Tough day - really need guidance

[Minnie]

Wow what a day

DS(15) is a freshman and the change from middle to high school has been well tough is an understatement

We've had two IEP meetings (first one the group said to consider an (Asp) diagnosis he is currently diagnosed with (ADHD) and is on meds (yes I know please don't flame )

A teacher and I both answered a bunch of questions and they provided a scale of letters and #s with the end result of being possible (Asp)

Basically my son is a great kid. He cares more than most and is considered to have a high intellectual ability (though struggles highly in written expression). The main problem is social issues One main reason being his mouth.... that is one kid that can litteraly talk your ear off At home and one on one situations he is fine but school it's tough. He is also extremely immature, sees the world as very black and white and change for him is just awful.....

Today started a new term and the IEP group wanted to try something knew.... A traditional class - no aid - not co-taught as this is a good teacher.... It did not go well.... I was told he talked the whole class

We are at a cross road... Either DS finds a way to behave in class or he will have to go into a pull out class. The problem with the pull out is that he would not get all the normal level of instruction (which he is capable of doing) as the pull out teachers are not certified in those areas

I'm just at a loss and don't know what to do. It's been a hard day

 

[mechurchlady]

I will give you chocolates and hugs and tissues and more hugs.
I also leave some coffee for Becky as she will know more about this matter.
I can only give you hugs and tell you to hang in there.

 

[bookwormde]

I hope you did not formally sign off on no paraprofessional. The school must use all practical means (even if it is administratively inconvenient) to keep your child his “standard classroom”. It is not your child’s responsibility to “learn to behave” but the IEP teams legal responsibility to specify and ensure he is provided with supports and accommodation so he can be maintained in LRE.

You did not say have the reclassification went. The questionnaires you mention are just the beginning of the evaluation process. IQ type test are given which will tell if he have serious differentials between the section which can be an indicator, auditory processing test should be given along with a clinician “interviewing” your child so they can generate and evaluation.. If you feel there results are not competent you have the right for a second opinion paid for by the school.

Call an IEP meeting to strsighten the situation out.

bookwormde

 

[BeckyScott]

bookwormde hit it right.

Your son sounds a whole lot like oldest DS. First we had an ADHD diagnosis (and he's medded too, but as little as possible), then right before Christmas break tested for LD and Aspie. He is 2 weeks into an IEP right now. He was borderline on the Aspie screening. He was given an IQ test as part of the LD testing, came up with processing issues but no specific LD.

I don't know that talking your ear off is really an Asperger's characteristic, exactly. I always connected it more with the ADHD, I could be wrong.

Anyway, it's a matter of Least Restrictive Environment. The IEP paperwork has a section where they list the settings they considered, which they went with, and why. It's about halfway back on the paperwork. See what that says, why they went with the option they did.

What did he have first semester? I wonder if the real reason is staff. They won't tell you that, of course. But they would probably balk at having to hire someone in mid-way thru the year. We had that problem, sort of. DS gets 20/min of pull-out for social skills, well the SpEd teacher was already fully booked plus we couldn't figure out a good time to do pull-out that he wasn't missing something, so his pull-out is technically before school starts. (he'd be getting there that early anyway, it only bumped our getting-ready time by 10 minutes) He needed someone to check in with him at the end of the day, but haha ha, the SpEd teacher is with my other son at the end of the school day, I know where she is!, it involved quite a bit of juggling to get it all in place half-way thru the year.

I don't have a great answer for you, as we're not there yet. I see your point, a cross-cat SpEd teacher isn't going to have the same level of expertise in certain areas as a regular high school teacher. I think that would depend on the specific class and the SpEd teacher. They haven't modified the curriculum, though, have they? So the SpEd teacher would be expected to teach at that level.

Shoot, I'd just ask them. I don't know how they'd do that. Some classes, like the sciences or any of the arts, that sort of thing, I don't even know how you'd pull it off in a resource room, do they dissect frogs in the resource room? I really don't know, but it's a good question.

Request another IEP meeting. They can't tell you they don't have the staff, they'll have to come up with another excuse, which I'm sure they will but keeping with LRE and his history, I think you've got a good argument. Also, like bookwormde said, you have a right to an outside evaluation, tell them you want that too, as you don't agree with them.

 

[Minnie]

Oh where to start...... hopefully I will make more sense today as I've calmed down considerably. It just hurts to have someone say - "your DS gave the teacher a migrane"

mechurchlady Thank you for the kind words. It helps knowing that someone cared enough to post

bookwormde I haven't signed anything since the original IEP review at the end of last year. It was their suggestion that this science teacher was great and that he'd be better off in this course that was no co-taught than in the co-taught course with the stricter teacher. I really questioned this but agreed to give it a try - again I didn't sign anything just verbal approval to try and they verbally agreed to change if this didn't work. Hope that makes sense

I was also told that there isn't any further testing for (Asp). Just the questionaries and that if I want an actual diagnosis that I can take him to the university hospital at my expense. They believed the end result would be the same They are planning to do a sensory evaluation

When he was diagnosed with (ADHD) it was IQ testing thru the school (was told this isn't done any more), interview with the psychologist and then I took him to the university hospital for a diagnosis and started the meds (this was 7 years ago).

BeckyScott DS has been diagnosed with a LD for written expression. It is tough for him to get the words from his brain to paper but does fine with doing it orally.

I will need to read the IEP again, but I believe the wording is similar to - traditional courses with aid if needed. During the 1st semester he was in 3 courses w/ 1 resource course (basically a time to work on homework). 1 course was traditional with an aid, 1 course was co-taught, and 1 was traditional no aid (chorus where he does well).

The current mess started with a scheduling issue (no co-taught english course) so they put him in a course with the same teacher for 2 (90 minute) periods, lunch and reading time Not the best idea but I wasn't aware of this until the phone call last night

I really don't believe that he should go to a pull-out for science. The level in the pull-out course is very low and he would be bored and that is another set of problems I said to either move him to the co-taught class or send an aid and then switch him to a different course with a new teacher for the next course. I was told they want to "push him" a bit as he is capable of doing more on his own but at what cost????

I was told that an in class observation would be made today (sub in the room watching movies so great time to do that ) and suggstions made. So far nothing so I'm just waiting for the call

Thank you all for your words of advise and comments on the situation. It's very difficult to know what the right thing is to do

 

[LMC]

I haven't signed anything since the original IEP review at the end of last year. It was their suggestion that this science teacher was great and that he'd be better off in this course that was no co-taught than in the co-taught course with the stricter teacher. I really questioned this but agreed to give it a try - again I didn't sign anything just verbal approval to try and they verbally agreed to change if this didn't work. Hope that makes sense

I was also told that there isn't any further testing for (Asp). Just the questionaries and that if I want an actual diagnosis that I can take him to the university hospital at my expense. They believed the end result would be the same They are planning to do a sensory evaluation

This is good that you have not signed anything since his last IEP which you approve of (I assume since you did not state you object to it). If you look at your statement of rights, it should say somewhere on there that if an agreement can not be made on a proposed IEP then the last IEP will remain in effect until a new IEP can be agreed upon (either with or without mediation or whatever resolution is used in your area). If you do not have your rights, ask them for a copy immediately. Tell them he is to be with a para or a co-taught class if that is where you want him (I am not clear if the class you have objection to is science or not). I understand wanting pull out for science but if he is on a diploma track he still has to learn the same material but perhaps on a slower schedule. I wish they would let my son have a pull out science class but they don't have that here. He is in co-taught everything unless they want to give him his own para. I went in '08 and had our own eval and I have all the resources in my court I need to get him the one/one, BUT my DS and I have talked and to make him not look different, he does not want an aide with him constantly so we have come up with another method. I check regularly to make sure the school is following what we agreed upon. NOW, as far as testing. The school sent you a notice for a proposed IEP meeting for re-eval? If so, send them a copy of that with a letter that due to their concerns about your sons education you agree that additional testing is required; however, you do not agree with the testing that they have recently performed and you now request an outside evaluation at public expense. This means that you request that the school pays for testing done thru another source besides the school system. Send it to the special ed coordinator and keep a copy. They have X number of days to respond. If they do not send a copy of that to your state special ed person. Good Luck!! OH, fyi, the experts that are trained in diagnosing and do this day in and day out are much more qualified to test your child than an psychometrist from a school district.

 

[bookwormde]

Doing an evaluation for Autism is the same process whether you are starting from scratch or changing from a prior diagnosis, the school is required to give you a copy of the sates approved IDEA process and timeline. From all indication they are “shortcutting” it. They are “misleading” you that they do not have to pay for an outside evaluation, as you will see when they give you the procedural guidelines. It may just be that they have decided on the change and just do not want to do the full process and are relying on dated test and evaluations. Quite honestly you probably want to get an evaluation from a large clinical group or a major medical center, which specializes, in the Autism spectrum even if they change the educational classification just for piece of mind and insurance reasons.

bookwormde

 

[LMC]

. Quite honestly you probably want to get an evaluation from a large clinical group or a major medical center, which specializes, in the Autism spectrum even if they change the educational classification just for piece of mind and insurance reasons.

bookwormde

Quite honestly, I have to say this is the only way to go. It sounds like they are not being forthright with you so you need to become very aggressive in getting services for your son. In my experience the school system tries to downgrade or make light of diagnoses and recommendations. I personally have lost ALL confidence in my local school system and only rely on the professionals who truly have the childs best interest at heart. While I know schools do not have to provide what is "best" only what is "most appropriate for a FAPE" my school system has outright lied to me in services for my child. I sent a letter to the spec ed coordinator telling her that I no longer trust ANYONE here and I will consult professionals that have no affiliation with the school when I get evals for my son. I paid for these of course since I wanted to make sure the eval was completely unbiased. Please get your parental rights and review them. I bet they are the same from state to state and his old IEP should still be in effect. I would not let them place him in a contained room IF it will lower the quality of education he will get. IF however, they can give more individualized attention and a better education for your son, then that may be the way to go. I wish they would place my son in a small classroom for his education but if you are on a diploma track they do not have a small class for you.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

I hope you can get this resolved soon.