Change in Classification

You have to have an IEP team meeting to remove the child from special education. It is fairly simple if the school agrees.

Janis

I have removed my child even though the school did not agree. Sped is voluntary. They had no choice but it wasn’t easy initially.

I had to take it to the director of sped as he was the only one who seemed up on the laws and he just told the group that sped is voluntary and they had to remove him if I requested it.

Request it in writing and CC everyone. Then request an IEP meeting to discuss it.

In our case they did not have a least restrictive option that I thought was suitable. They did not have an in class support option.

Ironically, they do have in class support in regular ed for kids who are not classified but struggling but my son just hasn’t needed it.

My son has done much better in regular ed than he ever did in sped. He gets no modifications and no accomodations. I am remediating his underlying deficits outside of school.

I thought IDEA states that the school has to provide any means wheather it’s though technigue, tutoring, visual to help a child with disabilities with his classes and school work. I have read where a boy with dyslexia was put in a classroom by hisself with a tape recorder to do a test with. The questions were read and he answered the questions out loud where they were recorded. The school system graded his test by his recorded answers. My son is in special ed and I’m trying to get his classification changed also. They did a evaluation on him now they are doing a indenpent evaluation on him. We see things that he does at home that they say he can not do at school they say. Good luck and I’ll check in to see what happens with your child. Read all you can on IDEA and take a recorder to all your meetings. Trust me. I did with the last IEP meeting and wish I had taken it with me to all the meetings. Because a lot of what was said in the last meetings they said they did not tell us or we miss understood what they were telling us.

Kim

That was our problem. He did better at home than in sped and now he does better in regular ed than he ever did in sped.

I am done done done with sped. They have to offer the least restrictive environment. They believed the environment they provided was the least restrictive. There is subjectivity that leads to wiggle room in the law. I could have taken them to court but I was too busy helping my son.

My son has received alot of help outside school, very little academics mostly focusing on various therapies. It has worked for us.

MUCH depends upon why your child was receiving special ed. in the first place, and what services are available in your town and state; we are in an upscale school district in Mass. and the services for my then 5th grade son were worthless(school used total incusion, there is no resource room ). We had him tutored privately for years, was retested in 5th grade and we said good by to special ed.; the school was pleased to see us go, too! My son went to middle school this year in reg. ed., no support services and has done very very well with support at home. Special ed. in our middle school has a stigma, is for kids who are slow learners and the resource room help is for kids with behavior and attention issues which my son did not have(he’s of superior intelligence, with slow rate of reading, and probs with math fluency). Special ed. is voluntary, you can refuse services.

Well, I KNOW I keep “beating this drum”, but that handy, dandy, 15 minute consult only has been our best friend.

She gets accmodations onstate testing, use of proctor/computer, extended time, 30 minute sessions only, etc.

No one pulls her out (except for OT), and the teacher and ESE teacher are committed to discussing my daughter at least 15 min. wkly to see how she is doing. They have to stay on “top” of her AND she remains in all general ed classes with an IEP.

She has been under this “best kept secret” since 2nd grade and we continually remediate her weaknesses privately.

When I write letters I constantly remind them of that team effort, i.e., we are continuing to provite private remediation and no one party should bear the financial burden of my daughter’s unique educational needs alone. It’s hard to argue with a parent who is willing to meet the school half-way. Looks bad to the SD and even worse to the state DOE.

It’s working with us - might be a good alternative especially heading into MS/HS.