Re: VERY IMPORTANT INFO!

[Guest guest]

Wow, Stacey, I just had to say thank God we have people like you on this

list who knows what they are doing! Thanks so much for posting all of that

info and please stay on the list!!

Giedl

> I did'nt get the chance to bring up the Summit Speech School and

> was told nothing would get resolved today because they did not have the

> authority to change their program just for my son. We would have to go to

the

> director of special services and plee our case. They were very offended

that

> we thought their program was not WONDERFULL. I said many times I thought

> their program was wonderfull and I'm sure they had great success but that

it

> did'nt fit my son's needs.

>

> ,

> I am so sorry you had such a rough time!!!! What you said above is the

> essence of the problem with special education right now. Your son is

> ENTITLED to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). It is also

> required to be an INDIVIDUALIZED Education Plan (IEP) that has been

> specifically designed for HIS NEEDS!! What they said to you is downright

> ILLEGAL!! Did you tape the meeting by any chance? If not, start a paper

> trail. You are entitled to " prior written notice, " so write down what you

> want and why you want it, send it certified mail, receipt requested, and

they

> will have to answer you in writing with their reasons for not giving you

what

> you want!! Last time I was sending my child study team a certified

letter, I

> ran into the Superintendent of Schools on line at the post office!

>

> I also want to get you started with the research you will need to do. It

is

> time for you to become an expert. The following resources will help you

do

> just that! You can e-mail Ted Sussan, of Sussan and Greenwald (a well

known

> and feared special ed. law firm) with your specific questions with no

> obligation to hire. Just click on this link

" http://www.special-ed-law.com/ " Sussan & Greenwald, Esqs.,

> Special Education Attorneys. He will get back to you within 24 hours.

Also,

> there is a New Jersey sight for special ed. law

[Guest guest]

Stacey,

Thank you for putting all of those great websites in one email. I

will be forwarding it to all of the special ed parents in my town.

The schools should thank us for doing all of the research and knowing

exactly what our kids need and having it in writing from their Drs.

So all the school has to do is hire enough therapists and fill in

their schedule with our kids. Why do we have to beg? I know...$.

Liz Dunn

>I did'nt get the chance to bring up the Summit Speech School and

>was told nothing would get resolved today because they did not have

>the authority to change their program just for my son. We would have

>to go to the director of special services and plee our case. They

>were very offended that we thought their program was not WONDERFULL.

>I said many times I thought their program was wonderfull and I'm sure

>they had great success but that it did'nt fit my son's needs.

[Guest guest]

Hi !

Stacey gave you awesome advice as usual. I wanted to add that I

just spoke again with another Stacey, the one from Stacey and

Ted " of Sussan and Greenwald...a well known and feared special ed.

law firm " http://www.special-ed-law.com/ They are on the board

for CHERAB, and Stacey Greenwald is also wonderful to contact as well

as Ted Sussan. Stacey said to please call her or Ted before the

next IEP and that they can give you more advice.

, Stacey laughed when I told her some of the things that

went on with the evaluation and testing that we talked about

(don't remember if you shared that here) I also told Stacey my

analogy of calling them, and she thought it was a great analogy so

I thought I'd share it with the rest of you too...

(starts off like a joke) OK, two women go into a bar. One has a

boyfriend and one doesn't. Which one attracts more men? -the

one with the boyfriend. The same reason to speak with a special

ed attorney before an IEP meeting. The aura of

confidence is what you will

possess which will reflect invisibly the minute you walk into an

IEP meeting. Glenn and I had spoken with, and had an appointment

with Sussen and Greenwald before the IEP with our school-which we

also had to go back and forth with, but we ended up never needing

to use them, and cancelled our appointment. They were our last

resort if all else failed, and all else didn't fail for us.

And by the way for those of you in the TriState area that are

interested in this subject, Stacey and Ted are CHERAB's animated,

informative, and " feared " scheduled speakers to talk about IEPs and

all that fun stuff on October 1st 2001 at St. Barnabas Medical

Center. (we would have them sooner, but we are all booked up with

speakers until then)

I also fixed the SPAN link, and wanted to just resend this out

because it's worth reading twice!

Talk to you later,