JSD24

Some state laws don't allow for any wiggle room when it comes to tardies and absences. If your state laws allow for it, you can have an accommodation in the IEP that, while she is working on her IEP goal, that she doesn't get an unexcused tardy when she she has difficulty transitioning to be cathed and ends up late because of that. There are intuitional things that are in school discipline policies that don't follow 'the science'. IMO, this is what you've run into. The tardy is supposed to teach her to do better next time. (Doesn't work like this when you have an EF disability.)

Healthcare POA is really a must for anyone over 18. They kick in when the adult is incapacitated. I remember being at a sp ed training on this by an attorney. He had a POA set up for his sp needs adult child. The worst happened. His typical child was skiing in Colorado and had an accident. W/o a POA, he couldn't even find out how she was doing. She was OK in the end but, since this experience, he recommends a POA for everyone. Guardianship has gotten hard to get in my area. https://adayinourshoes.com/supported-decision-making/ https://adayinourshoes.com/guardianship-disabled-child/

I'd start by talking to the state. That route should be no cost. Find out NOW if this will be OK. Can you get the county to spell out how many hours/minutes of instruction happens? I'm in PA & the last page of the IEP lists out total hours and how many are sp ed versus gen ed. Can you get the county school to do this so when you transfer schools, the new school has to justify the cut in instructional time? If they are cutting out 2 hours & 50 minutes of time that students are there, they need to show they are not cutting out instruction. (And kids that age need breaks. They can't go 4 hours w/o a break/recess/snacks.) They need to show that the change in ratio will also work for your child. Again, spell this out in the current IEP so the new program is the same. My gut says you're going to need a lawyer but talk to classmates families. You should be able to do something that's class action ad where the district cover attorney costs. Or contact your state's disability rights group or ed law center.

He has to be enrolled & following a pathway (their pathway unfortunately) to a diploma from a public school to have school services. (It's their game & you have to play by their rules.) He can quit and then he's on his own (no school support) to pursue a GED. With taking GED classes, he should get ADA accommodations like he'd get at a college. Pursuing a GED & attending K-12 school are mutually exclusive. If he's enrolled in a public school, he gets services to age 22. If he quits school, he doesn't get school services. Not sure what age where it's his decision to quit. (I'm pretty sure, in my state, 'parents' make IEP decisions including when a student can quit & pursue another avenue like dropping out or GED.) Keep in mind, services end when he gets a HS diploma. The school doesn't want to be paying for IEP services forever so they will want to have him heading to meet their graduation requirements so they can give him a diploma. A lawyer might be able to get something else for him from the school if he wasn't provided FAPE in the past but I think it's a 2-year look back. If he needs help understanding math so he can pass the GED, he'll need to pay for a tutor. The HS will not tutor if he's heading for a GED. (They get more points when he stays to graduation than if he drops out & gets a GED.) It's unfortunate for him that the meds were wrong and this was the outcome where he lost 2 years of schooling. My child stayed for a 5th year of HS but this was on a college campus. They didn't need to step foot in the HS. It's too bad they can't do something like this for your son.

Give them a week. Write a polite letter: Dear School- On March 14, we met for xx's IEP meeting. After the meeting, we discussed an FBA being done so we can better understand the behaviors that xx is exhibiting at school. I'm anxious to get the paperwork to sign so that we can move forward with completing the FBA. When can I anticipate receiving the paperwork? Will it be sent electronically, by USPS or will it be given to my child to bring home? Thank you,

All paras need to work under the supervision of a teacher. I'm assuming the para is in the IEP & will be replaced so the school stays in compliance with the IEP. The teacher & the new para will have observations about your child's present levels to be discussed at the May meeting. I know teacher can write out their observations to be included into an IEP. Not sure if a para can do this. Can she write out what they feel are your child's biggests needs? What areas should the new para focus on? Where do they see her reaching goals? Any new goals to work on? Can strengths be used to help your child reach goals in deficit areas?

One thought I have about this situation is that the school cannot do an evaluation until they have parent permission. They need to evaluate/observe your child to do data collection at a 'special education' level. Any data they have from before you gave them permission to observe would have to be the low level data that's allowed to be done for all students. If they use data from before you gave the school written permission to do a sp ed eval they have violated IDEA by doing a sp ed eval w/o parent permission. It's late as I'm writing this so I'm hoping it makes sense. There is a sequence: suspect a disability, parental permission to evaluate, evaluation/data collection at a sp ed level, data is then used to see if an IEP is needed & what services are needed. Placement is the last decision. Data collection cannot come before the parental permission for an evaluation.

You wait. The school doesn't know which students will continue to need the 15:1:1 class based on how their progress will go during the last few months of the school year until they happen. Assuming the same students will continue in this class is predetermination. Seems like they don't want to mislead you.

Writing a parent letter of concern to be copied into the IEP can be a great way to make your point. "We discussed no reading aloud at the IEP meeting as well as a follow-up email I sent to XX on March 11. I do not see this in the IEP and I want to know what additional steps need to be taken to get this into the IEP. My child's dyslexia diagnosis puts her oral reading fluency years behind her same-age peer and I don't want her to have to have to demonstrate this to her classmates. Please let me know what my next step needs to be so this can be on her IEP."

Under Universal Design for Learning, the same accommodation can be available to the whole class. Now if UDL isn't working for the student who needs it, then that's a sign that it's not the appropriate accommodation. Request a meeting so the 504 can be tweaked. If the 504 isn't being followed, that's a Civil Rights issue and filing a complaint with OCR is the next step if going up the chain of command isn't working. Ask for data on how often “frequent check-in to assess for on task behavior” are finding your child off task. Your child might need a less distracting environment or a different sort of help & not more check-ins.

Not exactly sure what the link includes but see if your child can visit the new school, play on the playground over the summer or take advantage of other opportunities to explore the school (do they have a spring fair or a 5th grade performance that's open to the public?) so it's not new to them on the 1st day. See if there are other kids you can meet so your child has a familiar face at school. See if the custodian can give a private tour over the summer. Some of this can go into the IEP. The rest is networking - the school can't give you the name & numbers of other families but they can share your info if you give them permission.

In theory, the school should evaluate in all areas of suspected disability. If they missed an area, ask for them to assess it. If he's in 5th and at a 3rd grade level in reading & writing, it definitely seems like there could be a disability. You might want to look over the evals they did to see what was evaluated. If you have questions about the evals the school did, feel free to post back with them. It's not always obvious what evals look at. They may have found issues in this area but didn't dig deeper to get to the specifics. There is a saying in education: If it's not in writing, it didn't happen. My advice is to make requests in writing. (I'm not sure about how IEP notes work. My state doesn't have them.)

IMO, this is a great ask. I wouldn't ask at an IEP meeting. I'd write down the sort of things I feel the school should be working on from your perspective and send this to the school in the form of a parent concerns letter. Dear school- I feel that my son, XXX, does need the support of an IEP to learn to read. He seems to lack a foundation in phonics, spelling & grammar which makes it hard for him to read and write. He needs for these basic skills to be taught so he can master them. Only after he has a good grasp of these fundamentals should he look to self monitor his reading & writing. I'd like to meet to discuss changing the goals in his IEP so that we can strengthen his ELA foundation.

One thing I remember being told by my child's behavior specialist is that the different between typical & disabled is often frequency, intensity and/or duration. I'd ask for data on a typical classmate as to how often other students experience the same things. My thought on advice for the mom: Where do you live? Are you allowed to record a phone call w/o permission of the other party? (Not legal where I live.) You can record calls if this OK where you live since the school seems to not be willing to communicate in writing. If permission is needed, the mom can reply: Please call me after 2 pm. Please be aware that I will be recording this call. Your calling me means that I have your permission to record this call. There are apps on cell phone which will allow calls to be recorded but I'd test them out ahead of time.

An IEP from a public charter schools in PA would need to be followed by the public school when your child moves into a district school. As with any 'move', the new school will look to see if additional evals are needed. He would not be at square one. They have to follow the IEP for a month before they decide on what changes are needed. Did the school develop a PBSP after doing the FBA? An FBA is an evaluation to see if a student needs a PBSP. The PBSP is often part of the IEP & would need to be followed just like the IEP would need to be followed. Transition is a different issue. In PA, transition age is 14 so the school is obligated to look at 'life after HS' when a student turns 14. Traditional public schools are more likely to use the IUs to provide transition services than charter schools. His current school should do any evaluations related to transition so they can be made part of his transitional IEP.

If a student isn't following school rules and is making a situation unsafe, the school can and should follow their disciple rules and implement consequences. When the student is exhibiting behaviors that are a manifestation of a disability, That's a bit different. An FBA might be the appropriate assessment so that the right Behavior Improvement Plan or Positive Behavior Support Plan can be developed. I'd like to know what his antecedents are so that they can be avoided or modified so that they don't trigger these behaviors. He can also be taught coping techniques since there might be unknowns that could also be antecedents. What does the school's BIP or PBSP say should be done when he has these unsafe behaviors? If math tests are a trigger, he probably should be given them in the resource room with an RBT or behavior specialist there to help him stay calm. If there is no BIP or PBSP in place, the school is setting him up to be disciplined for things we know are going to happen. This could be looked at as a denial of FAPE since he is being removed from instruction for things that are known to trigger his disability. This violates his rights both under special education as well as his civil rights. I've looked over the research. Suspension doesn't help teach coping techniques to a student with GAD. It is archaic and can be counterproductive - especially if you want to avoid school refusal as a future maladaptive behavior to being anxious. Does the IEP say he has GAD? What are the specially designed instruction and accommodations in place to help teach your child to be better regulated when he's anxious? Is the school following his BIP/PBSP? If the IEP isn't FAPE (and it does sound inappropriate), the school should change it so it can provide access to his education given his GAD. If this has been going on for a while (which I'm inferring from the limited info in your post), I'd say the IEP should have been changed up a long time ago to better accommodate your child as well as maybe ramping up the instruction on coping techniques. I like to use diabetes as a model. A diabetic with low sugar will pass out - which is unsafe for both this student & the people around them. How do you deal with this? You allow them to either eat sugary things in the classroom or head to the nurse to check blood sugars and get something sugary to bring up their blood sugar. You don't suspend them or give them detention for leaving the classroom or for passing out because they didn't feel their sugar level dropping. Seems like the school is suspending your child because they aren't accessing their tools to help keep their anxiety from getting out of range. He might also need to be taught to notice when his anxiety is starting to go into a range where he'll not have control of it. Are you asking for a manifestation hearing when your child is being suspended for a manifestation of their disability? https://adayinourshoes.com/child-suspended-from-school-iep/ I think you need to start with sending the school a parent concers letter. Include about the lack of access to his education when he's suspended. Mention that the IEP doesn't seem to be FAPE because he's not learning coping skills. Tell them that they haven't come up with a good assessment of his anxiety so the behavior plan hasn't worked. (I'm thinking you might need an attorney but I feel you need to see how willing the school is to fix things before you make that move.)

He can walk with his class (do the ceremony) and not get his diploma so he can keep his IEP and stay until his 22nd birthday. The CCIU has a TLP which might be a good choice for ESY. Because the cost of the TLP through CCIU is high, a few SDs have them in their HS. They also have the Aspire program - 2 of them. One has your child do a week at WCU. The other is during the school year where they are on WCU's campus for 3 days and doing the CCIU's discover program the other 2 days. How are his social skills? Things being 'unexpected' from a social skills perspective can definitely cause some anxiety. Is he on the waiver wait list? Do you see him in competitive employment?

Subcontracting is a process. The person has to have the OK of the school board to do this. In my district, it adds a month to go through the process if getting SB OK.

There is a shortage of sp ed teachers so it's hard to find one willing to do a short term assignment to cover a maternity leave. If you are in a more rural area, this will only make things worse. There are a few solutions. (1) Have the teacher makeup the missed time once they return. (2) You can ask about a tutor but what schools do is instruction - not tutoring. There should be a scope & sequence to the support where tutoring isn't always like that. In other words, tutoring isn't an IEP service. (3) With home instruction...if they had someone willing to come to school; finding someone who does house calls is harder. There is no time line with this. The teacher is a credentialed professional. You can't just hire anyone to replace them. The person needs to have the credentials to do this. I'd ask if it's possible to have instruction made up over the summer.

When you do a request for an eval in PA or any state, they want to know what areas you see concern with. There are 100's of special ed evals that a school can do and there's no way to do them all on every student - no reason to do it either. (You can ask for the school psychologist to 'talk' to you via email rather than a phone call. This way you have time to plan what to say as well as a record of what was said. Not sure if they would agree to this.) Parents need to give the school a clue where to start. Do you have concerns about reading, math, handwriting, etc? I'd say it's 'normal' for the school to make sure they understand the parent's concerns so they can do the evals that are needed. There can be meetings to talk over with parents which evals the school is looking to do. The wording in IDEA (federal law) is to 'evaluate in all areas of suspected disability'. You do need to list out what areas you see where you 'suspect a disability'. You called your post "Request to Evaluate teen for Emotional Disturbance", so I'm assuming this is what you want the school to look at. They do have IEPs for ED but I've seen school psychologists be reluctant to check this box on the IEP. When a child has ED, It really needs to be a team effort between home & school. In other words, your child probably needs an outside clinician to work with and have the school offering similar support during school hours. Schools are educational and supportive. They shouldn't be the primary help when a student has an emotional disturbance. ED is a disability. In PA, every child who is disabled is eligible for Medicaid. Medicaid will cover a clinician to work with your child. If your child is working with a clinician who has already done some evals, you should let the school know this for a few reasons. (1) You can't redo an eval if it's been less than a year since it was done. (2) Sometimes, the school will use an outside eval to provide services where the school doesn't do an eval. (3) You want everyone on the same page with treatment. (4) No need to reinvent the wheel either. If there is an approach that helps, that info should be shared. Feel free to post back with questions.

Given the breath of issues that need to be looked at, I don't feel one person would have all the expertise needed to do each facet of the eval. Evaluating auditory processing requires expertise in audiology as well as the right equipment (a sound-proof booth) to do the eval. Audiologists cannot evaluate self control, emotional regulation or executive function - that tends to be what a psychologist does. Sensory falls under OT. There is no certification for social skills. I'm thinking you'll need 3 or 4 people to do the IEE. Did the school evaluate these areas? The evaluator cannot do the exact same eval the school did. They need to wait a year to get valid results. If behavior is the issue, was an FBA done? What evals did the school do?

Is this the same child who had the OT eval you can't be given any info about? They seem to talking out of both sides of their mouth. I'm in PA & schools who mess up with timelines have the PA Dept of Ed breathing down their back looking at EVERYONE's timelines for at least 6 months. Are you going to file a state complaint about this? When my daughter went to college, she had a small academic scholarship but still needed some accommodations.

When did your child turn 18? You might be out of the picture if he's 18 & 18 is the age of majority in your state for educational decision making. Your adult child would need to grant you the ability to see his FERPA protected evaluation report. On the other hand, you wouldn't be involved with their IEP meetings - unless they requested that. If this is the case, why bother telling you that the eval is done? They should have just sent the info to them and kept you out of the loop. Have you talked to your child to see if they have a copy of this report or any info on this? Dear School: In order to fully participate in my child's IEP meeting, I need to have access to what will be covered at this meeting. Can you please tell me the reason you are denying me access to the recently completed OT evaluation? Are their steps I need to take so that I can access this information like I have done since my child started school? Sincerely,

There is no legal requirement for parents to attend any school meeting. I'd ask to see a copy of the eval so you can better prepare for the meeting. (Some states can't do this - it has to be shared at a meeting - but many can.) You can ask when you gave permission for the eval. Unless it was just a records review, parents need to give permission in writing for the triennial eval to happen. You can also ask when they reached out to you for your input. If your child is heading to college or any post HS training program, the school's eval can be used for these schools to provide accommodations. They will need a written report as to why your son needs accommodations in college.

Reading fluency looks at a student's ability to decode words. Once he's decoded something, can he answer questions about what he read? This is how to test comprehension. Did they do this? (You can look up Scarborough's Reading Rope to see what goes into reading proficiently.) If his reading comprehension is poor, word problems are going to be difficult for him because he won't understand what he's read. How does he do with listening comprehension? If someone reads to him, does he understand? If he does, he can use this as an accommodation to access math word problems. Lots of people have problems with fractions. This is a great example: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/how-failing-at-fractions-saved-the-quarter-pounder-1.5979468 Has the school looked at pragmatics? In students with ASD, this is often an area of need that the school doesn't look at. It could also be why he does poorly with comprehension...and expressing his thoughts. An evaluation will show how far behind he is which should help him keep his IEP. Social skills is another area that students with ASD are not great at. Is this what you mean by social services? Social services are generally like talk therapy which he might have difficulty with if he has issues with pragmatics. This explains why the school didn't say autism: https://adayinourshoes.com/autism-whats-the-difference-between-medical-and-educational-diagnoses/