Re: 3 Year Evaluation Year

[Guest guest]

Sharon, did you have an IEP meeting (to write his IEP for the next school year)

or did you have his eligibility meeting (where you review the triennial

evaluations and reports, discuss strengths and weaknesses, and determine if he's

still eligible for services)?

We're going through this right now too and had Jake's triennial eligibility

meeting yesterday. First IEP meeting is Thursday but we're not going to finish

it in one sitting this year.

You should have had a meeting a month or two prior to the eligibility meeting to

decide what evaluations were appropriate and would be performed? BTW, I don't

know how much this may vary by state, I think the basics here are mandated

federally. We're in Virginia.

We were told that OT is typically not involved in the eligibility process but I

insisted on an evaluation and sensory profile because it is such a huge part of

Jake's issues and one of the biggest triggers of undesirable behaviors with him.

The team knows this and it's well-documented in past IEPs and other reports so

they really couldn't refuse. The OT evals were performed and his occupational

therapist attended the eligibility meeting as we requested.

If you request something and they deny it, that HAS to be documented. It's

called Prior Notice and you should get one at the end of every meeting, whether

you were denied something or not. It should include all options that were

proposed and considered, options that were rejected or refused, and assessments

or reports used to make those decisions.

That being said, observation can be considered a valid evaluation tool. I would

request a " sensory profile " as well from the school OT. It's a survey type form

that measures several sensory groups (auditory, visual, touch, etc.) that you

fill out at home and his teacher fills out at school, then the OT compiles and

scores the data. It's a bit less subjective than just observation and it's not

taxing on school personnel so they shouldn't have any reason to deny the

request.

Good luck!

Love,

Judy

>

> We just had our IEP for - what a joke but that's besides itself I am

working on it, but I have a question.

>

> Does anybody know if during a year that he is to have his 3 year evaluation

that they can substitute an observation instead of an eval. They originally

were not going to do any evals and I said ah NO he needs evals and here are his

evals from his private PT and OT.

>

> Reason for me questioning is - they did not do an OT Formal Eval they observed

him - this is a brand new OT to the Co-Op but I really wanted that eval - that

is where all his issues are - he needs a sensory diet and they are refusing to

provide it. Based on these stupid observations.

>

> I want to force the hand and make them do a formal eval - do I have IDEA

behind me before I go off spouting my big mouth?

>

> Sharon

>