JSD24

I'd be looking to change the remedial program/approach. Modifying the curriculum can take a student off of a pathway to getting a diploma and 2nd grade is way early to do that. You really don't see students getting back on track once they start getting a modified curriculum. Has he been assessed for apraxia? That can cause some of the issues you're seeing. The remediation for apraxia is very different from remediation w/o apraxia. He might not be getting the right interventions if they haven't correctly identified all the pieces of the disability.

I wouldn't want a child with an IEP who gets special ed services (5x30 push-in services for reading) to also get general ed Tier services with a reading specialist. It doesn't make sense. If he's making progress and is on track to meet IEP goals after a year of these IEP services, the school isn't going to see a need for more services - either gen ed or special ed. IMO, the focus should be on how and when the gap will close if he continues at his current rate of progress. When will he catch up if he stays on the current trajectory? Isn't motor planning an OT or PT sort of thing? If they agree, I can see asking to add therapy to the mix.

The data makes me wonder about a few things. Could this be a blip where he's getting used to the new class? Could this be a different person evaluating him where they are using a different bar to measure him? Looks like he's due for another data point soon. I'm curious to see where this one lands. I'd be less concerned about getting accommodations and more concerned on how he's doing relative to same-age classmates. Is the gap getting bigger or is he catching up? Is the ROI goal appropriate?

When I saw "SpEd Due Process Specialist", my 1st thought was school district's lawyer. You might want to Google the name & see what credentials are listed for this person. I've not heard of this before. IMO, if the school is inviting their lawyer, they should be more transparent about this. IDEA requires 'a teacher'. I've seen the PE teacher or art teacher be invited. Subs are an issue with getting coverage so a teacher can be freed up to attend an IEP meeting so, my guess is, they invited teachers who have planning periods when the meeting is scheduled. There is no reason I'm aware of that 'invited teacher' cannot cover the class for 'teacher whose class the student struggles with'. I'd ask if this can be done since it doesn't seem to be on the school's radar to do this. It does make sense to have the teachers where the student has struggles attend the IEP meeting where the team plans to discuss what can be done to help. They should have better data on the struggles and may have even implemented something that has helped where your child could be getting the same accommodation in every class. Or, it could be, the invited teachers are doing something that helps that's not in the IEP where they will have data on accommodations that will help in other classes. Can you email the teachers and ask: Is there something you are doing in your class for my child, XX, that has helped them with executive functioning? We've seen that XX does OK with English and social studies where they struggle with math and science. Is there something extra being done in English and social studies that helps - possibly something that aligns with Universal Design for Learning - that can be incorporated into the IEP to help XX with math and science.

The IEP should be set up to both remediate as well as accommodate a student's disability. The long term goal should be to be able to not need this at a point in the future. It should be up to the IEP team - not the gen ed teacher - if there should be a trial of not using the accommodations in the IEP. What data does the gen ed teacher have that the modifications and accommodations aren't needed anymore? Is this gen ed teacher in the camp of 2E doesn't exist? We ran into that. They felt my autistic child could learn social skills like other kids especially since she was gifted. This is a skill that typically develops around age 4 or 5. I think this was 4th or 5th grade we were told this but she didn't have the autism diagnosis at this point. That came at the end of 7th grade if I remember correctly. She needed direct instruction like most autistics. Direct instruction in structured literacy is what remediates dyslexia. Pretty sure this can't be self taught or we'd have a lot more than ~30% of students passing standarized testing in reading. (The issue with most students isn't dyslexia - it's a lack of explicit, structured instruction in phonics as well as other things like morphology.) My feeling is that it is inappropriate for the gen ed teacher to have this conversation without at least the special ed teacher present. IMO, the sp ed teacher is more likely to have data on what the student needs as far as modifications and accommodations go. I'd be documenting the interaction, how it affected your child and requesting that the teacher run these things by the IEP team at an IEP meeting in the future rather than asking the student to do without what's in the IEP. In other words write an email and cc the special ed teacher & the LEA/principal.

If your child stops qualifying for an IEP & specialized instruction, the disability diagnosis doesn't go away so he'd still qualify for accommodations under Section 504. I took an online dyslexia training that was given by Sally Shaywitz (she wrote the book on dyslexia) and she said that extra time for tests is something that a dyslexic may always need. She cited people in college and medical school who continued to need - and more importantly receive - accommodations long after their eligibility for an IEP ended. (This was a free class on Coursera. You might want to look into taking it.) So to address your upcoming concern, we need to see what the school does with the triennial eval coming due. They have 2 choices. (1) They can do a reeval that shows your child continues to need an IEP & the specialized instruction they have. Also possible that a reeval shows that the IEP isn't needed and you request an IEE that shows it is needed. (2) They can do an RR - records review. With a records review, the student would continue to qualify for an IEP. To exit a student from an IEP, evaluations are needed so a RR is a sign that the IEP will stay in place. The best thing for you to do is collect data. Keep a log of the issues you see. It might consist of how long homework takes and how much support you provide to him at home. Does he need help understanding instructions? Can he independently do a math word problem or does he need help with reading the problem? If he has to read a book for a book report, does he decode it independently or does he need an audiobook? Also, talk to him. Ask him what he feels would happen if something in his IEP was to go away. Does he rely on talk to text to write the book report? Does he need the pull-out for reading instruction or are they covering things he already knows (he might still need special instruction if he says 'no' but it could be the instruction needs to be different)? There doesn't seem to be a rubric where at XX percentile, the student no longer needs an IEP. Access is key. He should be able to access grade level material that needs to be read w/o extra help. This should be when the IEP goes away but the accommodations should stay. Lastly, audiobooks are an accommodation. This could be something he'll grow to not need or it could be something he'll need long term. (Which way this goes depends on the severity of the dyslexia.) There are phone apps that translate a photo of text into speech. If he needs this sort of help long term, he should be taught how to independently access this sort of accommodation. My thought is that prescription labels and instructions on food packaging or ingredient lists will be things he needs to read and understand. Driving directions, bus & plane schedules and signs are things that adults need to be able to comprehend. If he can access these independently, he might not need the IEP.

The school is breaking the law if they do not follow the 504. It's a civil rights violation when it's not followed. My child would have felt too self-conscious for small group testing and we would have had issues with school refusal if that was on the 504. (Could that be a valid reason for it to be removed from the 504?) I'm curious if every student with an IEP gets these accommodations too. I'm thinking of my friend's son who is gifted & had a speech only IEP. The extra day creates executive functioning issues too. Will the student remember to hand the assignment in on the day after the teacher collects it from the rest of the class? Will the teacher prompt & make the student self-conscious? I'm pretty sure if the student refuses to use an accommodation, that's OK because it's on the student & not the school when this happens. I do see issues with this. State testing, SAT, PSAT, ACT, Ap exams, etc should all get double time if double time is on the 504. Is the school sending requests for this to the appropriate place so students have this with all testing? (SAT testing with double time does not get done on a Saturday like typical SAT testing. There has to be a room and someone to monitor testing too.) I'm taking a class & need preferential seating. When I look to the right, I tend to get double vision where with looking to the left, it's not an issue. Last semester, the tables were 90 degrees to the board & the professor either was in the front or back when giving instruction. In other words, he was either to my right or to my left. Definitely not simple depending on the teacher, how much they walk around and the layout of the room. We don't have assigned seats so I don't need a written accommodation. This semester, desks are in rows which is better for me. Diabetes should always trigger a 504. Not sure why all this is needed if you have issues with blood sugar needing to be externally controlled. The one plus I see is that it's easier for teachers to remember if every 504 students has these. Will the teachers also remember the unique-to-the-student accommodations? My child had bathroom breaks as a 504 accommodation.

ADHD rarely travels alone. What that means is, in most cases, there is another diagnosis. I have 2 children who have ADHD diagnoses. One also had autism and the other has dysgraphia. It's fairly common to also have dyslexia or dyscalculia with ADHD. Could your child's math weakness be a math disability? Look at the eval the school did (you should have a copy) and see if the school assessed for a math disability. If they didn't, I'd request the school assess for this. Can you come up with a list of math concepts she didn't understand at school that you taught her via computer/internet instruction? Your list is data that school instruction isn't enough and they need to do something different - or figure out why she needs this extra help. In MS, students have a bunch of teachers. Did all of them read the IEP? Are they all following it? I remember being at a parent group meeting several years ago. One of the parents was an ADHD 'expert' and had done a professional development presentation for a school. She thought that what she was presenting was review. As it turns out, it wasn't. If the teachers don't know that things like getting distracted, being late/poor time management, not paying attention, not being prepared for class/executive function issues, etc are all things that come with ADHD, teacher training on the disability might be needed. (There will always be teachers who feel that ADHD isn't real and will refuse to accommodate.) As far as 'trying harder' goes, students with ADHD need to be taught strategies that help with the things they struggle with. Having a portfolio or zippered binder that hold all the supplies for her classes and then having another one for morning classes and a third for afternoon classes could help with organization (another system might work better for her too). I'd look to see if the needs you're listing are needs that are mentioned in the school's eval report. You DO NOT need to wait for the annual to tweak the IEP. If the IEP isn't working - and from what you posted, it isn't - you need to call an IEP meeting & tweak the IEP. You offering suggestions doesn't change what's in the IEP unless you word it like: I'd like to add a no meet revision to XX's IEP. She is disorganized and often will not bring her textbook home when she needs in for homework. Please add: Home copy of all textbooks to the IEP. This way, XX won't need to bring any books home and can focus on things like handouts and worksheets. If she's forgetting worksheets, you can write: I'd like to add a no meet revision to XX's IEP. She is disorganized and often doesn't remember to write down when she has tests or when assignments are due. She needs an executive function coach to check that things are written in her assignment book/planner. Or I need this emailed to be or access to where I can find these on the school's website so I can coach her at home on completing assignments and studying for tests. Please change the IEP so the XX can have the support she needs to be successful. The key is to put the things she needs in the IEP. Schools are required to follow the IEP but don't have to follow the suggestions of a mom who is watching her child fail due to lack of support (or worse) from the school. I know that some moms of MS students will email every teacher at the beginning of the year to remind them to follow the IEP and highlight their child's needs. I'm not sure an FBA makes sense for the issues your child has. Refusal to be organized looks the same on an FBA as executive functioning issues due to a disability. IMO, teacher training for every teacher your child has, might be better in the long run.

In my area, the expectation is for the parent to pay for the provider if they want them at the IEP meeting since the IEE only covers the cost if the eval/report. It might make it a more reasonable cost if they attend via phone or on Zoom (or similar platform). They tend to charge for travel time & mileage... Can the family cover this cost?

To me, it seems that the school does not see a need for this. What data do you have to backup your request? If the last 2 field trips resulted in your child coming back & in need of a doctor or ER visit, then you have data that the child comes back harmed and needs additional supervision on field trips. Also, it might make sense for the school to provide a 1:1 or 1:2 so your child is more closely supervised on field trips. (Special needs students might need more than what a chaperone would typically provide. This isn't fair to other students in the chaparone's group.) Requesting your child be in a group where the chaperone has only a small group to supervise as well as additional training on how to recognise and prevent self-harm in your child might be another thing to request. (You can request another 504 meeting if you feel the one in place needs to be tweaked.) What did you provide to the school to support this request? You can ask for the school to pay for any follow-up care should your child end up harmed due to a lack of supervision on field trips. It might help them understand this is something that needs more than what they said they would do. Not sure if requesting you attend field trips as your child's 1:1 aide to prevent self-harm (not as a chaperone) might be something they are more willing to do.

For Van: This might be helpful with what steps you can take: https://adayinourshoes.com/retaliation-iep-parent-special-education/

Not sure if it makes sense to call someone and ask about the triennial. When a parent asks for an IEE, the school only has 2 choices: Yes or Due Process. You might want to see what direction they will head in if you're planning on asking for an IEE. (I have a feeling they will get the eval done and then say in DP that their eval was appropriate albeit late.) When was the PTE signed? If the parent didn't give their written permission, they might not be late; the school might be blocked from doing it.

Accommodations for a parent's disability can & should be made by the school. They might need to be called or texted starting an hour before the meeting to verify they are aware of the meeting starting soon. They might need a 2nd reminder 5-10 minutes before the meeting starts. It's possible they need 'parent training' on how to set alarms on their phone. IDEA is big on parent participation so between that & ADA, the school should be doing 'reasonable accommodations'. What's 'reasonable' might be subject to debate. (There seems to be a big shortage of people for hire who help disabled individuals. IMO, the school should be proactive on this & not rely on someone else helping this dad with this task.)

My opinion is, given FERPA, medical things should be done in the privacy of the nurse's office. Doing this on a sidewalk infers that a student has a medical condition and that info should only be shared on a need to know basis. People on a sidewalk don't need to know that a student gets pulse ox and chest examination from the nurse. It is possible that the doctor calls for this to be checked when the student is outside so the nurse might not be able to do this in their office. You are right that IDEA doesn't address this because medical tends to fall under Section 504. 504 accommodations can be included in an IEP but it's still 504 that would cover these. This is something that can be asked of the state agency that licenses school nurses. You might also be able to look up their practice act and see what it has to say on where medical monitoring should be happening at school. You'd need to know what the doctor's orders say to know if 'outside' is required as part of the accommodation so you can tell if the nurse is doing it as ordered or not.

When the breaking of school rules happen, it's generally followed by the school following discipline guidelines which can include expulsion/a switch to alt ed (since school is mandated). The only exception to this is when the rules were broken due to a manifestation of a disability or the school not following interventions to prevent behavior in the IEP. The change of placement of a student with an IEP is required to be a team decision. In other words, you need an IEP meeting to move a special ed student to an alt ed school. If your child doesn't have an IEP, you can request a special ed evaluation to see if they qualify. If the school says they don't qualify, you can request an IEE at school expense. Lisa has info on MDRs on her website: https://adayinourshoes.com/manifestation-determination-hearing/ I've seen where an academic issue wasn't supported and the student had behaviors so you might want to look beyone the behavor to what's the root cause.

The rules vary by state if parents need to be notified about restraint or seclusion. I believe there are timelines on notification in some states. Definitely look up the rules in your state and consider filing a complaint with your state DOE if the school didn't follow the rules. One thing you can ask is to see the calm down room. In some schools, these are equipped with sensory items that can aid in calming down. In other schools, they look more like prison cells. If your child tends to be more upset at home with being secluded earlier in the day, you can request, as an IEP accommodation, that you get an email or text when the room is used so you can help him process the trauma of being restrained and then secluded. (It's a way to get the school to let you know how often it's used and if it's used often, you'll know the BIP isn't working and needs to be tweaked.) In most states, there are explicit rules that students need to be monitored at all times including during seclusion. Pretty sure that adults need to be with students at all times except for in bathrooms & locker rooms. Guy Stephens has a lot of info on this on his website. He runs the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint. He started this after his child was traumatized by being restrained. https://endseclusion.org/ He's also on Facebook. Restraint and seclusion should only ever be used when a child is a danger to themself or others. The BIP should prevent him from getting to that point if it's the right intervention. Ross Greene is someone I consider to be an expert on behavior. This is more info on his approach to managing behavior:

The school will not change their eligibility category without an evaluation report. Have you shared the neuropsych report with them to 'consider'? Schools are required to consider outside evaluations but they do need to have a copy of the report in order to consider it. Schools can use an outside eval to change the disability category if they want to. Also, if the school's eval wasn't accurate, you can ask for an IEE at school expense. You might want to do the IEE rather than having the school do another eval. Most districts will not do an eval if the last one was done within a year which is when an IEE at school expense comes into play. Your child was reevaluated. You paid for the neuropsych to do the reeval. The school should be able to use this report to change the disability category. There shouldn't be a need for a 3rd eval.

What is the school doing to promote communication? IMO, if you can get him communicating, you can more readily figure out why he elopes and fix the root cause and that will stop the elopement. If you want some encouragement with communication, watch Spellers on YouTube. My friend's son is in this movie. He's autistic and non-speaking and was identified as intellectually disabled by the school. Once he started communicating, it seems like the school was wrong about him being intellectually disabled (personally, I feel he's gifted). His part starts at 46 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1rcLyznK0

If an OT quits without giving notice, how is this service implemented on the IEP moving forward until the school hires a new OT? They should be giving notice. Most school contracts require 60 days if they want to be paid for accrued vacation & other benefits. It's possible they did give notice but families weren't told. There needs to be an OT present for OT services to happen. If the family knew beforehand, they could ask for 'parent training' so the student gets a bit of OT at home. Are they required to continue services by outside agency? No. Does the school keep track of missing services until the school hires OT? They should be tracking this. Can a family request outside services to be provided and paid for from the school district until someone is hire? They can ask but the school is not obligated to pay. You may find that outside OTs have a waitlist for an afterschool slot. (If you expect the school to pay, you really need to have that in writing or it could be on the family to pay for this.) Using insurance for getting outside OT might make sense if continuity of services is important but there's still waitlists to deal with. (I was looking for OT for my son and we got in for a few cancellation sessions. I'm in PA & my son had Medicaid & they paid for OT. Turned out that he has dysgraphia and that's why his handwriting was bad.)

When I hear behavior, my suggestion is generally Ross Greene. https://forums.adayinourshoes.com/forums/topic/221-ross-greene-–-collaborative-proactive-solutions/#comment-834 She needs to learn that practice makes perfect. I'm sure that Tom Brady has thrown more bad passes than most people. This is how he got good with them. We learn from our failures. My husband knows to check the oven before turning it on because I sometimes stash dirty pots in there. He learned this by not checking and the house smelling bad. He's learned from his mistake.

RTI isn't working unless the observation data shows things are getting better. IMO, doing RTI for longer than a semester or so with the student not catching up is a red flag. The student, most likely, needs an IEP if the RTI has gone on this long. Parents need to request a special ed eval and see what the areas of disability really are. If they don't move forward with an IEP, they will at least have a good baseline outlining what the student needs. What is it going to take to convince the parents that the student needs more than gen ed is providing them? This behavior continuing is going to get this student kicked out of school & put in alt ed. Early intervention is best. How about they pay for a tutor if they a set against an IEP?

I look at this as the school doing CYA. They know this child needs an IEP so they need to say this to parents who have withdrawn their child from school. Special ed rules can conflict with gen ed school age requirements. If this student's file gets pulled during special ed monitoring, the school needs the revocation letter in his file for their paperwork to be complete. He's not truant from school since he's withdrawn from school but he's truant from IEP services & DCF investigates truancy (they are the 21st century truant officers). In other words, I see this as the parents having withdrawn their child from school which would be OK if he didn't have an IEP. The school must follow the IEP so the parent either needs to put the child somewhere where this can happen or they need to formally refuse special ed services in writing for the student's file. Option 4 gets the school out of the IEP loop. Make the school happy by signing the paperwork they need for their file. It's not retaliation. It's CYA. It keeps the district out of trouble with the state dept of special education. They aren't following the IEP as required by law if he's not going to school.

Data collection is generally done as part of an evaluation. On average, evals take 60 days - depends on state regs. With the written evaluation in hand, the team meets and decides on support for the student (or not if they don't meet criteria to get help). Special ed level data collection would require parent permission. Is the data collection & intervention trials part of RTI/MTSS where there are no timelines for placing support in place? RTI & MTSS are part of general ed intervention where data collection & support trials would not need parent permission. If I was the parent, I'd be asking for a copy of the observation results report as well as requesting a team meeting to see what the next step can be. The school should have a 'child study team' of some sort that works with gen ed students who need RTI or MTSS. If this is a special ed eval, they missed the timeline for completing the eval & moving forward and a state complain can be filed. Given how you have described this student, they need a special ed level of evaluation for learning disabilities. Having a LD & not getting the support you need can lead to frustration that comes out as punching classmates. The 'in your face' thing is the punching where this ends up being the school's focus and the root of the issue (the LD) isn't looked at. In cases like this, supporting the LD can fix the behavior. (Documentary, The Kids We Lose, covered this issue.)

To me, it sounds like medical neglect if the student has a history of food lodging in the throat and the school lacks the equipment needed, per a doctor letter that they have a copy of, to deal with this. There are agencies that will look into medical neglect in situations like this. Your state does offer facilitators for IEP meeting where they might help in getting you & the school on the same page. Would the school agree to this? https://www.cadreworks.org/cadre-continuum/stage-iii-conflict/facilitation/facilitated-iep-team-meeting-massachusetts and https://www.mass.gov/info-details/facilitators-for-iep-team-meetings Not sure if MA has a consult line that parents & advocates can call to help resolve situations like this. I did find this group located in Boston - they might be able to offer guidance: https://www.massadvocates.org/ I also found this: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/education-resources

Looking at what can be asked for as far as accommodations go for someone with Prader Willi. This would be at a community college so commuting from home, not living in a dorm. I know this is a rare disease. Hoping that someone has BTDT and had success. Food seeking is the issue, not academics.