Does This IEP Make Sense? What should I ask for?

Please help. Today is NOREP day 10 for high school student with ASD, ADHD, SLD written expression😱 After meeting #10 this year, an IEE completed in June, with an advocate signed on since December, there are “surprises” in the finalized version😱. My big issue: “How Progress is Measured” next to the Writing goal. Student work samples has always been included along with their “teach checklist”, “teacher rubric”, etc. In the finalized IEP, they just put Keystone Rubric alone. They had some other rubric in the draft, which I called the advocate about prior to the meeting and told her absolutely no…that his actual work samples had to be included with the rubric…

Hi all! I am looking for clarification on standardized test answers for written expression. My son's initial school evaluation about 4 years ago in 4th grade included testing of written expression using the TOWL-IV. That evaluation report included the spontaneous writing story/paragraph my son wrote along with a description of his written expression skills being weak and below expectations on contrived sentence writing and spontaneous essay pieces (contextual conventions, spelling in context, punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, and grammar). Private testing from around the same time indicated my son "stopped to think" often and breathed heavily while …

Looking for input / experiences navigating IEP placement & curriculum modification: Right now it feels like we’re not speaking the same language as our school team. A bit about our sweet student: FSIQ: 66 Multiple diagnoses impacting cognitive and adaptive functioning (FASD, ASD L2, IDD) Two full educational evaluations completed (school + outside evaluator) → Results are nearly identical, indicating validity Reading comprehension: ~2nd grade equivalent Receptive & expressive vocabulary: both under the 1st percenti…

I'm in Pennsylvania and am looking for answers to the questions below. My son's 2e and in 8th grade. Are districts required to give parents the results of literacy screenings like DIBELS? In our situation, the district didn't, and we got them through a FERPA request last summer. We had significant concerns about our son's reading and still do. The early deficits that showed up on DIBELS are still there in phonemic and phonological awareness and decoding. My son can read a few pages if he has to, but there are clear gaps in skills if you dig just a little below the surface. (Reading is tiring, and he adds, skips and rearranges words, letters, and sounds.) Most st…

Hi, We're in PA. My son's draft annual IEP shows he met his writing goal and says due to the goal being met the school thinks he no longer has a need in writing/written expression, and therefore there's no goal and no instruction in the new draft. We disagree with this, because he did not meet the goal independently. His work was edited and used teacher conferencing with no data showing what his writing looks like on his own. We've provided staff writing samples that show my son still needs extra help with writing and spelling. Additionally, at two previous IEP meetings, school staff agreed to add a goal for on-demand writing, to provide data on writing done indepen…

Hi, I am feeling overwhelmed and want to make sure I am understanding some details about asking for an IEE. I understand that the school may deny my request and file for Due Process, however I am concerned about doing this at the end of the school year. How long after a school reeval can I ask for an IEE? Also, is it from the date the reeval was done or the date on the reeval report? If I ask for an IEE do I have to have the eval done within a certain amount of time? If the school denies my request, is the Due Process timeline paused over the summer? Can I decide to not proceed if the school files for Due Process? We've presen…

We had a recent school evaluation recommending vision therapy. The school has said the only place they are contracted with is 29 miles away (which is often more than one hour drive each way), and wants us to go there for services weekly. That drive is not sustainable for us. There are places in our town who provide vision therapy but they don’t contract with the district due to the districts restrictive contracting verbiage. The district also isn’t making any efforts to find/ contract with a closer option. What is the responsibility of the district to find available and usable services?

I am embarrassed asking this but there is so much conflicting data over the years🤷‍♀️ Current district grades are unreliable. There is no transparency. Pa is still new to us. MAP scores done between December and June showed low growth and basic, below basic. PSSAs were basic (I think that was the term). Historically, my kiddos have uneven profiles (adhd, SLD, ASD …diagnoses at different times). Also at age 4, NVLD, and other disorders unspecified, sensory, coordination of motor… I was given this info for twins as a single mom during a messy divorce.😶 Do the WIAT or WCJ scores tell you if your kiddo is at grade level? One kiddo just…

9th grader with SLD in written expression being ignored. District initially created this Writing Goal for him to write a paragraph with no more than 2 errors in conventions on 3 out of 4 writing assignments per quarter for at least 2 quarters…. (I was never in agreement with this as proposed on 2/21/25.) I am attaching screenshot of the progress monitoring, then a screenshot of how they are now measuring this in his IEP, and their proposed revision of this goal. He did not meet this simple goal. They give him “A”s in his classes and on his assignments which they now won’t provide to me. His work is shocking. Especially compared to the grades. I need hel…

Last year I began the search for a school that could better meet my son’s needs. All the good stuff is taken, everything has waitlists. I’ve been touring and waiting. They transformed an old middle school in our area into a satélite school for kids with special needs. The SD placed a hold on a slot for my son out of “courtesy”. I toured last week. Not convinced they are better equipped to meet his needs. They want to move him from his neighborhood school (80% in life skills) to this 100% spec Ed school to an MDS classroom. We toured together. 6 days after tour they call me to tell me it’s an official recommendation and they’ll issue a NOREP. Do I HAVE to agree to this? Wi…

I'm an education specialist at a private school with a caseload of students that pull out and come to me daily for specialized academic instruction . I recently was in an IEP and the student qualified for a 504 plan and not a full IEP. The person from the district said that they could have an ISP ( individualized service plan) for consultation only. They said this would be collaboration with the private school teachers a couple times a year and would be reassessed every 3 years for their triannual evaluation. Can you get other services like counseling, speech therapy or any other service from the public school district or are they not responsible at all to serve th…

For background: Our 6th has Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (and, therefore..) Autism L2 & a Mild Intellectual Disability (FSIQ = 66). Testing results (which have been consistent across 3 evaluations): Receptive vocabulary = 0.8th percentile, expressive vocabulary = 2nd percentile, adaptive behaviors = 1st percentile, reading comprehension = 3rd percentile, numerical operations = 0.7th percentile, math problem solving = 0.6th percentile. When she began middle school this year, we could see immediately that she was (literally) years behind in understanding or even conceptualizing the standard 6th grade curriculum. I brought my concerns to the team…

I have an IEP meeting on friday and curious what peoples experience has been recording a meeting. I am in iowa which is a one party state so I know that I can record. I also know it is recomneded to send an email prior to the meeting to notify them that I will be recording. But I would like to hear what others have experienced.

The FBA was lost in all the other chaos…I just found where they only have my kiddos self-report and their school observation…..and everything is great!!!! Are they allowed to actually say they completed a FBA without parent input? I asked for a FBA with the initial ER in this state. They also did not ask for my input on any OT/sensory ratings…. but I would think the FBA should have parent input for kiddos with ASD, adhd, etc….

we are in Coatesville school district (PA) for reference. We have been trying for years to get a relationship with our son and his guidance counselor in each of the schools he’s been in. It’s been an SDI that he can go see the guidance counselor when he wants, we’ve introduced them, etc., etc. But what we can’t get is for the guidance counselor to bring him in or to speak with him. One of the goals on his IEP is to learn to self advocate, which is proving troublesome too because collecting data is difficult for that. But he is not going to request to go talk to somebody, someone’s going to have to pull him in and talk to him The big issue we have is that he’s bee…

Hi, I have a wonderfully curious and determined 8th grade 2e gifted, dyslexic, dysgraphic, disorder of written expression son, who desperately wants to be a civil or mechanical engineer. The problem is that he's having a lot of difficulty with reading and writing, school says they see no deficit, and I need data to show otherwise. My son has private diagnoses for all but dyslexia ,and are I'm working to get that one, too, to secure at least accommodations for high school and beyond. Part of my data collecting involves two FERPA requests. I did a second request, because I didn't get everything with the first request this summer even though I asked to …

Our district just agreed to fund IEEs for my 9th graders and we want to get started. We have been in PA (Bucks County) for 1 year and are seeking recommendations.

My 9th grade Twins are now in HS in PA (moved from CA 1 yr ago). They have Autism, ADHD, SLD written expression. Multiple issues with district: our initial ERs completed 1/28/25. I am just grasping that District administered WIATs in 11/24 and retested in 12/24. RETESTED WIAT-4! And they have evaded all of my questions and lied. I posed this question to assistant superintendent “are the 12/24 WIATs retests?” He will not answer. Prior to my understanding that they did this, I asked for IEEs, they refused so I withdrew my request (not going into due process alone again). The next day they issued requests for re-evaluations, alocuting certain assessments (TOWL4…

Reader question: My 6th grader has an established IEP that I'm not satisfied with. We've actually had an outside educational assessment completed and I meet for that feedback appointment this Friday. I've just realized that her ELA teacher is making a note of my daughter's actual grade (which is sometimes an 8%..) but the teacher is loading 65% as her grade. When I asked her about it, she shared, "The speech bubble is the actual grade she made on the assignments. I went back on Monday and changed her 60's and put them in as a 65 instead, because a 65 and 44 are both failing, but the 65 is easier to bring up. I don't mind doing this to help her since she is completing…

In PA…my son is Autistic, 9 and in 3rd grade. He just had a RR and he is below average in math, writing, and reading comprehension which we know because he’s been struggling. His meeting is coming up. Currently he is still being presented with the grade level material which is faster paced and above his level of understanding. This is causing lots of anxiety which is leading to aggression. I want to be sure going into the meeting what to expect. My expectation would be that they should be providing him material at his level. Right now he’s shutting down and not learning anything. He has lots of great accommodations in his IEP currently and a 1:1, but those won’t help him…

Hi, a friend of mine is looking for an advocate in the York County, SC area (just south of Charlotte, NC). His son is struggling in his current public school placement, and although he has raised the appropriateness of an approved private school placement, the school district has characterized it as "a non-starter". He's not really sure how to get the school district to take his request more seriously. If you could provide any contacts regarding experienced advocates in his area, I'll be happy to pass along that information. Thanks!

My 2e 8th grade math and science strong son has accommodations for typing assignments, audiobooks, speech-to-text and text-to-speech in his IEP. His essays and many but not all short answer questions for his classes are typed, and he uses spell and grammar check extensively. His writing goal that the district considered met last year, but I didn't, included use of autocorrect and typing to meet conventions (capitalization, punctuation) and spelling goals. (This goal was also changed midway through 7th to allow for autocorrect usage to meet the goal. A separate goal to address writing not using autocorrect was agreed to but never added.) While he has accommodations f…

I have two daughters, ages 11 (dyslexia and ADHD) and 7 (mild dyslexia; attention issues but not considered ADHD). My eldest has an IEP (obtained in late 3rd- Spring 2023/early 4th grade Fall 2023; private diagnosis of dyslexia and ADHD was done outside of school by Oct 2023-Jan 2024 to have a specific name for her struggles). When I switched from the choice school she was attending at the time of her initial IEP (who seemed to have a good reputation on paper), back to our district school, she was reading approximately 3-4 grades below level. I switched b/c the school team was dragging their feet about helping her (Just read to her/Response to Inter…

Posting from email: Do you know why it is so hard to qualify for an IEP in (redacted)? I have many military parents who transfer to the school I work at, (redacted), with their child who just qualified for an out-of-state IEP. As soon as they transfer into our district, their IEP is rejected. It is the hardest thing for a special education teacher to watch and not be able to do anything.

Posting from email: How do we qualify our son's one-year-old dog to become his emotional support dog at school? He has severe anxiety, and when he holds his dog, the anxiety melts away. His pediatrician said she does not know but would support whatever we need to do. We are in (redacted), he attends (redacted) and I teach in the same district.