Assistive technology assessment?

an assistive technology assessment is a really good idea (and could be your chance to out-homework them). http://sweb.uky.edu/~jszaba0/JoyZabala.html is a really good starting point.

http://www.qiat.org has, for instance, an institutional “self-evaluation” that is a guideline for figuring out whether a school is up to snuff as far as AT goes. There are also archives for the e-mail list where people who are immersed in teh AT world talk about what works for what situation in the real world.

http://www.wati.org/ is a great site for general and specific information on things AT.

I’d send ‘em a nice letter agreeing for an AT assessment to be completed in the next __ days [since of course we want the student to have a fair and appropriate education as soon as possible and every day we wait is a day that that FAPE is not happening — and keep a file of these letters, and if you don’t get a timely response send the next one registered, receipt requested)… not sure whether 14 or 30 days would be the better time limit since 30 seems like a heck of a long time but there is information to be assembled. I would ask them what their procedure is for the AT assessment — there are some good models out there like the SETT framework http://sweb.uky.edu/~jszaba0/JoySETT.html

Thanks, Sue.

Do you know what an interim placement is? When he transferred into the new school, he started with the rest of the students on the first day (8/25). I gave the school a copy of the IEP and evaluations/assessments. The new school did not receive his actual school file until early October and met with me on 10/18. I called his old school to ask them some questions; I am more comfortable and feel they are honest with me. I was told the new school should have had his meeting within 30 days of 8/25. I was also told the schools do not sent the IEP and evaluations in the regular school file, the parent has to sign some special release…at the meeting on 10/18, I was asked to sign a release…I was unsure whether to sign it…. Does this make any sense to you? Am I missing some key peice to this?

Thanks, and thanks for the other information.

If the school you trust said there was a release I’d be more comfortable signing it; I would sign something that said “go ahead and send all this confidential information” but would look for any added paragraphs that basically waive their responsibilities for making a timely transition, which is hard to do but really screws up a kid’s education, the longer they’re in limboland or just plain wrong placement.

1. You said the district told you,

The new school said if he shows a deficit they will be required by law to make him carry certain things to school and use them whether they help him or not.

I have never heard of such a thing. What they are required to do is follow the IEP. The IEP that has been developed by the TEAM should be appropriate to help your son make effective progress considering his disability. It should always include goals/objective/accomodations that are effective, not hindrances. Ask them to show you the CA regulation that REQUIRES them to provide unhelpful interventions.

2. Here’s a link from the CA Department of Education about assistive technology that you may find helpful: http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/sr/astvtech.asp
Every student on an IEP, as you probably already know, MUST be considered for assistive technology. It sounds like the previous district considered the need for AT and built it into the IEP. (What did they recommend? The new district may not be familiar with what was recommended and so they may be trying to stall implementation)

3. Here’s some info from my state’s (MA) regulations concerning transfer of records. You may ask for the reference for CA’s regulations.
H. Transfer of Records
30. Must the school obtain consent from the eligible student or parent before forwarding a student’s record to a new school?
A. No. Under 603 CMR 23.07(4)(g) consent is not required to forward a transferring student’s records to the new school if the school the student is leaving provides notice that it forwards student records to the new school when a student transfers. This notice may be included in the routine information letter required in 603 CMR 23.10.

31. When a student transfers from one school to another, what records must be provided to the new school?

A. Under section 37L of G.L. c.71, any student transferring into a new school district must provide the new district with “a complete school record,” including but not limited to, “any incidents involving suspension or violation of criminal acts or any incident reports in which such student was charged with any suspended act.” 603 CMR 23.07(4)(g) allows a school district to release the entire student record of a transferring student to the new school without prior consent, provided that it gives notice that it forwards student records to other school in which the student seeks or intends to transfer. This notice may be included in the routine information letter required under 603 CMR 23.10(1).

Hope this helps.

You guys are great with your suggestions.

I don’t know if anyone has ever talked about this…(my goodness, I even looked over both shoulders to make sure noone was watching me…).

I recently read about something called the “Enemy List”. Have you heard of this? Well, apparently it was a list put together by the schools (staff, teachers, administrators, etc.) to basically combat (for lack of a better word) any parent(s) or group that opposes or is involved with imposing special ed stuff….

I may be wrong about my facts. However, I do not think so. The teachers group admitted to it and had a list of thousands of parents trying to advocate for their child.

I am scared my son will get some sort of retalitory action against him if I do anything to “rock the boat”.

Thanks to all of you. I am in such a bad spot. I know I a right. I have legal support/docs to back up my position. My dad is an attorney (that never hurts). The fact that my son is in this uys class every day for an hour…I don’t know what is going on..my son is twelve! Very easily influenced. I don’t want to see him get retaliated against because the school is mad at me…

Kristen,
I worked for 12 years in SPED and never heard of it.

It did happen — I forget where. I suspect the details got larger as time went by.

It can be possible, with discipline (prayer helps too), to maintain a “working” relationship with anybody in the school who is willing to work with you, while still asserting your rights and making demands that the school folks (some more than others) are highly unwilling to meet. Judy Bonnell makes this an art form; her website at http://www.geocities.com/mountainmama.geo/ is long overdue for updating (that “new” is several years old) but the advice and ideas hold true forever. She’s got a model for a “letter of understanding” that I go back time and time again. The premise is that you start with the assumption that everybody really wants to do the right thing — but perhaps don’t perceive the same ‘right thing’ as you do. So that while yo udo understand their concerns, here are yours. IT’s even better when you can actually respect them — but that sometimes comes and goes :-). However, if you work at doing it, then often you do find yourself working successfully with folks you thought you coudln’t.
You also look for ways to support the folks working with your child without compromising his education; if the school isn’t one of those that already sends home a huge supply list with each kiddo at teh beginning of the year, bring a couple boxes of tissues by, or a box of pencils… and/or make sure there’s a thank you to people who take time out for you or who help out. Teachers don’t get a lot of appreciation sometimes.

I did find some letter writing suggestions at the Wright’s Law website. It had some very good tips on making sure you do not attack the person you are writing to…I ended up writing a very good lettter and cc’ing it to the VP. It was amazing the quick, detailed response I got from him! I may not have gotten the things I asked for, but I certainly created the beginning of a SUPER paper trail.

I also found that as I wrote the letter, I was very detail oriented and specific. Because of that, I discovered things that I had not noticed in my sons IEP…I was very excited.

Thanks.

Facts speak so much more effectively than emotion :)

When you’re thinking about retaliation, though, whether conscious or not — is that teacher going to be your son’s teacher? I’d want to find out whether the guy was equally competent in the classroom. Could be that your son will learn more just sitting around in a regular classroom than he would in a poorly run special ed classroom, especially if the teacher feels like he’s been held accountable for things that he’d rather not be held accountable for.

WHat do I do? He is my sons case worker as well as the special ed teacher for English.

My sons goals/objectives were very clear…his IEP was only started last May and we moved over the summer, but he started school down here on 8/25…he was suppose to show his progress toward his annual goals on 10/13.

Now, this is where I am confused.

He started school in southern California on 8/25. I provided the IEP and evaluations etc. This special ed teacher wanted to have his IEP meeting in mid-September, but they did not have a copy of his school file yet… I thought it was smarter for THEM to wait to have his file. He insisted on the meeting, but when I got there, he told me he had decided to wait until the file came. We met just to chat…he told me the prior IEP was crap and I should never have signed it….so, another month goes by and the file finally gets there. We schedule a meeting, by this time my son is failing one class and I am pretty much tying him to a chair to get him to do his schoolwork each night. At the meeting (10/18 - almost 60 days after school started) he interupts the VP numerous times, basically unilaterelly decides my son gets nothing…and goes with the IEP he told me was crap.

This guy is very young…not that that means anything….but he does not have more than 5 years experience. He told me my son doesn’t need any services. He did not provide ANY information to my sons other 5 teachers, except:

As far as accommodations, the IEP that I have only lists the following
accommodations:
Define limits for behavior
Allow a cooling off period
Reinforce positive performance

That info I got from his math teacher 2 days ago…

Any suggestions?

A long time ago when I was young, I tended to see students’ strengths and thnk they didn’t need services. It’s just possible that this fellow saw his previous IEP and judged it “crap” because it didn’t provide anything, and then got to know your son a little and figured it was okay, because your son doesn’t really need much.
So. The obvious question is: what does your son need? What *do* those tests say? It rather looks like you get to figure that out for yourself.
How has his behavior been at school? (Those goals are very behavior oriented — is that where his disability shows up most?) Is he learning anything from the schoolwork he’s being forced through? (AT least, is he getting reasonable grades in it so there’s a feeling of accomplishing a task?)

He tested pretty high on the WISC III. His Verbal Scale being 126 and Performance Scale being 106. They felt the two seperate scores better representeed his cognitive skills than one summary Full Scale. That was his old school.

His new school, the special ed teacher says “they” only give full scale scores.

My sons subtest scores were :

Info 18 picture completion 9
similarities 10 Coding 10
Arithmetic 15 Pict. Arrangement 10
Vocab 13 Block Design 12
Comprnsn 16 Object assembly 13
(digit Span) 11 (symbol search) 11

He was given the Beery Buktenica Dev Test of Visual Motor Integ.
He got a standard score of 86* Percentile rank 18

On the TVPS-R
Standard Score Percentile Rank
Visual Discrim. 105 63
Visual Memory 114 82
Vis-Spatial Relat. 110 75
Vis form Constancy 88 21
Vis Seq. Memory 110 75
Vis Figure ground 92 30
visual closure 71 3

On the LET II VISUAL, he rcvd 135’s - 145’s, putting him in the 98-99.9 percentile.
On the LET II AUDITORY, his scored were average…only the “Ordered Immediate” was a SS of 90, percentile rank 25 (low average) and “Unordered Immediate” SS 85, percentile rank 16 (below average).

He had a number of behavior problems at his old school…oppositional, mild bullying, absolutely would not do his work. He has a VERY tough time writing. He has had this problem since he was little. He went to a Waldorf school through 2nd grade and they identified it, but he went to live w/ his dad who doesn’t think there is a problem.

His 2 IEP goals/objectives are very simple.

1. By 5/13/05 When given a topic, he will write a 5 paragraph essay w/ an intro and concluding paragraph with proper caps, punc, and spelling on 4 of 5 trials.
His baseline was that he could write a 5 sentence paragraph w/ a topc sence and supporting sentences.
He is currently reading books in his english class. They spent a couple days on topics, that is it. His first benchmark, by work sample was to be
on 10/13.

2. By 5/13/05 He will improve his work completion rate to 75% of in class and homework combined.
His baseline - he completes appx 10% of assigned work.
By 10/13/04 he was suppose to entering his assignments in his planner.
By 3/13/05 he is suppose to complete 50% of his assignments based on his planner.

We had modifications about small group testing, modified writing assignments, use of a computer, alternative ways to do assignments (orally, taped etc.)

None of his new teachers have a clue what I am talking about when I email them and ask how he is doing and refer to his LD…

Sorry it is so LONG. What do you think? We know he has a “visual processing deficit”. They also put on his IEP a “visual and fine motor integration deficit”, what is that? Would that qualify him for assitive tech? And as I mentioned in a prior post, we did not have his reports all together at his initial IEP. I got the school psych to put in an addendum an d mail it to me..In our emails, she told me she believes he is dual exceptional…or gifted with a learning disability. She thinks he has used his stengths to compensate in a HUGE way. If he did not have to do that he may have some incredible ability in him ( not that he doesn’t).

2.
On the

I would hazard a guess that it’s possible the current fellow feels just mildly threatened by this kiddo that is almost certainly a heck of a lot smarter than he is, and perhaps belongs to the camp that thinks special ed should be reserved for “people who REALLY need the help,” because through a little bit of faulty reasoning, if you’re smart, you can fake it at least, and you’re so lucky to be gifted you shouldn’t make any further demands.
The “full scale is what counts” idea is crap. If you have your foot in a fire and the other foot in ice water, it doesn’t mean you’re comfortable because the average temperatue is 70 degrees. He is fortunate that even his lows aren’t abysmal — but boy, do those numbers holler a visual-perception problem that he’s compensating for with good reasoning ability. (That relatively low Similarities score is a little curious, though — does he tend to see things in a linear way, in black & white? Or does he have a really good imagination and sees things really creatively?)

He’s learned a *lot* of stuff — that Information subtest is stellar. And despite his behavior history, that 16 “comprehension” score says he has comprehension of the social rules (that’s right, it’s not a reading comprehension test at all).

I would talk to him about ways to make the mechanics of the schoolwork easier. I mean, he is learning stuff. Does he handwrite or use a computer? WHat are the kinds of assignments he’s doing — are they “read the book and answer the questions?” or projects that he’s struggling to manage? Would he be willing to figure out an organization system (unless I’m wrong and he’s well organized) if you typed out some answers to some of the duller assignments?

Think to the big goals (and… what grade is he in?) — to get enough skills & background iknowledge to be able to do whatever he wants in college? Then you need him to be learning stuff and to be getting good enough grades to keep the teachers thinking he is smart. Most of the other stuff doesn’t matter.

Okay, part of my response didn’t make it :)

No wonder you are frustrated. How is his behavior this year with those regular teachers? Is he not getting thigns done from defiance or disability (okay, that’s often impossible — but sometimes mom knows)?
‘
If the teachers are simply clueless, it may be time to just work around and through the sped guy. Copy him in all your communications to teachers, but pretend he isn’t there. (If you want to duly recognize in writing that you had thought teachers would be aware fo the necessary accommodations, include it — but don’t beat it to death). *Try* to leave your frustration with SpedGuy behind and act like you think each teacher is a wonderful blessing in at least some way — and see if you can build at least one subject that’s a routinely successful experience.

You’re awesome.

Nobody is getting how smart he is….none of the teachers have seen is scores…They haven’t got a clue what a “visual processing deficit” even is.

The sp ed guy is saying my son can take notes on the class computer in his different classes, but being the new kid, my son is too scared to ask. I asked if he could be assigned to sit at a computer….he said no. I asked if he could take his own laptop to school, I was told he had to take an “assistive tech” assessment first. If he is determined to have a deficit by that assessment he WOULD BE REQUIRED BY LAW THEY SAID to carry some awful little wordprocessor that only has a screen of 1-2 inches and holds a couple words at a time….I was also told the assessments would take him out of class and away from his education. I told them I wanted the info on the tests and the sp ed guy was really mad. Even though it was written in his IEP, they are not advising his teachers of anything.

The only info I have about his being gifted/LD is an email from the prior districts psychologist…saying with the 20 point difference on his WISC III, in her opinion he appears to be compensating both ways and is both gifted/ld.

Do I ask for that to go in the IEP?

My son is HORRIBLY unorganized. He LD shows in his actual writing (he cannot get that pencil to draw or follow a straight line for anything), an inability to copy from one thing to another (board to paper), rouble w/ puzzles, maps etc, He is failing science.

His current IEP has his baseline as doing 10% of his assignments. Since they missed the short term benchmark, can I ask for them to only grade him on 10% of his work?

How would I know if he thinks linear, black and white, or creatively? He has no friends, so while he have done well on the comprehension, he doesn’t know how to make friends. He kinda looms…can be in your space, visual deficit thing I guess.

I’m curious about the relatively low Similarities score, which asks you about relationships between words and ideas. It goes with being unorganized, though — basically, he can handle things one at a time just FINE — but trying to juggle how things are related? “Only” average. (Which, again, some folks have trouble wiht — if his “worst” areas are average, why are you demading help? Well, only because he’s totally confused and frustrated, and feels like he must be some kind of horrible failure if he’s that smart and *still* can’t do things.)
It sounds like Sped guy doesn’t want to be bothered with assistive technology — he’s wasted in special ed. He needs to go into politics, where spin is everything. He’s put his own spin on AT. An AlphaSmart — the thing he was describing — happens to be a rather nifty piece of machinery (though it’s not for everybody). With his visual issues, he would probably find its small screen easier to manage. Your Spin Doctor SpedGuy probably hasn’t kept current, either; there is a new version of it that has a bigger display and is more like a PDA. Check out the Neo and the Dana at http://www3.alphasmart.com/ .
I’m sorry, but I don’t think the S*** guy (that’s short for Sped of course!) could stop you from arranging with a teacher for him to use a laptop.
As for him “being required by law” — um, the school has been required by law to provide accommodations, eh? Have the IEP police come after them yet? Somehow I doubt they will come after your son, either. The snide implication that if you ask for AT, he *expects* it to be something that the student would not want (and would cause him social discomfort) is almost sinister… the mildly veiled threat that he’ll make *sure* it’s uncomfortable would have me concerned about retaliation, too. These are the kinds of comments that can be painful to him if you include them in a letter to him and the admins where you’re trying, as a parent, to figure out what to do. If he inherited his verbal abilities from your part of the gene pool, fire ‘em up :-) Then have somebody of cool demeanor sift out the subtle hostilities :twisted: *especially* if this guy is the politician he appears to be.
Legalities aside, how do you think his teachers would feel about an AlphaSmart or laptop? (There is *nothing* that says AT has to be an AlphaSmart, either; it’s just one of the better alternatives, especially since it’s sturdier than a laptop.) Might there be a teacher, if you explained that you’ve had some testing done and your kiddo’s got a genius verbal IQ, but has visual disabilities and motor problems so that writing is hard, and that you’re working out the details with the school personnel… but you would like to try out using some technology? If you can afford something like an AlphSmart that would be great; otherwise you will have to depend on the school (but it might also be worth exploring agencies who might loan you one).
And … have you seen the videos on social skills & LDs from Rick LaVOie? Definitely worth watching. http://www.gtworld.org/gtspeclist.html is a website of a supportive email group of parents of GT/LD kiddos. They are *full* of constructive ideas.
How *is* he feeling about school? Any bright spots?

(Letter concept: Dear Sped and VP: I have been considering our discussion about assistive technology at the meeting on ___. I believe that because of my son’s documented disability with visual perception and motor [fill in technical terms], that he may need AT in order to get access to an education appropriate to his high ability level. [Note: don’t say it will “benefit” him, or help him “achieve his potential” — he *needs* this just to get a *chance* to get *access* to the educational experiences to get something *appropriate.* It rather helps that, from what you’ve said, this is completely true; you’re not trying to get a private school education from a public schoo, you’re just’ trying to get a reasonable public school education.]
Then quote a few things from your darling sped guy, and ask when the assessment is scheduled so that you can attend; then suggest that you discuss with teachers trying things out, on an informal level. (Again, there is no law that says teachers have to have an IEP to accommodate. You wouldn’t believe the accommodations weird smart kids get *all the time* when a teacher likes ‘em or is just a good enough teacher to want to bring out the best even in students they don’t undrestand :))
Then tell ‘em you expect to hear from them with when they’re going to have that AT assessment within 48 hours, since every day that goes by is another one that he’s not receiving a FAPE. Thank you so much for your time and concern, MOMMA.

Are *you* organized?

If not, can you find an ally who is to help you keep a binder of all this schtuff? Things like the SETT framework that you could even include in your letter to them about AT (a great outline for assessing AT needs)?

In his current IEP, which the SPED decided the new school would go with, has listed under the Accomodations, Modifications, Supports and Supplementary Aids and Services the following:

-preferential/assigned seating
-use of assignment book/planner
-cues/prompts/reminders of rules
-access to computer on campus
-use of calculator
-assignments/tests modified to address identified needs of learning styles (explain - blank)
-manipulitive/study aids for - ALPHA SMART
-instuctions/directions repeated/rephrased
-present one task at a time
-extended time on in class assignments/tests (explain: blank)
-spelling errors will not effect grade when no opportunity for editing assistance or spell-check is available
-timing/scheduling of tests/assignments - small group setting

So, he has this stuff in his IEP, to use any other assistive type things would he have to take tests? Did we decide and agree he needed AT at his initial IEP?

I sent this email to SPED after our meeting….

Hi Paul,

I really appreciated you coordinating Cody’s IEP meeting on Monday. It was great to meet all of Cody’s teachers. I was so happy to see them take an active interest in learning more about his learning disability.

After leaving the meeting, I went through the paperwork you gave me and realized that one of the papers I signed was the new IEP. I was very surprised. My thoughts must not have been articulated clearly enough during our meeting, as none of the items discussed made it into the IEP. I hope this was simply an oversight and that we can just redo the paperwork and put the modifications, ideas and things we are going to try in the IEP. The following is a list of items I feel are necessary for Cody to be functional in his classes and I would like them to be included in the his IEP. I am not opposed to trial periods for certain items, but I would like to at least discuss any opposition you may have to any of these.

1. Typing/keyboarding class - Cody is currently in a computer class, but it does not teach actual typing skills.

2. Math - Modification to doing every other assigned problem.

3. All Classes - Use of classroom computer for taking notes, working on assignments, etc. Cody is allowed to bring and use a portable memory device to save his work. Cody would basically be assigned to sit at the computer. He would have priority on using it in class.

4. All Classes - Assignments and/or projects to be presented in an alternative way (i.e. orally, tape recorded, or from a computer). These should be assigned to Cody in whatever form he feels most confident in. The teacher should decide with Cody( and put the assignment in writing) what will work for each individual assignment. This will ensure Cody understands what is being assigned to him.

5. Assessment for Assistive Technology. According to his IEP from Ridgeview Elementary, it indicates a ‘visual and fine motor deficit’ under Motor Skills (Fine/Gross).

6. Cody may have the use of a computerized organizer/planner/agenda.

Additionally, in the IEP from Ridgeview Elementary, there are a number of modifications that I am concerned his teachers are unaware of. They include the following:

1. Preferential/assigned seating in all classes

2. Use of assignment notebook

3. Cues/prompts/reminders of rules

4. Access to computer

5. Use of calculator

6. Assignments/tests to be modified to address identified needs of learning style.

7. Manipulative/study aids for Alpha Sort

8. Instructions/directions - repeated/rephrased

9. Present one task at a time

10. Extended time on in-class assignments/tests

11. Spelling errors will not impact grade

12. Timing/scheduling of tests and assignments will be in a small group setting.

I am concerned that none of these modifications were brought up at our most recent meeting. I would like to see the material you forwarded to all of Cody’s teachers at the beginning of the year. I would be happy to have you give them to Cody in a sealed envelope during class tomorrow or email them to me today or tomorrow if that is easier.

When Cody was assessed and we found out he had a learning disability, he was so happy to find out there was a name for what he was feeling. He was excited about school and the modifications being put in place to help him succeed. He is falling back into old patterns as he sees those things not happening. I am hopeful we can resolve this in a timely manner so it does not continue to negatively impact his education.

Thanks.

Kristin Floyd

This is the email I got back…

Kristin,

I am sorry if I didn’t clearly explain in the most recent IEP meeting what
would be included into Cody’s Individual Education Plan. The IEP meeting
that was held is refereed to as a 30 Day Interim placement. That is when a
student with an active IEP transfers from one district to another. Once our
school site received all of the pertinent information this meeting was held.
We as a district and school site accept what has been written and designed
in Eureka Union School District. All goals and objectives, accommodations
and modification are accepted and put into place. Not all of this
information was disseminated to Cody’s teachers at the beginning of school, due to the paperwork not being available yet.
I have put these accommodations/modifications into written form and
distributed to all of Cody’s teachers. As far as your other items that you
feel necessary for Cody to be functional in his classes.

1. Typing keyboarding class- He will be learning basic keyboarding skills in the computer class he is currently taking, however, we do not offer a typing class at our site. I believe that Ms. Soto relayed some possible resources for Cody in this area. Such as classes offered through CUSD.

2. Math- Modification to doing every other assigned problem. I spoke to Mrs. Collins regarding this and she has no problem with it. I believe this would be most effective when more than 20 problems are assigned.

3. All Classes- Use of Classroom computer for taking notes. All classroom s at DJAMS have computers for student use. Cody would have to inform his teacher he would like to take notes on the computer. This is not a problem.

4. All Classes- Assignments and/or projects presented in an alternative way.
Teachers at our school site vary their instructional techniques to meet the
needs of all students. If an assignment is difficult for Cody, he would need
to express that to the individual teacher, and then he would work with the
teacher to develop an alternative assignment.

5. Assessment for Assistive Technology- I have forwarded this information to the districts OT specialists. They will be handling the situation and either contacting you directly or providing information for us to relay to you.

6. Cody may use a computerized organizer/day planner/agenda. Yes, a release must be signed by you and filed with the school administrators.

I would like to plan an IEP after I receive more information from the OT
specialist. I was looking at the week of November 15th - 19th. When the date and time is decided, I would like to formulate an agenda for our IEP so that we stay on task and address the point that need to be addressed.

I appreciate your concern, and dedication to Cody’s education.

Well, either you “didn’t understand” what was happening, or they’ve decided you’re one of those frighteningly informed parents that merit at least being *told* things are happening. The slick formality of that email says the latter. Do print out the email and put it into a binder that’s got, say, tabs for the months so you have a record of what they’ve said they would do. If, two weeks from now, nobody’s contacted you and nobody knows about the accommodations, your follow up letter can include dates and names. It’s also utterly lacking any of teh negative spin you mentioned — which says this guy knows the difference between what’s in writing and what he says out loud — he really should be running for office instead.
Can you meet with the computer teacher? The cool thing about keyboarding is that it can be done independently, on any computer; it’s also something he can do if he is done early in math, say, because he only has to do half the problems (though I doubt this will happen given his motor skills issues). It may be better for him to skip a few easy ones than to do every other one — or not, depending on his math reasoning skills.
The idea that he “must inform his teachers” is an inherently obnoxious one. He has talked to them about the other accommodations — why not that? Is the kiddo going to do this? If not, it’s time for the ADULTS to um… be the adults!! It’s not as if he said “in order to encourage him to develop self-advocacy skills, see if he will approach the teacher about this accommodation.”
WHile it’s infinitely better if the child goes along with the accommodations from jump street/ the get-go/ day one, the whole “Sometimes I need something different” is an issue of its own, and if a student hasn’t gotten to that mature, healthy knowledge yet, it should *not* be allowed to hold back his learning. Often, “I don’t need this, but they are *making* me do it” is a fine social compensation for feeling different — then the peers are suffering together because of mean adults, instead of the LD kiddo being a simpering suck-up. You can negotiate to do it for 3 weeks in a certain class if need be as a trial — since I don’t know the relationship here it’s hard to judge. (Obviously, if a student *really* doesn’t want to do it, they can do badly with the computer, too.)
The other question is whether he has the computer skills; sometimes those motor issues are almost as bad on the keyboard (tho’ at least you can read what comes out).
And… if a laptop or AlphaSmart would be less obtrusive, there really, honestly, is NO REASON that he has to do the most embarrassing thing possible to take the notes. “Why not?” is an important question :-)

Well, either you “didn’t understand” what was happening, or they’ve decided you’re one of those frighteningly informed parents that merit at least being *told* things are happening. The slick formality of that email says the latter. Do print out the email and put it into a binder that’s got, say, tabs for the months so you have a record of what they’ve said they would do. If, two weeks from now, nobody’s contacted you and nobody knows about the accommodations, your follow up letter can include dates and names. It’s also utterly lacking any of teh negative spin you mentioned — which says this guy knows the difference between what’s in writing and what he says out loud — he really should be running for office instead.
Can you meet with the computer teacher? The cool thing about keyboarding is that it can be done independently, on any computer; it’s also something he can do if he is done early in math, say, because he only has to do half the problems (though I doubt this will happen given his motor skills issues). It may be better for him to skip a few easy ones than to do every other one — or not, depending on his math reasoning skills.
The idea that he “must inform his teachers” is an inherently obnoxious one. He has talked to them about the other accommodations — why not that? Is the kiddo going to do this? If not, it’s time for the ADULTS to um… be the adults!! It’s not as if he said “in order to encourage him to develop self-advocacy skills, see if he will approach the teacher about this accommodation.” WHile it’s infinitely better if the child goes along with the accommodations from jump street/ the get-go/ day one, the whole “Sometimes I need something different” is an issue of its own, and if a student hasn’t gotten to that mature, healthy knowledge yet, it should *not* be allowed to hold back his learning. Often, “I don’t need this, but they are *making* me do it” is a fine social compensation for feeling different — then the peers are suffering together because of mean adults, instead of the LD kiddo being a simpering suck-up. You can negotiate to do it for 3 weeks in a certain class if need be as a trial — since I don’t know the relationship here it’s hard to judge. (Obviously, if a student *really* doesn’t want to do it, they can do badly with the computer, too.) The whole organization struggle is part of this too — he needs structures set up FOR HIM if he’s going to have a chance of learning what structures and routines are & how they work, so that he can eventually make his own. (This is something naturally organized people just don’t grok.)
The other question is whether he has the computer skills; sometimes those motor issues are almost as bad on the keyboard (tho’ at least you can read what comes out).
And… if a laptop or AlphaSmart would be less obtrusive, there really, honestly, is NO REASON that he has to do the most embarrassing thing possible to take the notes. “Why not?” is an important question :-)

My biggest concern right now is the quarter ends on Friday. His science teacher was giving him an “F”, but he showed up at the IEP meeting last week and found out my son has these issues. He was great. He gave him some alternative assignments and told him yesterday that he would receive a passing grade…

I am not sure how to word this….If his IEP has 2 main goals/objectives…and 1 has a baseline (5/04) of 10% of assignments were turned in..and by 5/05 the goal is to have him turning in 75% of his work…with benchmarks 10/13/04 Cody to be using his planner to write down assignments - we missed this one (the new school did not meet w/ us within 30 days, it was almost 60); 3/13/05 50% of assigned work written in planner turned in. CAN THEY GRADE HIM ON EVERYTHING OR DO THEY HAVE TO ONLY USE THE BASELINE SINCE THEY CHOOSE TO GO WITH THIS IEP?

I need to do something today…I am sure I have a learning disability… I am as bad as my son….at least he has such strong strengths…I have mine, but they are not things that help in these situations.

My son loves the computer. He has a laptop and would love to beable to use it at school. I showed him the Alpha Smart things at the website you suggested, he said that would be fine, but he would rther just use his laptop and basically cut out the middle man. He is a trooper…I am so lucky. He is a great kid…Mr. Mellow.

What about requesting a private school…I am in southern Orang county, California…There are plenty down here.

Sue,

You are terrific. If you decide in the near future to relocate to my area….I would give an arm and a leg for ‘in person’ help with this….Not an attorney or an advocate w/ 300 cases going on… I feel bad taking up so much of your time with my questions and what I, of course, feel is an emergency type of situation…

I have some questions…Is it okay to ask you about them here or would you rather I go to each different forum? I type about 5 words per minute.

You’ll find if I’m busy, I don’t reply :=) Yesterday was pretty quiet … today busier. Fire away!

(And, by the way, one of the things I’m doing is playing with Dragon Naturally Speaking — it *is* ready for prime time for people who are willing to spend a bit of time with it. Not going to replace my typing habit, but if I typed less than 90 wpm it would be worth the time training and learning its intricacies and becoming a “power user.”)

My husband is in software development…he has that Dragon software…he thinks it would be great for my son…He said it is relatively simple to program…

Before I even go into my questions for you..

…Ol’ SPED guy called yesterday afternoon…I had left a message for the VP and she had him call me back instead. I was nice, but asked pretty bluntly about a number of things…He tried to say he had never said that stuff about the full scale scores being the only thing they go by, and he was so concerned too…as the parent I had just as much input as him…He had the nerve to tell me that because my sons IEP did not specify which class certain objectives were for, he had to assume they were ONLY for the RSP class…not his regular classes. After we got off the phone I sent this email…Yes, I pretty much copied what you said….

October 26, 2004

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your prompt reply to my email last week. I continue to be pretty confused about what exactly your position is on Cody’s IEP. At our meeting last week, you stated you would not agree to several aspects of the old school’s IEP, including an Alpha Smart or other assistive technology without further testing; however, you then said that it was “fine” and signed that you agreed with it. I trust that this means you changed your mind, and will be complying with the IEP. I am also concerned because you made the reference to the Test of Visual Perception Skills - Revised -2004 (TVPS-R) and that you had scored in the fourth percentile on a section that my son also scored at that level. Your snickering led me to believe that you found this amusing. While I admire your tenacity at conquering challenges you may have faced, I would hope that you would respect that each person is different,
and that my son’s challenges are very real and not a source of amusement (though we do try to keep a sense of humor). Cody’s IEP very clearly states his needs for accommodations and modifications in all his classes. I am not sure why the Alpha Smart, specifically came up for him to be tested for as it is already included in his IEP. Why has the school not discussed this with us? There are many modifications and accommodations listed in the IEP that Cody is not/has not been receiving. I am concerned that you told me you had advised his
teachers of his needs regarding his disability, when in fact, you had not.

The end of the quarter is on Friday, 10/29/04. I am not sure of the appropriate person to speak with each of Cody’s teachers in regard to what they should be basing Cody’s grade on (10% of his assignments as indicated in the IEP?). I feel horrible that they have been unaware of the situation and how it may have affected their relationship with my child. Cody deserves an education that is “individualized” for his specific needs. I was told that was the how it was suppose to work under IDEA and with a FAPE. If DJAMS decided to use an IEP written by his prior school, it sure doesn’t seem to be “individualized”, if nothing is added or amended or changed. I hope that makes sense.

Additionally, I was recently told that there are minutes kept at each IEP meeting. That everyone’s input is documented and made a part of the IEP. I would like a copy of these minutes as soon as possible. If you cannot email them, I will pick them up/make copies @ $0.15 per page. I disagree w/ this amount, however I would like the copies ASAP.

Again, I thank you for your time and contribution to my sons education plan, and look forward to working together to help him achieve and succeed at Don
Juan Avila Middle School.

Thank you.

What do you think? My son had a substitute in his class today. I emailed the prior districts school psychologist…She is really nice…She has made herself available and answered questions for me. I wish it was like that down here. There was not any psych present at the IEP meeting here.

Sounds like a good letter to me — the subjective stuff doesn’t drown out the objective facts and they make sense (though I could argue back that any properly individual IEP *could* conceivably be enacted at any given school… but *not* if the team had so many issues with it, as this guy seems to have had).
Now, any guy that is going to say he didn’t say this or that is also going to conveniently lose any letter he doesn’t want to acknowledge. You should cc the vice principal (and of course keep a hard copy in your handy folder or 3-ring binder).
I wasn’t thinking of Dragon for your son — but for you :-) Our Community College has a course in using Dragon that they do in weekend workshops sometimes; if you can stand to watch each other get a little frustrated you might consider looking for such a thing. (I think Dragon sponsors them — obviously if they can get you to train the program, you’re more likely to buy it, eh? We did it on the school computers, but we could have taken our voice files with us.)

Any suggestions on how I might deal with the grade situation…the quarter ends Friday. Should I contact the teachers? The VP? I tried the VP..she had the S*** call me back. My son’s dad is not real happy with the grades our son is getting with me…he thinks he can FORCE him to get better grades…and may force some custody issues if my son has poor grades…just what I need…ugh!

Don’t mention that conflict at school! I know a lot of divorced parents where the school put the blame on the parent’s relationship as the cause of the child’s difficulty in school and not on the lack of remediation or accomodations they were suppose to be giving the child.

Thank You! Good thing that was told to me…

I am going to go ahead and send an email to his teachers with a short overview of VPD and his IEP requirements and CC the vp and sped…it is Weds. and almost the end of the the week(quarter)I cannot wait for the SPED any more.

Talk to the kiddo about the new quarter being a fresh start, perhaps? See if you can gently tease out of him, perhaps the desire to be a better student (despite it being, to him, as hopeless a case as the Red Sox…oh, yea, that’s right! Okay, the Cubs…) and pick a single subject with the most receeptive teacher.
If you document the steps you’re taking, including the time spent working with the kiddo on homework, you’ll have something to show anybody interested in challenging your fitness as a parent based on his grades. That can be good for him, too — print out a simple calendar for each week, & note on it “15 min. - review Sci. terms or organize notes” and see if you can forge a connection between effort and success. The weekly calendars can go in a 3 ring binder :-)

So, they don’t have to follow the IEP? Or I am just beating a dead horse?

Sure, they do…. I didn’t mean to imply that you shouldn’t send that email out (and print out copies for your own records that will be authentically yellowed and in chronological order if six months from now somebody says “what email? I didn’t get any email?” — in fact, I would request that they respond and acknowledge that they’ve received it, and if they don’t, print it ouit and mail it, or hand deliver it to the vp and ask that she make sure it gets in the right mailbox… maybe with a bunch of bagels or something as a good will measure. (Right now everybody’s seeing enough chocolate…)