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I think the first thing is to make sure the student will cooperate with an IEP if he is given one. If he "doesn't want any help at school," does this mean he doesn't want to be pulled from the general education setting and go to special education? If he can't be talked into this, I'm not sure it's worth the fight to get an evaluation. When you say "the support" is not helpful, do you mean specialized instruction that students receive via an IEP for dyslexia or accommodations via a 504 Plan? Could the parent consider private tutoring? A student is usually given a brief evaluation before the tutoring begins with no obligation to sign up for tutoring. As far as the timeline for requesting another evaluation if denied, she should request an IEE, file a state complaint, and/or file for due process based on the fact that the school was presented with a diagnosis of dyslexia (and other data showing struggles) and refused to evaluate.

Hi Lisa, My husband thinks Project 2025 is fear mongering. I told him I hope he is right. I know Project 2025 is more than just removing/or drastically reducing the US Department of Education, but it is an important issue. People don't realize what is at stake. People don't really how federal protections are important. I was too young to know what special education was like prior to the US Department of Education was established. I am aware of a law passed in 1975 regarding the Special Education. I recall IDEA being primarily established in the 1960's. However special education has enhanced so much because of the US Department of Education. I believe the section of special education is called the Office of Special Education Records (aka OSER). What will happen to my childrens education when this could come into fruition. I'm in MN. My governor is Tim Walz (Harris's former running mate) I would be more nervous if I lived elsewhere. Politically I'm a moderate and proudly have non-party written on my registration card. However, this should scare people. Sadly, it doesn't scare people. I hope they (the ones not concerned) are right. I have observed comments on the Internet such as education in the US is at an all time low. Or comments such as we spend more money on education than other countries yet the US is ranked such and such on such in such poll. You are the most knowledgeable person on due process. Both of my kids have IEP meetings soon. I thought I would brush up on my kids rights prior to their IEP meetings. Glad I was able to log in and comment on such an important post.

Yes, for all of your questions. In Illinois, they are actually required to do an eval but basically tried to talk her into just a 504. Her son is 7th grade so, yes, has been very good at masking. My concern was that once they deny her eval request, she'll have to wait a year before asking again, if she feels like it's needed. Is that timeline of rerequesting an eval correct? It's a tough one because he does not want any help at school and she has spoken to other parents in district who say that the support from the district is not helpful whatsoever.

First, make sure the request for an evaluation was in writing. Also, did it attach the neuropsych evaluation? Did it point to specific reasons for requesting, such as low standardized test scores in reading? A diagnosis in most states is not enough for an IEP - the student must also be struggling and show deficits in reading (what does the gen ed teacher see in terms of the student's reading level?). Students with dyslexia are good at masking. They may have high scores in fluency and comprehension because they have memorized a lot of words and learned how to figure out words from context, but if you drill down you might see deficits in phonological awareness and phonics, which are very important skill to have in place as you advance in grades and can no longer memorize as many words and the reading content is not familiar. If the first request was not sufficient, she can send another one with the above items. If there are no deficits or struggles, a 504 would be appropriate. If they deny the evaluation, make sure the school sends a Prior Written Notice (PWN) with detailed reasons as to why it was denied. At that point, she could try to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE), but the law is a little unclear as to whether failure to conduct an initial evaluation triggers the right to an IEE. If she has the data to support her that the student is substantially behind in reading, she could file a state complaint that the school is violating the federal "child find" provision by refusing an evaluation.

I am so sorry for what you are going through. I will respond as best I can, but a lot of this is out of my purview. I would suggest reaching out to your state department of education and asking for their advice regarding these situations. With respect to not following the IEP, you need to speak with the case manager and let them know about the teacher's failure to follow the IEP. If that doesn't work, request a meeting with the teacher/coach present. If that doesn't work, keep going up the chain of command - director of special education, superintendent, board of directors. You can simultaneously file a state complaint. With respect to not following the 504, same process as above - start with the 504 coordinator. You can also file an OCR complaint for discrimination. With respect to the bullying, that needs to be reported to the school whether it's being done by a teacher or other students. (ALL of this should be in writing, by the way.) There should be a procedure in place at your school district for filing a complaint against a teacher. If the bullying in any way involves physical contact by the teacher, report this to the police and child services. Finally, can you get the families of all the children you reference in your post to get together and request being put on a board of directors' meeting agenda to describe their various experiences?

Advised my friend to do an eval request based on new neuropsych eval that diagnosed dyslexia. School is seeming to be very accomodating but steering her away from IEP eval and she is considering just doing a 504. In the meantime, they have set up a meeting to discuss but also stated that "that is also the date the we must give you an official response to your evaluation request". I do not trust that they will not use this as a way to deny her request, thus tying her hands for another year. Advice?

Hello my friends I am Carlos Guerra, and i am the proud parent of a student at Manor Senior High School. Not so long ago, a wonderful boy by the name of Darrin Loving, a special needs student who was nonverbal, was killing in a horrific attack just a few weeks ago. He was the target of bullies, who lured him into a bathroom, then stabbed him cruelly with a kitchen knife. The poor boy managed to make it out into the lunchroom, where he bled out, and all the other kids took videos and circulated them around on the social medias. And this is not the first time. My child is in phys ed at MSHS--his coaches don't take the IEPs or 504s seriously. I have spoke to one of the coaches, and he flat out told me they don't read them. THe principal Jessika Hearne plays favorites at school. She protects the bullies, and when they are sent to the office they are given candy. And they continue to bully my child and another special needs kids. A girl even committed suicide due to this. And before this, the dept of education investigated manor isd for discriminating against special ed students. I'm so scared for my child. I don't know how to transfer out of the isd we live in, and I can't pay for a church school. I would like the manor administration to be removed and put in place new people who actually care, but besides starting a petition I don't know what to do. https://chng.it/Ydh9PfBGDT https://www.kxan.com/news/local/manor/dept-of-education-investigating-manor-isd-special-education-complaint/

Many curriculum for kindergarten cover the letters & their sound at a pace of 3 letters a week so the whole alphabet gets covered in the first 2 months of school. This allows students to start decoding/reading (writing too) by this time of year. (In comparison, my oldest did a letter a week where it took the whole year to get through every letter.) Children who didn't attend preschool are also at a huge disadvantage with how things work in K. The simplest, best dyslexia screener a parent can do is work on rhyming words. Can you name a word that rhymes with cat? Bat, flat, sat, mat, fat, splat, gnat, vat - there are so many. I remember talking to a parent whose child's name was Michael. He thought there were loads of words that rhyme with his name. Dyslexia runs in their family and he's being watched very closely. Nemours also has a screener that parents can do with their child: https://www.readingbrightstart.org/ Reading nursery rhymes with your child can have a remedial effect. Also, dyslexia can be diagnosed at age 5. The issue is a student needs to be 2 years behind before they qualify for an IEP. Your child isn't 2 years behind and if you work with them to help them have access to school and better self-esteem, it might take years for them to be sufficiently behind to qualify for an IEP where they get the intervention that will help dyslexia. IMO, the system is broken when it comes to child find and SDI in reading as the school calls it. (School psychologists aren't allowed to diagnose dyslexia as this is outside of what their practice allows.) Connecticut Longitudinal Study showed that 20% of students have dyslexia yet 16% of students have IEPs and not all of the 16% are for dyslexia. Might be simpler to do a homeschool remedial program for dyslexia with your child. Toe by Toe and Horton Literacy Primer are the 2 I'm aware of. Many states are implementing reading screeners but screeners aren't as accurate as evals. Not all schools have special ed teachers who are trained to remediate dyslexia where an IEP is going to catch students up to where they should be. (Not looking to be all gloom & doom. We just don't teach reading well but that is changing. It's going to take time to get this to be a system that really works.) You'll definitely need to stay on top of this to make sure your child doesn't fall farther behind.

Look at your state standards for Kindergarten. Is she expected to recognize all letters of the alphabet and letter sounds by the end of the year? If so, and if she hasn't mastered this yet and they refuse to go over it again in class for everyone, they need to provide some type of help/intervention for your daughter so that they meet the state standard with her. If the teacher is no help, go to the principal. If they try to blame it on your daughter, then ask for a 504 and/or special education evaluation to either confirm this or rule it out. Do you think she might have dyslexic tendencies? If so, ask for a dyslexia screener. Some states have laws requiring this if the parent requests one; some do it for all - find out if your state requires this and if so, ask for a copy of her dyslexia screening results. Your pediatrician might also be able to do a screener. I would also advise speaking with your state department of education to see if they have any recommendations. Finally, speak with other parents. Are other Kindergarteners struggling? Did they have any experiences with their older children and thus may be able to provide some advice? Maybe most of the Kindergarteners learned these skills in pre-school? But even so, the school still has a responsibility to make sure all its students are meeting state standards and if it is taking your daughter longer because she didn't learn these skills in pre-school, they need to help her before she falls too far behind.

My kindergartner cannot recognize all letters of alphabet and letter sounds. Her teacher said they covered this the first weeks of school and they are done working on the alphabet. They have spelling tests each week and are expected to write sentences with these words each night. We are overwhelmed! Is this how it is in all kindergartens? We need to be building a foundation for her education and they are leaving my girl behind. Any ideas?

There are a lot of things that come into play with what you describe. Students need FAPE with the stress on 'appropriate' in this situation. They need access. The IEP needs to be followed too. It sounds like when they are in the general ed classroom, they don't have access because their skill set is behind. If they are lost/cannot follow what's going on, that is not the access to LRE that IDEA says they should be getting. Is a student in a wheelchair watching the gymnastics module in PE really in LRE and getting meaningful benefit? These students are physically there but they are not getting meaningful benefit. Without knowing these students, it's hard to say what can be done so they do have access. Do they need to be pre taught so general ed is a 2nd dose of the same info? And if they need 2X the amount of exposure to a topic to get benefit, where is that illegal? What law does this break? I know of no law like this. So let's circle back to FAPE. What is appropriate math & ELA for these students? Sitting in a room where high level engineering is being discussed isn't going to be appropriate for every college student but they can take a class that covers this but has less need for technical expertise to understand the material and do OK. This is what it sounds like they need. Until the IEP says to do something different, you have to follow the IEP - gotta stay in compliance. Keep in mind that placement is an IEP team decision. If the IEP isn't FAPE, the team has to rewrite it so that it is. Are are the student's needs described in the evaluation report? Does the general ed teacher see that they have access via how they participate? Does exposure to grade level material have to be in a general ed classroom if the student is so far behind that they don't understand what's being taught in general ed? If the school doesn't have the support they need, is this the right placement for these students?

Hello, I am a resource room teacher (and also a parent of a child in special education) with a question about SDI time. I am struggling a bit to explain my question but here goes... I have several students who are unable to maintain the pace of the general education classroom for math and reading. They should really be following a hybrid resource/life skills program but logistically that will not work so they are strictly in the resource room/mainstream setting. Their SDI time is less than their content class time in the mainstream setting. For example, a reading block is 60 minutes but their SDI time is for 30 minutes. However, they are truly unable to maintain the pace of the general education classroom instruction because they are so far behind grade level so when they are sent back to the mainstream classroom during that content time, they are completely lost. The mainstream teachers I work with are fantastic and are knowledgeable about differentiating but our students require much more than just differentiating; they need repeated, consistent, targeted instruction. I understand the law and needing the LRE for every student but ethically I am struggling with sending them back to a classroom where they are completely lost and unable to do the work. My administrators have scolded me for suggesting that we extend the SDI time to match the length of the class time , which I understand is illegal, but I don't know how else to support my students while following the law. Any suggestions or recommendations you may have would really help me, my colleagues, and our students. Thank you!

When you finally have a strong IEP in place, your child is doing well, exciting grade 8 with college credits, entering the Cambridge program and doing great......... Then the annual IEP meeting, and my letters and request for a draft IEP!! JUST TO SEE ALMOST ALL ACCOMMODATIONS ARE LEFT OUT, JUST BARE BASICS REMAIN?????!!!!! UGH

you did it!

I’m so sorry I’m new and I’m just trying to figure out how to post a question

Thank you Carolyn and JSD24 for your thoughtful input! I wanted to share a couple of clarifications and follow-up questions. We live in NYC and the school system is just incredibly complicated. 1. The school noted that because their STs and OT are fully booked, that we would receive RSAs and we can work with a DOE-contracted provider for ST and OT, or see if our private providers accept the RSA (I doubt it). 2. I don’t technically disagree with the school’s assessments since I’m aware that my son gets overwhelmed when there are too much sensory stimulation in a class filled with almost 30 people (adults and kids combined), and this manifests as him appearing disengaged, unfocused or needing a walk. 3. I actually forgot to ask about getting an aide for him but that wasn’t brought up as an option even though they noted that he needs consistent adult support. I’ll reach out and ask! 4. @JSD24 I have the same exact concerns about a 12:1 classroom since it would be 1 special ed teacher with 12 kids with varying abilities. My son cries or whines when he doesn’t want to comply with demands but not to the point where it’s disruptive. The school did say that if I tour the new school and that I don’t like it, I can reject the placement and then it’s back to waiting. In the meantime they are recommending ICT plus SETSS. 5. With respect to his reading skills, their assessments did rate him as extremely hush/superior, but because he’s behind on expressive speech and his performance in related areas depends highly on his motivation and focus, they feel that he needs a lot more support than the school is able to currently offer. Because the majority of the IEP was spent on discussing his weaknesses and needs, I feel like I’m not even sure if keeping him in the same school would be in his best interest. Perhaps to both of your points, getting a neuropsych test in this case would offer a more objective recommendation. Thanks again!

I agree with what Carolyn wrote. I have a child (now an adult) with autism. A 12:1 classroom will often not cover the state standards and these kids tend to end up academically behind because the focus is on behavior. Happened with a friend's child and she decided to pull to a virtual charter school. Her child stopped needing behavior support and is now learning academics. Kids like yours can end up being bored which can cause behaviors. They can also model classmate's behavior and end up with a lot worse behavior than when they started. There is also the matter of FAPE. They must meet his needs now that they are aware of what he needs. My district hires 3rd party therapists when they don't have staff to do what's in an IEP. Paying for outside services is also an option. They will owe comp ed services for what was missed waiting for a space to open. (I think they count on parents not knowing what they are entitled to.) Have you asked how they will make up what is messed while waiting for a slot to open? Have you asked which schools have the 12:1 classroom that is his placement? If they are full, they need to hire a teacher and make room for your child - provided they have an open classroom too. Where are they in this process (or are they waiting for a family to pull their child or move)? A private school that has a slot and can do what's in the IEP is a place your school can pay and have your child go there so they ARE getting FAPE. Is this an option the school is looking at given they don't have an open slot? Not sure where you are but in my area, a child who is 5 cannot get in to see a dev ped - doctors who take insurance do not take new patients who are school age. There are others who don't take insurance but that's expensive. I'd want accurate baselines with academics. I wouldn't want to see his reading regress. Did they do that? Are you in a state that mandates gifted? I've seen lots of kids like yours who are advanced and need gifted services. The IEE is a great next step because I'm assuming they didn't look at his advanced reading ability. That should be factored in with meeting academic needs. (If they say no to an IEE, the school must take you to Due Process to defend their eval results.) Neuropsych would hopefully be more comprehensive with understanding his needs.

I am not well versed in autism, so hope others will chime in. But I wanted to respond to the issues I see. First, the ST and OT "not having availability" is not a reason for the school to refuse services if a need was identified in those areas. The school can contract with an outside provider if necessary. Second, a neuropsych would be helpful, but in the meantime could you ask for an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation) because have concerns with the school's evaluation? This would be at no cost to you. It wouldn't be a neuropsych eval, but it could come back with some placement and/or accommodation recommendations based on needs and strengths. Third, if you were to do a private placement and sue for reimbursement, I believe it would be the school district you would be suing and not the DOE, but I don't know your state laws. I also think you would need to let the school district try the 12:1 special education classroom (and fail) before you would have a basis for requesting a private placement. Lastly, while "while waiting for a placement," that doesn't mean the school can just avoid providing FAPE until then. They need to do something to bridge the gap, such as an aide in the classroom. Again, if they don't have the resources, they can contract with someone. It would also be a good opportunity to see how he does in the general education setting with an aide supporting his needs. That might be enough.

My son started kindergarten this fall in an ICT classroom at a public school. Although he had a tough time transitioning and dealt with separation anxiety for a week or so, he seems to have settled into the school routine (which was a lot better than pre-K). I requested an IEP for his speech delay and sensory seeking tendencies as he had been receiving private ST and OT while he was in pre-K. We had the IEP meeting recently and everyone agreed on an educational classification of autism, and the recommendation is for a special ed instruction in a 12:1 classroom which is not currently offered at this school. They also recommended seeing a developmental pediatrician. They informed me that while we wait for a placement, the school would provide PT and counseling, but that the ST and OT providers don’t have any availability. I’ve consulted with our private ST and OT and they agreed that my son would learn better in a small classroom with specialized support. The issue is I’m not sure which school will have a placement and when, and whether it will be the best fit for my son. I’m also trying to wrap my head around next steps as I’ve been looking into different options. My son doesn’t have any behavioral issues is an early/advanced reader, but does struggle with speech, sensory issues, social/peer withdrawal and inability to engage in class without adult support. He is learning in school based on what we see at home, but he does not show it in school. 1. How important or valuable would neuropsych testing be in determining the best educational setting? It is very expensive and I would need to see if our insurance would cover some of it. 2. An alternative to a 12:1 special ed classroom would be a non-approved school in the Gersh Autism network, which is incredibly expensive and we would not be able to afford it without working with an educational attorney and sue the DOE. Would this be overkill if we feel our son has mild/moderate ASD?

Sitting outside of the classroom doesn't sound like he's able to have the same access to instruction (Can he see the board? Does the teacher use gestures that he can see? Is the teacher's voice loud & clear where he's sitting?) that the classmates get. How is he expected to learn the same things if his instruction isn't the same? Might be better for him if he watched a livestream of the classroom than listening from the hallway. This sounds like a civil rights violation to me. Is he always noisy? Does this describe him at home? When he is like this at home, what's the antecedent? Could this be the same at school? I'm not sure how anyone can do an FBA to determine what in the classroom is the triggering antecedent to his disruptive behavior if he's not in the classroom where they can observe him. I'm hoping they will do additional observations so there will be data showing what in the classroom triggers him when he is in the classroom. (FBAs can be dynamic where they get added to.) If this doesn't happen, an IEE would be needed. Was there any biting, hitting, kicking, eloping from learning area or from the property during the FBA? What did they say was the antecedent to those? Why isn't he in the classroom in the morning if the behaviors happen in the afternoon? Pretty sure that "in general ed" means in the same classroom as the rest of the class & not in the hallway near the classroom. What does the IEP say as to where he's educated? Does your state have a place for parents to ask questions like this? - The answer to this looks to be yes. They have a Education Program Specialist (EPS) who can answer questions. More info here: https://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Special-Education/Dispute-Resolution/EarlyResolution_Information-sheet.pdf.aspx I think you need to call & clarify that what they are doing is in line with IDEA & state regs. Lastly, how is the BIP teaching him better behavior? Are they teaching him ways to calm down? Does he have a place to go to regulate when he becomes dysregulated in the classroom? He's going to pick his place & end up eloping if he doesn't have a place in the building where this can happen. Picking him up and taking him home is a suspension. How does the school record this on his attendance records?

My mantra for the last week has been 2/3 (67%) to propose and 3/4 (75%) to ratify. I have to put faith in the fact that he is, in essence, a lame-duck President and that those Republicans in the House and Senate will be more worried about getting elected in the mid-terms or in 4 years that they will not let the worst of his impulses happen. I have fought for years for my children to get the services they need, so I will continue to fight. That is all I can do. I am lucky to have a husband on the same page as me, so we look at our homeschool options if and when the local public school goes to hell in a handbasket. I am gathering like-minded close friends, and we are looking at ways to advocate for those who can't. I've never been a marcher, but it's never too late to start! And for those in my community who voted for him, I will vocally hold them accountable for the negative things we will inevitably see happen. I will not let them forget the choice that they made. I have screenshots, which will be trotted out at the appropriate moment! We must hunker down and do our best, connect with others, listen to others, and make changes where possible.

An FBA is supposed to get to the underlying triggers for the behavior and address them. If most are occurring during the last half of the day, why is that? Is the student tired? Does the student not understand the subject during that time? Is the FBA addressing whatever the trigger is? When the student is removed from class for being noisy and distracting, is someone processing with the student? Did the FBA discover why the student is being noisy and distracting and addressing the reasons? Is the student being given the tools (fidgets, breaks) to deal with these issues or do we even know what tools would work? My suggestion would be to find out the answers to these questions, because it sounds like the FBA and BIP are not sufficient. In that case, I would request an IEE. You specifically need to find out what the "Alternative Learning Placement" is for. Regardless, you need to start tracking the amount of removals and once they reach 10 days, ask for a manifestation hearing the next time the student is pulled out of class for behavior. Also, the mom needs to stop coming to pick up the student because the school needs to address the underlying issues - not just call mom.

Thank you, Carolyn! 1. Yes, IEP. 2. Emergency Removal means Mom is called to pick up and take home for the remainder of the day. 3. I have the impression that is just where the student is most of the time. When asked why, the school said the student is too noisy and distracting which disrupts the learning in the room. The FBA noted that the student was in the classroom (LRE) less than 10 minutes a day. 4. No. Sitting outside of the classroom is not a step to returning to the classroom according to parent. 5. We are not clear about the purpose of the Alternate Learning Placement. Most of the removals and placements are the last half of the day.

It's hard to answer your questions (at least for me, anyway) without some clarification. 1. Does the student have an IEP? Just confirming because sometimes a BIP can be in place without an IEP. 2. How does the BIP define "emergency removal?" Is it an action, a place, or both? 3. How/when is the location of sitting outside of gen ed classroom triggered? 4. When the listed behavior occurs, what is the process that is stated in the BIP in terms of where the student goes, what processing is done with the student, how it is determined when student will return to class? Is sitting outside the gen ed classroom a step in the process to return to class? 4. When the student is sent to the "Alternate Learning Placement," is this where students are sent for in-school suspensions? (That might be what they are talking about when they mention the 10 days because a removal for behavior in violation of school policy would not trigger a PWN or be considered a denial of FAPE until it reaches 10 days. But multiple occurrences (even if less than 10 days) should be a reason to revisit the BIP and see what can be revised to address the behavior.

Is any of this a change in placement or denial of FAPE? If so, what do we do and can you reference the law in IDEA that applies? We are in Ohio. 1. Student is emergency removed for behavior (biting, hitting, kicking, eloping from learning area and on occasion from the property). We had a FBA and BIP in place for 2 weeks. BIP review meeting is Monday. 2. Student is sometimes placed in another classroom called "Alternate Learning Placement" in the building instead of emergency removal for the rest of the day. 3. Student sits outside of gen ed (LRE) classroom in "pod" with 1:1 para and does worksheets and "listens" to the gen ed instruction. FBA noted the student was in the gen ed classroom less than 10 minutes a day during their observations. When asked for a PWN (at the last removal) to address the change in placement and denial of FAPE, the district says none of these things are a change in placement or denial of FAPE. They say they only need to provide SDI and related services if the student has been removed more than 10 days. No PWN was sent.