Issue with school district dragging their feet........

[Guest guest]

Just need an opinion on what to do in this situation. My 12 year old

daughter has Aspergers and ADHD. She has an IEP. In Sept, it was

mentioned that she should receive a speech evaluation for pragmatic

speech. Never heard anything and in November I emailed the special

services director who told me the speech therapist left and they were

looking for a new one. 60 days later, I emailed her again to say that

if they didn't hire one yet, I wanted one provided out of the district

and paid for by the school. She emails me back and tells me they hired

someone but only for one day a week. They sent me the paper to sign to

have my daughter evaluated and it says must be done within 60 school

days - that means they basically have another 3 months to do this by

and not to mention the fact that one day a week for an entire school

is insane. This has been going on too long and am wondering if anyone

had any ideas on what I should do before I sign this paper.

Thanks,

Kathy

[Guest guest]

We had many, many problems with our son's school before we pulled him out to home school. We heard one excuse after another and after many meetings with unfulfilled promises we went above their heads. My husband made some phone calls and spoke to the secretary of special education. She was furious after she heard about the run around we had been getting and she personally took a trip up to our school to have a talk with the principal. Suddenly everyone at that school took us seriously and the things we were asking for started getting done. I wish we had not waited so long to make that call. We gave them too many chances before we decided they were just all empty promises. We never sent our son back to school after that year. He was depressed and miserable and the kids were horrible to him. He is shy, quiet and keeps to himself but I think that made them go after him more. They even started stealing his lunch so I would have to go up to the school to complain about that. He came home one day and said he was so hungry I asked him if there was not enough food in his lunch box that day and he said he did not get to eat it because some kids took it. He actually did tell a lunch lady about it ( I was shocked to hear he spoke up) but she did nothing about it.

He also had a group of boys in his P. E. class that were threatening to beat him up after school. Not to mention all the names they called him...it was just too much for him and us so he never returned after that year. He is so happy now and told me after we pulled him out, mom public school is just not for me. One more thing, while still in public school he planned to quit school as soon as he turned 16 since we started home schooling he has not mentioned quitting even once.

Hope

Angels for Hope Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

[Guest guest]

I am sitting here reading your sons' / your story and it just blows my mind the number of terrible stories of our kids being in school. When we pulled our son (for the same reasons you listed) last year,,,,I figured there were SOME others who had done it too. I almost feel like keeping a "folder" of all the stories of homeschooling reasons and taking it somewhere.........to try to force more change, ya know? I am just so thankful that there are choices out there. Robinjade2674@... wrote: We had many, many problems with our son's school before we pulled him out to home school. We heard one excuse after another and after many meetings with unfulfilled promises we went above their heads. My husband made some phone calls and spoke to the secretary of special education. She was furious after she heard about the run around we had been getting and she personally took a trip up to our school to have a talk with the principal. Suddenly everyone at that school took us seriously and the things we were asking for started getting done. I wish we had not waited so long to make that call. We gave them too many chances before we decided they were just all empty promises. We never sent our son back to school after that year. He was depressed and miserable and the kids were horrible to him. He is shy, quiet and keeps to himself but I think that made them go after him more. They even started stealing his lunch so I

would have to go up to the school to complain about that. He came home one day and said he was so hungry I asked him if there was not enough food in his lunch box that day and he said he did not get to eat it because some kids took it. He actually did tell a lunch lady about it ( I was shocked to hear he spoke up) but she did nothing about it. He also had a group of boys in his P. E. class that were threatening to beat him up after school. Not to mention all the names they called him...it was just too much for him and us so he never returned after that year. He is so happy now and told me after we pulled him out, mom public school is just not for me. One more thing, while still in public school he planned to quit school as soon as he turned 16 since we started home schooling he has not mentioned quitting even once. Hope Angels for Hope

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[Guest guest]

I would put everything in writing, always. Write a letter to the director of special ed in your district (CC'ing copies to anyone else that looks interesting.) I would put in a letter that I requested an evaluation (put date first reqested), briefly detail the runaround you have received (not in a nasty way, just in a matter of fact way) and then request an evaluation be done asap because they have already run out of their allotted time frame.

To sign a paper like that, I would add my own writing to it and state that the request was first made on the date your first requested it and then sign it.

RoxannaAutism Happens

( ) Issue with school district dragging their feet........

Just need an opinion on what to do in this situation. My 12 year old daughter has Aspergers and ADHD. She has an IEP. In Sept, it was mentioned that she should receive a speech evaluation for pragmatic speech. Never heard anything and in November I emailed the special services director who told me the speech therapist left and they were looking for a new one. 60 days later, I emailed her again to say that if they didn't hire one yet, I wanted one provided out of the district and paid for by the school. She emails me back and tells me they hired someone but only for one day a week. They sent me the paper to sign to have my daughter evaluated and it says must be done within 60 school days - that means they basically have another 3 months to do this by and not to mention the fact that one day a week for an entire school is insane. This has been going on too long and am wondering if anyone had any ideas on what I should do before I sign this paper.Thanks,Kathy

[Guest guest]

Ah, Deju Vu! I went through the same thing for son in HS, they

managed to delay for a whole year until he was OUT of school. Here

is a link to a great organization for helping you with your " rights "

and what various school systems have to provide and their timelines.

This one, Special Traning for Exceptional Parens is in TN, but they

would be glad to help you find the one in your state and they are

wondeful to work with! I just spoke with them on something else and

they said call them to get information.

LINK: http://www.tnstep.org/index.php

Sue

She has an IEP. In Sept, it was

> mentioned that she should receive a speech evaluation for

pragmatic

> speech. Never heard anything and in November I emailed the

special

> services director who told me the speech therapist left and they

were

> looking for a new one. 60 days later, I emailed her again to say

that

> if they didn't hire one yet, I wanted one provided out of the

district

> and paid for by the school. She emails me back and tells me they

hired

> someone but only for one day a week. They sent me the paper to

sign to

> have my daughter evaluated and it says must be done within 60

school

> days - that means they basically have another 3 months to do

this by

> and not to mention the fact that one day a week for an entire

school

> is insane. This has been going on too long and am wondering if

anyone

> had any ideas on what I should do before I sign this paper.

> Thanks,

> Kathy

>

[Guest guest]

We are so grateful to my mother because without her help(she pays for the home school books) we might still be fighting that school. People had told us the school was a good one but I think you really don't know how a school really is until your child has problems. Then you get to see how they respond to those problems or in our case ignore it and don't care. Hope Davenport A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

[Guest guest]

I agree. People often say a school is a "good one" and it's based on average kids. If you have a kid with a learning problem, then you get to see the "guts" of a school. How do they treat the kids who need more than the usual education?

My school even has a reputation for being a great school for kids with autism. It's not true and I have watched them get the reputation just by having people kiss up to the right people in the right organizations along the way. While they were getting an award, my kid was being tutored at home because they failed to provide him appropriate supports so he could stay in school. It was all very ironic.

RoxannaAutism Happens

( ) Re: Issue with school district dragging their feet........

We are so grateful to my mother because without her help(she pays for the home school books) we might still be fighting that school. People had told us the school was a good one but I think you really don't know how a school really is until your child has problems. Then you get to see how they respond to those problems or in our case ignore it and don't care. Hope Davenport A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

[Guest guest]

I think it has so much to do with which individual people you wind up working

with. We

had some truly horrendous experiences in the past while dealing with the schools

in a

district that's supposed to be just outstanding (and is--for typical kids).

OTOH, I just

recently posted about how well things are going for my 16yo now. The whole

difference,

IMO, can be attributed to being on the same page with our son's current

caseworker.

Without him, I think we'd be having the same old frustrations that we had all

along the way

up until now. I know another mom with a child with AS going to the same exact

school as

my son. She's tearing her hair out because she can't get what her son needs to

be

successful, and she's a teacher in the same district. You would think that she

would have

an advantage, but it's not working out that way. I'm just hoping we don't get

switched to a

different caseworker.

And that's another thing the schools do wrong. They move the special ed.

workers around

like pawns on a chessboard. You never know who you're going to get the next

year, so

even if things are going great one year, you may have a totally different

experience the

next.

Sue C.

>

> I agree. People often say a school is a " good one " and it's based on average

kids. If you

have a kid with a learning problem, then you get to see the " guts " of a school.

How do

they treat the kids who need more than the usual education?

<snip>

[Guest guest]

In our area, each child with an IEP is assigned to a caseworker at the school.

In our case

it's always been one of the special ed. teachers. The idea is that they're the

school's

interface with the parents. They're also the person who's tasked with preparing

the IEP

paperwork. Ideally, the caseworker takes the child under his/her wing, but it

doesn't

always happen that way. During middle school I would get a letter informing me

of the

name of Ian's caseworker, and that would be the last I ever heard of them until

it came

time to do the IEP. Not surprisingly, middle school wasn't a great time for

Ian.

His current caseworker emails me regularly (I also email him frequently).

Yesterday Ian

sprained his ankle and has missed the last two days of the semester. I emailed

his

caseworker to inform him about the mishap. I didn't ask him to, but he emailed

me back

within an hour or so and said that he would find out what assignments/tests Ian

might be

missing. We have a great working relationship.

When it came time for Ian's annual IEP meeting, his caseworker had already put a

lot of

thought into what might be best for Ian in the coming year. He prepared an IEP

that really

reflects Ian's strengths and weaknesses. He was also open to my suggestions

during the

meeting.

If I could, I'd be singing this guy's praises from the rooftops, but I can't

sing very well, so I

guess I won't. <g> Instead I write notes and emails that he can turn over to

his

supervisor when it's time for his own performance evaluation.

Sue C.

>

> Sue,

> what is a case worker? I've read others post that their case worker helped

out a lot

with getting services for their child.

> Is a case worker from the school or private?

[Guest guest]

Thanks sue, I guess each school calls it something different. You described what we call a consultant teacher. she does the same as your caseworker. I explain my concerns to her, she meets with the team and gets back to me with a strategy.suetois <suetois@...> wrote: In our area, each child with an IEP is assigned to a caseworker at the school. In our case it's always been one of the special ed. teachers. The idea is that they're the school's interface with the parents. They're also the person who's

tasked with preparing the IEP paperwork. Ideally, the caseworker takes the child under his/her wing, but it doesn't always happen that way. During middle school I would get a letter informing me of the name of Ian's caseworker, and that would be the last I ever heard of them until it came time to do the IEP. Not surprisingly, middle school wasn't a great time for Ian.His current caseworker emails me regularly (I also email him frequently). Yesterday Ian sprained his ankle and has missed the last two days of the semester. I emailed his caseworker to inform him about the mishap. I didn't ask him to, but he emailed me back within an hour or so and said that he would find out what assignments/tests Ian might be missing. We have a great working relationship.When it came time for Ian's annual IEP meeting, his caseworker had already put a lot of thought into what might be best for Ian in the coming year. He prepared an IEP

that really reflects Ian's strengths and weaknesses. He was also open to my suggestions during the meeting. If I could, I'd be singing this guy's praises from the rooftops, but I can't sing very well, so I guess I won't. <g> Instead I write notes and emails that he can turn over to his supervisor when it's time for his own performance evaluation.Sue C.>> Sue,> what is a case worker? I've read others post that their case worker helped out a lot with getting services for their child. > Is a case worker from the school or private?

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[Guest guest]

We have case manager; she is in charge of our mental health waiver; it is easier to get, so that is the one we have; we have to have the diagnosis be anything (like anxiety and depression on top of Asperger's---if Aspies is PRIMARY---we don't qualify----so, the doctor HAPPILY does that for us!)......

Ruthie

Re: ( ) Re: Issue with school district dragging their feet........

Sue,

what is a case worker? I've read others post that their case worker helped out a lot with getting services for their child.

Is a case worker from the school or private?suetois <suetois> wrote:

I think it has so much to do with which individual people you wind up working with. We had some truly horrendous experiences in the past while dealing with the schools in a district that's supposed to be just outstanding (and is--for typical kids). OTOH, I just recently posted about how well things are going for my 16yo now. The whole difference, IMO, can be attributed to being on the same page with our son's current caseworker. Without him, I think we'd be having the same old frustrations that we had all along the way up until now. I know another mom with a child with AS going to the same exact school as my son. She's tearing her hair out because she can't get what her son needs to be successful, and she's a teacher in the same district. You would think that she would have an advantage, but it's not working out that way. I'm just hoping we don't get switched to a different caseworker.And that's another thing the schools do wrong. They move the special ed. workers around like pawns on a chessboard. You never know who you're going to get the next year, so even if things are going great one year, you may have a totally different experience the next.Sue C.>> I agree. People often say a school is a "good one" and it's based on average kids. If you have a kid with a learning problem, then you get to see the "guts" of a school. How do they treat the kids who need more than the usual education? <snip>

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[Guest guest]

Contact your local parent information training center. Pam :)Who's never won? Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music.