Re: Our IEP experience

[Guest guest]

Hey , sounds like you are having tons of fun! Yuck. The bottom line is that he sounds mild enough that they don't want to do an IEP. OK fine. But they should do a 504 plan and make appropriate accomodations for him. It is absurd that an IEP would make him be placed in a lower classroom in a new district. That does sound like a stupid statement just to get you to agree with them. I would have loved to hear that on tape also. It is always the fine line of taping/not taping. I sure wished I taped our next to last IEP meeting but again, you don't want to appear on the defensive. They said amazingly stupid things that I just carefully wrote down and used in a due process/settlement situation, even without the tape.

In your district and mine, even with my sons IEP they just had OT come once, do an eval, and the teacher or aide did OT. It was "carry this box to the office" or throw this heavy ball to me 5 times. It sounds like they are offering the usual school OT around here.

This is about all you can squeeze out of them. There are two advocates locally, Todd Hogue who is 100 or so an hour. Also, KPS4parents who is reportedly adversarial and were involved in the San lawsuit. They are on the internet. Email me off list if you want more info/contact numbers.

Good luck!!!!! Been there, done that. Thank god we aren't still doing it. Home school is so much better. With my more mild daughter, I keep joking that I want a 504 plan that says "leave her the hell alone." We have no services for her and we don't want any "help" from the school. Fortunately she is the quiet anxious aspie variety and doesn't cause trouble.

Sorry to sound so jaded. It has just been quite a long road......

( ) Our IEP experience

Hi all, I have some IEP questions about my son Elijah. Sorry if this gets long, I'm including background info. since I have only been lurking for the past few months.Last spring I wrote the letter requesting a full eval for an IEP. We had a team meeting and decided we could wait until the fall to do the full eval because it was very near the end of the school year. So early in this school year (first grade) Elijah was placed in the learning center for about 30 minutes a day, and was in the regular classroom the rest of the day. After 6 weeks, he graduated from the learning center. His 1st trimester report card showed that he is at grade level so far, but he does have a hard time completing assignments in class, homework is a pretty big battle, and he has had some minor social problems. For the most part he is doing great. I sent him to school with a slant board and the teacher was very accommodating until Elijah decided he didn't want to use it. The teacher agrees that he seems to have a visual processing problem, especially when copying from the board, so she lets him move close to the board when he needs to. The problem is, he usually won't speak up to say that he needs to. They are trying to be accomodating with the obvious things, but then again he can't vocalize some of his needs. Before Thanksgiving (ON the 60th day from the date of my signed letter--cutting it close) we had our IEP meeting. A thirty minute meeting turned into a 2 hr meeting. He doesn't meet criteria for an IEP and according to the psychologist intern's evaluations he doesn't even meet the criteria for any autism spectrum disorder (did they maybe use certain tests to skew the diagnosis? Hmmmm....) , but they agreed that he had many problems--hyperactivity, distractability, difficulty taking turns in conversation, difficulty apologizing or admitting when he is wrong, difficulty starting appropriate conversations, motor akwardness, visual processing problems, attempting to get out of things he doesn't want to do, and more that I can't remember off the top of my head right now.Due to the length of the meeting, we needed to end before a decision was made. We wanted to meet again after we were able to read through the whole packet, but since it was the 60th day, we had to sign the IEP stating that we had met. They made an addendum about not coming to a conclusion. We are all leaning towards a 504 plan instead of an IEP, but the principal was boldly stating that they can and will accomodate his needs even without a legally binding document. Yeah right! Even my lesser informed husband was wary of that. The principal also said that if we suddenly had to move to a new district and Elijah had an IEP in place, he could be placed in a special day class for very low functioning kids even though it is not the most appropriate class for him. I think that was an outright lie in an attempt to get us to lean away from an IEP. (At that moment I was kicking myself for not having a tape recorder in the meeting. My husband didn't want to tape it, feeling that it would make us look untrusting.) Any district that would do that to a high functioning kid would be breaking the law because of the least restrictive environment part of IDEA, right? This is the same principal/team who basically forced my friend to homeschool her daughter because they just couldn't provide all that she needs at school, and they would not agree to a partial day in school/partial day of home school. Was it legal for them to make us sign it? We are meeting again this coming Monday and hubby and I still have to read and come up with questions and a list of accomodations that we want. We all did agree that he would benefit from a social skills group or "lunch bunch", extra time on homework, in future grades he'll need more time on tests, preferred seating in class to avoid the temptation to distract others or be distracted, etc. We need to ask for a restroom accomodation because of his phobia of the shared restroom--he has had 3 potty accidents since that meeting, but never notified the teacher. He wore soiled clothes all day long, even through after school care. I felt so horrible for him. He needs a private restroom at school, and we're getting private counseling for that issue soon....after we work out some of my daughter's problems but that is a whole other long story!Another issue--due to time constraints we are taking a break from private OT for a while. He can't get OT in school here without an IEP. They are saying they can have the OT come do a screening and evaluation. She will then just make suggestions that the teacher and classroom aid can do with him such as slant boards, pencil grips, sensory breaks, things to help visual processing, note takers, etc. But OT can't actually work directly with him unless he has an IEP. Does this sound right? I better quit typing and get to reading through the whole long packet. I also have a lot to read about ADHD and meds for my newly diagnosed daughter. How on earth do you guys deal with having more than one kid with a neurological problem???? AAAAAAAHHHHHHH. Calgon take me away.THanks in advance for any feedback and guidance.

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[Guest guest]

Hi , Many of the posters have given similar responses that I

would have said but I do have a few additional points.

Check out the state department of Education. I'm sure there is a

website. They will have a lot of information on the IEP/Spec Ed

process and your rights. In my state (Wisc.) they have a list of

department heads and phone numbers. I was able to call and talk

directly with the head of Special Ed and was given a lot of help.

One other point that I want to make about the schools. I know that

often times the schools are trying to protect their bottom line and

don't want to take on extra work or costs. But many schools and

teachers are also very invested in having kids succeed. I don't know

if they are trying to manipulate you or if they just have not yet

seen the full extent of your sons AS effect his schooling. Having

offical dx and test results from a MD will help with the school.

My son was not officially DX until after 1st grade and although he

was in SPEd for EBD (emotional/behavioral) at that time the concerns

that the school had mostly at that point had to do with his

behavior. He was not struggling accidemically as much at that point

because the work is not as difficult. As he got older and his

ability to learn without accomodation got more severe the school has

been very cooperative and helpful even to the point of creating

programs for him that we did not suggest because they want him to

succeed.

My point is this, If your son is not a behavior problem and is

staying with his class accidemically the school may prefer to keep

things casual at this point. Their attitude may change if he begins

to struggle later. First, the teacher may want help. If he is

taking up to much of her time (from the other students) she will

certainly want help and will pass that on to the priciple. Second, No

Child Left Behind has legal implications for the school if the

students aren't learning and that would be a concern for the

principle. I am not advocating waiting for your son to start

struggling or failing in school but I am saying that you may not want

to view the school as the enemy just yet.

First grade was not my favorite for my son due to the teacher more

than anything. The Principle will ofter take the lead from the

teacher as to how to place a childs special needs. Things can change

and I am glad that I didn't go to war with the school in first grade

because now that my son is in forth grade I have a school that is

doing a fabulous job with my son. Any I have pretty much all the

services I could want.

You will find that every year is a new process all over again as the

teachers change. If you get a good start with the school now you may

find that they will work very hard to place your son with the

teachers that will be the best for him. Take the time to meet with

the teachers before the school year begins to " help " them learn what

they will face in the year ahead. If you present yourself as someone

that they can work with and that will help them they will be more

likely to work with your requests.

I have had to fight some battles and have pulled out my legal rights

but I have continued to work closely with the school as their ally

not their enemy.

I wish you all the best of luck.

Vickie

[Guest guest]

Hi , I'd go ahead and go for the school to evaluate for OT

(free). The OT can make recommendations, as they said, that can be

used in class, and he may not need OT (per them). But if he

qualifies for OT services at school, then he'll get the IEP, since OT

is a special ed service. My son had the OT eval and recommendations

but didn't get OT. Each of my 3 sons (only one with AS) qualified

for speech therapy, so they had an IEP for the ST. And the OT

recommendaions were just added to the IEP he already had. But I

imagine if he hadn't had an IEP they would have just accommodated him

without a Plan (schools can do that) or set up a 504 Plan.

We used a 504 Plan from middle thru high school (had graduated speech

therapy) because all we needed were some accommodations and

modifications, didn't need any special education services/therapy.

Whether with a 504 or an IEP, parents can request a meeting at any

time so don't worry about having already signed the IEP. I have read

in the past that parents don't have to sign it but I know there's

been some " revisions " since I last studied IDEA so can't say for sure

now. But at any rate, you can still call another meeting any time

you have concerns or want to discuss changing/adding something.

Quick thoughts,

>

> Hi all, I have some IEP questions about my son Elijah. Sorry if

this

> gets long, I'm including background info. since I have only been

lurking

> for the past few months.