Re: Services thru School district Question, please help

[Guest guest]

I which that I could help Tina- we only have one therapist as an option

(small system), but she is AMAZING. Hang in there!

[ ] Services thru School district

Question, please help

Hi, does anyone know if you legally have the right to request a

different speech therapist thru the school district for your child to

see? We are trying to get our son switched to a different speech

therapist thru the school district that our private therapist has

suggested for both our boys. Our 4 year old is already receiving speech

services and goes to the early childhood program, we just want to switch

therapists because it does not seem the school therapist is doing much

with him. Our 2 year old is up for evaulation in Sept to see what he

will qualify for but we requested he see the same therapist. The

principal basically told us it was a done deal and there is nothing we

could do. He said the case loads have already been determined and claims

his current therapist has expertise in apraxia which I do not believe

for a second she has as much experience as the one we requested. Can we

push to get the therapist we want our children to see? The

school just makes us feel like we are always asking way too much

and makes us feel like we have no say so in the speech therapist they

have or whether they are in morning or afternoon preschool. They make

all the decisions and we just have to go with it. Does anybody else

experience this? Sorry, just needed to vent and needed some advice

please!!! Anything anybody can offer will be appreciated!!

Thanks so much,

Tina

[Guest guest]

Tina-

  We had the same situation with our 2 kids who are both on the spectrum, one

of

which also has apraxia. We observed the speech therapist interacting with the

kids during classes, as well as on the playground and before school. We kept

accurate records of all interactions between this therapist and our kids. When

we had IEPs we brought our own consult in who was also a speech language

therapist and she questioned the school's SLT re. PECs and ABA trials,

etc...the

therapist had no idea how to respond. We documented everything and made our

case

at another IEP. It was there we requested the district's other SLT to work with

our kids which was then granted.  We are very glad we had the original SLT

removed , but it does take accurate record keeping ad perseverance on your part.

Good luck!!  Yvette

________________________________

From: D. Meyer <mmeyer@...>

Sent: Wed, August 4, 2010 3:38:10 PM

Subject: RE: [ ] Services thru School district Question,

please help

 

I which that I could help Tina- we only have one therapist as an option

(small system), but she is AMAZING. Hang in there!

[ ] Services thru School district

Question, please help

Hi, does anyone know if you legally have the right to request a

different speech therapist thru the school district for your child to

see? We are trying to get our son switched to a different speech

therapist thru the school district that our private therapist has

suggested for both our boys. Our 4 year old is already receiving speech

services and goes to the early childhood program, we just want to switch

therapists because it does not seem the school therapist is doing much

with him. Our 2 year old is up for evaulation in Sept to see what he

will qualify for but we requested he see the same therapist. The

principal basically told us it was a done deal and there is nothing we

could do. He said the case loads have already been determined and claims

his current therapist has expertise in apraxia which I do not believe

for a second she has as much experience as the one we requested. Can we

push to get the therapist we want our children to see? The

school just makes us feel like we are always asking way too much

and makes us feel like we have no say so in the speech therapist they

have or whether they are in morning or afternoon preschool. They make

all the decisions and we just have to go with it. Does anybody else

experience this? Sorry, just needed to vent and needed some advice

please!!! Anything anybody can offer will be appreciated!!

Thanks so much,

Tina

[Guest guest]

Tina,

I agree documenting the situation may be your best approach. We are just

entering the system do my experience is limited however I insisted we have a

PROMPT Certified (not just trained) therapist and that if one was not available

in the district they would have to send us to a Private SLP. I was able to

provide a letter from our Neurologist stating this necessary requirement. After

a bit or moaning about it we were able to get the PROMPT Certified therapist.

If the recomended therapist has qualifications beyond the current one it might

be helpful in forcing the switch. Even among equally qualified therapists, we

all know, our kids click with some and not others. It is amazing to me they

would not make the requested change because in the end they are accountable for

your child meeting the IEP goals. If you can prove this is not happening then

they have to (legally) make the change.

Good Luck!

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the information everyone! We have given it a year and a half with his

current therapist and she is still working on many of the same goals she had to

begin with. He has improved alot but I believe it is due to him seeing his

private slp, all the work we do at home and just being in the preschool has

helped his progress so much.  She won't even give us stuff to work on at home.

I have asked and she sends a few things home and then nothing for months unless

I ask again. Then she says, well we're still working on /s/ so nothing new (it

is so frustrating). When I asked for homework the last time she said not to

drill him at home and to just rely on our private slp. I hope she doesn't think

we were ever really relying on her cause don't trust her enough to do that

soley! It's not like we constantly drill him,  we make it fun and just include

it in our daily activities. We are going to request the qualifications of the

therapist because the

principal states she is qualified and has expertise but I think he is highly

overestimating her. I'm talking with our private slp to see what she thinks we

can and should do.  Thanks about bringing up if he's not met the goals

on the IEP part, I hadn't thought of that!

Anymore advice anybody has would still be helpful!

Thanks,

Tina

se

From: <rhgrochowski@...>

Subject: [ ] Re: Services thru School district Question,

please help

Date: Thursday, August 5, 2010, 10:18 AM

 

Tina,

I agree documenting the situation may be your best approach. We are just

entering the system do my experience is limited however I insisted we have a

PROMPT Certified (not just trained) therapist and that if one was not available

in the district they would have to send us to a Private SLP. I was able to

provide a letter from our Neurologist stating this necessary requirement. After

a bit or moaning about it we were able to get the PROMPT Certified therapist. If

the recomended therapist has qualifications beyond the current one it might be

helpful in forcing the switch. Even among equally qualified therapists, we all

know, our kids click with some and not others. It is amazing to me they would

not make the requested change because in the end they are accountable for your

child meeting the IEP goals. If you can prove this is not happening then they

have to (legally) make the change.

Good Luck!