I'm curious - percentage of students with IEP/504/etc

[DopeyDame]

I never said it did.

But when a child continually disrupts the class (whether they have an IEP or not) THEN it becomes my business.

Like a previous poster, I had never heard the term IEP or 504 before I joined the Dis. It seems to have become the new "thing" to have for your child.

As we've seen in this thread, in some schools, it takes little effort to get one.

If we're talking about disruptive kids in class, that's a different thread. This thread is talking about kids with IEPs. So worrying about disruptions in this thread implies worrying about kids with IEPs. Unnecessarily, in my opinion.

I also haven't seen anything in this thread to indicate that it takes "little effort" to get one. I saw one poster who reported what sounds like incredibly mismanaged IEPs, but no indication that it's EASY to get one. (In DS's case, his IFSP wasn't "hard" to get per se, but it did take a lot of time and testing before it was finalized.)

As for taking time away from the rest of the class for accomodations... I'm sure some accomodations DO in fact take away from the rest of the class. As do kids who ask a lot of questions, as do kids who need to be reminded not to talk to their neighbor, as do kids who want to tell the teacher all about their fun weekend, as do kids who take too long to tie their shoes after gym class, etc., etc., etc. None of those kids necessarily have an IEP. Teachers are skilled professionals (one hopes!) and one of their most critical skills is classroom and time management.

If your child is in a room with a teacher who can not adequately manage the needs of the kids in her class - with or without IEPs - then that's a problem that needs to be addressed. But don't pretend that every kid in a 20 person classroom would always get 1/20th of the teachers attention, except for those-darn-IEP-kids-always-hogging-the-teachers-time!

 

[DopeyDame]

I wonder if the increase (real or perceived - my sense is that it's real) in IEPs/504s is actually at the schools' insistance. Things that, 15 years ago, teachers would just do naturally now require all sorts of paperwork. That's not the fault of parents who would probably much rather just say to the teacher "hey, little Suzy needs to sit up front because of XYZ, can we do that?" 20 years ago, the teacher probably would have said "OK, that makes sense. No biggie." Now the teacher would make a referral for an IEP. So my guess would be that the students' needs and their accomodations aren't all that different, it's just that they now come with a mountain of paperwork.

 

[mdsoccermom]

If we're talking about disruptive kids in class, that's a different thread. This thread is talking about kids with IEPs. So worrying about disruptions in this thread implies worrying about kids with IEPs. Unnecessarily, in my opinion.

I also haven't seen anything in this thread to indicate that it takes "little effort" to get one. I saw one poster who reported what sounds like incredibly mismanaged IEPs, but no indication that it's EASY to get one. (In DS's case, his IFSP wasn't "hard" to get per se, but it did take a lot of time and testing before it was finalized.)

As for taking time away from the rest of the class for accomodations... I'm sure some accomodations DO in fact take away from the rest of the class. As do kids who ask a lot of questions, as do kids who need to be reminded not to talk to their neighbor, as do kids who want to tell the teacher all about their fun weekend, as do kids who take too long to tie their shoes after gym class, etc., etc., etc. None of those kids necessarily have an IEP. Teachers are skilled professionals (one hopes!) and one of their most critical skills is classroom and time management.

If your child is in a room with a teacher who can not adequately manage the needs of the kids in her class - with or without IEPs - then that's a problem that needs to be addressed. But don't pretend that every kid in a 20 person classroom would always get 1/20th of the teachers attention, except for those-darn-IEP-kids-always-hogging-the-teachers-time!

Amen.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I never said it did.

But when a child continually disrupts the class (whether they have an IEP or not) THEN it becomes my business.

Like a previous poster, I had never heard the term IEP or 504 before I joined the Dis. It seems to have become the new "thing" to have for your child.

As we've seen in this thread, in some schools, it takes little effort to get one.

I'll give you my child's gd "thing" if you want it. You also, unfortunately, get all the stress and heartache that comes with it.

 

[Robindianne]

I'm curious. In your experience, in the average classroom, what percentage of students have an IEP/504/something else that requires the teacher to do something (legally binding) special for the student?

Special education teacher here. About 8% of the children at my school have contracts that require us to be legally compliant with providing tools that aim to level the playing field.

 

[HelenePA]

Want my dd10's "thing" too? She had a closed head injury at 17m old when a truck doing 60-65mph tboned us...

 

[1girln3boys]

Also want to add that my other son that is only in K had has an IEP has a brain tumor that age 5 doesn't want other kids to know about so that he's not made fun of. So if you want you can have his "thing" also.

 

[Robindianne]

I wonder if the increase (real or perceived - my sense is that it's real) in IEPs/504s is actually at the schools' insistance. Things that, 15 years ago, teachers would just do naturally now require all sorts of paperwork. That's not the fault of parents who would probably much rather just say to the teacher "hey, little Suzy needs to sit up front because of XYZ, can we do that?" 20 years ago, the teacher probably would have said "OK, that makes sense. No biggie." Now the teacher would make a referral for an IEP. So my guess would be that the students' needs and their accomodations aren't all that different, it's just that they now come with a mountain of paperwork.

Any teacher of any worth just puts a kid up front who appears to need it, without waiting for mom to suggest it. That's an accommodation, not a modification and doesn't require or constitute having a legally qualifying category that would initiate any evaluation or assessment or paperwork at all. Paperwork is only begun (eval, etc) AFTER many evidence-based interventions have been tried and have not impacted learning or growth. I realize many districts or schools don't have these systems properly implemented yet, but it's been a federal mandate for many years.

I think there will always be a mentality of wanting "those kids" to be less visible, either shoved out in a portable, put in a different school, or home/hospital schooled. We've come a long way baby, but not nearly far enough. Thank God for my district and school! Not perfect but certainly trying to move in that direction.

 

[Magpie]

I'll toss in a learning disability and anxiety issues resulting in OCD behaviours and psychosomatic skin rashes. Not to mention, flat feet, hyperflexible joints, borderline hearing, teeth without enamel, and hypoglycemia.

Anyone want to take that off my son's hands? We'd all be grateful.

(I'll keep all the good stuff, though, like his intelligence and caring, great social skills and incredible perseverance... and he's handsome, too!)

 

[Robindianne]

But don't pretend that every kid in a 20 person classroom would always get 1/20th of the teachers attention, except for those-darn-IEP-kids-always-hogging-the-teachers-time!

Spot on!

 

[Prose]

I agree with PP who said that they can't imagine jumping through all the hoops unless it was really needed. We started the process when DD struggled to read in 1st grade. It took us a year to get a 504, another two years to get the IEP, along with speech and occupational therapy. In the meantime, our DD broke down in tears almost nightly over basic homework. After two years of help and therapy, the combination of the IEP accommodations and ADHD meds helped her so much that we were at risk of losing the IEP. (Ironic -- they were helping her so much that she might have no longer qualified for them.) Finally, we spent a couple thousand dollars to have her formally tested by a developmental psychologist, and received a formal ADHD diagnosis and were able to get an IEP under OMI -- other medical impairment. This IEP cannot be taken away if she continues to improve. I would not wish the IEP process on ANYONE. It is full of struggles, heartbreak and battles. You have to advocate for your kid and hope that the teachers and administration are on your side.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

You can have my child's "thing" too, which made it almost impossible for her to hear anything because of all the noise in a class room, and the 4 years of special course I paid for out of my own pocket because insurance doesn't cover it, along with the hours spent doing the programs and transporting there and back. I'd bet she'd like have "given" someone else all the time she spent over the summers to do these programs as well.

You don't need an IEP to be a disruptive pain in the rump in class. I suppose that it should also be necessary that every child that disrupts a class be analyzed so the whole class can know why they are disruptive???

To ascertain that every child that disrupts class is the holder of a 504 or IEP, and that YOU should be privy to that information, is ridiculous. Plenty of children with no special accommodations disrupt class.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

Oh, and as for who gets the "most time" with the teachers, please. In our schools the kids that need the most help are pulled to other classes for the subjects they need the most help with, the "advanced kids" are pulled for their "E" classes...that leaves Miss Sally Average right where she belongs. In her class, with her teacher, being taught.

 

[HelenePA]

since we are giving everything away, my dd10 also had open heart surgery to repair a TOF defect at 6months old, (double outlet right ventricle, ASD, VSD, Pulmonary stenosis still present, AV Canal) she was tongue tied until she was 3, tubes in her ears, and slight hearing loss still present, Oooooh psoriasis too... LOVE to give that one away!! Please take it... take it all, I want my baby in a normal classroom with a normal future ahead...

 

[Liberty Belle]

Oh, and as for who gets the "most time" with the teachers, please. In our schools the kids that need the most help are pulled to other classes for the subjects they need the most help with, the "advanced kids" are pulled for their "E" classes...that leaves Miss Sally Average right where she belongs. In her class, with her teacher, being taught.

In my experience, most teachers actually spend less individual time with kids in special ed because they know they get help from the resource teacher.

My son has a writing disability (and SID, ADHD, and anxiety), so he's pulled for 30 minutes of resource time a day for writing. His teacher treats him no differently than the rest of the children as far as instruction time goes. He gets no special help from her. He is extremely bright and learns very very quickly (actually he already knows much of what the class is being taught), so he probably takes up less time than the "average, normal" kids.

 

[DopeyDame]

since we are giving everything away, my dd10 also had open heart surgery to repair a TOF defect at 6months old, (double outlet right ventricle, ASD, VSD, Pulmonary stenosis still present, AV Canal) she was tongue tied until she was 3, tubes in her ears, and slight hearing loss still present, Oooooh psoriasis too... LOVE to give that one away!! Please take it... take it all, I want my baby in a normal classroom with a normal future ahead...

I was born with TOF! I didn't have surgery until I was 5 (I'm old so they did things differently back then) which meant that I was often carried up the stairs by my preschool teachers and got to sit out of dance and PE in preschool and K until I had recovered from surgery. It was a small private school, though, so I didn't have anything official. Just great, caring teachers. I'm sure glad none of my friends' parents' decided to throw a fit because of my accomodations.
As I'm sure you know by now, though, once the TOF is corrected, the future is nearly limitless. (Although I really wanted to be an astronaut, and it turns out that with a heart murmur and pulmonary stenosis that was out of the question. Stupid NASA! ;-) If you have any TOF questions for an adult with TOF, feel free to PM me.

 

[daughtersrus]

I never said it did.

But when a child continually disrupts the class (whether they have an IEP or not) THEN it becomes my business.

Like a previous poster, I had never heard the term IEP or 504 before I joined the Dis. It seems to have become the new "thing" to have for your child.

As we've seen in this thread, in some schools, it takes little effort to get one.

The "thing" that my DD has is a genetic disease called Alpha Mannosidoisis. She is one of about 200 people in the world diagnosed with this disease. The "thing" includes bilateral sensory-neural hearing loss, bilateral cataracts, seizures, failure to thrive, mental retardation, hypotonia, scoliosis, kyphosis, developmental delays, physical delays... With this comes AFOs, TLSO, hearing aids, glasses, contact lens, wheelchair, standing frame, modified car seat, bath chair, adaptive utensils, communication devices, switches...


Last night I didn't sleep because I was worried about DD getting safely to and from school. This IEP that you think is so easy to get lists accommodations but when they're not given, DD's safety is at stake. When you fight for your child's rights, you live in fear that someone is going to take their anger towards you out on your child. Should it happen, no. Does it happen, I'm sure it does. The supervisor of our special needs transportation dept has to review the video of DD's bus ride to and from school every day because the staff that were supposed to be caring for DD while she was on the bus, were saying things like "E____ you're a bad girl" or "E____ you're naughty." when DD would try to take her glasses or hearing aids off. They also restrained DD's hands while on the bus. The only way that we found out was because a nurse for another student told DD's teacher. Since she's a mandated reporter of abuse, paperwork was filed.

So, if you can find a cure for DD's disease, you can have her IEP. I don't feel like I should have to to explain or justify why my child has an IEP or a handicapped license plate for that matter.


This thread reminds me of a conversation that I had with a girl at our insurance office before DD was diagnosed. We had to beg for them to approve tests, file letters of appeal trying to get hearing aid paid for, approve PT, OT, ST... and the girl finally said "Oh, There really is something wrong with E____". I asked her if she thought that I spent my time advocating for medical coverage as well as services at school because I had nothing better to do with my time.
Edited to add....

DD#3 is the reason that DD#1 is a SpEd teacher and DD#2 will graduate in a year also with a SpEd degree. Since they were old enough to work, they have worked or volunteered with our local special needs park district and Special Olympics. I'm so proud of them for making a difference!

 

[NikitaZee]

Wow, there are a lot of defensive posts on this thread! And not just here at the end - several posters took exception to the OP even asking the question. Why? I can understand the defensive attitude if someone hurls an actual insult your way - but simple curiosity? I don't get it - we all love our kids and want what's best for them.

 

[1girln3boys]

Wow, there are a lot of defensive posts on this thread! And not just here at the end - several posters took exception to the OP even asking the question. Why? I can understand the defensive attitude if someone hurls an actual insult your way - but simple curiosity? I don't get it - we all love our kids and want what's best for them.

I was upset about the comment made about getting an IEP is the "thing" to do. Like it's just something I did for fun. Like the latest trend or something. No offence taken about the OP but yes saying that getting my son an IEP is the "thing" to do is highly offensive.

 

["Got Disney"]

My son has a 504 ....you should add a poll and see how many here have what.