Jenna

Either contact your state's Dept. of Education or check its operating standards/procedures online as to whether there's a required timeframe for discussing evaluation results. Different states have different rules on this. Some require meetings within 30 days of an evaluation. There is no timeline specified in my state.

So the school said in the PWN that they are not removing the individual speech services and she will continue to receive the individual and group speech therapies? What ideas did the school/AAC evaluator have for helping your child learn to communicate in moments of frustration, and to help her become conversational, if not using AAC? What progress has been made since she's had an IEP? Is it consistent progress? Review previous IEPs and the progress reports and use that information to develop your request for the types and amount of services you think would be helpful to her as you prepare for the next IEP meeting.

I'd ask to see a copy of the policy for why the current school won't do an FBA try to understand their why on this- if you think one is needed for your child. Behaviors can change, and if behavior interferes with a student's ability to access the educational environment, it should be a relatively easy ask. I hope your conversation with the school went well. I agree that another child should not be responsible for getting another teacher. Maybe talk with your LEA to see if nap/rest breaks could be added to the IEP as an amendment without a meeting. They may need a note from a medical provider for this, or they may want to have a meeting, but if a child needs it due to medical changes, it seems reasonable for the team to consider adding it.

You can notify the school of what evaluations you do & don't consent to. So if you only agree with them conducting an FBA right now, you can let them know that.

Students can have health plans in addition to their IEPs. Health plans are usually written by the school nurse, and they list all of the student's medical needs and how they are addressed in the educational environment (meds to be given, emergency procedures, etc.). Issues like behavior impeding his or others' ability to learn, not being able to complete all school work due to medical conditions, etc. can be addressed through the IEP. If behavior is impeding his or others' ability to learn, you should request an FBA. You could get letters from the medical providers explaining his conditions. Though doctors can't require the school provide accommodations, they could suggest the IEP team consider accommodations that they feel may help him succeed at school. As for the teacher calling out your child and now asking another child to get another teacher- have you spoken directly with that teacher or the principal?

Was an AAC evaluation ever performed, or does the county provide LAMP to all students? If an AAC evaluation hasn't been done, ask for one. Does he have a goal in his IEP to use LAMP to communicate about his day? Does your child have an aide, intervention specialist, therapist or anyone else at school that you know and trust? If so, check with that person on how things are going at school. You could ask if your county Board of Developmental Disabilities service coordinator if they or someone on their team goes into the schools to conduct observations to facilitate consistency across the home and school environments. Perhaps the school would be receptive to that, and then the person from the Board of DD could meet with you afterward to discuss their observations. I came across the following on recording in NC: https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/north-carolina/north-carolina-recording-law Have you tried meeting with the principal or special education coordinator to discuss your concerns? Keep documenting the work you are doing with your child at home, and how well he does at home. Perhaps some of the resources listed by the NC Dept. of Public Instruction at https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/classroom-resources/exceptional-children/parent-resources would be helpful? Have you reached out to the ECAC (https://www.ecac-parentcenter.org)?

An FBA can be done at any time behavior is interfering with a student's learning. Once the FBA is done, the IEP team should meet to discuss the results, and a BIP would be created if needed. IEP teams are required to meet at least annually; they can meet more frequently as needed.

I would first ask for a copy of the current ETR so you could thoroughly review it for accuracy. ETRs are required every three years. A new ETR does not have to be written each time a new evaluation is performed. However, the evaluations must be done by qualified individuals following their profession's standards, and, evaluations also must be performed with fidelity to the test maker's instructions. Ask that the facilitated meeting time be moved to a time in which the appropriate school staff (such as the case manager) could attend. I'd talk with your private providers and see if you can find 3 times that would work for them to attend an IEP meeting, and let the district and the facilitator know those dates/times, and ask if those dates would work for them. To help control your costs in cases of long IEP meetings covering several different areas that may not be relevant to your private providers, it's OK for them to attend only part of the meeting. Holding meetings via Zoom is also more economical than paying travel expenses. Bring up your concern that the team didn't list his strengths. There's usually a checkbox on the IEP for the team to mark that they've considered the strengths of the child. Don't let them check that box until they have. You can ask that your parent letter of concern be included, in its entirety, in the parent input section.

I agree with JSD24's comment to save the concerning work samples and share them with the IEP team so they can see your areas of concern. Ask how those areas could be specifically targeted in their specially designed instruction.

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.

Does the school have a policy prohibiting them from sending the docs to an authorized third party via email? Would the school email the docs to Mom, and then Mom can forward them to you?

Sorry I didn't see this until now. I hope the meeting went well. If the goal is to help the child use their words when they're angry, is this always possible when the particular child is upset/flooded? Would some type of AAC help the child more clearly communicate when in that state? Does the district have BCBAs who could conduct an FBA and help develop behavior goals?

As JSD24 said, without evaluations, there is no IEP or specially designed instruction. IEPs provide more protections to the student than a 504 plan. Were the private evaluations done recently? If so, and if you are comfortable doing so, you could share those with the district and ask if the district would accept those evaluations. If the private evals are old or the district wants to do their own evals, ask the district more questions about their special education evaluation process and how they would make your child comfortable so as to get an accurate snapshot of his strengths and challenges. Parent permission is needed for the district to evaluate for special education services, and in my state, the school is also required to get the parent's consent to implement an initial IEP.

I agree with all JSD24; I'm just curious what the school wrote in your son's most recent ETR because that document requires the district list the educational impact in each area evaluated. Double-check what they listed in this area and use that to support your arguments for the need for more goals/services/SDI in those areas. If there are areas that weren't evaluated, I'd write the IEP team and ask that those areas be evaluated.

Does the parent feel that ALL areas of need were comprehensively evaluated (including speech, gross motor and fine motor/sensory processing- common areas evaluated when autism may be suspected)? Why doesn't the parent want to request an IEE if the school has done a couple evaluations, and they still continue to say the student is not eligible for special education? As Carolyn said, it doesn't sound like the initial PWN was complete. 504 accommodations aren't specially designed instruction (special education) or therapies, so a child doesn't get those things if they're not found eligible for special education. Is the child currently participating in RTI/MTSS?

The IEP process is exhausting, but I agree with Carolyn and JSD24 that the error has to be corrected. I've seen typos of districts that weren't formally challenged at the time they were sent, used against the child years later. FERPA allows a parent to request that errors in the student's records be corrected, but that can be another process too. Maybe send another follow-up email to the school psychologist saying that you understand it's a busy time and that there's a lot of illness going around/school closures due to weather, etc. and maybe they've been out of the office, but you'd like to ensure this area is clear in the IEP. Maybe state that you hope they are able to update this area by the end of next week, but if you don't have an update by then, you will follow up with the director of special education.

Can you please help me better understand the timeline as you mentioned that it's been 4 months and you're getting nowhere? Is she still receiving 20 mins of group speech therapy and 20 mins of individual speech therapy per week? Did the school recently contact you requesting that the mins be decreased to only the group therapy session? If so, what was their reasoning for that? For how long has she had an IEP? How long ago was her most recent evaluation? What did the SLP state in the most recent ETR about her being a gestalt language processor and the impact of her communication delays on her accessing the educational environment (including effects on reading, writing, literacy, math, etc)? What does the IEP say about her present levels of performance? Does your daughter use AAC to augment what she can say with her mouth? Has the school or any private therapists done an AAC evaluation? Evaluations are critical as that drives the IEP. In the IEP, the school should discuss her present levels of performance, then the team should determine appropriate goals for her to make meaningful progress, and then services and supports (including how much time she gets and in what setting) should be decided. If you feel the school's evals weren't done properly or weren't comprehensive enough, consider requesting an IEE for speech and/or AAC assessment. We can't control what the school does (though you have the right to file for mediation or due process if you disagree with the IEP), but I wanted to share the following resources in case they could help you and your family. -Natural Language Acquisition on the Autism Spectrum by Marge Blanc -Assistiveware has a short overview on AAC for GLPs, written by an AAC user, at https://www.assistiveware.com/blog/gestalt-language-processing-aac. -CoughDrop's "AAC in the Cloud" conference last summer had a long presentation on GLPs and AAC; you can watch it for free at https://presenters.aacconference.com/videos/UVRVMFFUSXk=. -PraacticalAAC- has a lot of helpful info on AAC, including activities you could do at home to support AAC growth. Best wishes.

If the group counseling was on the IEP, but the group disintegrated while it was still listed on the IEP, perhaps the district could have found a similar group for her to participate in through a local, private therapy organization at that time? Are there limits to what your insurance would cover regarding individual and/or group counseling (deductibles, copays, in-network v. out-of-network providers, etc)? You're probably already looking into all of these details. Would the district be interested in compensating your mileage, or would the district want to provide transportation for your child? There's a lot to consider. Keep gathering all the info, make a list of items you'd like to request from the district, prioritize them, and I'm hoping you have a positive outcome from the meeting.

@driven_cosmosWhile intellectual disability is one of the categories for special education under IDEA, special education eligibility can sometimes be determined without IQ testing (see https://www.ndsccenter.org/wp-content/uploads/IL-IQ-Testing-Brief.pdf from the National Down Syndrome Congress).

@Laura- Have you already submitted your letter of parent concerns to the district? If so, and if you have the contact info for the facilitator, share a copy of that letter with the facilitator as well.

Did the state say that your child needed to receive counseling, social skills instruction, etc. in its complaint findings? Has the school provided all services and supports as listed in the IEP? Did the state address any concerns in their complaint response regarding the school moving her to a more restrictive environment? If the school didn't do what it was supposed to do, that's where your daughter may be entitled to comp ed/comp services. See Lisa's post at https://adayinourshoes.com/comp-ed-compensatory-education/.

Has your daughter continuously had an IEP since she was 3? If so, what does the IEP or the district's PWN say for why they haven't provided academic interventions? If academics aren't addressed in the IEP, write a letter of parent concerns and request another IEP meeting. There's a lot of literature discussing risks of grade retention; the district should be willing to share with you the studies they're using as guidance for why they don't want retention. The National Association of School Psychologists has a position statement regarding grade retention at https://www.nasponline.org/research-and-policy/policy-priorities/position-statements (scroll down to "Grade Retention and Social Promotion"). The American Academy of Pediatrics also outlines their position on grade retention for families at https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/school/Pages/Repeating-a-Grade.aspx. Wrightslaw also has info on grade retention (https://www.wrightslaw.com/info/retain.index.htm) to consider. Talk with your child's doctor and psychologist (if she has one), and ask to meet again with the school to come up with an appropriate plan for meeting your daughter's academic needs.

Make sure your send your letter of parent concerns (including the behavior/FBA situation, anxiety challenges) in advance of the upcoming meeting. Did the school state in the PWN why they felt they didn't need to conduct an FBA? Did the PWN state that the people who attended that meeting initially approved the request for the FBA, but the district later stated those individuals didn't have the authority to make that decision? Who represented the LEA in the meeting in which the FBA request was denied? If the teacher previously agreed to providing a more detailed communication log, but now says it's unnecessary, perhaps she's getting pushback from administration? Have you talked with the principal or a special education case manager?

Is the 1:1 service your daughter receives a 504 accommodation, or does she already have an IEP? Is your child receiving RTI/MTSS? Did the school evaluate her to determine her eligibility for special education (an IEP)? What was the test that said she's performing well "all 70 no improvement?"

In Ohio, the school or parents can request mediation or facilitation (by calling 877-644-6338 or emailing OECMediationFacilitation@education.ohio.gov), but both parties have to agree to participate in it. Usually ODE will send bios of around 3 mediators/facilitators to choose from. You and the district would need to agree on the mediator/facilitator. Mediation/facilitation are similar. If an agreement is reached in mediation, the mediator can write up a legally binding agreement for both parties to sign. A facilitated IEP meeting can be helpful in contentious relationships as the facilitator should ensure all voices are heard and that the meeting stays on schedule. Some facilitators are more fair to families than others (giving them time to share their concerns/ideas), but they're all technically supposed to be neutral third parties. School staff may be more polite to you if an ODE facilitator attends your meeting. Mediation sessions may run much longer than facilitated IEP meetings.