respond. Here's an excerpt from

slaw.com on the 10 day letter:

The letter should be written with the following thoughts in mind. If

the letter is lost, then found and read by a stranger, the stranger

(who knows nothing about special ed law or disability issues) will

understand the nature of the case, the child's disability, what has

been done, what needs to be done - and wants to right the wrong. If

the stranger had the power, he or she would want the school to pay

tuition for the private placement.

Tell her she needs to also never have any conversations like a

request for aide without having the conversation in writing. If she

speaks to them first, then she needs to go home and shoot them an e-

mail stating the same thing. She can say " Hi, so and so, I just

wanted to clarify what we spoke about earlier today regarding my

child. We talked about.... and I think we both agree .... (or

disagree and make sure she states her and the teacher's [or whoever

she spoke to] position). *Never* leave it as a simple face to face

conversation because then there is never any evidence of the

conversation and what was said.

The school district is bound by law to provide a *safe* environment

for the child. If they lose him, they will be subject to a lawsuit

and they don't want that anymore than she wants to lose her child.

Safety is must be the school's top priority. If they refuse an aide,

she needs to ask for Prior Written Notice (a letter stating why they

don't think he needs an aide). She needs to document whenever they

lose him. Since she probably hasn't documented the past times she

needs to make sure she puts what has happened in writing. In the 10

day letter she needs to estimate how many times they've lost him, try

to add a couple of specific incidences (like when the principal was

running down the hall screaming) and ask for a Functional Behavioral

Analysis. Keep in mind that they don't have 10 days to do the FBA,

they only have 10 days to respond to the letter. If they agree to

the FBA, I think it's either 30 or 60 days (I can't remember which)

that they have to get it done. During this time, she *could* tell

the school that until a behavioral plan is in place and an aide to

provide for his safety, he will not be in school. Make sure she cc's

the state's dpt. of education.

She needs to *always* record her IEPs. She must give them 24 hours

notice that she will be recording, though so the school can also

record. If this doesn't work, she needs to hire an attorney or

advocate and file for due process.

Here's some really good info on elopement that can be useful for her:

Elopement from school:

Unfortunately, just picking a safe school and having a good assistant

is not enough to address this common behavior problem.

Here's a good introduction to addressing elopement, written by a

special education attorney who has experience with several children

with elopement issues. The only thing he doesn't mention is putting

elopement in the IEP.

http://specialedlaw.blogs.com/home/2005/11/on_october_14_2.h tml

He recommends:

1) A written plan on how to deal with elopement, with assigned roles

for the staff, prevention (for example visuals for the child) and

" fire drills " for dealing with a crisis that comes up despite

prevention.

2) Risk analysis -- what aspects of the schedule and surroundings

increase the risk of elopement? ie transitions between rooms,

located near a busy street, etc.

3) Equipment -- teachers and other staff must be able to communicate

with each other quickly in a crisis. Walkie-talkies are essential.

4) Functional Behavior Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plan --

this is the most important step. Why does the child elope and what

can you do to teach him to stay put and get his needs met in a safer,

more appropriate way?

Elopement on the IEP:

The following website includes sample IEP goals for a student who was

a flight risk. The goals involved staying on task and remaining in

the assigned area.

http://www.kid-power.org/samples/goals.html

The website below lists the four elements that an action plan for

elopement might have. (1) intervention or changing how the adult

responds/reacts, (2) prevention such as safety equipment, (3)

behavior replacement, and (4) skill acquisition.

Some skills that might be missing or in need of reinforcement are:

accepting redirection (for example, come back here)

reacting appropriately to demands

reacting appropriately when told no

transitioning (mastering routines, using visual schedules, etc)

problem solving (figuring out what to do in an unfamiliar or

challenging situation)

knowing how to ask for help

http://www.butterflyeffects.com/topics/elopement-running-awa y_action-

plans.aspx

Assistant/para/shadow aide:

An assistant (para, shadow aide) can be necessary for safety. See my

collection of Shadow aide resources, including a 's Law article

on how to request a shadow aide for your child:

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=24328 & am p;am

p;KW=shadow+aide+resources

Related topics on our forum:

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16989 & am p;am p;PN=1

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17018 & am p;am

p;KW=chrmisha

Lynne Arnold on the TACAusa list is a great resource for this kind of

thing. She may have better advice or more to add. I would think

about joining the list so you can ask these questions.

Cheryl

On Mar 8, 2008, at 6:41 AM, Caroline Glover wrote:

> Help everybody!

>

> I need some advice...

>

> I know a mom who is about to go into a school conference next week and

> request a full time aid for her son. He is about 14, runs away a

> lot... the

> principal has been seen in a panic running down the hall screaming

> ³Has

> anyone seen him?². Not exactly in control. This child is in danger.

>

> This child runs away often, was hit by a car last year (had a double

> compound facture in his leg) when he escaped from a babysitter...

> he is non

> verbal and pretty severely affected but I see the things clicking

> inside of

> his head and think that if he had the right teacher he might make some

> amazing progress.

>

> What advice can I give this mom about asking for an aide? She has

> asked

> before and the school staff just says ³No.²

>

> Is there a website I should look at? There are no ³educational

> consultants²

> around here that I know of. I searched

> ³www.educationalconsulting.org² and

> found none in our state (Indiana).

>

> How does she argue for this?

>

> To me if there was ever a child who needed an aide desperately,

> this is the

> one, but I worry that if she does get an aid for him it will just

> be someone

> who is not trained.

>

> Any advice will be greatly appreciated ... the conference is next

> week (I

> think Tuesday) so I¹m kind of in a rush to find something to help her.

>

> Caroline

>

March 8, 2008

I told simply tell them that it is a safety issue and if he escapes from the

school and gets hurt it will cost a lot more than the price of a one to one aid.

Of course it has to be said much nicer than that. Sheri

Caroline Glover <sfglover@...> wrote: Help everybody!