I want to ask SD for IEE

[Kate]

Hi, I need an IEE for my 10th grader who has always gotten PE at the school district.  The school district has labeled her as specific learning disability in math and written expression.  I don’t know why I never asked for a diagnosis.  I just assumed the SD would give me one.  I want to know if my daughter is dyslexic, she has struggled with phonics and writing and reading since 1st grade.  I also want to know if she has dyscalculia.  If I let the SD reevaluate her, I’m going to get more of their generic wording.  What do I do?  How do I ask for an outside IEE and use the best wording to get it approved.  She hasn’t really been meeting all of her goals in past years, but this year has gotten better b/c she finally has an amazing special ed teacher who took a liking to her.  What do I do?  Thanks!

[Carolyn Rowlett]

This depends a bit on when the school district last evaluated your daughter.  It also depends on whether your school has ever evaluated her for reading.  (It's hard to tell from your post, since you state they found her eligible under specific learning disability - math and written expression.  Did they evaluate her in reading and deny eligibility in that category?)  Just a side note:  schools do not give diagnoses.  So even if you had asked for one, you wouldn't have received a diagnosis - even if your daughter is dyslexic.  But you don't need a diagnosis to receive special education services.

In any event, I would request an IEE at public expense in all areas you disagree with the school's evaluation.  If you're ok with their evaluation in written expression and math - again, you don't need a diagnosis of dyscalculia - and you believe the services in those areas are appropriate, you might not need an IEE in those areas.  But if you're going to ask for one in reading, I would go ahead and request that math and written expression be evaluated, as well.  Basically, an evaluation in the area of academics.  My suggested wording would be as follows:

I would like to request an Independent Educational Evaluation at public expense in the area of academics, specifically reading, mathematics, and written expression.

Some things to watch out for and how to respond:

1)  The school may ask for the reasons why you disagree with their evaluation.  By law, you do NOT have to give them any reasons.

2) If the school has never evaluated her in reading, they will have the right to do so in addition (or maybe even prior) to the IEE.

3) If it has been more than a year since the school has evaluated her in any of these areas, they will have the right to evaluate her in addition (and maybe even prior) to the IEE.

[JSD24]

My school district will not use the term dyslexia in an eval report.  Most don't.  Neuropsychologists tend to use the terms dyslexia and dyscalculia.  You can ask for a neuropsych eval but they are expensive as most school don't have one on their payroll.

Do document what this teacher is doing as proof of what your child needs to make progress.  IMO, progress is more important than a diagnosis.

[Angela Tyszka]

An IEE would only be appropriate if the school already evaluated her and found no deficits in the areas that you are concerned about. Then you would "disagree" with their evaluations and request an outside professional to do the testing.

While this is a little different than the question you asked, when it comes to reading, phonics, fluency, etc. I've found that the curriculum and the actual assessments the school uses can be the problem.  Many schools use a balanced literacy or cuing approach that focuses on learning whole words, trying to "guess" words by the first sound or use pictures in the story for the context. While these strategies work for some students, the vast majority do not learn to read this way and need a structured literacy program that focuses on phonics and decoding words. I heard a great quote on this today. It was "if you teach a child 10 words, you teach a child 10 words. If you teach a child 10 sounds, you teach them how to make over 26,000 words." I've been able to successfully advocate for reading goals and interventions in students that weren't making grade level standards by using data that school already had, i.e. standardized test scores, grades in reading, etc. Your child is already eligible for an IEP so now the school has to address all areas of need, not just the areas related to the disability category. Show the need.

If you want to learn more about literacy and the different curriculums I mentioned, I would highly suggest you start by listening to the podcast "Sold a Story." It was extremely eye opening for me and I saw it first hand in my youngest son.