Can a parent insist on LD testing by the school?

[lovetoscrap]

Does anyone know what a parent's rights are as far as having a child tested for learning disabilities by the school district? Apparently here a parent can insist they test for Gifted and they will do it, but if you are concerned there is a problem the school gets to decide if they even fill out the paperwork to have an initial evaluation done?

I am looking into private testing, but am really frustrated that the school won't take my concerns seriously. Her current teacher is, and went to bat for me with the school level admin, but because she isn't "failing" they won't do anything. DUH! She isn't failing because every time she fails a test the teachers have had her use her book and "do corrections" and bring the grade up to a C or B, and give her extra credit projects. Homework is a Pass/Fail-- as long as you did it you pass, even if every one of them is wrong. We can't hurt their self esteem, or have the school/teacher look bad, by actually giving them a D or F.


Does a parent have any legal right to insist on at least an initial evaluation? I may be completely wrong about there being a problem, but in the last 15 years my mother's intuition has always been right. If I pay out of pocket for private testing and they find something I am going to be really mad.

 

[HonnyDipp]

does the pediatrician have anything to say about this? Have you discussed it with your child's doctor? Usually if you can get their backing, the school system will be more willing to help.

 

[Magpie]

It really depends on your school district and your location. The rules are different everywhere. You should start asking around to see if there is a Learning Disabilities association in your area - they'll have the best information for you regarding your rights.

If you are in the US, this might be a place to start searching...

http://www.ldanatl.org/

Good luck!

 

[Kimkimba]

This is a good site for reference:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/test.index.htm

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I would recommend posting your question on the Disabilities board. The parents over there have been through just about every scenario with their special needs kids and will be able to answer your questions.

 

[krcit]

I agree with the previous poster, you need to know your state's laws. I know when I had concerns about my son, I wrote a letter to the principal requesting a full evaluation for my son. They had 60(I think) days to complete the testing and then we had a meeting.He didn't qualify for an IEP but the next year I had him tested by an audiologist at my own cost($600) and she diagnosed him as having APD(auditory processing disorder) and now he has a 504 plan. I would advise you to first find out your state's laws and then try to fins someone who has been through it in your district and ask for advice. I know that if I had gone to the principal and talked to her, she would have tried to talk me out of an evaluation, so that is why I put it in writing. Then they are obligated by law. Good luck.

 

[INDISMOM]

I went through this last year. I asked for an evaluation. At first I was told my daughter had not have enough "interventions". Then her reading recovery teacher advocated for her and we got the evaluation.

I think the big thing is having a teacher backing you up. My daughter wasn't failing anything either -- but the teacher was reading the tests to her.

I would go with you instincts and request a meeting with teacher and principal.

 

[RangerPooh]

In order to begin the process your child needs to demonstarte that there might be a learning disability. This would be collected through evidence of their grades. For this you would either need to collect their homework and tests or ask the teacher for a copy of your childs grades. You shoudl then be abl to petition to the school or district if your distraict has a special education administration. There would then be tests/evaluations that would need to be conducted with ~60 days for the evaluaiton to occur then the meeting for test results. If oyur child does not qualify based on these scores you can always then petition for a 504 plan.

Your principal might not want to sign off on it for various reasons, and if this is the case appeal to the suerintendent or contact the special educaiton teachers at your childs school. They might be able to suggest a path for you. While contatcing doctors is fine, you also need to get informaiton from the school inorder for the larger picture to be complete.

 

[Wishing on a star]

There is possibly some questionable or misleading/incorrect information in some of the above post.
(a child does not have to 'fail' to be evaluated/diagnosed with LD)
(my son was diagnosed without the teacher even returning one page of paperwork/questionnaire)

OP,
Special Educaton services are ultimately governed under Federal Law, ( I.D.E.A )

You must submit a written request to your district's Special Education office. ( cc: Principal )

They have a set number of days to call a meeting and to take action.

Be aware, that they will still hem and haw and find loopholes... They can 'try other interventions' first.

They can do a very poor evaluation, and simply 'not find anything that would qualify your child for services'..... This is common. (We have halfway decent insurance, and took our child to a reputable child development clinic in a city about two hours from our town,)

In my experience, if the school district is adversarial to helping kids, they will fight tooth and nail, forever, and you will not see an effective IEP in place, and you will not see the school follow any IEP.

Luckily, some schools take learning disabilities seriously.
But many, like my district, simply refuse to do anything to help.

Good Luck!!!!

 

[HelenePA]

Write a simple note along the lines of this..

I would like to have my child tested for learning diabilites..

signed

mom

they have so many days from that simple letter to test her

eta having private testing usually doesn't matter, they'll have to test her again anyway in school. I wanted to have my dd tested and the dr told me NO wait for the school to do it. It did take a month or two but she was tested and giving an IEP and the correct class room.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Thanks for all the information. I did think that were federal laws that governed most of the state actions. I had looked at our school website and our handbook and just couldn't find much. Based on the advice here I did contact someone that has a child in Special Ed and she pointed me in the right direction to find the information I need on the district website-- it was not easy to find! I just couldn't imagine that there was no way for me to insist they do it.

I didn't know that they would do a school based assessment even if we do one professionally! I will be requesting an evaluation today.

I think that she has some sort of probably minor LD-- maybe a processing issue? She compensates really well most of the time, but I have been seeing that something is just not right since she was small. She has done okay, but struggled some, in the younger grades where the tests and information are spoon fed to them. But starting last year (4th grade) the pace of the curriculum and the amount they are expected to learn at one time really picked up and she has had a hard time keeping up. She goes to Middle School next year and I honestly can't see how she will be able to handle it.

I would really hate for her to struggle and struggle only to find out years from now there was something they can identify and help her to work around or fix.

 

[Wishing on a star]

In my experience, the neuro/psych testing will cover all of the neurological aspects and look for any true LD.
This is not something that I would trust to be done by a child psychologist.
I would want to look into the qualifications of the person who would be doing the eval.

The school will then do a complete academic work-up.
The practice who did my son's neuropsych evaluation could have also done the academic eval.
But, insurance would not cover that - as they know the schools offer this for free.

I would definitely have a problem if the school wanted to try to question/disprove a reputable and qualified diagnosis of a neurological learning disability.

 

[polyfan]

As a special education teacher and child study team chairperson, yes, the parent can state that they are requesting testing. The school must then do at least an educational evaluation. I would make sure though, that they do the full evaluation to include the psychological also, which will give IQ scores.

 

[MM27]

Write a simple note along the lines of this..

I would like to have my child tested for learning diabilites..

signed

mom

they have so many days from that simple letter to test her

eta having private testing usually doesn't matter, they'll have to test her again anyway in school. I wanted to have my dd tested and the dr told me NO wait for the school to do it. It did take a month or two but she was tested and giving an IEP and the correct class room.

That's not true everywhere. Here they don't just test everyone that wants to be tested. There is an extensive process that you need to go through to even get to the point of testing. I do know that many parents pull their children from private, charter and catholic schools because they expect to get testing done by the district and are surprised that it doesn't happen right away.

Last year I submitted paperwork for one of my students in September. He was eventually tested and finally classified in May. My district doesn't accept parent letters unless they are accompanied by the paperwork filled out by the classroom teacher and even then, they do not go directly to testing. There are several planning meetings where various strategies are discussed and then they need to be implemented. We then wait between 6-8 weeks to see if there was any change. New strategies are put into place. And then we wait. Then the next meeting, then more waiting.

If the conclusion is that testing needs to happen, the child is then referred to the Child Study Team who is in charge of doing the testing.

 

[dimimi]

Does anyone know what a parent's rights are as far as having a child tested for learning disabilities by the school district? Apparently here a parent can insist they test for Gifted and they will do it, but if you are concerned there is a problem the school gets to decide if they even fill out the paperwork to have an initial evaluation done?

I am looking into private testing, but am really frustrated that the school won't take my concerns seriously. Her current teacher is, and went to bat for me with the school level admin, but because she isn't "failing" they won't do anything. DUH! She isn't failing because every time she fails a test the teachers have had her use her book and "do corrections" and bring the grade up to a C or B, and give her extra credit projects. Homework is a Pass/Fail-- as long as you did it you pass, even if every one of them is wrong. We can't hurt their self esteem, or have the school/teacher look bad, by actually giving them a D or F.


Does a parent have any legal right to insist on at least an initial evaluation? I may be completely wrong about there being a problem, but in the last 15 years my mother's intuition has always been right. If I pay out of pocket for private testing and they find something I am going to be really mad.

I am a special education teacher. It is simple. All you do is write a couple sentence letter. Send it to the Principal. State that you would like your child to have a mulitifactored evaluation to test for learning disabilities. (some states call it an ETR) ***This is a federal law if you are in a public school. Private schools are different, but public schools must follow the federal law. If they refuse to test, call your state special education office...she'll get tested.

Your school's psychologist will have 30 days to perform the tests. To be fair,(as others have mentioned) some schools have IAT (intervention assistance teams) teams that meet first to see if they can provide interventions to help the child. I would say that you could argue that your child has already had that since she is being allowed to correct tests, etc.

Remember, even a gifted child can have a learning disability. IF you decide to have her privately testing, the school would honor that evaluation, but there is no reason your school should not complete the testing for you. Keep in mind (I just read the other posts) that if your child has auditory processing disorders, some schools don't recognize that as a disability. Also, to qualify as a student with a learning disability, there must be a discrepency between your child's IQ and their performance. I have student with auditory processing disorders that are on a 504 plan which is for accommodations only. These students get directions in writing, directions repeated/clarified, extended time, etc.

Good Luck