JSD24

What are the credentials of the person providing the documentation who told you your child needed a 1:1 at school? I'm also not sure how she will catch up to classmates if she only attends school in the morning. Was she offered ESY during the summer given the delays you list in your letter? In my area, parents can red shirt their kids and enroll them in K at age 6. I've seen this with students with IEPs as well as gen ed students. I'm assuming this is what you want where the school feels she can go from preschool into 1st grade. Did the school do a K readiness assessment? IMO, this is what's needed to place your child into K rather than 1st grade. When a parent makes a request on how something should be handled with their child with special needs, they should be prepared with data from a professional to backup the request. Asking for half day school because your child has daily ABA therapy from noon to 4 isn't something I'd tell a parent to do. Can the school provide an ABA therapist to help in the classroom? This might be a good compromise. I read your other question Posted Thursday at 02:57 PM and it's pretty much the same as what you asked here so I'm only answering here.

As the parent of a gifted student, you do not want your child doing too much helping with peers because they are not learning anything new when they are assigned to do this. (Gifted students can & should make at last one years worth of academic progress - they might be capable of more being gifted - so you want to make sure they are also meeting goals.) Teachers often cannot convey how things should be taught with a peer versus a professional paraeducator. That said, I feel it is very appropriate for the whole class to have a buddy that they work with. Someone who reminds then not to forget their glasses or lunch. If a student needs help carrying their belongings, I can see different students having a rotation to provide this help. I'm not sure what the current view is. I have a feel that different schools have different experience with doing this which might be favorable or unfavorable. Having students help peers is a good way to teach empathy, inclusion, kindness and other social/emotional concepts so I think it's good to have students watching out for peers and helping from time to time. You don't want to pull a gifted peer too often to tutor so you don't want this as the gifted student's 'job'. Keep in mind that the helper student will not be privy to the IEP & its goals and their job at school is to learn so relying too heavily on one peer shouldn't happen in a school.

Medicaid started allowing this during COVID and they have since got this extended now that the emergency is over. Pay isn't great - I've been quoted $13-17 per hour but I'm sure this can be a game changer to many families. The person I spoke with says they have gotten each parent authorized to provide 50 hours of services per week to their child. Some agencies have a max of 40 hours per parent. Contact your Medicaid provider to see what agencies in your area do this. Parents need to be trained/certified and the training is free. https://www.phlp.org/en/news/pa-to-continue-paying-parents-as-home-health-aides

I have seen this done. I'm in PA & an IBHS agency can write an IFSP that provides ABA support at school. This can be done because Medicaid pays for this. (If parents are paying, it's not free and therefore not FAPE.) In other words, it depends on how this is funded if this would be allowed. If you are paying for ABA, the best you can do is invite the ABA therapist to an IEP meeting so they can tweak the sort of 1:1 support your child gets at school. They can write a letter saying that your child needs a certified RBT as an aide. The school can also hire this ABA therapist to work with your child at school. This process can take a while because vendors of services like this need to be OK by the school board at a school board meeting. If this therapist has done this in other schools, they might know the process in your state better than I do. I'm not even sure which state you live in.

IDEA lists Emotional Disability as a disability that can qualify a student for an IEP. Common sense says that someone with ED might be emotionally dysregulated at times. Schools cannot make a manifestation of a disability as a Level 1 offence. I'm assuming your child has an IEP and ED is one of the disabilities listed in it. Lisa has more on this. https://adayinourshoes.com/emotional-disturbance-category-iep-criteria-accommodations/ My suggestion is writing a parent letter of concern stating that you are concerned if your child's ED is not properly supported at school via their IEP, they might become dysregulated. You do not wish to see your child disciplined due to a Level 1 offense because of a known manifestation of their disability because the IEP wasn't followed or was not adequate to support their need in a situation that was unanticipated by the IEP team. Make sure your concerns are copied into the IEP. Hopefully, the IEP team will meet and figure out a way to prevent your child from getting disciplined because the IEP didn't support them.

I think you might need to call the sp ed director to see what's up with moving forward. You can also try calling the person who does account payable. They do input so checks can be processed and might know the procedure for getting an IEE OKed.

You need an eval that shows a service is needed to have an IEP but you might be able to put accommodations into the 504 for better participation in PE. Ask for the PE teacher to come to a 504 meeting to see if they have suggestions on what can be done to modify PE where she's doing more than bench sitting. If they don't have suggestions, an eval for APE might be the next step.

APE is for any student who cannot access a typical PE class. You see capable students who can't deal with an echoy gym having APE as well as students who have physical limitations who needs to have modifications to the curriculum to participate more fully. https://adayinourshoes.com/wp-content/uploads/IEP-goals-and-objectives-bank-printable.pdf Does the school have a teacher who is certified to do APE? I think an IEP is needed to have APE - it's specially designed instruction due to a disability.

Schools are allowed to do this. People move, staff moves or switches what they are doing, students have to go where the programs they need are located. I've seen where siblings are assigned to different bus stops and their bus times are similar where one parent cannot get both students from the bus. My district does things like this all the time. They like to have bigger classes so they can have fewer teachers. They wouldn't have a class with just one student. They'd move the student.

A lot of what you mention fall under OT & the school OT should have a budget to buy things like this. (I can see a parent sending in food rewards.) An IEP is a document and documents don't have a budget. The LEA is the member of the IEP team who OKs what goes into the IEP & thereby OKs school funds being spent on things like this. If the IEP says a child needs fidgets or a band on their chair legs, the school should pay for the item & the teacher should ensure it's there & in working order. If a teacher thinks a student might benefit from a wiggle seat or chair bands and wanted to try this, IMO, they should ask the OT if they have a spare before going out & buying things. Teacher are known to spend their meager paycheck trying to do what's best for their students. I'm not sure if they can ask to be reimbursed for things like this. (Our PTO gives each teacher funds to make purchases at their discretion. Not all schools do this.) Books have been written about the inequity and lack of school funding. IMO, the back to school supply list should not include sanitizing wipes or tissues or dry erase markers but this is often the case as schools don't supply these (and I feel they should).

When a student doesn't attend school, the assumption for any educational delays is that they were not there to get instruction which is why are delayed. You are right that proving a disability caused school refusal is tough to do. If the family can afford to, my suggestion is a neuropsych eval. Some insurances will cover this. I've also heard of due process after a student has graduated. If the school's lack of Child Find caused the school refusal, there could be a case. With adult ed, disabilities need to be accommodated for so having an evaluation on which to base the accommodations the students needs would be helpful. I wish this student & their family luck in getting a GED & it opening doors to being a gainfully employed and productive adult.

Does your child have an IEP or a 504? Has the school done a special ed evaluation to see if he needs something more than general ed? (The fact that he doesn't remember the names of classmates has me a bit concerned that he might have a delay or disability.) My daughter wasn't a great communicator either. In retrospect, it was a sign of her autism. I'll give you an idea on what you might be able to say to your son: What was the best thing that happened at school today? The worst? There is info on the forum here about Ross Greene. He has a whole protocol on talking to kids & getting them to open up. This is the link: One thing I learned this summer is the more you talk to kids, the better. They learn so much about little things when you sort of narrate what you're doing/what's going through your mind. It actually helps them with reading by giving the background knowledge so they better understand what they read.

There is a saying in education: If it's not in writing, it didn't happen. I think this is happening to you. Start writing instead of talking. Request that the things you write are copied into your child's file/IEP so that the teachers can reference what's there. Also keep in mind that the school's evaluation should have covered all areas of suspected disability. If it didn't or the results are not accurate, the team will still be following that as gospel for everything your child needs. If it's not complete or accurate, you might need the school to do more testing or you might need to request an IEE. https://adayinourshoes.com/iee-independent-education-evaluation/

So, there will be an IEP/ARD meeting when school starts up in the fall so at this point in time, you do not know what sort of support your child will get via their IEP nor what accommodations they will have beyond what's currently in their 504. There's not much you can do right now since the ARD meeting requires teachers to attend and, right now, they are off for the summer. On the other hand, there are things that can be done. First, you are seeing school refusal/anxiety at home. This can happen when a student realizes they are different from classmates & fear being bullied/teased because they are different. Being pulled for services can also be a 'difference' that students get teased or bullied for. The real question becomes: Is getting the support they need going to help the anxiety? Obviously, it will take time to bring your child up to speed/catch them up to where classmates are. The other side of this is your child having access to the curriculum while they are catching up. Audiobooks & and directions read to them and speech to text software or access to a keyboard are things that can help with access while special ed instruction catches your child up. If the school's report says your child needs an IEP, the school should follow their report. I'm curious if the anxiety was looked at & if that's in the report. Talk to your child on how they feel about getting an IEP & the right support for their learning disability. This way, you can advocate for support that will not cause the anxiety to go up. Second, I'm assuming you gave the letter the doctor wrote to the principal & they documented this need in your child's file. The school should use all the data they have to come up with the right supports for your child. This letter is data that needs to be considered & accommodations should be granted. Your child leaving school early in the past is also data that this was an accommodation in the past (even if this accommodation wasn't documented on the 504 like it should have been). It's part of the data that should be in your child's file that's used at the ARD meeting. What is currently in the 504 should be incorporated into the IEP. Third, if you will be helping your child with missed work, you want to be on the same page as the teachers. This might mean that parent training is needed in the systematic reading protocol the teachers will be using. This can & should be in the IEP. Lastly, with knowing that your child will not be in the school building beyond 3:30, make sure that the special instruction your child will be getting isn't scheduled for when they will be out of the building. I've seen where a student was to get help 1X per week and they were pulled for outside therapy 1X per week and guess when their sp ed class was scheduled? (If you guess when they were pulled for therapy, give yourself a point.) As a postscript, make sure the special instruction they put in the IEP is something that's evidenced/researched to help students with "the characteristics of dyslexia and the related disorder of dysgraphia." Also look at the progress monitoring reports that you'll be getting. Students need to progress more than one year every school year to catch up to classmates. If progress is slower than this, the remedial instruction might not be a good match for your child's disability. You don't want a child who is 2 years behind to stay 2 years behind or worse, become 2 and a half years behind when they go into 4th grade. Also, make sure that the 3:30 thing is well documented. You don't want to end up in a truancy situation because of after school therapy. You might need excuse notes for everytime you get her at 3:30. This is the school's "game" so make sure you are playing by their "rules" - ask what's needed and follow what they say. (Ask in writing & hope they reply in writing so you have written proof of their policy. If not write them an email 'confirming our conversation on Aug 12, 2023 as to how to document XX leaving at 3:30 everyday' so you do have it in writing.)

The better route is to get the school to see that your child needs an OOD placement as LRE. The IEP can have a private school as the placement if that's the only place where the appropriate services are offered to meet the needs listed in the IEP. (Ohio & Florida have some scholarships - not sure about IL.) Schools pay for schooling. States pay for other things.

Get the state involved. File a complaint. I worked with a family where the child was severely autistic and could barely leave the house. (It took 6 weeks of working with her daily for her to go to the pool in her complex.) They ended up in court for truancy but I think the judge sided with the family because the fine was $5. Every state has an advocacy center. Some have an 'Ed Law' agency. There are disability rights groups as well as the Arc who might be able to help you. I'd document what's going on. (In this case, the parents never got an invitation to an IEP meeting & the school changed the placement w/o them participating in the meeting.) PA has a Consult Line where you can call/email and get questions answered. If you provide where you live, we could provide a better list of resources. BTW, retaliation is hard to prove. If the school wants to pull the IEP, that often happens when the school eval isn't complete/accurate. This is when an IEE is needed. Schools don't see what parents are going through to get their child to school when they are refusing. And when the child's at school, they mask so they aren't bullied. Child looks fine & parents look negligent but looks are deceiving.

PA has a consult line that parents can call or email & be called back a few days later with answers to questions. This might be your best solution to this situation. https://odr-pa.org/consultline-contact/

IEP services should come with transportation. In my area, IU teachers & therapists will come to preschools & daycare facilities so long at the care center or school is within the appropriate feeder area of the sending school district and in some cases within the IU feeder area (I'm not exactly sure what their rubric is for going to where a child spends their day but they do not go into the child's home). The inability of parents to bring a child to the IU for services isn't considered. I've seen where families who rely on public transportation and cannot afford an Uber or bus to get their child to the IU for the services in the IEP go without services. Where does your child spend they time when you and your husband are working? Why isn't the IU coming to this location to provide the services on the IEP? EI (birth - 3) tends to offer more services to children that what the IU does. 3 hours/week of IEP services (services staying the same despite some progress) would also be itinerant. EI uses more of a medical model where the IU uses an educational model when determining services. There is nothing you can do to push the needle to show that your child is all of a sudden more disabled and needing more services than they had through EI. I know when my child had speech services, we were expected to reinforce what his SLP did by doing exercises at home which is how repetition happened. Given you disagree, what data do you have that shows he needs more services than the offer of FAPE on this IEP? This is what's key to more services: Data showing more services are educationally appropriate. Given how minimal the IEP is, you can exit your child from special ed and pursue outside services. In PA, your child should qualify for Medicaid and they would cover services 100%. Your other option is to not sign the IEP and go without and not do outside services either. Many children his age who are on the autism spectrum do extensive ABA therapy. These are often the students who are educated in delay or autistic support classrooms. If your child does not have an IEP when you go to register them for kindergarten, do request a special ed eval around February or March where you want him to start kindergarten later that year. This current IEP would lapse by the time he's old enough for K if you don't sign for preschool IEP services.

I'm in PA & providing PWN happens automatically after the IEP meeting because what gets signed by parents to OK the IEP is the PWN. I would write something with KISS in mind: Dear IEP Case Manager- Can you please provide PWN for the request for captioning of instruction via CART that was discussed and requested at XXX's IEP meeting on June X, 2023. Thank you, I know exactly what your child needs. I'm HOH & I do OK in meetings & in lectures but I'd do better if I had hearing aids. I have to work harder to absorb what's being said. You are correct that her implants do not provide equal access. They provide access but it's not equal to what non-disabled students have.

Schools follow the IEP. Ask for work samples to be required as part of progress monitoring. If she's getting 4 out of 5 correct, have the ICT teacher send you a copy of those 5 math problems. The other thing that can be done is a sp ed assessment. Ask the school to evaluate her math ability to see how things are going since the ICT teacher's data is incongruent with state testing, MAP and iReady results. Something has got to be inaccurate. Students who are getting B's shouldn't be scoring well below basic. Another option you can do is print out some unmodified problems and have your child work through them. Save a copy of what she did & note how long it took her to do. (I know PA has sample questions on the website that lists state standards.) If she's meeting goals of 80% on modified tests, what's the next goal? 90%? Unmodified questions? And for Carolyn. They might not have saved the passages but they can tell you their protocol. They used an online test of some sort. What's the name of the website? What grade level did they pick? (I remember a story from an advocate about a teacher who gave the same passage each time. Student had unbelievable progress but the testing was invalid.) You can also make up an assessment yourself. Write a passage that's ~100 words. (With 100 words, the math on words/minute is EZ to calculate.) Have the child read it. Look at the state standards or get help from a librarian to make sure it's at grade level. Your results might not be all that accurate but it'll be better than the nothing the school provided. Here's an example of how you can do this: Here's more:

Schools follow the IEP. If it's not in the IEP, the school doesn't need to do it. That said, document, document, document. Write an email: Consultant suggested X. School said that they would do X but this wasn't added to the IEP. I am concerned that without this being in the IEP, my son will not get X at school. Please take my parents concerns in this email and copy & paste this into the parent concerns section of the IEP. Thank you. This is how you can document what was said at the meeting & get it into the IEP.

K these days is like 1st or 2nd grade when I went to school. Kids need to focus & learn. You don't say what state you're in. Every state has standards that students need to learn. Do a search: standards in ___ (your state). Read them over for K. Do you feel your child will be able to learn all this a year from now with how she's progressing? If the answer is no, another year of preK is probably the right choice. I tend to be for staying with same-age classmates. IMO, there's more benefit to extra sp ed post HS than pre K. With some students, they just aren't ready for this and you need to lay a good foundation to build on. With a 40 second attention span, I just don't see her meeting K standards unless this changes a lot over the summer. (You said she's at a 24 month level. These standards are for age 60+ months. That's a huge difference.)

Your child has to go to the school that can follow the IEP. In my district, we have 11 elementary schools. If you need emotional support, only one of those school offers this service. If your child needs this, they go there - no matter where in the district you live. It's similar for ASD support (4 schools), MD support (1 school), life skills (1 school). I was working with a parent in another district. Her child is severely dyslexic. They have 0 people trained to treat dyslexia in her district. (I have a feeling they are not identifying these students & when they do, they aren't getting the researched based remedial programs required under IDEA.) She's looking at her child going to a private school as that's the most appropriate placement given the severity of the disability. If a school doesn't have what your child needs, it's not LRE. IDEA doesn't consider what's best for your child from a social/emotional perspective. They look at the student getting what they need/following the IEP. You might need to waive a service or 2 (ones that you neighborhood school lacks expertise in) if you want for your child to go there. This is the angle to use to sell the neighborhood school as the right placement for your child. (I waived FAPE for my son. I had to sign paperwork in the presence of witnesses. It took awhile for the school to prepare the paperwork. I don't think this happens that often. BTW, it was the best thing for my child. I took him to 1:1 speech therapy - school did group - and he was cured in 4 months. He had over 4 years of school therapy with little progress. He moved his tongue laterally. That was his speech problem. The school therapists didn't see this in group therapy.)

I think this is very typical. In the education world, they look at access to getting an education. Medical therapists look at this as well but also look at access to the rest of the world. Given the different criteria, you'll often find that outside therapy is easier to qualify for as well as being more comprehensive. EI tends to use a medical model.

This page has resources in KY for sp ed: https://education.ky.gov/specialed/excep/Pages/FamParRes.aspx Hopefully you can get answers from here.