Re: inclusion or not... MAJOR VENT

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/21/03 9:12:54 AM Central Standard Time, jls1995@...

writes:

> I agree with this. Unfortunately, Jordan's LRE rights were not fully given

> to me back in August of '01 when she started elementary education. It was

> totally skipped over and ignored. I guess the SD figured that if they

> didn't give me those LRE options, that I wouldn't hear or find out about

> them. I'm glad I did find out, but still, it should have been the SD's

> obligation to inform me about her LRE first.

THis is very common Judi, many of us, myself included have had the same thing

happen. This isn't the first time and it won't be the last. And even tho

you've gotten Jordan into LRE, you still have to watch them. It's quite

possible that somewhere along the line they will try to set her up to fail.

That would be when you have to go throught the rigimarole of letter writing

and FBA's and BIP's and so on and so on.... Every one of us has had to find

out about LRE pretty much through educating ourselves. And pretty much

everyone of us is still working on keeping our child in the setting that is

best for her/him.

You can ask any of us on this list if the schools informed us of LRE or if we

found out about it ourselves. And the vast majority will tell you they

learned about LRE from places other then the school system. You aren't going

to change them anytime soon, so try to educate other parents along the way in

your area about LRE. But don't be surprised at the number of parents who

seem to think the status quo is fine. sigh.

Some years for Jordan will be great and others will stink , if your school

allows you to request a teacher you'll be pretty lucky since you'd be able to

ensure that she is in a class where she's wanted, which is a big part of the

battle. LOL All in all, It REally can be a pain in the rear, no matter

what the setting, but oh so worth it when you can see progress being made

(makes up for all the tears of frustration, lol) :-)

BTW, if I read your answer to my questio nabout signing something without

reading it, it sounded like they added a couple pages after you signed the

page in agreement? anyway, you may want to write the no. of pages in the

docs. you sign next to your sig, plus intitial & date each page, and if you

really distrust them get copies after you sign and intial every thing, for

your file of course. Just something some people do if they've been burned,

some do this from teh start. That way you know exactly what you've signed

and it becomes much harder for them to sneak anything in. (hope that makes

sense)

A tip for something to watch out for, they will try to write vague goals and

objectives, they're actually told to do this in those seminar they attend.

sigh. making them vague kinda saves them from having to actually prove

progress or even work on something specific, so if you want something that

will actually show how Jordan is doing, make sure that some of the objectives

are very speicific, even if they don't want them written that way.

Joy

[Guest guest]

Our last IEP meeting started with their handing me a page defining LRE. As a

veteran of many IEPs, I was kind of offended. But hearing that the info was

withheld from you, maybe that page is a good idea.

Bev

Re: inclusion or not... MAJOR VENT

I agree with this. Unfortunately, Jordan's LRE rights were not fully given

to me back in August of '01 when she started elementary education. It was

totally skipped over and ignored. I guess the SD figured that if they

didn't give me those LRE options, that I wouldn't hear or find out about

them. I'm glad I did find out, but still, it should have been the SD's

obligation to inform me about her LRE first. Then discuss placement in a

more restrictive environment. IF this had happened, Jordan would have NEVER

been in Life Skills to begin with. Not to say that she wouldn't have been in

another type of placement, but I should have at least had the opportunity to

know about it first.

Judi - Proud mother to Jordan 7, ds and Savannah 10 weeks, nda

Where ever you go....

There you are

Re: inclusion or not... MAJOR VENT

I think every parent should have every option explained and offered to

them

before a placement choice is made .... offered with all the supports the

student would need.

Whatever choice a parent makes for their child is up to them

[Guest guest]

> get copies after you sign and intial every thing, for

> your file of course.

We have always had copies made up. ANd we have never asked for them, the

school shave alsways given them to us volantaruily... mind you BJ isnt

in BIG school yet, so it may be different again.

>

>

> A tip for something to watch out for, they will try to write vague

> goals and

> objectives, they're actually told to do this in those seminar they

> attend.

> sigh. making them vague kinda saves them from having to actually prove

> progress or even work on something specific, so if you want something

> that

> will actually show how Jordan is doing, make sure that some of the

> objectives

> are very speicific, even if they don't want them written that way.

>

>

Our goals here are written evry spefically, and after the goal it is

also written who's responsibilty it is. eg parent and teacher, parent

etc. So then everyone is actountable.

I sooooooooooo wish all of you could live here. I feel sorta bad that I

havent had ot battle so hard for BJ yet. Well we had a battle once, but

nowhhere near what you guys go thru. ANd in hind sight the fight worked

out well.

PLease remind me of this in the future of I need this . We have BJs

first SA IEP on Feb 10th. And as I asaid BJ isnt in big school yet, so I

have no idea how that will be......

I still wish you caould all live here tho........

--

Leis....mum to 5 & Natasha 11 months

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Bertrand (1872 - 1970)

[Guest guest]

Joy,

>>BTW, if I read your answer to my questio nabout signing something without

reading it, it sounded like they added a couple pages after you signed the page

in agreement? anyway, you may want to write the no. of pages in the docs. you

sign next to your sig, plus intitial & date each page, and if you really

distrust them get copies after you sign and intial every thing, for your file of

course. Just something some people do if they've been burned, some do this from

teh start. That way you know exactly what you've signed and it becomes much

harder for them to sneak anything in. (hope that makes sense) <<

This makes perfect sense. I should have done that from the start. Thanks for

the suggestion.

>>A tip for something to watch out for, they will try to write vague goals and

objectives, they're actually told to do this in those seminar they attend.

sigh. making them vague kinda saves them from having to actually prove progress

or even work on something specific, so if you want something that will actually

show how Jordan is doing, make sure that some of the objectives are very

speicific, even if they don't want them written that way. <<

Do you have any suggestions on actual goals? I can't think of any really

because I'm not the teacher and don't know what the expected curricula for a

child who's seven is supposed to be.

Judi

[Guest guest]

Ask them what they feel Jordan should be doing. And think about what you

want her to do . For example tie her shoes.

Then write it down exactly as you want it.

eg Jordan will learn to tie her shoes.

This is how we do it here in Oz........

we then write down after it who is responsible.

In the next meeting, we usually go over the last iep, and then we give

" marks " to see how he did. And then we get to see of we still need to

work on it or what..............

>

> Do you have any suggestions on actual goals? I can't think of any

> really because I'm not the teacher and don't know what the expected

> curricula for a child who's seven is supposed to be.

>

> Judi

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

The goal should be measurable, ie: Jordan will be able to tie her shoes

independently 2 out of 3 tries by March 30, 2003.

I agree with Leis, who is responsible for implementing the goal needs to be

stated also.

Sue mom (who works with goals all day long!!) to Kate 13 and Karrie 6 w/ds