IEP accommodations--anyone know? UPDATE

[SandiH]

Another special ed teacher here. Yes, if it's in the IEP and it is, you need to push it. It can be a basic laptop with nothing but word processing on it but he needs one and it's on the IEP.

 

[ugadog99]

So, do you think I am wrong to push it? A PP made it sound like I am trying to get something my son doesn't deserve. I am not asking for a new laptop for my son to bring home and play games on!

Absolutely you should push this! It is in his IEP for heaven's sake! If they didn't wish to provide something for you then it should never have been put in writing. Sadly, many parents of IEP kids do not know what their rights are. Just so you know, there are Special Ed advocates who can help you, if it goes that far. Just stand your ground!

 

[torinsmom]

That was my point. before I let my son suffer for something I could easily provide I'd be buying him a laptop and he would be taking it to school, Then I could still try to get it supplied by the school but I would not be wasting precious time for learning trying to prove a point.


As far as the big lap top then have the school supply him with a second set of books to be left at home, then he doesn't have to carry books home and will have room for his lap top. Schools do this all the time and could probably come up with a set in a day.

Our insurance is thru State Farm.

So, do you have State Farm Homeowners insurance or something different? Does homeowners insurance cover things lost or stolen outside the home?

I am not sending this laptop to school every day. It just isn't going to happen. If they refuse to meet his needs, I will go higher up. They have laptops; it should take less than a day to come up with one. If I have to get something in the meantime, I will find a used netbook. Even that will have to wait for awhile, as I don't have money just laying around.

 

[mrsmom]

Wow, i am gettig ready to try and get an IEP for my ds13 with disgraphia, he had a 504 but they don't follow thru with anything. so we have a meeting tomorrow.
Kirbydog48 thanks for telling me how to explain disgraphia to the teachers. we have been fighting with the school since 3rd grade. any advice would be appreciated!!
My son's school won't let him bring his own computer because they are afraid it
would get taken, they let him use the schools ipad and schools computer. . So they have to let them use something even with a 504.

 

[golfgal]

I'm sorry, but it really doesn't matter who you think should pay. It's the law. It's a federal law, and the school is not in compliance. OP, if it's written in his IEP that he's supposed to have assistive technology available, then they are REQUIRED BY LAW to provide it. FYI, dysgraphia is much more serious than having poor penmanship. It is a very challenging learning disability, a processing disorder, whereby thoughts/ideas in the brain never make it to the page, because writing is a very complicated process. If you don't have this disability, then it just happens automatically. But think of it....you have an idea, what words verbalize that idea, what sounds make that word, what letters make that sound, how the heck do I make that letter, etc. THe process of writing is less difficult when typing.
At this point, I would seriously consider hiring an advocate and request a meeting with his team. Saying that all the alphasmarts are broken is lame. He should have a computer available to him whenever he is required to write, and that computer is to be provided by the school if it is an accomodation in his IEP.

Yep, it is federal law and that law was made when the federal government was picking up the tab for all these accommodations, not the individual school districts. Her school district now being forced to buy a computer for a child means another child that doesn't have an IEP has to go with out a classroom aid or additional textbooks or something else. I understand that kids with special needs need some extra help but it has gone WAY overboard. Check out your school district's special education budget in relation to the overall operating budget for the school and you will see what I mean.

If my child needed a laptop to get his work done in school, I would figure out a way to get that done and I would NEVER expect the school to pay for that--allowing him to use it in class IS the accommodation.

There is a school district in our state that has to pay $80,000/year for a student to attend a school in a neighboring district because the parents didn't feel the program that the one district had was good enough. Most of those costs are to hire a special teacher in the other district and to TRANSPORT this student to the other district. Fine, send your child to the other district but the school should be in no way responsible to get your child back and forth. It is just ridicules what parents will push for in the name of an IEP.

There has NEVER been a post/thread here about special ed where the families haven't been advocating talking everything to the extreme and pushing for everything possible they can get. That mindset is just unfathomable because for every "extra" your ONE child is getting means a classroom of other children are going without. Make the school pay for a laptop for your child, fine, but spend 2 seconds thinking about the OTHER kids in the school that will now go without-just because they don't "qualify" for an IEP.

 

[torinsmom]

Wow, i am gettig ready to try and get an IEP for my ds13 with disgraphia, he had a 504 but they don't follow thru with anything. so we have a meeting tomorrow.
Kirbydog48 thanks for telling me how to explain disgraphia to the teachers. we have been fighting with the school since 3rd grade. any advice would be appreciated!!
My son's school won't let him bring his own computer because they are afraid it
would get taken, they let him use the schools ipad and schools computer. . So they have to let them use something even with a 504.

Does he have using a word processor as an accommodation? If so, don't let them drag their feet! See where it got me? Know your rights and don't worry about making waves.

Was your son's dysgraphia diagnosed by a doctor? I brought in the doctor's letter and the OT's recommendation(he was already seeing one for his writing issues) along with a webpage I printed out about the disorder. Most people have heard about dyslexia, but not dysgraphia. I sometimes equate it to dyslexia, calling it the writing form of dyslexia.

The worst for my son is math. There is no way to really type math. If your numbers are not formed correctly, they are easily misread. Even my son cannot read his numbers sometimes. When he brings home math work, we use dictate to scribe. He does the work, while I write what he tells me. On tests, the teacher had to have him read her the answers(if he can) when she can't make it out. Workbooks are also a big problem. You'd think someone would have come up with workbooks on a CD or something.

I was actually surprised myself that they would allow DS to bring a laptop to school from home. Working at a school, I know that they are very careful with computers that go on their network. They have to have special firewall programs and all that. When we get a virus, every computer in the distruct is in danger of getting it.There is also a lot of room for using it for unauthorized things, such as gaming, etc. The school computers are blocked from most of that stuff.

 

[NHdisneylover]

That was my point. before I let my son suffer for something I could easily provide I'd be buying him a laptop and he would be taking it to school, Then I could still try to get it supplied by the school but I would not be wasting precious time for learning trying to prove a point.


As far as the big lap top then have the school supply him with a second set of books to be left at home, then he doesn't have to carry books home and will have room for his lap top. Schools do this all the time and could probably come up with a set in a day.

Our insurance is thru State Farm.

This is how i feel (and my son has dysgraphia). OP, right now it sounds like both the school and you yourself are holding your son back while you dig in your heels Why would you not provide something you already own to HELP your son why you are fighting to get what the school should be providing him? I suggest you put his needs first and send him with his computer while you sort out issues with the school. It is not that I do not feel the school should provide the computer but that i feel you should be providing something you have such easy access to for him in the meantime.

Personally, every computer is set up a little differently (different types of touch pads, ball mice, etc; different sizes of keyboards, etc.). For that reason, we find it is more helpful for our son to get to use the same one every time and therefore better if he takes his own laptop to school anyway.

 

[golfgal]

As for the insurance-we just added DS18's $1000 laptop, printer, 20" monitor to our insurance policy-which will be covered for theft or vandalism and it will cost us about $12/year extra for that coverage and since we scheduled it out on our policy, there is no deductible to pay.

 

[mrsmom]

Does he have using a word processor as an accommodation? If so, don't let them drag their feet! See where it got me? Know your rights and don't worry about making waves.

Was your son's dysgraphia diagnosed by a doctor? I brought in the doctor's letter and the OT's recommendation(he was already seeing one for his writing issues) along with a webpage I printed out about the disorder. Most people have heard about dyslexia, but not dysgraphia. I sometimes equate it to dyslexia, calling it the writing form of dyslexia.

The worst for my son is math. There is no way to really type math. If your numbers are not formed correctly, they are easily misread. Even my son cannot read his numbers sometimes. When he brings home math work, we use dictate to scribe. He does the work, while I write what he tells me. On tests, the teacher had to have him read her the answers(if he can) when she can't make it out. Workbooks are also a big problem. You'd think someone would have come up with workbooks on a CD or something.

I was actually surprised myself that they would allow DS to bring a laptop to school from home. Working at a school, I know that they are very careful with computers that go on their network. They have to have special firewall programs and all that. When we get a virus, every computer in the distruct is in danger of getting it.There is also a lot of room for using it for unauthorized things, such as gaming, etc. The school computers are blocked from most of that stuff.

He was diagnosed at childrens hospital by drs there he has had OT , where is the webpage where you printed out about the disorder? We scribe for him and yes Math is the worst , He is very smart but just doesn't put it on paper. I am so afraid to send him to high school next year.

 

[momof5boys]

Not to steal the thread, but how did you guys get your kids diagnosed with dysgraphia? I'm sure my DS 14 has it, his written work is horrible, the bare minimum, very sloppy. I have had him tested through the school once and OT said he holds a pencil fine, can rewrite a sentence she told him. But he has so much trouble getting stuff out of his head onto paper. Verbally he can do so much better. At times I scribe for him at home. At school when he gets a writing assignment he sometime becomes so anxious(he has severe anxiety also) that he shuts down, will either cry or just sit there not talking, head down, arms crossed. As a matter of fact he has a detention today for that very same reason. I am at wits end, he has an IEP related to his anxiety because his 504 wasn't cutting it. They know he is smart but he just won't do the work! Math he can mostly do in his head but a few years ago a teacher was failing him because he wasn't showing his work. I was like" well how are his test scores? "She told me they were A's and B's, so I told her it was obvious he knows the material but he was failing anyway! It has been like this for the past 5 years, he is now a freshman and I can tell you his teachers do not know how to handle a kid with anxiety that shuts down and refuses to work! Once he gets to that point it's all over, I hope today goes better for him but he was pacing last night(probably because he didn't want to tell me about the detention) It's just so frustrating!

 

[kirbydog48]

Not to steal the thread, but how did you guys get your kids diagnosed with dysgraphia? I'm sure my DS 14 has it, his written work is horrible, the bare minimum, very sloppy. I have had him tested through the school once and OT said he holds a pencil fine, can rewrite a sentence she told him. But he has so much trouble getting stuff out of his head onto paper. Verbally he can do so much better. At times I scribe for him at home. At school when he gets a writing assignment he sometime becomes so anxious(he has severe anxiety also) that he shuts down, will either cry or just sit there not talking, head down, arms crossed. As a matter of fact he has a detention today for that very same reason. I am at wits end, he has an IEP related to his anxiety because his 504 wasn't cutting it. They know he is smart but he just won't do the work! Math he can mostly do in his head but a few years ago a teacher was failing him because he wasn't showing his work. I was like" well how are his test scores? "She told me they were A's and B's, so I told her it was obvious he knows the material but he was failing anyway! It has been like this for the past 5 years, he is now a freshman and I can tell you his teachers do not know how to handle a kid with anxiety that shuts down and refuses to work! Once he gets to that point it's all over, I hope today goes better for him but he was pacing last night(probably because he didn't want to tell me about the detention) It's just so frustrating!

Has he had a neuropsychological evaluation? That's how we got our son diagnosed. Maybe he is smart but can't do the work.

 

[kirbydog48]

Yep, it is federal law and that law was made when the federal government was picking up the tab for all these accommodations, not the individual school districts. Her school district now being forced to buy a computer for a child means another child that doesn't have an IEP has to go with out a classroom aid or additional textbooks or something else. I understand that kids with special needs need some extra help but it has gone WAY overboard. Check out your school district's special education budget in relation to the overall operating budget for the school and you will see what I mean.

If my child needed a laptop to get his work done in school, I would figure out a way to get that done and I would NEVER expect the school to pay for that--allowing him to use it in class IS the accommodation.

There is a school district in our state that has to pay $80,000/year for a student to attend a school in a neighboring district because the parents didn't feel the program that the one district had was good enough. Most of those costs are to hire a special teacher in the other district and to TRANSPORT this student to the other district. Fine, send your child to the other district but the school should be in no way responsible to get your child back and forth. It is just ridicules what parents will push for in the name of an IEP.

There has NEVER been a post/thread here about special ed where the families haven't been advocating talking everything to the extreme and pushing for everything possible they can get. That mindset is just unfathomable because for every "extra" your ONE child is getting means a classroom of other children are going without. Make the school pay for a laptop for your child, fine, but spend 2 seconds thinking about the OTHER kids in the school that will now go without-just because they don't "qualify" for an IEP.

Maybe, if you could just walk a day in our shoes, you would understand what we go through and maybe have a little more empathy. FWIW, we have spent thousands....three neuropsychological evaluations (at $3,000-$5,000 a pop), biweekly visits to a therapist, weekly OT, not to mention the blood, sweat and tears that all parents of special needs shed.

My son was given an out-of-district placement. It's not because I felt the school wasn't "good enough". It's because our school system was completely inadequate in dealing with my son's issues, and by the end of third grade at age 9, my child was suicidal. Massachusetts has a very successful way of dealing with this. We have special education collaboratives. The collaborative in my area is comprised of 10 towns. Different schools run special programs to deal with different populations. For instance, all the kids with severe speech/language issues go to school in town A, autism in town B, etc. My son is in a program for bright kids whose learning and behavior issues (and these are neurologically-based, they're not "brats"), kept them from being successful in a traditional learning environment. And yes, they are transported and my town pays for it.

With all due respect, you are writing from emotion and not from fact. Never ever has another child gone without anything because of accomodations my son has received.What are we as parents supposed to do....sit idly by while the schools don't meet our kids special needs and let them become alcoholics and drug addicts, because that is their future without intervention at an earlier age.

 

[golfgal]

Maybe, if you could just walk a day in our shoes, you would understand what we go through and maybe have a little more empathy. FWIW, we have spent thousands....three neuropsychological evaluations (at $3,000-$5,000 a pop), biweekly visits to a therapist, weekly OT, not to mention the blood, sweat and tears that all parents of special needs shed.

My son was given an out-of-district placement. It's not because I felt the school wasn't "good enough". It's because our school system was completely inadequate in dealing with my son's issues, and by the end of third grade at age 9, my child was suicidal. Massachusetts has a very successful way of dealing with this. We have special education collaboratives. The collaborative in my area is comprised of 10 towns. Different schools run special programs to deal with different populations. For instance, all the kids with severe speech/language issues go to school in town A, autism in town B, etc. My son is in a program for bright kids whose learning and behavior issues (and these are neurologically-based, they're not "brats"), kept them from being successful in a traditional learning environment. And yes, they are transported and my town pays for it.

With all due respect, you are writing from emotion and not from fact. Never ever has another child gone without anything because of accomodations my son has received.What are we as parents supposed to do....sit idly by while the schools don't meet our kids special needs and let them become alcoholics and drug addicts, because that is their future without intervention at an earlier age.

That is NOT even close to true. With all the budget cuts, increased class sizes, lack of aids in elementary classrooms ALL of these kids are going without largely because of the heavy burden the special ed budgets place on school districts. If the spending on special ed was even CLOSE to reasonable, most school districts would be able to whether the storm a lot better then they do. I am sorry that your child has learning issues but that is part of the responsibility you take on when you become a parent. I see a lot of people, here and in real life, that complain to no end how inadequate programs are but when you see these programs in action, they really are NOT bad. I am sure there are some programs that are not adequate but you can't tell me that EVERY parent on this board has a program that is bad.

In our old district 3/4ths of the operating budget went to pay for special education. There were 60 kids in the district that were classified as "special ed" needing more than one service and 150 kids total in the special ed program district wide. The other 2500 students got 1/4th of that budget. Tell me this has not gone overboard. Yes, there are kids that DO need special ed help, I am not denying that but the law also says "reasonable accommodations" and having to buy a laptop for a child that already has one is not reasonable in my book. When every post about a special ed child here turns to "bring an advocate" "get everything you possibly can" that is not reasonable.

What are parents supposed to do, parents should be reasonable in their expectations of what a school should and should not provide, period. There was one parent here that thought the school should pay day care costs for her son because she had to get to work before school started. I got jumped all over for pointing out the fact that the school was in no way responsible for paying her daycare costs. Parents were telling her to bring an advocate to get that in his IEP--unbelievable.

 

[Mermaid02]

That is NOT even close to true. With all the budget cuts, increased class sizes, lack of aids in elementary classrooms ALL of these kids are going without largely because of the heavy burden the special ed budgets place on school districts. If the spending on special ed was even CLOSE to reasonable, most school districts would be able to whether the storm a lot better then they do. I am sorry that your child has learning issues but that is part of the responsibility you take on when you become a parent. I see a lot of people, here and in real life, that complain to no end how inadequate programs are but when you see these programs in action, they really are NOT bad. I am sure there are some programs that are not adequate but you can't tell me that EVERY parent on this board has a program that is bad.

In our old district 3/4ths of the operating budget went to pay for special education. There were 60 kids in the district that were classified as "special ed" needing more than one service and 150 kids total in the special ed program district wide. The other 2500 students got 1/4th of that budget. Tell me this has not gone overboard. Yes, there are kids that DO need special ed help, I am not denying that but the law also says "reasonable accommodations" and having to buy a laptop for a child that already has one is not reasonable in my book. When every post about a special ed child here turns to "bring an advocate" "get everything you possibly can" that is not reasonable.

What are parents supposed to do, parents should be reasonable in their expectations of what a school should and should not provide, period.

Why don't we just put all the kids with special needs in daycare all day- that would leave more money for the "normal" kids.

My son has several diagnoses and his pediatrician has told us that he is like a carbon copy of himself as a child. These kids can grow up and be doctors, lawyers, astronauts, even golf pros- if they are treated fairly in school.

Send your kids to private school if you are so resentful of the monies that are spent on special education services.

 

[HelenePA]

golfgal I bet if it was your child with the disabilty you'd fight for what they are entitled to.

 

[huey duey & luey]

golfgal I bet if it was your child with the disabilty you'd fight for what they are entitled to.

ITA.

everyone could sit and argue about who should pay for the laptop. bottom line is if it is written in the IEP then the district is responsible for providing it, if they are not then they are out of compliance.

I am an OT who works in the school district, there are many parents who can not afford to provide the necessary accomodations, why should the children suffer. Many school districts get money to assist with special needs children. Often the resources are there.

 

[hentob]

He has struggled through middle school and high school, not doing assignments at school because he would have to hand write it.

That is a long time to struggle. My heart breaks for your child.

 

[Hannathy]

With all due respect, you are writing from emotion and not from fact. Never ever has another child gone without anything because of accomodations my son has received.What are we as parents supposed to do....sit idly by while the schools don't meet our kids special needs and let them become alcoholics and drug addicts, because that is their future without intervention at an earlier age.

With all due respect to you you are also speaking out of emotion not fact. There is only so much money so another child HAS gone without to pay for all the over the top accommodations. When the money goes to pay for one thing it isn't there to pay for other things.

 

[golfgal]

Why don't we just put all the kids with special needs in daycare all day- that would leave more money for the "normal" kids.

My son has several diagnoses and his pediatrician has told us that he is like a carbon copy of himself as a child. These kids can grow up and be doctors, lawyers, astronauts, even golf pros- if they are treated fairly in school.

Send your kids to private school if you are so resentful of the monies that are spent on special education services.

I am not saying that they should be stuck in a daycare but people also need to be REASONABLE with what the school should provide.

golfgal I bet if it was your child with the disabilty you'd fight for what they are entitled to.

Technically, my son does have a "disability". He is a gifted student and according to the disabilities act, that is a "special ed" classification. However, because he has good grades, he doesn't qualify for PT help for his poor muscle control resulting in writing that is not readable. No, we did not PUSH for what he is "entitled" to because his teachers made REASONABLE accommodations for him-if they couldn't read something they asked him. There was NO reason to push further. Maybe he does have dsgraphya-but we won't test him for it because there is no need. HE has figured out how to deal with it and is doing just fine.

Just what are your children "entitled" to that they aren't getting. Are they getting a good education, are they learning, are they progressing???

 

[Hannathy]

My son has several diagnoses and his pediatrician has told us that he is like a carbon copy of himself as a child. These kids can grow up and be doctors, lawyers, astronauts, even golf pros- if they are treated fairly in school.

Send your kids to private school if you are so resentful of the monies that are spent on special education services.

And I can bet you a hundred dollars that your DR didn't have all the accommodations that are being insisted on today. He made it.