Re: PLEASE HELP US HELP OUR CHILD!

[Guest guest]

Gosh, I know it's frustrating!!

I don't know what tests the school did? And when was the most recent? But if

you feel they didn't test in the right areas, I would type a letter requesting

he be evaluated for a LD. And in the letter state some of your reasons and how

he needs your help to even complete his homework and he's spending more time on

homework than the average student.... I would also state he was diagnosed with

Aspergers at age 7 and that is something you don't grow out of (might phrase it

better than that; anxiety, etc., can get better) And in this case, " cc " a copy

to the principal also. Maybe even the district/system special ed director.

If they were to deny and do it verbally, make sure you have them send the denial

to you in writing also (paper trail).

Did he have an IEP in the younger years, after he was diagnosed at age 7?

Some of the things you wrote reminded me of my son (now 21). --

***Basic tasks that he will need to do to get anything accomplished in life are

hard for him to do. ... At 10, almost 11, he is just beginning to take care of

personal hygiene.***

My son wasn't age appropriate with being able to do some things on his own or

without my coaching him. For things like that outside of school, we just

repetitively worked on that at home.

Just some quick thoughts (and questions!).

>

>

> I don't know where to begin!

> Son diagnosed with Asperger's, ADHD, anxiety, depression age 7.

> School says no to Asperger's according to their tests, they see ED and

> with no LD. All recommendations are for behavior intervention.

>

> Our son is in the 5th grade and is now failing classes. He clearly

> doesn't have Content Mastery in the classes he's failing yet the school

> won't address what is causing his inability to learn. They say he's

> inattentive, won't do his assignments because he just doesn't want

[Guest guest]

School systems are not in a position to do any testing beyond

if your child is at grade level and test their IQ. That is it.

Your child needs a neuropsychological evaluation.

And you need to pick one that will come to the school

and explain it to special services and the IEP team.

http://www.suite101.com/external_link.cfm?

elink=http://brainsource.com/domains.htm

School systems are not the least bit trained in neuropyschology.

My daughter was incorrectly diagnosed with anxiety than OCD

at age 5 then 7 years old.

Only the complete neurpsychological evaluation could make

sense of all her issues.

Most professionals (even my daughter's pyschiatrist) do not

understand the extent of cognitive deficits kids can have.

People see behaviors and assume it all can be solved with

behavior therapy. Some kids also need special school

services, emotional support and some even medication.

The very best behaviorists are at Yale univeristy because

they will and do advocate at the schools and they have

a reputation that is unchallenged. But start with the

neuropyschological evaluation.You can work with Yale on the

phone and they will train you and the school.

http://www.yale.edu/childconductclinic/index.htm

Best of luck,

Pam

[Guest guest]

But - again, just my thoughts - having the school system test for an LD

(learning disability) and getting their results (and they do have tests for LDs)

can show problems/LDs and plus shows you are working with them.... However, if

you disagree with the results of the school's tests, you can request an

independent eval and the school system pays for that.

Schools have to consider any outside testing done but don't have to accept

results. Just my thoughts, if you go through the school testing (which shows

you are trying to work with the school) and then disagree with their results,

get them to pay for the independent eval. Additionally, you might want to have

someone qualified in mind for the testing, and not necessarily use whoever the

school usually refers people to. I do know of one parent who had an outside

eval done first and used the person the school generally uses for outside evals

(she happened to know who they always used and the testing showed an LD) and

thus sort of " got one over " on the school when they were trying NOT to give her

son an IEP.

Just a general article on testings for LDs, schools:

http://www.ldonline.org/article/What_Do_You_Do_If_You_Suspect_That_Your_Child_Ha\

s_A_Learning_Disability%3F

If above too long:

http://www.ldonline.org/indepth/evaluation

>

>

> School systems are not in a position to do any testing beyond

> if your child is at grade level and test their IQ. That is it.

>

> Your child needs a neuropsychological evaluation.

> And you need to pick one that will come to the school

> and explain it to special services and the IEP team.

>

[Guest guest]

I had a similar experience - I had my son diagnosed independentally and the

school would not accept the diagnosis, would not give him an IEP, and also would

not do their own testing for a long, long time, although I asked for help every

year.

Sometimes the schools offer ED and behavior plans since that is easy for them

since they already have those programs in place.

Since your son's needs are not being met at school and he is actually failing,

this is a great opportunity to argue that what the school is doing is not

working and that they need to do something different. By law they are supposed

to provide FAPE - a free and appropriate public education to everyone. He should

not be punished for having a disability.

Please consider getting an advocate or a lawyer to come with you to the next

meeting to help you remind the school that they must provide FAPE. If you aren't

doing this already, keep copies of your child's school work to show at the

meeting. A good advocate and a tape recorder will be able to make the case for

testing your son to see exactly what's going on. I found it just too hard to go

to the meetings by myself - I could think of great responses after the meeting

was over - but not on the fly. Also, I felt like the school district was

unprofessional - meetings would be set up or cancelled repeatedly. I was asked

to sign forms BEFORE the meeting started saying I agreed with the results, and

so on. All those games stopped as soon as I came to the meetings with an

advocate. If you can't find an advocate, you can still tape the meetings and

that may help change the tone of the meeting.

I was scared about the school's testing because I didn't trust some school

employees, but the testing was done professionally. The testers looked at the

reports I provided from my son's doctors and took them seriously and they all

wrote reports agreeing with his initial diagnosis. As soon as the testing was

done, then I was assigned to a new team in Special Ed and my son got all kinds

of help.

Don't give up! Do what you can to get things on track before middle school.

[Guest guest]

you are right to work with the school system to get services and the child

classifed. But in this case the family is struggling to

get answers and find out what the LD is.

Our school district did not have to accept our neuropschological

evaluation but once I had the report they could not any longer deny that she had

problems.

We were reasonable and that is what parent's need to be.

I don't think in our case our school was going to pay for any testing because

they refused to acknowledge any problems and even start the

IEP evaluation until we proved there were indeed deficits in learning.

It took from grade 1 to grade 4 to just get the IEP process started

and in our case it was the neurpsch eval that got the school going.

I had had a learning consultant test in grade 1 nothing showed up at all. I

didn't know what to do until I read about neuropsch evals.

Pam

> >

> >

> > School systems are not in a position to do any testing beyond

> > if your child is at grade level and test their IQ. That is it.

> >

> > Your child needs a neuropsychological evaluation.

> > And you need to pick one that will come to the school

> > and explain it to special services and the IEP team.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

First, you should go to www.wrightslaw.com and read about the special

education process. It is also a great resource to look up individual

problems you are having. I have a feeling you have all that you need

to get him the help that he needs but it's learning how to compile it

and use it that is hard sometimes. Google your state " parent

information center " and locate a good advocate to help you.

Many times, I see an argument happening over what people " feel " is

going on vs. what is really happening. Try to keep arguments in the

fact range or at the least, counter their POV with facts. For

instance, why he is not doing the work - they " FEEL " it's because he is

obnoxious and purposely defiant. You of course, see it differently!

Instead, I would have a full educational evaluation in front of me with

the subtest scores and be able to say, " Look, his working memory is in

the 3rd percentile.... " or " He failed his auditory process evaluation

and that is why he can't pay attention in class - he's not hearing it. "

But I think you've also advanced beyond that with your " team. " Once

they have decided he is not eligible for services, you need to request

this denial in writing. At all times, you want to create a paper trail

of every conversation, even if you write the follow up letter to

document what is being said and suggested. And whenever they refuse

services, they are obligated to write you a " prior written notice "

explaining what was considered and why it was denied. Once I had that,

I would request an " IEE " - an " Independent Educational Evaluation "

which is done at the school's expense. But you pick a group of

unbiased people to do a good evaluation and to explain those

evaluations to you. Chances are, from reading your post, you probably

can make a case once you've gotten the IEE eval's. Again, look up your

state parent information center to find a local advocate who can also

help guide you through the process. It sounds to me like you have an

especially nasty " team " to work against and not with. So you need all

the help you can find!

Roxanna

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

( ) PLEASE HELP US HELP OUR CHILD!

I don't know where to begin!

Son diagnosed with Asperger's, ADHD, anxiety, depression age 7.

School says no to Asperger's according to their tests, they see ED and

with no LD. All recommendations are for behavior intervention.

Our son is in the 5th grade and is now failing classes. He clearly

doesn't have Content Mastery in the classes he's failing yet the school

won't address what is causing his inability to learn. They say he's

inattentive, won't do his assignments because he just doesn't want to

and if treated properly (say please) he'll conform and do the work.

We have been fighting this fight for over 5 years, since kindergarten.

We didn't have an opportunity for ECI because we couldn't get anyone to

listen to us. Finally we got an outside diagnosis and the school won't

accept it because they don't see it according to their tests.

Our son doesn't have the ability to start a task and carry it out,

whether it's homework, schoolwork or chores. Basic tasks that he will

need to do to get anything accomplished in life are hard for him to do.

His executive functioning is extremely impaired. At 10, almost 11, he

is just beginning to take care of personal hygiene.

What tests are available besides psychological evaluations to see where

his learning deficit lies? They say he's on task with others his age,

even though we've told them we have to sit with him and re teach what he

was " taught " during the day at school. ON task with 60s and 70s for

grades?

Why are we having such a difficult time getting this child help?

What can we do for him? Where do we go from here? Each year, more time

is wasted on the diagnosis and behavior modification than on what his

learning needs are. In the meantime, time is getting away from us. Up

until this time, he apparently slid by, but now that the work is getting

harder and more involved, he's having trouble keeping up and getting

into trouble for not doing his work. School believes with enough

praise and redirection, his self esteem will rise and he'll be

successful, then his self esteem will be better again and he'll be even

more successful. Oh if it were only that easy.

We have an ARD in the morning which I have requested be postponed since

they only want to talk about a BIP and not an effective IEP.

I appreciate any help you can provide!