Re: Parents rights in School Districts for special need children

November 19, 2010

Hello,

Based on our experience :

It is good that you didn't sign anything. Find a good school and a good lawer

who sucessfully deals with your school district and is well known there.

Go to the school and make sure that they have a spot for your child, they are

ready to take him/her and best if they write a note and agree to answer a

telephone call from the board to confirm they take your child.Â After that,Â go

to

the meeting and say that you prefer that school for some particular reasons (in

our case, it was: 1.Qualification of the teachers, 2. Better premises and

surroundings, less noisy.

A lawer has to be very good and well known at your school district. Ours charged

us 300dol for just putting her signature and calling a board saying we were her

clients. After that we went with all our paperwork from schools and teachers

saying that if we do not get what we want (reasonable) then we'll do next step -

do impartial hearing with the board. And the board doesn't want it usually

especially if they know you have a strong lawer. We didn't have to do impartial

hearing, but if we would the lawer would charge 2000. In case she wins these

money would be paid by the school board. But we got we wanted, not extremely,

but in normal limits.

That's what helped us, other parents told me about a good lawer in NYC.

________________________________

From: autismhelpinghands <autismhelpinghands@...>

Sent: Fri, November 19, 2010 9:11:19 AM

Subject: [ ] Parents rights in School Districts for special need

children

Â

I went to my son's I.E.P. meeting at school, he is in a County Austim program,

and I feel as my rights was vilated by them not providing the best intrest for

my child. The meeting went horrible and I felt tricked into putting my son in a

non-public school. They gave me a list of other options to look at, however when

I told the princple she said " he couldn't reside at his school and I had to

choose a facility. I didnt' sighn anything stating my son would be considered a

temp student until they place him some where. I feel as if my son's best

interest wasn't taken in consideration. DO I have rights? can someone help me?

The principle said

' she was the final say, and there was nothing I could do, however but choose a

non-public school.

Can someone help me?

California resident

November 19, 2010

Pretty much, I'm finding that public schools will do whatever they want unless

you challenge them.Â If you feel in over your head in the IEP meetings, find

someone familiar with your county and is a specialist with Autism and have them

attend your IEP meetings with you.Â Familiarize yourself with you Parents

Rights, Special Needs policies with that county, federal and state policies, the

admin staffat the school headquarters, etc. Sounds like a lot but I have found

that if you don't know your rights and your child rights, you can't actually

defend them.Â We all have an idea of what our child " should have " and argue

that

but a lot of parents don't realize that they are in " weak " states/county that

don't provide for what we feel our child should have.

So, find out yourÂ child's rights and the laws for your areaÂ then I would get

an

outside assessment.

I did it the expensive and hard way but it has paid off big for my daughter. I

pulled my daughter out of school, paid to haveÂ a BCBA help me with

homeschooling

and record data, familiarized myself with laws of my state and federal law.Â Â I

have foundÂ that during the IEP, no one really knows the laws, they only know

what affects their area.Â I have found that when IÂ drill down thru the laws

from

federal > state > Local > county, I get what I want.Â I took my data back to

the

school system and showed how she maxed out an IEP at 80% in 8 to 10 weeks; the

same IEP that she had with the school system for 2 years at 0%.Â I had to

actuallyÂ PROVE my daughter could learn to make the teacher work.Â I put her

back

in school but continued with private 1:1; she failed again in school but was

successful out of school. After the second failure, the school has to cover the

costs of private schooling.Â Believe me, all of this was a pain in the ass and

if I could have gone back to homeschooling, I would have but I couldn't.

DO NOT let these people walk over you!!!!!

We recently had an IEP and the teaching protocol that was being used obviously

wasn't working so in the IEP meeting, I called my daughter in (she was all

stimmy and excited), I sat her down and showed the " team " how to teach my

daughter. In spite of all the stemming and hand-flapping, she responded to

everything I did. I then had a teacher come up and show her how to effectively

use the teaching protocol that I use.

That's another thing, learn how to effectively teach your child yourself so you

can counter any teaching problems thrown at you.

I know this got long but some of the stories I read about these school systems

and the intimidation they use just makes me mad.Â

S.

>

>From: autismhelpinghands <autismhelpinghands@...>

>

>Sent: Fri, November 19, 2010 3:11:19 AM

>Subject: [ ] Parents rights in School Districts for special need

>children

>

>Â

>I went to my son's I.E.P. meeting at school, he is in a County Austim program,

>and I feel as my rights was vilated by them not providing the best intrest for

>my child. The meeting went horrible and I felt tricked into putting my son in a

>non-public school. They gave me a list of other options to look at, however

when

>I told the princple she said " he couldn't reside at his school and I had to

>choose a facility. I didnt' sighn anything stating my son would be considered a

>temp student until they place him some where. I feel as if my son's best

>interest wasn't taken in consideration. DO I have rights? can someone help me?

>The principle said

>' she was the final say, and there was nothing I could do, however but choose a

>non-public school.

>

>Can someone help me?

>

>California resident

>

November 19, 2010

We had a similar issue. I ended up talking to the ESE coordinator for our school

district and talked to her about my beliefs about the importance of inclusion

and child's right to the least restrictive environment. I did it in a way the

appealed to her sense of sympathy and not in a way that was blaming or pointing

fingers. From experience when you do that they just get defensive and stick to

their guns. She helped me find another school with a teacher who was

pro-inclusion, and told me we would do a trial for 2 weeks. He did well with the

teacher b/c she was accepting and understood his issues. Last year he met zero

goals, and this year he's almost mastered all of them. A good teacher can make

all the difference. I would ask around, try to talk to someone else and try

pushing for what you want the " nice " way first. Getting into a nasty law suit

with the school board is very stressful. But if you don't get what you want for

your son, then I would definitely get an advocate and fight. Also, I did say

politely that if he would be placed in a secluded school that I would choose to

homeschool him instead. They don't want to lose students b/c they get funding

for every child so when they hear " homeschool " they tend to try to work with you

more to find a solution.

Our kids have rights, and seclusion should not be forced if its against the

parents wishes, IMHO.

Good luck!

>

> I went to my son's I.E.P. meeting at school, he is in a County Austim program,

and I feel as my rights was vilated by them not providing the best intrest for

my child. The meeting went horrible and I felt tricked into putting my son in a

non-public school. They gave me a list of other options to look at, however when

I told the princple she said " he couldn't reside at his school and I had to

choose a facility. I didnt' sighn anything stating my son would be considered a

temp student until they place him some where. I feel as if my son's best

interest wasn't taken in consideration. DO I have rights? can someone help me?

The principle said

> ' she was the final say, and there was nothing I could do, however but choose

a non-public school.

>

> Can someone help me?

>

> California resident

>

November 19, 2010

In a perfect world public schools would have this all figured out with qualified

educators that can teach and work with all disabilities. The reality is that

most schools are very ill equipped to handle or even understand the basic needs

of our children. For many it is a glorified day care and for the life of me I

can't understand why some parents are ok with that. I have gone rounds with our

public schools and find that I must stay on top of his situation daily with

frequent communication with the personnel at his school. I do feel that I am

" educating " them most of the time. It is always a battle as public schools have

a very one size fits all program. We are dealing with the government which tends

to be way over regulated with little room to personalize and specialize. Their

job is to educate the masses. Thankfully, in OH we have the autism scholarship

which most teachers know nothing about (that is intentional). Private or semi

private educational facilities are cropping up all over. Nothing is perfect but

this empowers parents to make more educated choices for their children. Time is

of essence as our children age and time out. We don't have years to fight the

system on the backs of our children.

Get good counsel. Fight with all you have. Try not to burn bridges but in the

end realize that the public school system may not be the best place for your

child and be prepared to find some place that is.

November 19, 2010

You were right not to sign anything. The principal DOES NOT have the final

say. A principal is a gate keeper. Is the district paying for the

non-public school? They cannot refuse to take your child unless they pay

for the private facility.

What are your reasons fro not wanting him in the non-public? Have you

looked at the non-public choices? What does the public have to offer your

child based on his unique needs?

Usually schools will always say they can meet the unique needs of a child as

they do not want to pay for private.

NEVER say " what is best for my child. " Always use the terms " appropriate "

or non-appropriate " when trying to secure a FAPE for your child.

This principal told you a non-truth: There is ALWAYS something you can do.

The best thing you did was NOT SIGNING the agreement.

I need to know the answers to the questions I asked. The key issue is

whether they are intending to pay for the private placement. Then you need

to llok into the private placement to see if it would meet your child's

unique needs and would be an appropriate setting. If this facility is a

distance away, the district would also be responsible for transportation,

as well.

The first thing I want you to do is write down what your child's needs are.

Does he need PT, OT, and speech therapies? What are his disabilities?.

Then you need to write down what you believe would be an appropriate program

for your child. Then you could develop some long-term and short term goals

for your child. Since you did not sign the document, you have ten-days

before you have to return to an ARD. If you want help in getting ready for

this meeting, email me off list, and I will help you get ready for it.

I do' think you need a lawyer at this point. Right now, your district

thinks they are dealing with a parent who doesn't know the law and knows

little about advocacy. Get prepared to be your child's advocate and

schedule another meeting for ten days from the last meeting. Email me off

list and I will help you learn to be your child's advocate. You have made it

clear what you don't want, though I'd like to here specifics as to why;

however, you need to be clear as to what you do want- program wise- for your

child. I am just another parent, like you, who traveled this road and had

to learn along the way. I have a lot of experience now (OH, if I could only

go back to when my child was just getting started and know what I know

now!).

Sincerely,

Haven

November 19, 2010

If you don't like the IEP results, call the principal and tell you you're

calling another IEP. By law, you can call another IEP anytime you disagree with

your child's education plan. This time, go in there armed with your knowledge

of the law. Look up the law on LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT (LRE). If you

believe your child is capable of some form of public school setting (even if

it's a special education room setting with a qualified teacher), go into the IEP

armed with knowing what you want to have happen. YOU dictate your child's

education, not the school! You basically tell them how they will best educate

your child, not the other way around. Look up the laws on IDEA (individual with

disability act), FERPA (free and appropriate education). Use words in the IEP

to talk about what is " appropriate " for your child. Put it in writing 24 hours

ahead of time that you plan on tape-recording the IEP. By law, you are entitled

to attend the public school in which you live. If that's what you want for your

child, then tell them so. By law, they must make a way for it to happen. Keep

in mind, each person has an agenda in that IEP room....except for you. There may

be budget issues, staffing issues, etc...that are what they are protecting, so

they're shipping you elsewhere.