Angela Tyszka
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Posts posted by Angela Tyszka
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Thanks, I already gave them the COPAA directory but will look at the FB group. If there was someone in here, I wanted to support them. I like to give names whenever possible.
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I'm trying to help a parent in SC find an advocate. If you are one or know of someone, please let me know.
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I attended a webinar today where we talked about how you dress for an IEP meeting, specifically if you're an advocate. I'm old school and have always worn a suit to client's school meetings. However based on conversations we had, I'm beginning to rethink my perceived opinion of professionalism. More teachers are wearing tees and jeans at schools now. So maybe wearing a suit is putting the teams I'm trying to collaborate with on the defense. I'm wondering what everyone else thinks. What would you think if your advocate dressed more casually (I'm thinking business casual. I don't think I would ever wear jeans)?
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If you can't get them to put it in a PWN for you, you can always put it in writing yourself and send it to the special ed director. The important thing is creating a paper trail.
As far as your son not getting an IEP, does he have behavioral or life skills issues that interfere with his learning? Students do not need to be receiving failing grades to qualify for an IEP. They need to have skill deficits that are impacting their learning and/or their ability to access the curriculum. If you disagree with the school's evaluations you can always request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at district expense.
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Honestly, having been through something similar myself, I'm of the mindset to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. I'd send in her personal iPad and ask them to use it until they can go through the proper channels to get her a school device and app. My son's school gave him AT that was inappropriate for years before I finally went out and had an independent evaluation done for a speech device. I sent it to school and told them I'd support them in anyway I could for them to use it but that I wasn't going another year without my son being able to access the curriculum and quite frankly, his voice.
If they disagree or give you push back I'd ask what they are doing right now to give your daughter access to the curriculum. Are they scribing her work? Allowing her to type? Does she know how to type? If not, are they teaching her? While these could could all be appropriate short term accommodations, it's better to find a way that she can do things herself independently if she has the ability.
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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.
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I agree with Carolyn on this one. I used to be a disability services coordinator in a law school so I would meet with students to discuss their evaluations and possible accommodations. I would take "personal notes" that would help me remember things that they told me but would only use those notes as a memory aid. I would not share the actual notes with anyone else and would not use them to generate reports or anything else that would be considered an official educational record. I was never named in a law suit specifically, but I know some of my counterparts in the school were and they did not have to turn over the type of notes that I described.
With that said, I am not a lawyer and am not qualified to give legal advice or interpret the law. My advice as a non-attorney advocate would be to approach it another way. To me, quoting laws and statutes is always a last resort. I prefer to ask questions that really get to the heart of the matter. Many times the raw data would not even make sense to the casual observer, but that doesn't mean that they don't have to put that in a usable form to share with you. Where is the objective data? How are they tracking progress? How are they determining present levels? Can they plot the data on a chart for you so you can see the progress. (See attached document. This came from my state's parent training and information center and I found it to be a great tool).
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Progress reports and good data collection would be another way you can gauge progress towards goals. If the goals are well written they would be SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, use Action Words, Realistic and Time Limited). They should also have a baseline where the student is starting from and where they are expected to be at the end of the IEP cycle. From there you should even be able to plot those numbers on a graph with where he is every month to see if he is on target to meet the goals. If he's not on track then I would request an IEP meeting to discuss revising the goals. I've attached a sample progress monitoring data sheet that may help you visualize what I mean and you can also use it to evaluate. This was from my state parent training and information center but is general enough to be used anywhere.
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I would look at his previous school evaluations to see if they did indeed perform evaluations to assess his eligibility for educational ASD. Your state regulations should have the exact criteria they look for. If they didn't do a full evaluation, I would request an evaluation in writing. You do not need to wait until the next re-evaluation date. You can ask for additional evaluations at any time, especially if there have been changes in academics, behavior, social skills since the last evaluation. Unfortunately I don't have any additional information about the ESA funding. I tried to look information up for you on the AZ Department of Ed website and their site is down.
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It's not clear from your post, are you the parent of the student or are you observing for another purpose like an evaluation? I would first advise you to put everything in writing if you are not already doing that. Creating a paper trail is so important.
Aside from that, I might approach this a different way. Classroom observations by parents (if that's what you are) are rarely as productive as we think they will be. Children tend to act completely different when we're around. I had to take a year off of helping in my son's classroom and attending parties because he would become so dysregulated having me there.
Lisa has a good article about classroom observation rules that might help guide you in your approach. https://adayinourshoes.com/can-parents-observe-classroom-iep/
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I agree with what the other posters have suggested. I also did some research on IXL and found some blogs directly from the provider about how they support people with disabilities that may help the team customize the data and information that comes from using the IXL program.
https://blog.ixl.com/2021/07/07/how-ixl-supports-families-with-disabilities/
https://blog.ixl.com/2020/11/12/how-ixl-supports-special-education/
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I highly recommend the book "From Emotions to Advocacy" by Pete Wright of Wrightslaw fame. He has an entire section on how to interpret standardized testing results and use the results to develop meaningful goals and services for your child. Wrightslaw.com has just a ton of information on a wide variety of topics. It's been one of my go-to sites for years.
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The LEA may not always be the same person. Since it is simply someone that has been given the authority to make decisions on behalf of the district, in one meeting it could be the principal, in another it could be the caseworker, and in another it may be a special ed supervisor. I usually ask the team to clarify who will be attending as the LEA prior to the meeting.
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If the school evaluated and you disagree with their results, you may request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at district expense. This may not be the answer since schools don't have to do anything but consider the outside results but it may at least give you better information as to his needs.
Also, remember that all services, goals, accommodations and placement are based on NEEDS so I'd thoroughly look through the present levels section of the IEP and really identify where his needs are, whether they are academic, behavior, social or living skills. If there are additional needs not addressed, make sure you include those in the comprehensive parent concerns letter you write to have included in the IEP section. (Always, always write a parent concerns letter). Sometimes just focusing on the needs will allow you to make the changes that you want. For example, it sounds like you want more inclusion in general ed so include in your parent concerns letter why you feel this is appropriate and build your case with objective data. What are some examples of times he's been in an inclusive setting and what were the benefits?
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My philosophy is that the child on paper should match the child in front of you. If the school refuses to do the necessary evaluations right now to change her eligibility category then I would write a very detailed, comprehensive parent concerns letter about why you feel her ADHD (under Other Health Impairment in most cases) impacts her education and access to the curriculum the most. Ask that the letter be included, in its entirety, in your daughter's IEP. Also, submit all the medical documentation you have that supports this if you're comfortable doing so. Any changes they disagree with or deny should be put in the PWN and you would still have the options available to you in your state's procedural safeguards.
At the end of the day, you have to decide if this is the "hill you want to die on" though. Qualifying for services under ASD is just that, a qualification. It is not a diagnosis and it is not supposed to be used to determine placement, goals, services, etc. Those should always be based on the child's needs. If the services are working for now, it would be my opinion that making changes in the eligibility category could wait until the formal re-evaluation.
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I agree with Jenna. Put all of your concerns in writing and if the district refuses to make changes ask for that to be put in a PWN. https://adayinourshoes.com/iep-prior-written-notice-pwn/. You may have to use your procedural safeguards (mediation, complaint, due process) to settle disputes but having everything documented, in writing, will certainly help your case. You may also consider reaching out to your state parent training and information center and/or hiring an advocate to help if you feel you're not getting anywhere on your own.
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I would ask for clarification from the school. "Adaptations" is not a term defined by IDEA.
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Hello and welcome to the Michigan Parents Club. I'm so glad you found your way here. I started this club so we could talk about issues local to us.
My name is Angela and I live in the Metro Detroit area with my husband and two sons, who both have IEPs. I've been a Stay at Home Mom for the past 7 years but prior to that I worked in student services at a law school and was a disability services coordinator. While staying at home, I continued to attend trainings and conferences, both as an attendee and as a speaker. I also volunteered to be a school district representative for our county Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) and I helped to start a parent resource and support group for parents in my local school district. I have helped friends and family with IEPs and have participated in groups like this for years to share information and resources that I've gained. When both of my kids were finally in school full time, I found that I really wanted to do something I was passionate about. I felt I could make a difference in families' lives so I decided to start a special education advocacy business. https://mistudentadvocacy.com
I'd love to hear more about all of you.
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Typically there would be a transition meeting to go from an IFSP to an IEP, if necessary. The team would review existing data, see if additional evaluations need to be performed and determine whether the child is still eligible for services. If so then you would go through the IEP process together to determine the needs of the child, services, goals, placement, etc.
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Hi, Whitney. I just saw your reply. Please feel free to give me a call sometime this week and let's chat. If I'm unable to help, I have a lot of resources around the state. My number is (517) 204-2775.
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What was one of the best pieces of advice or resources that you received when your child was first diagnosed?
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I have heard of children qualifying for services under the Autism eligibility category despite not having a medical diagnosis of Autism. Many times it's because it can take a year or more to get evaluated by a medical professional in some areas. In my experience, I truly want the child on paper to reflect the child that is standing in front of me. However, at the end of the day, if a "label" is the only thing keeping them from getting the service and supports that they need, any eligibility category is better than none. Services, goals, placement, etc. are supposed to be based on needs of the child and not eligibility category or diagnosis.
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That's a tough one. I would probably consult an attorney. I just did a quick search on restraining orders in PA and unless you were physically abused or threatened, I'm not sure that your situation would be eligible for one. However, an attorney might know of other remedies that would be available to you. I'm curious to see what you find out though.
What is a Restraining Order in Pennsylvania? from (https://herlawyer.com/restraining-order-in-pennsylvania/)
A restraining order is a legally-binding protective order a court issues, which provides protection or relief to a victim. Restraining orders outline the conditions of the order both parties must follow and the consequences for breaking the order. There are three different types of restraining orders: protection from abuse order, protection from sexual violence order, and protection from intimidation order.
Protection from abuse order, or PFA, protects individuals being physically abused, threatened, or sexually violated by a partner, spouse, or relative. Protection from Sexual Violence order, or SVP, is an order of protection for people who experience sexual violence by a non-intimate partner (coworker, neighbor, or a stranger). Protection from intimidation order, or PFI, is for minors who are harassed or stalked by an adult over 18 with whom the child did not have any intimate relationship.
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Here are some state specific resources with the links that you may find helpful. Any others to add?
Michigan Department of Education Office of Special Education (MDE-OSE)
Michigan Alliance for Families
Special Education Mediation Services (SEMS)
Family Support Subsidy (Michigan)
"Support Person" vs. 1:1 aide
in IEP Questions
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I don't think you're going to find specific guidance about what the difference is between a support person and a 1:1 aid as those terms are not really defined in federal law. My educated guess is that typically a 1:1 aid is a particular person that is assigned to work with an individual student. A support person could be working with multiple students and may not be the same person all the time.