Re: IEP tomorrow (vent)

[Guest guest]

I rarely get an IEP early and now I don't even care. I look

at the meeting as a review. I review what they bring and

they review what I bring. After the meeting I always write a one pape

parental concerns that documents what I see are still open issues

just for the record. The IEP process has been slow but we

are making progress.

Good luck tommorrow.

Pam

>

> I finally got somewhere with !!! Whoo-hoo. Her annual IEP (in which she

currently receives just speech services) is tomorrow with a child-study as well.

I have not received a draft of the IEP yet. Which, in a way, doesn't bother me

because it will have to be revamped anyhow during the meeting. But it does gripe

me that here it is the day before and the only " notice " I'll get is that it will

come home with her today. GRRRR. This school is notorious for doing this. Every

time...... I've even gotten on hand-delievered one night at 5pm by the assistant

principal because it wasn't done.

>

> I am not really sure what I'll need to add to it anyhow. The teacher is going

to recommend that be tested, so that won't probably be completed until Feb.

(They have 45 days in which to test her and with the holidays......) So, it will

be a struggle to determine what accomodations and/or goals she'll need before

the testing is complete and we have a better picture of what is going on...

>

> Thanks for listening.

>

> -Melinda

>

[Guest guest]

I am still am having trouble getting the ASD classification on my son's IEP.

Last year he was classified as OHI for tourettes and PANDAS and ADHD. Then in

May we got the Aspergers diagnosis. We had a meeting in Oct and they claimed to

needed more documentation from our medical professionals before changing

anything. Is his typical? Our psychiatrist diagnosed him and wrote a letter.

Then the psychologist wrote a letter. However she also brings up PDD NOS or

nonverbal learning disorder. Could her letter do us more damage then good if she

is not supporting the Aspergers diagnosis. Why is it so hard to get Dr's on the

same page? What will I need to do to get the classification changed on his IEP?

Currently he gets no speech or social skills at school. He does get tutoring and

OT and is doing well with that. However his social deficit is more defined at

age 7 then it was before. He has trouble getting along with kids and takes

things wrong. I guess the school doesn't see this though. He tells us at home

and also has alot of behavior problems at home but not a school. Any

suggestions?

> >

> > I finally got somewhere with !!! Whoo-hoo. Her annual IEP (in which she

currently receives just speech services) is tomorrow with a child-study as well.

I have not received a draft of the IEP yet. Which, in a way, doesn't bother me

because it will have to be revamped anyhow during the meeting. But it does gripe

me that here it is the day before and the only " notice " I'll get is that it will

come home with her today. GRRRR. This school is notorious for doing this. Every

time...... I've even gotten on hand-delievered one night at 5pm by the assistant

principal because it wasn't done.

> >

> > I am not really sure what I'll need to add to it anyhow. The teacher is

going to recommend that be tested, so that won't probably be completed

until Feb. (They have 45 days in which to test her and with the holidays......)

So, it will be a struggle to determine what accomodations and/or goals she'll

need before the testing is complete and we have a better picture of what is

going on...

> >

> > Thanks for listening.

> >

> > -Melinda

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Many schools do drag their feet every step of the way. I would not

provide the pyschologists report. It doesn't add anything.

If you have a pyschistrist (M.D.) stating your son has AS then that is all that

is needed. What else can they want? A nuerologist too?

Ask them in writing. We had a neuropsch report from a Phd and they insisted on a

MD confirming the diagnosis of AS. So we went to a nuerologist for that. I asked

around the special needs community to see who also wrote a strong advocate

letter in black and white. The child psychiatrist I saw would not DX Asperger

Syndrome. They just were not into writing reports (short or long) in our area.

I would guess the most help might be from a neuropschologist that

really knows AS. I interviewed 4 different neuropyschologists

before I picked one. You will be able to tell which one will give

you what you need. Ask them about there

report. Will they state in black and white your son needs

a social skill program 3 times a week. Will they come to the

school and advocate with you one or two times to explain their

report. Make sure they do not rely heavily on teacher input. This

really isn't helpful unless your child has severe acting out

behaviors. Most teachers don't get what the AS child needs and

they don't understand the child's deficits. I brought

tape recorded conversations of my daughter will various peers

from school (in our home) with her talking exclusively

about her own interests and being very inflexiable. I wrote

a lot up on social interactions I had observed as inflexible,

off topic, and ridgid.

There is a textbook called Executive Function in Education by Meltzer and

Chapter 7 is " Executive Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorders "

it describes the type of tests that the neuropsch will do,

Wisconsin Card Sorting, Tower Tasks, Delis Kaplan Executive

Function Tests etc etc. It takes 4 sessions at 3-4 hours each. We did it over a

month. I thought this gave the Phd a chance to really see my daughter over a

span of time.

I really regret that parents have to be such experts. Something

is still very wrong with the system of childhood DX of asperger

syndrome and the treatment and education of them.

These kids really need so much more support than they are getting.

And school districts do not want to put the effort into

solving this problem for parents.

It is just not our kids though. Other groups of kids with

ADHD or reading disorders or behavioral problems don't

get enough of what they need.

It takes advocacy on the parents part to get the precious

resources on your child.

It is not fair to the parents they can't find there

way around the system though.

You may be able to ask for the school to pay for the neuropysch

test. Again put it in writing that you know your son has AS.

That kids with AS have a type of learning disorder that is well

documented (Meltzer's book for example). And that only

a neuropysch test will find these deficits not an educational

eval from the learning consultant.

Many people think it is better if the school pays for it. Many

people say then they can't reject the report. I don't think

it matters unless they have someone they really want you to use.

So you want to pin down that if you pay for the report ($3000)

that they will accept it into the IEP as part of

psychological evaluation. Regardless this report is going to be very helpful to

you to know what your son's strengths and weaknesses

are.

I do wish you luck, stick with it because our kids

really do need the help.

Pam

> > >

> > > I finally got somewhere with !!! Whoo-hoo. Her annual IEP (in which

she currently receives just speech services) is tomorrow with a child-study as

well. I have not received a draft of the IEP yet. Which, in a way, doesn't

bother me because it will have to be revamped anyhow during the meeting. But it

does gripe me that here it is the day before and the only " notice " I'll get is

that it will come home with her today. GRRRR. This school is notorious for doing

this. Every time...... I've even gotten on hand-delievered one night at 5pm by

the assistant principal because it wasn't done.

> > >

> > > I am not really sure what I'll need to add to it anyhow. The teacher is

going to recommend that be tested, so that won't probably be completed

until Feb. (They have 45 days in which to test her and with the holidays......)

So, it will be a struggle to determine what accomodations and/or goals she'll

need before the testing is complete and we have a better picture of what is

going on...

> > >

> > > Thanks for listening.

> > >

> > > -Melinda

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

We ran into this roadblock, too, where the school would ask for more and more

details on my son's diagnosis, and then wait until next year because they

weren't sure that was really the right diagnosis. We had four different doctors

saying that my son definitely had AS (at age 8, at 10, at 13, and at 15).

One year my son's doctor got annoyed because he gave the school a letter

describing the diagnosis and yet the school district (or at least the behavioral

psychologist at the IEP meetings) made another formal request to see more

details on my son's record and after getting that complained to me about not

seeing real proof of AS and then made another formal request asking to see more

medical records. As far as I could tell, she already had plenty of evidence. The

reports showed test scores, descriptions of interviews, observed behavior, and

so on.

At the IEP meeting I realized that the behavioral psychologist was convinced (or

was hoping) that my son had depression or something that could put him in a

mental health category and so the school district wouldn't have to pay for any

services or accommodations. They could just hand him over to a state agency and

let him go to school somewhere else. Yes, my son was depressed, but as the

doctor said, my son was depressed because being at school was very frustrating

for him and he was being bullied. He was not depressed because he had

depression. If he really had depression, then he would be depressed all the

time. In my son's case, he would be down Monday thru Friday, but then from

Friday night to Sunday he would be in good spririts. When a school break came

along, or in summer, he would be a completely different, fun-loving kid. This

same school psychologist also pushed medication heavily. During the IEP meeting

she strongly recommended giving my son a " cocktail " so he could be back in

school and like anyone else within a few days.

I would push to have the school conduct their own assessment to confirm his

diagnosis. Push for them to do a complete assessment, not just a test for

intelligence or a test to see if he needs speech services. I was hesitant to let

the school assess my son, but our awful school district actually did a very

professional job of testing and assessing my son. It just took them several

years to get around to it.

If you don't have an advocate or lawyer, get one. It made a huge difference in

getting my son tested, which opened the door to getting him the services he

needed, which completely changed his life at school in a good way.

[Guest guest]

1. put your request to use the correct classification in writing. 2.

Ask for their denial's in writing. If they refuse, ask them to put in

writing why they are refusing to do this. This is known as " prior

written notice " and is required by law. 3. Remember that no matter

what classification they have on the IEP, they need to provide ALL

services necessary to provide a free and appropriate education. So

even if his classification is not ASD, they should be addressing his

ASD needs as part of the IEP if they are interfering with his

education. 4. Finally, so many times I have heard, " I don't see that

problem here. " What it means is that whatever the problem is, it is

not bothering them. A kid who is quietly going to pieces is not a

problem vs. one who is throwing chairs across the room. <g> I would

suggest you go visit the classroom often and observe for yourself, help

out during lunch once in a while, hang out at recess. You will notice

a lot of issues that way. And you will keep track of them and have

data to show them at meetings.

Roxanna

" The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do

nothing. " E. Burke

( ) Re: IEP tomorrow (vent)

I am still am having trouble getting the ASD classification on my son's

IEP. Last year he was classified as OHI for tourettes and PANDAS and

ADHD. Then in May we got the Aspergers diagnosis. We had a meeting in

Oct and they claimed to needed more documentation from our medical

professionals before changing anything. Is his typical? Our

psychiatrist diagnosed him and wrote a letter. Then the psychologist

wrote a letter. However she also brings up PDD NOS or nonverbal

learning disorder. Could her letter do us more damage then good if she

is not supporting the Aspergers diagnosis. Why is it so hard to get

Dr's on the same page? What will I need to do to get the classification

changed on his IEP? Currently he gets no speech or social skills at

school. He does get tutoring and OT and is doing well with that.

However his social deficit is more defined at age 7 then it was before.

He has trouble getting along with kids and takes things wrong. I guess

the school doesn't see this though. He tells us at home and also has

alot of behavior problems at home but not a school. Any suggestions?

> >

> > I finally got somewhere with !!! Whoo-hoo. Her annual IEP (in

which she currently receives just speech services) is tomorrow with a

child-study as well. I have not received a draft of the IEP yet. Which,

in a way, doesn't bother me because it will have to be revamped anyhow

during the meeting. But it does gripe me that here it is the day before

and the only " notice " I'll get is that it will come home with her

today. GRRRR. This school is notorious for doing this. Every time......

I've even gotten on hand-delievered one night at 5pm by the assistant

principal because it wasn't done.

> >

> > I am not really sure what I'll need to add to it anyhow. The

teacher is going to recommend that be tested, so that won't

probably be completed until Feb. (They have 45 days in which to test

her and with the holidays......) So, it will be a struggle to determine

what accomodations and/or goals she'll need before the testing is

complete and we have a better picture of what is going on...

> >

> > Thanks for listening.

> >

> > -Melinda

> >

>