I AM TRYING TO HELP A MOM GET STARTED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. I POSTED LAST WEEK BUT SOMEHOW LINKED WITH ANOTHER POSTING FOR WHICH I APOLOGIZE FOR. WAS NOT THINKING AND HIT ENTER.
LIKE I SAID IN MY LAST POSTING THIS CHILD IS IN KINDERGARTEN AND HAS MILD CP. HE IS UNABLE TO TIE HIS SHOES, HOLD PAPER WITH ONE HAND AND CUT WITH THE OTHER AND HAS TROUBLE WITH FINE MOTOR SKILLS. NOT EXACTLY CLEAR ON THIS BUT MOM WAS TOLD WHEN HE BECAME PRE-SCHOOL AGE HE SHOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR SERVICES. FAMILY IS MILITARY AND TRIED PT/OT THAT ROUTE BUT WAS NOT SATISFIED. HE IS IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL AND I BELIEVE HE IS ELIGIBLE FOR SERVICES. RECEIVED RESPONSE FROM LAST POSTING FROM SOCKS THAT GAVE MOM SOME HOPE. I SUGGESTED SHE GO TO OUR PARENT RESOURCE CENTER. I ALSO FOUND OUT THE HE MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR AN “OHI-IEP” OTHER HEALTH IMPARAMENT. I HAVE SON WHO REVEICES LD SERVICES AND MY ADVICE IS GO IN AND DEMAND THAT HE BE TESTED, BUT THAT MAY NOT BE THE BEST ROUTE TO TAKE WITH A CHILD WHO HAS PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS VERSES EDUCATIONAL ONES. I ALSO BELIEVE THE TEACHER COULD BE A BIG HELP POINTING OUT HIS LIMTATIONS COMPAIRED TO HIS PIERS BUT IN THIS CASE I DO NOT THINK THAT WILL HAPPEN. MOM FEELS LIKE SHES HIT A BRICK WALL. I TOLD HER THAT PARENTS WHO POST ON LDONLINE HAVE BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT AND THAT IF ANYONE COULD STEER HER IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IT WOULD BE THEM. THANKS FOR ANY HELP.
Re: OTHER HEALTH IMPARAMENTS "OHI-IEP"
CAT,
I’m not sure what kind of help the mother is looking for, but your description sounds just like me. My son is in pre-k, has mild cp and is OHI-IEP. We are also military. Contact me privately and maybe I can be of some assistance. I know how frustrating battling the school systems can be but I’ve learned from personal experience that the nicer you are the more willing people are to help you. I look forward to hearing from you.
Tiffany Bodge
Re: OTHER HEALTH IMPARAMENTS "OHI-IEP"
how old is this child? Under five defenitely qualifiies under early intervention program. . Sue is right,it needs to be an evaluation by more than the school psychologist,all physical limitations need to be evaluated to recieve assistance in OT,Speech,PT and if needed Special education services. If he doesn’t qualified as learning disabled he would qualified as physically impaired,he wouldn’t need the other health impairment catagory. Remember what I told you,she must approach it in a manner of it is “educationally necessary to cut paper”,etc. Yes,he would already qualify for services in preK,from 2y to 5 yo. Once 5 the school district would provide services in the public education program. No difference except it coming from a different pot of Money,one is state funded the other is federally granted.
Re: OTHER HEALTH IMPARAMENTS "OHI-IEP"
In my state(Georgia) early intervention ends at age 3 and then the school system takes over. I’m sure it will vary by state, you need to make sure you are going through the correct channels. Your friend should have no problem getting a referral to have an independent evaluation done from the childs pediatrician if he/she is aware of the child’s problems, which he/she should be. But please make sure she has a referral or Tricare will deny the claim and independent evals can be expensive. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Tiffany
There’s a lot to learn with this stuff, I know :)
LD’s very, very often go hand in hand with CP (just ask my brother who’s got both). It is certainly not unreasonable to formally request testing simply on that basis — the other reason to do it is to uncover the *strengths* the kiddo may have that have been hidden.
Getting a good eval is the most important step. I would highly recommend looking for an independent evaluator unless by some amazing coincidence there’s school staff who have the kind of experience to do a good job with a more complex kiddo than they’re used to dealing with. Most of us school personnel types, since the testing and evaluating part is just one facet of our jobs, may not have the experience that somebody who specializes in doing evals would. I’d probably not be able to bring as much out of the kid as I could — or know different tests that would work better with kids with different physical issues.
Once that eval is done you can see where the kiddo needs services — whether it’s LDs giving him problems, or his other challenges that are keeping him from being as successful as would be appropriate (key word, appropriate, of course~)