RE: Topic of the week: education laws

June 28, 2004

Hello All,

Glad to hear that everyone had a great time at the convention!

We live on Long Island in New York. Overall I feel that,especially in my school

district, we have a fairly good school system for children with special needs.

Noone ever really fought with me when it came to Ariel's educational needs. The

DX of MDS, seemed sufficient enough,regardless of MDS or DS, until we reached

about 3rd grade.

I guess you could say that I have always felt that there was something else

" wrong " with Ariel. Educationally speaking she does alright....A little " slow "

yes but other than that appeared to be learing well. As you may know Ariel was

also DX last year with High Funcioning Autism. Now what I am about to say here

does not apply to everyone. But I do know that several children within our

group have many " social issues " and the like. From an educational stand point a

DX of any form of Autism (it may interest some to know that the medical

community is considering adding ADD and ADHD within the Autism Spectrum) is the

way to go...Let me explain. A child who is classified as " Autistic " on ones IEP

automatically receives services..no more fighting with the school district.

There appears to be a lot more services for children with Autism.Suddenly the

district is a lot more helpful when it comes to helping your child with his

social needs and educational needs.Regardless of their functioning level. Im

not saying that everyone here should run out and have their child evaluated for

Autism.But Im sure that some children within our group are just like Ariel.I

wish that we had been able to attend the convention so everyone would be able to

see what I mean. In most cases the school district will pay for the evaluation

(it can be quite pricey). I know that in some of our minds the added DX can be

quite burdensome but overall it has helped my daughter more than words can ever

describe. There appears to be a set guideline to educate children with Autism

that just doesnt apply to other DX. I mean it has its own IEP classification

for goodness sake. Why should things change just because the classification

changed????Ariel used to be classified as " Multiply Disabled " and we had trouble

but now with the classification of " Autism " we receive it all.Nothing has

changed other than the classification.Ariel is the same little girl she always

has been..Just now she receives the support that she deserves and she is

thriving.

Please take to mind that this is simply my opinion and I hope that I have been

able to help some of you with your battles.

Sincerely,

Mom to Ariel 10MDS

June 28, 2004

Not only am I a parent of a child with MDS, but I am also a teacher. In

Oklahoma the special needs child has many rights. The school district I work

for is a full inclusion school district. Every child is in a regular classroom

some part of the day. They even have special education teachers who come

in and work with the students instead of pulling them out of the classroom.

Obviously with Emma only being 5 weeks old I haven't experienced the

parent side of things. But as a teacher if I don't honor the IEP it will get me

in

trouble possibly written up or fired. In our school district I would even say

that

students with special services are high on the priority list. We want all

children to be successful. If anyone has questions I can try to answer them or

if you need help with services I would love to help. You all have been a

blessing to my family and I would love to help in any way. I love my job and I

love to help kids! My husband is a teacher too, but in music and I know that

he sees ALL of the students in his school.

By the way I am also certified for special ed!

Have a great week!

Lynnelle

Craig

Emma (MDS) 5 weeks old

June 29, 2004

I am a special education teacher in KY. Every comment I make in this

posting is from the perspective of an educator.

First of all, even though each state has a certain degree of discretion

regarding special education, the federal law remains the same. From what I

have researched about MDS, it seems the reason children with MDS have

trouble obtaining services is because of where their IQ falls. In KY, a

child whose IQ falls below 70 automatically qualifies for services because

they classified as Mildly Mentally Disabled (IQ of 55-69) or Functionally

Mentally Disabled (IQ below 55). In order for a child to be classified as

having a learning disability, there has to be a severe discrepancy between

ability and performance. This discrepancy varies from state to state, but

generally there is about a 30 point discrepancy, meaning that a child with

an IQ of 80 would have to perform as if his/her IQ were around 50. Most

kids with IQ's in the 70's and 80's simply do not meet the criteria set

forth by the " regression formula. " Now, there is one other classification

which might serve a child with MDS. That classification is OHI -- Other

Health Impaired. There must be a statement by a medical professional

stating that the child has a medical condition which would adversely affect

his/her educational performance. Put that together with input from the

committee members (specifically the regular classroom teacher) regarding the

child's academic performance, and the committee can decide to qualify the

child under OHI.

As far as how to get services for your child, the best advice I have is,

" You are child's best advocate. " You know him/her better than anyone and

you have to be persistent. I am often saddened by the " absent parent. "

There are some children whose parents never darken the door of the school

and never communicate with the school. The saddest of the sad is when a

parent chooses not to attend the child's annual IEP meeting. How else are

they going to be able to ensure that their child's educational needs are met

if they do not even attend the meetings where the educational decisions are

made?

The other thing is to teach your child to self-advocate (respectfully, of

course) as s/he gets older. I have students in high school who would rather

do poorly on an assignment than request an accommodation. I DO have some

who are not ashamed to ask questions like, " Am I allowed extra time? "

However, I wish these students were even more vested to the point that they

KNEW what accommodations are written into their IEP's. (They DO attend

their meetings, but I don't think they pay much attention to discussions

regarding accommodations).

I know I am " preaching to the choir, " so I will stop. Just don't ever fade

from the picture where your child's education is concerned. You ARE your

child's BEST advocate! Don't give up.

Topic of the week: education laws

Hi everyone,

I am finally recuperated from our trip to the convention! One of our

topics during the convention was special education laws. It seemed to me

that Florida had the worst special education available after hearing

Vannessa and Betsy talk about the troubles they were having getting the

services they needed for their children. And, from what we learned, the

things the school districts were saying and doing were against the law!

So, I think if everyone could share what they do to get the special

education that their child needs, this would help everyone around the

board. Also, share with us what problems you have had getting those

services and how you solved it. (or if it was never solved) One question

I have concerning this is, Do you think that you are having these

troubles because your child has MDS instead of Ds? If you live outside

of the United States, please share what your country does concerning

special education! Do you have trouble getting your child in special

education? Or, do you have trouble getting your child included in

regular education?

We have close to 250 members on this board, and a large majority of you

have children in school...so please, everyone, share your experience! It

will really help others!

Have a great week!

Kristy

June 29, 2004

The Autism label can be a two-sided coin, I suppose. There can be a lot of

negativity associated with the label, but you are correct in that it DOES

have it's own disability category according to the federal guidelines.

There is also a certain amount of protection associated with the label, too.

If a child with an IEP commits an offense severe enough to warrant

suspension beyond 10 days, the committee must meet to determine if the

offense was related to the disability. If it is, the child may not be

suspended beyond 10 days, but the school district must come up with an

alternative plan for dealing with the behavior. With a label of Autism,

there are many behaviors which can be linked to the disability and the child

is therefore protected. Not so with some of the other disability

categories.

I WAS surprised to read that there is some consideration being given to

adding ADD and ADHD to the Autism Spectrum. Does this movement have much

momentum, or is it just a " passing fancy " ?

Thank you for reading my thoughts.

cakj

Re: Topic of the week: education laws

Hello All,

Glad to hear that everyone had a great time at the convention!

We live on Long Island in New York. Overall I feel that,especially in

my school district, we have a fairly good school system for children

with special needs.

Noone ever really fought with me when it came to Ariel's educational

needs. The DX of MDS, seemed sufficient enough,regardless of MDS or DS,

until we reached about 3rd grade.

I guess you could say that I have always felt that there was something

else " wrong " with Ariel. Educationally speaking she does alright....A

little " slow " yes but other than that appeared to be learing well. As

you may know Ariel was also DX last year with High Funcioning Autism.

Now what I am about to say here does not apply to everyone. But I do

know that several children within our group have many " social issues "

and the like. From an educational stand point a DX of any form of

Autism (it may interest some to know that the medical community is

considering adding ADD and ADHD within the Autism Spectrum) is the way

to go...Let me explain. A child who is classified as " Autistic " on ones

IEP automatically receives services..no more fighting with the school

district. There appears to be a lot more services for children with

Autism.Suddenly the district is a lot more helpful when it comes to

helpin g your child with his social needs and educational

needs.Regardless of their functioning level. Im not saying that

everyone here should run out and have their child evaluated for

Autism.But Im sure that some children within our group are just like

Ariel.I wish that we had been able to attend the convention so everyone

would be able to see what I mean. In most cases the school district will

pay for the evaluation (it can be quite pricey). I know that in some of

our minds the added DX can be quite burdensome but overall it has helped

my daughter more than words can ever describe. There appears to be a

set guideline to educate children with Autism that just doesnt apply to

other DX. I mean it has its own IEP classification for goodness sake.

Why should things change just because the classification

changed????Ariel used to be classified as " Multiply Disabled " and we had

trouble but now with the classification of " Autism " we recei ve it

all.Nothing has changed other than the classification.Ariel is the same

little girl she always has been..Just now she receives the support that

she deserves and she is thriving.

Please take to mind that this is simply my opinion and I hope that I

have been able to help some of you with your battles.

Sincerely,

Mom to Ariel 10MDS

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June 29, 2004

and All -

My son was dx with ADD but he does do a lot of the common symptoms that

are associated with Autism. The flapping of the arms/hands - the

shutting down/pulling away socially in large groups (even when that

group is family) - Before we got the dx of ADD we got many other " guess "

dxs PDD; Aspergers (sp?); late onset of Autism - so we have seen how

similar ADD or ADHD (we got that one too) and the Autism spectrum can

be. If you read any of the books many of the symptoms are very similar.

Our School System in Chester County, PA seems to treat ADD very well -

is in a mainstream classroom and he does get extra time to finish

some of his assignments. We love our school system so much so that when

we move we want to stay in the same school district.

Darlene Mom to (7) and (5)

" Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by those doing

it. The human spirit can overcome ANY obstacle in the way of a dream. "