My 9 yr old has a complex diagnosis-semantic pragmatic disorder-autisitic spectrum,-significant language deficit, dyspraxia, anxiety disorder- not all specialist agree-. We have gone with those that help her and seem to understand where she is at and what direction to take. She is progressing in school, we are happy with her IEP. If she becomes overwhelmed she withdraws. Recently the school insisted she go into a reg ed PE class which she has always resisted due to the noise confusion and her physical abilities to participate( significant dyspraxia with motor planning issues) and neurocoordination deficits. Even though all specialist working with her in private practice were against this. Surprise, surprise, she shut down and the school then put her in adaptive PE. She is again progressing and going to school. All the professionals we work with feel she is doing well and has good direction. The school is INSISTENT that they do a psychiatric evaluation. My fears- they pay, we lose our privacy. what if we don’t agree with the results- they can use it against us. Testing on a language disorder child can be faulty. We don’t want to pay for another psyche eval (had one four years ago) because we need to spend that money on therapies. None of our private doctors think she needs it- How do I handle this and is there a reason warning bells are going off? Are they looking for something that I don’t know? Am I overreacting? Thanks, Sharon G.
Re: psche eval-if school pays? lose privacy?
Hi Sharon,
I can’t think of a good reason for doing a “psychiatric eval” which sounds a lot more intensive than even the three-year eval most schools do. The usual purpose of that eval is to reestablish eligibility, and here in California they are letting us waive that requirement if the parents don’t feel it’s necessary. I agree with Robin that you DO want to have current academic and other information to inform decisions of placement, programs, etc. as it’s the only way for you to know with certainty how well her current placement and programs are working and set goals for the next year, etc. It’s my understanding of special ed. law that they can’t do ANY kind of testing without signed permission from you, and you may agree to some kinds of testing and not others, and even specify which instruments you don’t want used.
As for the privacy issue, it’s true that any testing the school does becomes a part of her special ed. folder, but that is supposed to be kept private from all but personnel directly concerned with her school performance, other than you, of course. I would try to find out exactly what the purpose of the testing is (they are required to state that in their request for permission) and how the results will be used before you agree to it, and/or make it clear that if you disagree with any of the results you will seek outside testing at their expense (this is called an “Independent Educational Eval” or IEE). This is your right under IDEA, though not many parents actually pursue it. Just bringing it up, though, might get them to back off from this desire for more testing…
For more info, see my website at www.angelfire.com/on2/thepuzzle Hope this helps!
Sharon
Re: psche eval-if school pays? lose privacy?
After reading the above response, can any parent refute teating scores and require the school to pay to have the child retested? Maybe I am reading it wrong? I had a student last year who qualified for LD. His mom fully disagreed with the scores stating that she felt he knew more than he was letting the psychologist know and said she wanted him retested. The psyhologist said no and that he would be tested in three years. She relunctanly agreed and signed for him to receive services. Were her rights violated, or is the school right?
Re: psyche eval-if school pays? lose privacy?
Under the law, if a parent disagrees with the results of an evaluation, they have the right to an independant educational eval at the school’s expense. The disagreement and request for another evaluation have to made in writing. Check Wrightslaw-www.wrightslaw.com- they have an excellent explanation of parent rights on their site and a good walk through the whoe process. One other thing- part and parcel of every meeting of this type is that parents are supposed to receive and have explained to them a copy of their Parental Rights. Parents also have the right to refuse Special Education services if they wish. The fact that a child is eligible does not imply that parents have to have them classified if they really don’t want to. Sounds like this mom might need to do a little reading if she wants to take the school on about this.
Robin
Re: psche eval-if school pays? lose privacy?
Thank you! This is exactly the information I needed. Over the years, we have had so many differing opinions because my daughter “looks okay”, and it takes a determined specialist to dianose correctly. Knowing that I have a way to dispute the results, should they not be true to my daughter makes this a much easier decision. Thank you, Sharon G.
Is it time for her three year eligibility testing? This may be the driver behind the school wishing to evaluate- they have to under the law. However, the eval is to determine eligibility and if there are other ways to provide the information needed then that possibility could be explored.
On the other hand, having updated information on cognitive functioning, academic achievement, the motor stuff and speech and language is necessary to provide documentation of progress. In four years, children’s profiles undergo significant changes- especially from 5-9. A four year old eval is old information relative to her cognitive profile in particular, but also in the other areas. With a child as complex as yours, I would want the school to have the best and most current information they could I guess. I don’t understand the privacy issue- unless it relates to the anxiety disorder and possible projective testing? If her treatment provider/therapist will document the presence of this well enough- it might just take a letter- then you may not have to do projectives. Does this help?
Robin