Special Ed ncc

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandy's Mom:

I don't have the answer to all of your questions but wanted to add a

little help if I can. The part someone else wrote about least

restrictive environment was true. I am a special education teacher in

AR and I can tell you that we would not consider such a placement

appropriate for your son. It sounds as though you need to get a

parent's rights booklet (you should be able to get this at your son's

school). According to all we have been taught you more or less have

the final say as a parent about where he will be placed. Your due

process rights require that a conference be set up and you, teachers

etc. will form a committee which will work together on deciding

placement. A child can not be tested/placed without your consent

(except in a case of court order or something unheard of).

There is a wide spectrum of sp. services which may be of help to your

child. People become alarmed when they hear the label sp. ed.without

realizing that many different levels exist for the purpose of helping

a child on his/herr level of need. Many students have indirect sp.

serv. which can be as simple as having a sp. ed. teacher discuss

adaptations with regular ed. teachers and work on adaptations that

will allow a child to function in the regular classroom. Examples of

adaptations can be having a test read aloud to them, having an

interpreter, having a peer tutor to take notes for them, having

lectures taped , using postive reinforcers and the list goes on and

on. The special services system can help your child get exactly what

is needed for him/her to be successful. We try very hard to match

each student's needs to the correct level of service and to the

correct adaptations.

I am sure many people have stories of how this system has not been

sensitive to needs of many students and it is unfortunate-every

system has problems. Please try to approach this situation with as

much postive enthusiam as you can muster. It is never easy to go

through the process you are going through but the laws are on your

side for the purpose of seeing that your child's needs are met and

your district will have to abide by them.

There is another classification-504 called " Other Health

Impairment " (under the federal law) which covers students that have a

wide variety of health problems (which can even cover things such as

pregnancy etc) You don't say whether your child has had to miss alot

but this type program can address that problem so that a student will

not fail to receive credit because of frequent illness.

I may be doing a poor job of explaining all this but I hope you can

go into this situation knowing that you are within your rights for

asking for explanations. I will be glad to send you a parent's

rights packet if you need me to-this is federal and will not vary

from state to state. You also have a right to have these rights

explained to you and to have any and all questions you may

answered in a way that you can understand. Parents do not realize

how much power they hold sometimes and no one bothers to tell them.

Stay calm and remember that. You have a right to be put in touch with

advocacy services also and your district will provide that

information for your state-they must do so at your request. An

advocate that knows the system can be with you at any/all conferences

and help represent your child's interests. You will have to have

proper notice before conferences can be held (14 days notice) Let me

know if you need any more info.

Margie in AR

I will post this to the group just incase anyone needs the info.

There are websites about special ed. laws etc. that I can dig up if

anyone needs them.