Katie Mc

Thank you! I knew that we could not request a specific person in the IEP (which is impractical for all the reasons you and others have noted) but I wasn't sure how to approach the request given that limitation. Now I have a direction to move in! We are in Virginia, which is a right-to-work state where public employees are prohibited from collective bargaining, so unions may not come into play. The liability concern would be the main issue, is my guess. I will definitely ask about our options to continue to employ our caregiver through medicaid at the very least to support the transition. Would you suggest submitting this information and the letters/reports from providers as an executive summary style document ahead of the meeting, or bringing it to the meeting and presenting it then? For context, the team at the school has not sent a draft IEP yet - the meeting is tentatively scheduled for next Friday. Thanks again!

Thanks for these suggestions! I am waiting on a call back from our case worker about the Medicaid funding question so that will definitely be critical information to inform next steps. I will definitely request a list of trainings from my son’s therapists and check that against the education/ background of the aide they are considering for him. Very helpful thank you!

Hi all - I am attempting to get my son’s elementary school to hire his current care attendant as his 1:1 aide for kindergarten next year. We currently employ the attendant via Medicaid funding, and he’s been with my son everyday at (private) prek for the last two years. He takes my son to all his therapies and is extremely attuned to his needs. My son is profoundly physically disabled (no independent ambulation, non verbal due to muscular weakness and dystonia). He is intellectually typical and uses an eye gaze device and non-verbal communication to indicate his needs and engage socially. The school agrees he needs a 1:1 but says they don’t have any openings to hire his (highly qualified) current aide. Do we have any recourse? I recently obtained a letter from his neurology team stating that they recommend a “familiar caregiver” to ease the transition to kindergarten. Is anyone aware of any studies or legal precedent supporting this kind of request? Anyone had success getting this kind of request integrated into an IEP?