Carolyn Rowlett

I will preface this with I've never come across this issue and a quick search didn't turn up much. I'll also preface it with the fact that it's hard to advise on this one without reading the actual IEP, services, placement, not knowing if the student is home-schooled with IEP services provided or attends the public school, etc. But my gut instinct tells me that if the parent decides to pull the student for travel and makes implementation of the IEP impossible, that would be on the parent. However, I'm a little confused about the virtual option. Is the school district saying THEIR providers are not certified in that state? That actually might make sense and "be a thing." Hopefully someone else has some ideas or has run across this before.

A correction to my most recent post. I meant "You have some time to think about the IEE." Not "IEP."

You have some time to think about the IEP. It might be worth it in case it uncovers something besides ADHD that is causing his "incidents" and reactions to social drama, teasing, bullying, etc. In the meantime, get started on the 504. You can probably accomplish what you want within that document. Put in an accommodation that when he experiences something and feels it building up to an unacceptable reaction (social drama, teasing, bullying, etc.) that he can go to the school counselor. I would hope that would be available for all students, but you better get it in writing.

My thoughts are below, listed in the order of your questions. 1. IEP's should be drafted for one year, not three. There should be an annual review after which a new IEP should be put in place for the next year cycle. Besides the dates, there should be changes in present levels and most likely goals, as well. What doesn't have to happen for three years is an re-evaluation (unless either the school district or parent request one sooner and as long as it has been at least one year since the last evaluation). Re-evaluations are not considered "evaluations for qualifying for services," so it that is how your school district is referring to them, that is incorrect. A student does not have to re-qualify for services. However, a re-evaluation might provide data showing an exit from services is warranted. To answer your question: no, a re-evaluation (regardless of when done) does not "negate" the current IEP. The evaluation results must be explained to the parents and an IEP meeting held to determine if the IEP should be amended or (if applicable based on the data) if the student should be existed from services. Until then the IEP stays in place and must be followed. 2. There is no requirement that a parent sign a re-evaluation. However, the school cannot "move forward" with exiting a child from special education services until the results are explained (and sent/given) to you, an IEP meeting is held, and if the decision is made to exit the child from special education services, a Prior Written Notice is sent notifying you of this action and explaining in detail the reasons behind the decision. At that point, you can request mediation and/or file for due process to invoke "stay put" (the current IEP must remain in place). Also, you can request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) if you do not agree with the school's evaluation. The school can ask why you disagree, but by law, you do not have to give a reason. The school must grant the request for an IEE or take you to due process to show why they are denying the request (so such requests are usually granted). 3. To answer your third question (after you qualified it with a follow-up email), "access the general curriculum" refers to the requirement that not only must a child have a disability, but that disability must also affect his ability to receive an education. So in the case of ADHD, if the child's behavior is limiting his access to classroom learning (because he is being sent to the principal's office repeatedly, having multiple suspensions, etc., or even because his inattention means he is not able to grasp the material being taught), then he should have goals to work on this. It is important to note that the behavior must be tied to the disability and must be affecting his education. 4. Yes, an IEE might help if the school is relying on grades to say he no longer needs services. Grades are way too subjective to use to exit a child from special education. It might tie in how not having "good social relations" can affect his access to an education.

Hi Christi. I'm an advocate in Missouri, but unfortunately not an expert in ABA therapy. I would suggest you reach out to the Missouri Disability Empowerment Foundation (MoDE). They offer free advice. I also know of a paid advocate in Missouri who is more familiar with this area than I am. You can contact me at the email address below if you want her contact information. (MoDE also offers grants to help pay for advocacy services.) Carolyn Rowlett crowlett@dyslexiaadvocates.net

And if they refuse to do an evaluation, ask for an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE).

You should find the answers to these questions on you state department of education's website, special education division.

FAPE is "free appropriate public education." Your son's ability to retake tests at ANY threshold does not affect other students' right to an education in any way, shape, or form. As far as their "unfair advantage" argument, anything that is deemed necessary by the team for a student to get FAPE should be given regardless of how the school thinks it may affect other students. (Accordingly, my suggestion would be to not bring up the other student, since as your correctly point out, IEP's are based on the "Individual." But you could ask for their WRITTEN policy on this. There is no way they have one because you can't pre-determine what might be needed in an IEP for every individual student.) Having said all that, I agree with Emily that retakes can be more about the score than content mastery, so make sure that is what you stress and have data for. It might help if the accommodation was more specific - "someone will go over the missed items on the test with student to explain why answers were wrong before the retake" - or something more eloquent that what I just came up with.

Link to IDEA law regarding this issue is below. As you can see, a lot is left up to the individual states, so you will need to check your state department of education's website for specific procedures. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/e/300.520

I am a special education advocate accepting clients throughout Missouri and Kansas. I specialize in Learning Disabilities, but handle IEP's and 504 Plans for all types of disabilities. Carolyn Rowlett, Dyslexia Advocates crowlett@dyslexiaadvocates.net

You might want to revise the subject heading of your post. MO is not Montana - it is Missouri. Montana is MT.

Can you send the link to what you reference? I'm not seeing it, but I did a really quick search. I see another problem (maybe bigger or the main problem) in that the school is limiting the time for the IEP meeting. If more time is needed for him to make use of an interpreter, they should give it to him. Otherwise, they're not actually providing an interpreter. And if he can't "participate meaningfully" without an interpreter and without enough time given to make use of an interpreter, they are violating his rights as a parent under the IDEA. Not to mention discrimination against him if he has a diagnosed disability. If the school district continues to be difficult in this area, I would suggest requesting a facilitated meeting, if your state offers those. That would ensure the meeting is scheduled for an appropriate amount of time. Make sure to tell the facilitator that the use of an interpreter requires some extra time for the meeting.

The IDEA requires students 14 and over to be invited, but it does not require their participation. I don't know what state you are in, so you might check you state department of education's website to see if your state has any such requirements (or just call the special education division). If the school keeps insisting on her attendance, as for the WRITTEN school district policy on this. I'm guessing they won't have one.

I've seen (and received copies of) many parent and teacher completed rating scales. Maybe those school districts are violating copyright laws. I don't know...

By "in the meeting" do you mean the annual IEP meeting since he has been on ADHD meds? How long had he been on the meds prior to the meeting? In any event, if the IEP team is attributing his academic struggles to inattentiveness, I'm not sure what your purpose would be in getting a new IQ test done. If they were trying to pass off his struggles as related to a low IQ, then yes, I would want to get a new IQ test done to show his true cognitive ability. But one of the purposes of requesting an evaluation is trying to understand why he is struggling and if you're thinking the IQ test will go up, that won't necessarily be helpful. But I may not be understanding everything. If by "new evaluation" you don't just mean an IQ test, I would say yes, you should request a new one since his present levels seem to have changed (this being the first year he has struggling academically). Request one in the area of academics. Couldn't hurt to also request a new IQ test - as long as it's in ADDITION to the area of academics. It would probably be good to know what his cognitive ability is while on medication that helps him focus better. You do have to wait one year from the last evaluation to request a new one. If I'm not understanding everything or you want to provide clarification, just reach out again.

Not only viewable, but they should send you the results! As for only being given to one teacher, every teacher rating I have ever seen has had at least three teachers complete one. Behavior isn't my area of expertise, so I don't know if more than one teacher is a requirement, but maybe someone else can speak to that. Seems like you could argue it isn't a complete picture/evaluation.

They might be using just one computer for all participants in the same room, which creates its own problems, such as the parents can't see all participants at the same time. I would argue that this is in violation of allowing "meaningful parent participation" under the IDEA.

As Lisa stated, the first step is to request an evaluation. Do that AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to get the clock started (schools have 60 days from consent to completion of IEP and the sooner you get that process started, the better). Make the request in writing (an email) and follow up every few days if you don't receive a consent form (the 60 days starts from the date you give consent - NOT from the date you make your request). Request an evaluation in the areas of academics (pointing out specifically her struggles in the area of reading and writing). Provide them with your data. You could also request an evaluation in the area of social/emotion for her ADHD, unless you are good with the accommodations she already has on her 504 Plan (you would want to make sure all these get transferred over to the IEP document if found eligible). The school will very likely also insist on doing an intellectual/cognitive evaluation (IQ test), depending on what they use to determine eligibility for special education in the area of specific learning disability, unless she has one on file already. Once you receive the consent form, make sure it is checked off for all the areas you want assessed. If the school refuses to evaluate, request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE). Or you could have your own done (especially if what you have is "old"), which you may or may not be reimbursed for, depending on the outcome.

It sounds like he has a good team, so I would suggest asking for an IEP meeting. Regardless of issues, it's always a good idea to have a meeting during "transition" times, such as transitioning to middle school. All the things you suggest are very good, but I would ask the team to put them in writing under accommodations on the IEP document. Afterwards, touch base with ALL of his teachers (or at least the ones that did not attend the meeting) and make sure they have seen and understand all the accommodations, ask if they have any questions, etc. Be nice, but get it on their radar that he struggles and needs these accommodations. As for accommodations, go to Lisa's website and look at her recommended accommodations for both ADHD and ASD. Specifically, I would ask for the following: 1) Student will spend no more than 1 and 1/2 times on homework than his peers. 2) Shorten assignments once mastery is shown. (For instance, if he understand the math concept being taught, only have him do the even problems for his homework.) 3) Extra time for assignments - 2-3 days in a common accommodation. (I would also ask for this on tests/assessments - both classroom and standardized.) 4) Chunking of assignments and instructions. 5) Frequent check-in's for understanding and being on task. 6) Device for typing for written assignments and assessments. 7) Speech-to-text for written assignments and assessment. 8)Oral assessments in place of written assessments. I happen to be in KCMO and give one free hour of consultation, if you're interested.

If the IEP does not designate a specific device and the speech device the school is offering satisfies the requirements in the IEP, you may not be able to get the school to use the privately-issued devise. You can ask that it be specified in the IEP, but you may not be entitled to this until it can be shown that the school device is not working for your child. I'm a little confused as to your comment that he has been he has been proficient with it for the past few years. Where was he using the device and showing proficiency with it? Was he in a different school or school district before? As for the argument that it would require your child to learn an entirely new system, that might depend on how burdensome this would be. I would definitely ask for an for an IEP meeting to discuss all of these issues and voice your preference, but you may be unsuccessful if the school device satisfies the IEP and the learning curve for the new device is not too steep. As far as access to the device, if that is written in the IEP, you may need to discuss with the team what "access" means and firm up that language. Is across the room sufficient to meet the "access" requirement? If there are reasons to answer this question as "no," then specific in the IEP that it needs to be on his desk. I'm a little confused on the facts of this issue, as well. When you say he "frequently scripts" on this device, is he scripting what the teacher is saying/instructing in class and is this written into his IEP that he can do this? How exactly is it disruptive to "listening to instruction"? Is he scripting random things that have nothing to do with the class instruction and so he is not listening? If so, maybe he does need to have the device away from him (across the room) when verbal instruction is being given. You can add language to the IEE that makes sure this doesn't become a slippery slope, and that he has access to the device when needed as an accommodation for accessing his education and as called for in the IEP.

I don't know what state you are in (you could check your state's department of education/special education website for specific requirements in your state), but the IDEA (federal law governing IEP's) does require a notice to parents that includes purpose, time, and location of the meeting, and who will be in attendance. As far as participants, I am not completely sure about this, but I believe the school district is allowed to just put titles on the notice. In other words, they could put "building administrator," but not designate the specific name of the principal or vice principal who will be attending. The IDEA also requires that the notice be given early enough for the parents to be able to attend "at a mutually agree time and place." If you are unable to attend the meeting time and date listed on the notice, reach out to the school immediately, let them know this, and offer up a couple of alternative dates and times.

Yikes, is right! Yes, if you had this conversation with the general education teacher verbally, you need to follow it up with an email stating "just to confirm our conversation on such-and-such date, in response to my inquiry regarding my son's IEP, you stated.... If you feel this is incorrect in any way, please respond to this email." Include EVERYTHING he said - he doesn't read IEP's, you should maybe speak to the special education teacher about moving him to the spec ed room, etc. Unfortunately, this could put you in a very awkward position with your child's classroom teacher, but it's probably necessary. You might want to reach out to the principal about changing classrooms. This sounds like the kind of teacher who is set is his ways and may not ever abide by the IEP document, and may dig in his heels even more when you start insisting that it be followed. I agree that you should reach out to the IEP coordinator for the school (I would inform him/her of your conversation with the classroom teacher immediately and regardless of whether or not you receive a response to your email.) Then I wouldn't let much time pass before you then follow up with an email to the school district's director of special education. This was a very egregious statement made by the teacher and an immediate response and escalation is warranted. I would suggest comparing the accommodations on your son's IEP with those listed on Lisa's website for learning disabilities, ADHD, and Autism and make sure you have everything that applies to your son. If not, reach out to the IEP team and request a meeting to get those added (they also could add them without having a meeting, but given the general education teacher's attitude toward IEP's, a meeting is probably a good idea for this reason, as well). Specifically and from reading your post, I would suggest an accommodation for homework - "student should not spend more than 1 and1/2 times on homework than his peers" is a very common accommodation for all three of these disabilities. With regard to math in particular, a modification of the homework can be written into the IEP that he only has to do even problems, as long as mastery of the topic is shown. Is the reading he is required to do on the grade level that he is currently able to read? He should not be asked to read a passage above his ability, unless he is given the accommodation of text-to-speech. Also, I would want it added into his accommodation that recess cannot be taken away from him if he does spend the requisite amount of time on homework and still does not complete it - a student cannot be punished for something that is a result of a disability! This should be brought up in the meeting, as well. Just curious... If you son has a learning disability, why is he not receiving services for this? Do his scores show he needs these services in either math or reading; i.e., how far behind is he?

It might come down to a matter of semantics. If the IEP states, as you do above, that the parent is "permitted" to attend all field trips, you may be out of luck. "Permitted" does not necessarily imply that the school will pay for it. However, if a parent attending a field trip is listed under accommodations as something that is necessary for the student to be able to attend field trips with his peers, then that accommodation (as any other would be) would have to be paid for by the school. If this is not the exact wording in the IEP document, I would get that changed. Because it does sound like this is a necessary accommodation.

The school CAN provide accommodations under the ADA and other disability laws, if applicable (but I'm not an expert in these), but they don't HAVE to provide suggested 504 accommodations until they do their own evaluation and implement the 504 Plan. For a 504 Plan, the disability and accommodations have to relate to accessing educations. Also, some providers may not establish that link.

You would need something more recent, anyway. When was the most recent school evaluation? It may be time to ask for a new one (if it's been at least one year since the last one). Ask for one in the area of academics. If you don't like the results of the school evaluation, you can ask for an IEE (as referenced in my earlier response) in the area of academics. It's also quite easy to determine all three of these. (The school should be able to do this, but you might want to confirm it for yourself.) Whatever reading level you think she's at, go back one level and print off a passage from the Internet for that grade level (so if you think she's reading at a 6th grade level, just to be sure, make sure she's good at a 5th grade level first). For accuracy, have her read for 60 seconds, subtract the number of errors (do not count inserted words or the same word missed more than once) from words read, divide by the number of words read, and multiply by 100: RAR = (WR - E)/WR x 100 [RAR is reading accuracy rate; WR is total number of words read; E it total number of errors] As stated above, she should be reading at at least 95% accuracy to be considered reading at that grade level. Fluency is "words correct per minute" or wcpm. [Sometimes it may be written as just wpm (words per minute), but it is important to count errors and get the CORRECT words per minute. If the school insists on wpm, just make sure the accuracy is also calculated and is at least 95%.] To determine fluency, have her read the passage for 60 seconds and take the total number of words read minus the errors to get wcpm. Comprehension is determined by having her read the grade level passage and asking 5 comprehension questions about it. She should get 4 out of 5 before moving on to the next grade level. (That's actually 80%, but I think I stated 90% above.) A lot of times when you're searching the Internet for grade level passages, they will come with comprehension questions. But you can make up your own.