Fwd: Services Offered by School, opinions please

January 20, 2010

Well, I had my IEP meeting a few weeks ago and it really didn't go so well.

Although my son was receiveing 1.5 hours of one-on-one speech therapy from Early

Steps I only was given one hour of GROUP therapy from the school district.

He was rated at the Severe level for speech by their testing but showed no

developmental delays otherwise so he qualified only in the area of speech. I

did all the things that I was told to do, hired an advocate, brought all kinds

of supporting evidence of what is needed for apraxia, etc to no avail. I

came home and cried buckets and then decided to move on. I decided to begin

paying for the therapy I was receiving for Early steps as well as what I had

already been paying for (If we dont' go bankrupt in the process).

My SLP suggested though that I at least bring my son in for the group sessions

that were offered to see how they go. The school has told me that if he isn't

working successfully in the group sessions they will consider giving him

one-on-one therapy in the future. They pretty much told me if I wanted to

bring him in for limitless group sessions I could. (Meaning everytime they

have a group in his age range he could come even exceeding the hour they have

offered).

Trying to move forward instead of focusing on something I cannot change, I

called yesterday to schedule to bring my son in for his first group session this

coming Monday. The SLP's office is on an exterior wall of the school

building near the parking lot and she says that she normally comes out to the

parking lot and walk the children to class. I was so surprised because she

said I wasn't able to attend the session. My son has a lot of separation

anxiety, I don't know this person at all, and now I feel like there isn't even a

way for me to observe. How will I know if I think even taking him for these

group meeting is successful if I can't watch from the sidelines? I have other

small children at home so I am giving up family time to attend these sessions

and I need a way to guage whether they are beneficial. Has anyone had any

success with these group sessions or am I wasting my time and energy here?

Any thoughts on this from you experienced mommies out there. I feel like I

am in a hopeless situation right now.

Thanks,

Sue

January 21, 2010

Hi Sue,

I am so so sorry to hear this terrible news! I can not get over what your school

district offered you. What are they thinking? I guess they are not thinking. Our

school district did not offer Henry a classroom placement but they did offer him

3 private ST sessions with a ST who knows about Apraxia and is prompt trained. I

will continue to pay private 2x a week so Henry will have ST everyday for 30

mins. He also starts on monday too. I am worry and nervous about switching ST

(since we have an amazing woman through EI but I am hoping for the best. I am

now feeling so grateful for my school district for offering Henry 3 private 30

min. sessions per week.

I would try the group, although we know that is not what he needs and then just

start hammering them for private sessions, I think they will give in just DO NOT

GIVE UP!!!! I know you won't. I am so sorry this happened to you. I will keep

you in my thoughts and prayers and and say a prayer for you every night.

Best,

Carolyn

January 21, 2010

Sorry Sue that it didnt go as you thought. Maybe they'll see once they start

Group sessions that he'd be better with Individual. Did they tell you ahead of

time they were only offering Group sessions?

My 8yr old daughter is the one with Apraxia. My 11 and 4yr old sons both

received Speech thru EI here in NY. They both qualified for Speech only at the

preschool level too. They did both have individual--so I guess it depends on the

district. Neither had anything close to an apraxia dx..mostly articulation. Do

you have an Apraxia dx from a Ped Neurologist or Dev Ped? That might help with

the Individual for when they review again. You can also ask for a review after a

few months.

The thing about not being able to observe is part of the transition from Eearly

Intervention to Education Based Services. We did the same thing with both my

sons. Early Intervention is very, very family based. Not having you in the room

is hard but we did see better results from not being there. They know you're

close by. When I had to take my 11yr old at the age of 3 to his speech 2x a

week-my daughter was a newborn and already a very special needs baby! It was

tough to wait that 45 minutes---but he worked better with her without me in the

room. The hard part was keeping a 3yr old awake for the 20minute drive after 2.5

hrs at prek in the morning! I hated waking him up when we got there. The SLP had

a tiny little room with tiny little chairs--there was no room for me. Once in a

while she'd have me come in at the end and go over what they were working on.

I'd also always get an update when she brought him out to me at the end of their

session. The separation anxiety goes away quick with most kids once they learn

they're having fun too. Its all part of growing up. I did the same with my 4yr

old..this time I only had to wait for him, withhout a newborn and while the

others were in school, but he happily took the SLP's hand knowing I'd be waiting

for him the whole time. I never actually saw the room he worked in, which was

strange but he caught up to his age level within a couple months of working with

our SD SLP.

maureen

January 21, 2010

Sue,

What I found in going through my daughter's first IEP is that at the initial

meeting they will stick to the minimum offer, but that once the child gets in

the program that it's easier to get more services if the actual therapist

working with them feels it's appropriate. So, I would definitely go ahead and

enroll him in the group program.

January 22, 2010

Well I am not that experienced myself at this process... still learning. But if

your son has apraxia, everything that I have seen is that group therapy is not

appropriate. I have been collecting documents with that conclusion and our

speech therapist wrote a report to that effect that we are going to use with the

school district next evaluation. We are also taking our son to San State

University for an evaluation that we hope to be able to use with the school

district. You may want to consult an attorney about whether to appeal the

school district's ruling. Maybe just an hour of time with a person

knowledgeable in this field could give you an idea about whether it is worth it

to appeal. Even though it is expensive, it might be cheaper in the long run,

both cost wise if you can get extra help from the school and by making the

school help the way that they should. If you son has a significant speech

delay, one group session a week is terrible. Our son is age appropriate for

receptive language and intelligence, but scored about 3% for his age for

expressive. The school started out with 2 individual sessions per week at the

age of 3, but we pushed it and we are now receiving 3 individual and 1 group

session per week. Good luck. If I can be of assistance, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Barbara

firedog665@...

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> Well, I had my IEP meeting a few weeks ago and it really didn't go so well.