Mandypenn76

We just received a letter that our son's ELA teacher is not state certified. They sent out a "4-Week Consecutive Letter" earlier in the year without specifying which teacher at the school, but now it was listed as his ELA teacher. He had the same teacher last year (no letter). Is this OK, especially with an IEP (this is not being upheld, by numerous teacher, including this one)? What questions do I need to ask?

That's the biggest issue - he's really smart, but struggles with the process of completing things and/or nonpreferred activities. Rewards and consequences have little effect on him (I have SO many discarded token economy charts, etc. that he would just give up on rather than earn the reward), except for screens. He can absolutely do the work, his levels are only slightly below level. His masking skills are incredible. We have always said he "polishes his halo" when anyone is around and it took until January last year for his teachers and case manager to realize that he was not completing work, not telling us about it, and creating elaborate stories about why. (Although all of that was in a parent concerns letter. They didn't believe us.) The result of that is massive meltdowns when he is at home and demand avoidance. So any time we have an observation , he is completely aware of it. I know the FBA is useless, but one hasn't been done since 4th grade (and he's been held back a year) and it claims he is attention seeking <roll eyes here>. His diagnoses...what a mess. The Autism diagnosis only came about 6 months ago, but we've had ADHD, ODD, trauma, PDA, FASD, attachment disorder, anxiety, Proprioception Dysfunction, SPD, and so many other labels. His emotional age is between 8-10. Birth mom was bipolar and had DID. So we constantly feel like we are playing catch-up - and we really don't care what it's called as long as he gets what he needs! Bottom line, he was only just made eligible for ABA, and we hoped it would be helpful even now - and so far, it is. If nothing else, they are helping us clarify his needs. So essentially, I am trying to get to the point where someone at school will teach him the Executive functioning skills that he needs to succeed. He has an EF class, but no one (except us at home) is making sure he is doing those things. Instead of actually assisting him with filling out a homework planner, teachers are writing it down for him. Instead of helping him with a way to remember to turn in a completed assignment (digital or paper), he is getting zeros that he doesn't care about. Honestly, he doesn't care about his grades at all. In terms of future planning, we are feeling just like the boy you mentioned above. IF he goes to college, he will most likely fail out unless he learns these skills. I suppose I am open to the natural consequences of not doing those things, but if it hasn't worked in the past, what will be different now?

Actually, this was a follow-up after his IEP update meeting for the beginning of the year. I've been a bit pushier lately (thanks to the website and everything I am learning!), but this is new for us and I don't have much info on what a mental health eval and/or the IU will do for him. But it took 3 requests to have this specifically written in the NOREP that they were no going to schedule meetings with the guidance counselor. And so far, I have not heard of any times that she has called him in to see him, either. We have a Psychiatrist (for med management), therapist, and ABA therapy outside of school, so I was hesitant to add any more providers at the risk of him being "over clinical-ed" All that to say, NONE of his SDIs are good SDIs, and few are being followed. I have been considering getting an advocate, and yesterday his case manager told me that I should just "let him see the natural consequences of not turning in work" when his one goal on his IEP at the moment is "will complete and submit all assigned classwork and homework each week with no more than 2 missing assignments for 4 consecutive weeks when measured once weekly through check-ins and weekly grade reports." So there needs to be a major overhaul on his IEP. We are waiting on a new FBA, so I am gathering data and trying to figure out next steps.

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 been bullied in almost every school he has been in. His emotional age is younger than his physical age and now in eighth grade he’s still playing with action figures and getting comments from the kids. Our son will not tell us if he’s being bullied, the only time we know about it is his friend’s parents will let us know if they overhear something. He doesn’t tell teachers, and the teachers don’t report anything (at all!!) to us.We requested a meeting every other week with the guidance counselor. This was the response I got the other day: “I also spoke to the guidance counselor. Unfortunately, they are told not to put specific meeting times in IEPs due to the number of students they serve. But he is on her radar and will schedule an informal recurring 1:1 with N. If we feel something needs to be placed in the IEP, we will have to look towards social work services. Did N ever work with a mental health therapist IN school? We can consider adding a social work screener to determine whether he would qualify for in-school sessions. However, I can see him acing the screener because he is so good at masking his emotions. Let me know your thoughts.” I don’t know much about social work screeners or working with mental health within the schools because it’s never been an option provided to us. They really just don’t have anyone. Also, he does perform when he knows he’s being screened so having a relationship is the most important thing. I am very aware that I need to request a NOREP about the guidance counselor. But what should I do next?