IEP accommodations--anyone know? UPDATE

[simpilotswife]

I'd like to know, too! What did you witness that was different from the news?

Not looking to hijack the thread but....

He did not have an altercation with anyone on the plane.

The plane was parked at the gate and half-empty when he made the announcement over the intercom and jumped on the slide (the news reported that he made the announcement as we were landing).

 

[golfgal]

Keep fighting.. get other parents involved. Do you think we have it easy?!?! wanna trade? Lady you have no idea. How many kids are in your kids classes? my other two only have 22 each if you dont like it get it changed. Find a way. Yell, scream, elect new ppl to your school board. Lord I would love not to fight for what my dd needs so yes I do think if you want it your going to have to fight for it just like we do.. like it or not that's how it works.

Well, because the general operating budget is taking a huge hit, their class sizes are going up to 40 in the high school for most of their classes while the special ed budget is growing, not taking any hits and they get to keep all of their teachers, staff, programs, etc. We will vote for the referendum to keep the class sizes at 40 otherwise they could possibly go up to 50, but the special ed classes get to keep everything you know. There is only so much money and all the fighting in the world isn't going to change that.

Perhaps if you stopped fighting your schools so much you might actually have a BETTER outcome??

 

[Magpie]

Not looking to hijack the thread but....

He did not have an altercation with anyone on the plane.

The plane was parked at the gate and half-empty when he made the announcement over the intercom and jumped on the slide (the news reported that he made the announcement as we were landing).

So would you say Wikipedia's got it correct?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JetBlue_flight_attendant_incident

I'd noticed earlier several statements about "none of the passengers corroborated Steven Stater's story."

 

[golfgal]

Keep fighting.. get other parents involved. Do you think we have it easy?!?! wanna trade? Lady you have no idea. How many kids are in your kids classes? my other two only have 22 each if you dont like it get it changed. Find a way. Yell, scream, elect new ppl to your school board. Lord I would love not to fight for what my dd needs so yes I do think if you want it your going to have to fight for it just like we do.. like it or not that's how it works.

Well, because the general operating budget is taking a huge hit, their class sizes are going up to 40 in the high school for most of their classes while the special ed budget is growing, not taking any hits and they get to keep all of their teachers, staff, programs, etc. We will vote for the referendum to keep the class sizes at 40 otherwise they could possibly go up to 50, but the special ed classes get to keep everything you know. There is only so much money and all the fighting in the world isn't going to change that.

Perhaps if you stopped fighting your schools so much and started working with your schools you might actually have a BETTER outcome??

 

[2girlsmom]

I completely agree that all students should have access to free education! And that is definitely not the case currently for either the general students OR the sped ones in most cases. My district has OVERFUNDING and still the parents pay for all kinds of stuff. Sorry, when the district has MILLIONS in their general fund not in use, and is paying their administrators 2x the area average in addition to building new schools (when the district classrooms average 20-25 kids max in all elementary rooms) I think that there is no reason why they should argue with meeting the LEGALLY REQUIRED accommodations.

 

[simpilotswife]

This is the EXACT attitude that drives me NUTS about special ed parents-would I LIKE classes with 20 kids in them, yes, would it improve the quality of education our kids receive, YES, is it REASONABLE to expect that or fight for it-NO!! The problem I have is that the school tells you that the proper classroom is X but you think it is Y so you FIGHT for Y when maybe your child would be JUST FINE in X. Don't you get that??? Why do you just assume that the school is out to get your child and that you know better? I don't know of ANY special ed teacher, administrator, whatever that doesn't have the best interests of their students at heart but they also have to deal with the other 150 or whatever number of kids in the special ed program too and they can't do everything for everyone and just like the non-special ed kids, sometimes the parents have to step up to the plate and buy a dang laptop to make things a little easier for their kid .

Of course it is reasonable to expect and fight for a good education.

You know you are making an assumption about special ed parents fighting for programs when the ones that the kids are in are perfectly fine. How do you know that? Many times the reason that parents are fighting is because their kids are going into the 5th grade with a 1st grade reading level and coming out with the same reading level. Sorry but that is not just fine. Better yet is when you have the teacher telling you that that is the best you can hope for when your kid has an IQ of 135 (and yes I have seen situations like that).

Sometimes stepping up to the plate is more than just a matter of buying a laptop.


I'm curious...if your child had leukemia and was supposed to receive a treatment that your health plan covered, would you pay for it out of your pocket or would you make them provide the treatment that your child is entitled to?

 

[angwill]

Not looking to hijack the thread but....

He did not have an altercation with anyone on the plane.

The plane was parked at the gate and half-empty when he made the announcement over the intercom and jumped on the slide (the news reported that he made the announcement as we were landing).

lol What a fool he must be. It's funny that a lot of people put him on a pedistal for nothing and he sucked up all the worship.

 

[golfgal]

Of course it is reasonable to expect and fight for a good education.

You know you are making an assumption about special ed parents fighting for programs when the ones that the kids are in are perfectly fine. How do you know that? Many times the reason that parents are fighting is because their kids are going into the 5th grade with a 1st grade reading level and coming out with the same reading level. Sorry but that is not just fine. Better yet is when you have the teacher telling you that that is the best you can hope for when your kid has an IQ of 135 (and yes I have seen situations like that).

Sometimes stepping up to the plate is more than just a matter of buying a laptop.


I'm curious...if your child had leukemia and was supposed to receive a treatment that your health plan covered, would you pay for it out of your pocket or would you make them provide the treatment that your child is entitled to?

By my using our insurance is in now way taking away services and treatment from other patients-this is like comparing apples and basketballs?

 

[Hannathy]

Legally yes it does. Welcome to the world of SpEd.

But in this case it did not need to be!!!!

Why would it have to be? it could have just been decided by the principal no need to have it "legally" in an IEP. there one conversation done deal just like all the other parents do when they have a problem and get it solved without involving the expense of a special staff and meeting.

this just gets back to not being reasonable

 

[RitaE]

@Hannathy - Specialized Accommodations cannot be allowed in a classroom without an IEP because without the IEP it is seen as giving an advantage or specialized privilege to one student.

Say for instance there is no IEP and Student A is allowed to use a calculator on the Math test but not Students B, C and D. The calculator is simply there because Mom talked to the Principal and the Principal told the teacher to give the kid a calculator.

What do you think would happen?

Schools simply cannot individualize a program from the general student population without following the legal steps.

 

[golfgal]

@Hannathy - Specialized Accommodations cannot be allowed in a classroom without an IEP because without the IEP it is seen as giving an advantage or specialized privilege to one student.

Say for instance there is no IEP and Student A is allowed to use a calculator on the Math test but not Students B, C and D. The calculator is simply there because Mom talked to the Principal and the Principal told the teacher to give the kid a calculator.

What do you think would happen?

Schools simply cannot individualize a program from the general student population without following the legal steps.

Which is where being reasonable gets thrown out the window. I suppose we should go to jail for breaking the law asking our son's teachers for a little latitude on his handwriting

COMMON SENSE would dictate that it would be reasonable to do this, especially with a child that has had an IEP in the past, but...

 

[Mermaid02]

@Hannathy - Specialized Accommodations cannot be allowed in a classroom without an IEP because without the IEP it is seen as giving an advantage or specialized privilege to one student.

Say for instance there is no IEP and Student A is allowed to use a calculator on the Math test but not Students B, C and D. The calculator is simply there because Mom talked to the Principal and the Principal told the teacher to give the kid a calculator.

What do you think would happen?

Schools simply cannot individualize a program from the general student population without following the legal steps.

 

[Mermaid02]

Which is where being reasonable gets thrown out the window. I suppose we should go to jail for breaking the law asking our son's teachers for a little latitude on his handwriting

COMMON SENSE would dictate that it would be reasonable to do this, especially with a child that has had an IEP in the past, but...

You just might come across a teacher who is NOT willing to give your son latitude on his handwriting though- what then? Legally if you feel he is doing his best- can not do better- and he has a diagnosis the IEP or 504 would GUARANTEE the teacher HAD to give him latitude on his writing.

 

[Hannathy]

And has she tried this? NO In fact she said he could use his laptop but she feels the school should buy it and won't send it. So she is depriving her son just to get everything she possibly can from the school versus just making sure her son can get an education.

Schools also make all sorts of accommodations that aren't on IEPS without problems.
In your example there is a big difference in using a calculator and using a lap top just for the typing.

 

[HelenePA]

Common sense went out the door a long time ago it does not exist anymore at the school level

 

[HelenePA]

And has she tried this? NO In fact she said he could use his laptop but she feels the school should buy it and won't send it. So she is depriving her son just to get everything she possibly can from the school versus just making sure her son can get an education.

Schools also make all sorts of accommodations that aren't on IEPS without problems.
In your example there is a big difference in using a calculator and using a lap top just for the typing.

What kind of accomodations has your school made that you know of with out Ieps how do you know they don't have an iep for it?

 

[Mermaid02]

And has she tried this? NO In fact she said he could use his laptop but she feels the school should buy it and won't send it. So she is depriving her son just to get everything she possibly can from the school versus just making sure her son can get an education.

Schools also make all sorts of accommodations that aren't on IEPS without problems.
In your example there is a big difference in using a calculator and using a lap top just for the typing.

Actually didn't she say the school has laptops already?

What accomodations do you know of that are being made that aren't on an IEP or 504?

 

[golfgal]

You just might come across a teacher who is NOT willing to give your son latitude on his handwriting though- what then? Legally if you feel he is doing his best- can not do better- and he has a diagnosis the IEP or 504 would GUARANTEE the teacher HAD to give him latitude on his writing.

Well, I guess we will cross that hurdle if we come to it but every single teacher he has had since kindergarten (he is not a sophomore in high school) have always said, oh, sure, not a problem. Just saved the schools thousands I guess .

 

[daughtersrus]

And what percentage of the overall special ed budget do those dollars cover??

I'm not exactly sure. I don't think that it's broken down that way.

?????

Putting a program IN PLACE, means implementing a program, starting a program, beginning a program??

It doesn't mean keeping it forever. The program has to change according to the needs of the students.

We are talking PROGRAMS, not students. Yes, kids' needs change but the programming doesn't. If a school offers OT to the kids they have to CONTINUE to offer OT in the school-not necessarily to students that no longer need it but if budgets are tight they can't STOP offering it because they it is part of the special education program..

You're not talking programs but related services. Either way, it makes no difference. It isn't up to the school district to choose if they will or will not provide them. They are legally required to do so. If it turned out that one year they did not have any students that required OT, they would not have an OT. If the next year a student needed OT, they would have to provide OT to that student.

Also, facility space-if a program is in a room that has 500 sq feet (say a self-contained room for severely autistic children) and you build a new school that program needs and EQUAL or BETTER space--or heck, even if you just want to move them to a different room-it has to be a BETTER space to justify the room. One school district had a converted wood shop for their self-contained classroom in the high school. They put in a BEAUTIFUL new room at the newly built middle school-carpeted floors, in room bathrooms, wheelchair accessible sinks, etc. Well, when the state came out, the room was 50 sq feet smaller then their existing room so they couldn't move the program. The high school NEEDED that extra space and couldn't use it while that beautiful room at the middle school sat empty. Tell me this is REASONABLE.

This not something that I've ever heard of. The classroom that my oldest DD worked in last year a storage closet that was converted because the classroom used the previous year was being used as a Gen Ed class.

Nope, operating budgets and capital improvement budgets can not be co-mingled.

Special ed funding can only be used for special ed.

The OP said that they have computers in the school, not that they have them available for students to use individually. She saw laptop carts that the teachers use but they are not necessarily for the students.

I don't think that the OP is asking for a laptop. She's asking for her DS to have access to a computer in the classroom. It was the IEP coach that told him to bring his laptop from home. I can't imagine that his classrooms don't have either a laptop or desktop for him to use while in there.

So your special ed that is SUPPOSED to be funded 100% from the federal government is only funded at 60%-the rest is coming out of your overall funds to your school from the state.

I don't believe that this is accurate. From what I found In 1975, Congress promised to pay 40 percent of the cost of special education

Actually in High school the administration is there in the summer and Guidance counselors are there, so they could have gone in and talked to the principal about him bringing his lap top some time over the summer.

The IEP team must be present for the meeting.

Because it was all over the news because it was such an extreme example of entitlement and most of the thought was that the family WAS offered an appropriate education yet the school district lost the case.

I tried searching but couldn't find anything. Can you give us a link? I'd be interested to hear the details of this case.

But why did it have to be on his IEP the first day? If they had talked to the principal and had it ok'd for him to use his lap top why did it ever have to be on it? other than to cost a fortune in meetings and specialists time.
This problem never needed to become a problem if the parents had simply got permission for him to use his lap top.

Not everything has to be on an IEP.

As has already been pointed out, it does have to be in the IEP.

This is the EXACT attitude that drives me NUTS about special ed parents-would I LIKE classes with 20 kids in them, yes, would it improve the quality of education our kids receive, YES, is it REASONABLE to expect that or fight for it-NO!! The problem I have is that the school tells you that the proper classroom is X but you think it is Y so you FIGHT for Y when maybe your child would be JUST FINE in X. Don't you get that??? Why do you just assume that the school is out to get your child and that you know better? I don't know of ANY special ed teacher, administrator, whatever that doesn't have the best interests of their students at heart but they also have to deal with the other 150 or whatever number of kids in the special ed program too and they can't do everything for everyone and just like the non-special ed kids, sometimes the parents have to step up to the plate and buy a dang laptop to make things a little easier for their kid .

I did exactly that. I gave them a shot and had my DD placed in the classroom that they wanted with the services that I thought she needed removed. Guess what? They broke her leg! They are now paying tuition and transportation to a school out of our district.

I've also sat in an IEP and had a related service provider tell me that my DD had "already outlived her life expectancy" so she didn't feel that they should be providing services any longer. That was 7 years ago.

So no, the staff doesn't always have the best interest of the student in mind.

We had to sue the district just to get the medical bills paid. Our health insurance refused because they determined that the aid was at fault. It was a long process but we finally did get them to pay the $30,000+ in medical bills.

But in this case it did not need to be!!!!

Why would it have to be? it could have just been decided by the principal no need to have it "legally" in an IEP. there one conversation done deal just like all the other parents do when they have a problem and get it solved without involving the expense of a special staff and meeting.

this just gets back to not being reasonable

It does have to be in the IEP. The IEP is a legally binding document. If the student were to transfer schools, the IEP goes with him/her and the new school must abide by the IEP.

Which is where being reasonable gets thrown out the window. I suppose we should go to jail for breaking the law asking our son's teachers for a little latitude on his handwriting

COMMON SENSE would dictate that it would be reasonable to do this, especially with a child that has had an IEP in the past, but...

If it's not in the IEP, it can't be used on standardized testing. If it is, the district is in violation with the state.

 

[Mermaid02]

I'm not exactly sure. I don't think that it's broken down that way.



It doesn't mean keeping it forever. The program has to change according to the needs of the students.



You're not talking programs but related services. Either way, it makes no difference. It isn't up to the school district to choose if they will or will not provide them. They are legally required to do so. If it turned out that one year they did not have any students that required OT, they would not have an OT. If the next year a student needed OT, they would have to provide OT to that student.






This not something that I've ever heard of. The classroom that my oldest DD worked in last year a storage closet that was converted because the classroom used the previous year was being used as a Gen Ed class.




Special ed funding can only be used for special ed.



I don't think that the OP is asking for a laptop. She's asking for her DS to have access to a computer in the classroom. It was the IEP coach that told him to bring his laptop from home. I can't imagine that his classrooms don't have either a laptop or desktop for him to use while in there.



I don't believe that this is accurate. From what I found In 1975, Congress promised to pay 40 percent of the cost of special education



The IEP team must be present for the meeting.



I tried searching but couldn't find anything. Can you give us a link? I'd be interested to hear the details of this case.



As has already been pointed out, it does have to be in the IEP.



I did exactly that. I gave them a shot and had my DD placed in the classroom that they wanted with the services that I thought she needed removed. Guess what? They broke her leg! They are now paying tuition and transportation to a school out of our district.

I've also sat in an IEP and had a related service provider tell me that my DD had "already outlived her life expectancy" so she didn't feel that they should be providing services any longer. That was 7 years ago.
So no, the staff doesn't always have the best interest of the student in mind.

We had to sue the district just to get the medical bills paid. Our health insurance refused because they determined that the aid was at fault. It was a long process but we finally did get them to pay the $30,000+ in medical bills.



It does have to be in the IEP. The IEP is a legally binding document. If the student were to transfer schools, the IEP goes with him/her and the new school must abide by the IEP.

This is BY FAR the most disgusting thing I have ever read on these boards. I can't imagine sitting there and hearing that come out of the mouth of someone who was supposed to be helping my child. HOW did you control yourself????