Don't know what to do!

I think you can write a letter requesting that the meeting be posponed until August since the IEE will not be done in time for the May meeting and that you can not make decisions about placement until the IEE is done.

You might also ask if there are any pograms in neighboring districts that might be appropriate for you daught. State your concern that the program you were shown did offer enough academics and you don’t think this would be an appropriate placement for your daughter.

Helen

A couple quick things come to mind.

1. I would research with each of the “reccomended” IEE evaluators and find out who has no financial ties with the district. If the people the refer you to are contracted with the district, I would argue strenuously that they are not independent; as you requested.

2. I would request the IEP meeting be postponed until you have the results of the IEE, otherwise, you will be going in without the full amount of information you are seeking. I think you understand this, thus your reason for posting and concern.

3. I would pursue what other options are available within your area. This would include everything from homeschool, to parochial placement, to ld schools etc… For the district to make a placement option available, that’s fine, but to make it the only alternative because that is what they have to offer is in conflict with the intent of the IDEA. Simply put, if the district does not have an acceptable “appropriate placement”, then you will have the opportunity to ask for, fight for, or simply opt to go to alternative placements.

4. Your instinct and opinion as the child’s parent makes you an equal partner in the IEP process; don’t sell yourself short against the odds of feeling overwhelmed by educators. They do not have the experience you do with your child and your opinion is to be counted as EQUAL, not lesser than when in the IEP process regarding education program and placement…

Go to the sites like Sock’s (from this bb), also many other good ones like www.wrightslaw.com, www.edlaw.com and a bunch of others. Brush up on the laws, your rights, and cut/paste what you need for notes to go in well prepared. Do all your communication with the district in writing. Do not let emotions get in the way. Above all else, trust your instincts and do what you need to do to do the right thing by your child. Time marches quickly, and you cannot buy that back. That’s why I think you do know what to do, you just need to do some research to build your confidence.

Good luck.

Andy

It is my understanding that IQ is a measure of a child’s ability to do certain tasks, and therefore shows how easily a child learns new tasks. I have heard of times when the IQ was not a true measure because the child’s language was an issue or the child was severe dyslexic. Does your child have language problems? Was a test used that is not language based?
The cognitive skills that are covered on an IQ test are learned skills. Once our system starts addressing these skills in the classroom, all our kids will be better off.

Yes, I agree that you should write a letter cancelling the May 20th IEP meeting and let them know that when the independent evaluation is completed, you will call them to schedule an IEP meeting to determine the appropriate educational services.

Doing everything in writing is best. Make sure that your disagreement with the previous evaluations was in writing.

The issue of independence in the evaluation process is very important to a correct diagnosis of your daughter’s issues. When the district has a list of evaluators, it has happened that those evaluators are less than independent. This is not what you need right now.

Doing your homework now may mean a slight delay in getting a report, however, not getting that appointment yet may be a blessing. For starers, it gives you some time, as you can put the blame for delay on the doctor’s inability to schedule an appointment in a timely manner. What testing are you wanting done? Can one person perform this testing, or do you need a few different evaluators, e.g. an occupational therapist for OT testing, an audiologist or qualified SLP for complete auditory processing evaluation and speech and language eval, a pyschologist or neurologist for a pyschological eval. A psych eval alone may be inadequate.

Knowing that the evaluator is qualified and independent can give you some peace of mind as you proceed.The school district may set the qualifications and the maximum fees, but you may wish to find an evaluator on your own by recommendation etc. At least, do a bit of research about these listed evaluators and their experience and credentials.

I can only tell you what our experiences have been which might be good because we have had a similar situation as you and “have been there and done that”.

My daughter though has not been labeled mildly retarteded she is though LD/ADHD. The district has always maintained that she is only ADHD which I have never ever agreed with.

Anyway, years back (she is now 14) I had requested testing be done at their expense (this was when I was very naive and believed much of what they told me, oh how times have changed!). They did test her at their expense and also with people who were affiliated with the district. The findings: exactly what the district had been saying all along OHI due to ADHD. Wrong. This child was not learning and was falling further and further behind. She was in a blended classroom but it was not helping. Finally I found a doctor’s office (a developmental pediatric office) and had her tested myself (insurance paid for it) and they found that she had significant learning difficulties. Finally. I knew and and now the school was going to know it. Again at my request she was put in to a school for LD children at the school’s expense ($22,000 a year). Problem solved? Far from it. This school was a wreck. She was there for almost four years and fell even further behind. The kids pretty much ran the place. There was no discipline action in place and the teachers pushed them through much like the regular school did. Not good. ALL of her test scores fell. I had never even heard of the kind of class that your district is offering you until I knew that my child was falling very far behind (I can’t think of the name of it right now, life skills I think.) I for one think it is a wonderful idea. She would still get the academics and she would also learn life skills. Don’t get me wrong though, I would never now put my child in any public school and expect results. They just are not capable of doing a good job. They have other agenda’s and education our children in the basics is not a part of their plan.

My advice after all of this is to homeschool. We have been doing so for awhile now and my daughter is soaring and excelling (at her level of course) and she is loving learning. That never, ever happened at school. The only thing she learned at school was how to have a bad attitude and believe me, that was not my daughter.

I hope I have helped you just a little.

A friend of mine told that school district (in writing) that she was seeking an IEE after they sent her the 3-year evaluation. The district wrote back they they would only pay if she went to one of the two people they gave her. She was seeking a neuro-psych. evaluation because they are stating her son is autistic. The first person on the list is is a psych. and not a neuro-psych. They interviewed the second person and asked her how she got on the districts list. She said that the Dir. of Special Ed. had been her 2nd grade teacher. They choose their own independent neuro-psych. The school district will have to take them to due process if they want to get out of paying.

Beware.

Helen

DO research the laws. I don’t know what state you’re in and how the laws differ, but in my daughter’s 6th grade classroom there is a girl who is LD (2nd grade level and from what I’ve heard she may be “Mildly retarted” although I’m not that familiar with her). This girl gets academics, she is in a regular classroom and even has an aide who works with her for 2 or 3 hours a day.

Now, I’m not sure how they did this. Her mother just happened to get good information. Although, I’m sure it helps that her mom works at the school!

Good luck to you!

We live in Missouri. Someone in the post above asked if my daughter has a language problem.Well, when she was in kindergarden we had her tested professionally and they said she had a language disorder and learning disabled in reading and writting and math. She was doing fine in school until this year. She has a different teacher this year for her sp. ed classes than she did in first thru third grades. So, this year when they done their testing they said that she was no longer learning disabled or language disabled that she was mildly mentally retarded. They gave her the WISK 3 IQ test last year and from what I understand that is a language based test. So why give a child that is language disordered a language based test. The Dr. that I am contacting is the same Dr. that we took her to in kindergarden when she was tested. The school district told me the only tests that they would pay for is the ones that they gave her which are cognitive ability test which measures both verbal and performance areas, an adaptive behavior measure and individualized achievement measures.
Also in Missouri every spring the give what they call a Missouri Assessment Program test to grades 3 and 4.Well it has 5 levels in it and my daughter scored in the progressing part of the testand in the state of Missouri you are suppose to be in the proficient part of the test.I just found all of this out. But, anyways they also said that if she didn’t perform where she is suppose to that the school district is suppose to provide a tudor for after school and an aide for during school. Does anybody know anything about this and how I can get these services for my daughter? Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

z

a language based test? SO you can find out more about the disorder and give the child the help she needs. If you only test a kid where you know there aren’t problems, you aren’t likely to find problems.

There are parts of the WISC that are very verbal, and parts that are much less so. Most kids’ language disorders do not prevent them from understanding the instructions to do the different tests; it’s true that for those who have that severe a disorder, a test to determine underlying strengths should be used.

Is IQ the only basis they’re using to decide on what your child’s placement is? My son took a verbal IQ and non-verbal IQ and the point difference was 40 points. Yes, indeed, the difference between mentally retarded or not. Thank God, his speech teacher insisted that he be given both. The difference in IQ points on these tests showed that he had a speech/language processing problem and qualified him for a special classroom to meet those needs. Perhaps you should ask for a different kind of IQ test to be done if they’re basing placement alone on that kind of test. Just an idea. Good luck! Karen