Leaderboard

What I've found with my 2E child was that the school didn't do the correct evals so there were no areas of need that showed an IEP was needed. The areas my daughter struggled with were pragmatics and social skills. When they did evaluate social skills, my child scored in the 2nd percentile. (I was told that kids with ID - Downs Syndrome - scored around the 8th percentile.) I had to beg for pragmatics to be evaluated. They did the TOPL but not the optional extended part. She scored average but I think she was able to mask her issues due to being gifted & I was told the extended part would have pushed her past her limits. About 9 months later, I was at an IEP meeting and they said they see issues with pragmatics & I brought up the results of their testing. There are assessments for executive functioning - they tend to be rating scales where the adults fill them out. You can ask for the school to look at that. My child had a 504 for EF. She had a teacher who checked that she was writing down her assignments and bringing needed material home for homework. I feel that schools don't say what they do in sp ed because there is such a wide variety of what services a student can need. In older grades, they teach cooking, cleaning, shopping, budgeting, how to ride a bus/train, read a bus schedule, job skills through job shadowing & volunteer jobs. I was told if the school doesn't currently offer something that meets a student's needs, they have to come up with a way to meet them - could be in another school/district too. I'd rather my child get evaluated and get the support they need than be suspended. Did you share your results from the outside eval with the school? Gifted students will often not be academically challenged in the younger grades. They don't 'learn how to learn' because of this. At some point - generally toward middle school, they hit a wall and can't figure out something because they lack the skills. This is when they will tend to misbehave. Your child might not feel it's OK to ask for help but we all need help sometimes. Mention the times you ask for help. Let her know you don't know about plumbing and don't have the tools to put new tires on your car's rims...or put a roof on your home or raise cattle for beef. We all lean on each other.

IEPs are supposed to be based on the child's individual needs- as would be identified/eligibility determined through the school's evaluations. All areas of need should be evaluated for each child, and services and supports should be provided to address those areas of need. This is why the school may be very hesitant to say what they could potentially provide with an IEP if they haven't done evaluations and gone through the IEP process. Placement (such as being in the general education setting all day, or a % of the day with some time in a resource room, or- an alternate placement if needed) is one of the last things considered in the development of an IEP. Schools cannot predetermine a child's IEP; they must first do evaluations and the parents should be involved in the development of the IEP. All this would require your consent. Talking with parents of other similar children in the district could help give you an idea of things you could expect, but the school won't determine what could be offered until after evaluations are completed. If your child is facing possible suspension, there are risks with that as well, including the child having a "label." None of us are labels; we are all humans with unique strengths and challenges. A child with an IEP has more protections than a child on a 504 plan. A school psychologist or a BCBA could conduct an FBA as part of the district's evaluations.