Following up my 12-03-02 posts (getting accommodations in school), my son’s teachers have finally agreed to shorten some of his assignments! Thanks to all who replied and to Socks for some very valuable ideas about my rights as a parent. At the meeting, I also requested a behavior plan and some sort of daily report card to provide a baseline before we start a trial of medication. This new request seems to have thrown the teachers and specialists into another tizzy, even though I indicated I ‘d be willing to pay a private behavior consultant to come in and work with teachers on this. (They reported that there is no behavioral specialist available to do this within our financially strapped school district.) My request now requires approval from the head of special education and another IEP meeting with a larger group of folks from the central office.
Don’t I have a right to request this and don’t they theoretically have to provide it anyway? What have I done wrong here and why is it such a big deal? I might add that previous efforts by the teacher and LD specialist to develop a behavior plan have failed and that I have been unable to get any kind of daily (or even weekly) communication established with the teacher.
I’m really trying not to be a “difficult” parent, but it is getting very difficult!
Maggie
Re: right to a behavioral assessment
At our last meeting, the teacher asked for suggestions from me, the school counselor, and the LD specialist, since the “plans” that have been tried so far have been too vague and she has not stuck with them. Nothing has yet been written into his IEP about a behavior plan, so there hasn’t been much of an incentive for her to follow through. I have no idea whether the principal will back me up or not, but she is the one who has asked the central office people to attend the meeting. I was simply trying to help everyone at his school out, since they all seem to have virtually no time or resources to deal with this, yet they have continued to complain about his behavior and lack of focus at school. I agree that it’s a long shot to expect them to respond to an “outsider,” but I don’t feel that we have that much to lose at this point. I’m seriously thinking of another school placement for next year.
Maggie
It doesn’t need to be an “official” behavior specialist— many sped teachers, psychologists, counselors, social workers, etc. should have the knowledge and skills necessary to do an assessment/behavior plan. Why do you think the previous efforts failed? If the teacher is unwilling, than bringing someone else to tell her what to do is unlikely to make a difference— unless the principal tells her she must comply!