RE: 3 year re-evaluation

[Guest guest]

,

I just wanted to share what we've done with our daughter. I realize we all

may choose different paths for our kids, but here's our school situation.

Our daughter (now 11) has been virtually fully included since 1st grade. In

kindergarten we didn't understand inclusive education and didn't request it;

although she wasn't pulled out for a lot, it was more than we've ever

allowed since we started attending national ds conferences and learning

about inclusive education. One of the main points a lot of experts

explained to us about children with disabilities being put in the special ed

room was the negative reality of a wide variety of ages being in that room,

i.e. a 6 year old is learning negative habits/behaviors from a 9 year old 3

years early. Additionally, a lot of times (I'm sure not always) the work

being done and being expected in a spec ed room doesn't have the bar set

high enough, not to mention those children are not exposed to the language

rich environment of a reg ed room. As it was explained to me, " If a child

has speech issues, why wouldn't you put that child in a room full of good

role models for speech? " Any of us with more than 1 child can certainly

attest to the fact that children learn a tremendous amount from other

children - more, sometimes, than they learn from us. I would really

encourage you to attend something that can give you more information on the

inclusive classroom and differentiated instruction.

As for the other items you mentioned, if your son needs 1:1 to be included,

one needs to be provided. Our IEP's state our daughter needs constant,

consistent supervision - that language forces a 1:1 to be provided. Get

that on the IEP and you'll have one. The law clearly says your child cannot

be removed from the reg ed room unless and until appropriate supports and

services have been provided and failed...and they must show why they failed

and why something else wasn't tried and whether or not it was successful.

Basically, your child must be placed in reg ed first. He doesn't have to

earn his way in - he's entitled to it. It's called the LRE, Least

Restrictive Environment. Additionally, an associate supt of schools for

Washington, DC, schools told me once (he was giving advice as a friend of a

friend), you don't remove a child who has trouble focusing or staying on

task from a reg ed class, you work to change the environment of the reg ed

class, and teach him the skills to stay on task. Believe me, your child

w/ds isn't the only child in that classroom with attention issues. And I

often wonder to myself, if my child wasn't so identifiable in terms of

having ds, would there be such a discussion of removal? A lot of kids with

no identifiable issues struggle with attention and/or struggle with reading,

math, etc, and they don't get pulled out.

Finally, ask for the spec ed teacher to be brought to the reg ed classroom.

Special ed is a service, not a place. Our school district is finally

implementing team teaching, albeit slowly - only 5 schools at first.

Good luck. I hope this is helpful.

Eleanor Green

3 year re-evaluation

Hi Everyone,

My son (8 yrs old ds) is up for his 3 yr reevaluation. We have received

consent forms from the school but am not sure if I should be requesting

additional testing or not. Right now he is slated for : educational,

speech, OT, educational status eval., and a psychological assessment. Our

goal this year is to get him into mainstream classes as much as possible

with a 1:1 aid and curriculum modified. His teacher has come right out and

told me that he will focus and stay on task when she is right with him but

loses the focus when she needs to be with another child. He is in

segregated sped class consisting of sped teacher , 1 classroom aid and

seven 2,3, & 4 graders. He is integrated in music, gym and art only right

now. Also .. If anyone's child is in a similar situation can you tell me

if they get a regular report card on top of

the progress report o the iep goals or not?

Thanks in advance