Re: texas special ed system

[Guest guest]

Although I have no concrete evidence, I think the new trend that schools have been told by their lawyers is not to allow any children with autism into their special ed programs so that they don't have to worry about the huge influx of autistic kids coming in financially burdening them. Fox 26 Houston did a story about grandparents who had custody of their grandson. In the report you could obviously tell he was autistic. All they were asking for was help with reading, and the school district, Conroe ISD, just outright denied their request.

Based on things the lawyers have already taught the school districts here in Texas, I wouldn't put this idea past their tactics.

I'm sorry that you are having a hard time. You might want to hire an advocate.

Hilda

the school thought that they would do the tests that they wanted to do on my son. they had a meeting and called it a staffing so that they could get away with not having me there for the meeting. all they sent me was a stack of papers saying that they wanted to test my son for a whole bunch of stuff all they wanted was my signature. i did not give it to them as i already had appointments set up for these exact same tests else where at no cost to me or the school system. now that they have the results i feel as though i am getting the run around with school system. my son was in the SpEd system when he was 3 and they ARDed him OUT against my better judgment and now he is back knocking at the SpEd door and they appear to be doing what they can to keep from having to open that door to let him in. the diagnostition, the assistant principl, and the school counselor along with a few other school officials have already seen the report.> > > Subject: texas special ed system> To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy > Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 4:26 PM> > > > > > > > > i am the single mom of a 7 year old son that was recently diagnosed as having high functioning autism (not aspergers). my next question is the s.p.ed. system in texas. i think i want to scream. how do i get the school to call an ARD? what is the difference between an ARD and a 504 update/STAFFING. what are my rights as a parent? help!!!!! i am very overwhelmed and still proccessing the diagnosis. on top of all that we are going through an SSI review, and an MDCP review. aaarrrgggghhh! !!!!>

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[Guest guest]

I understand how you feel. My son is 7 years old and was diagnosed Autism/ADHD. You should speak to your son's school diagnostician about your concerns regarding your son. The school would then began a series of test. Depending on the results, the school will then call a ARD Meeting to discuss any and all services they can provide to your child. My son currently receives speech and occupational therapy as well as help with reading. Like you I applied for SSI and got it. Hang in there!!!!

Subject: texas special ed systemTo: Texas-Autism-Advocacy Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 4:26 PM

i am the single mom of a 7 year old son that was recently diagnosed as having high functioning autism (not aspergers). my next question is the s.p.ed. system in texas. i think i want to scream. how do i get the school to call an ARD? what is the difference between an ARD and a 504 update/STAFFING. what are my rights as a parent? help!!!!! i am very overwhelmed and still proccessing the diagnosis. on top of all that we are going through an SSI review, and an MDCP review. aaarrrgggghhh! !!!!

[Guest guest]

A very big secret that cost my son a year of therapy is to make your request in writing not a standard typed letter just write it out and sign it. I found this out by accident I had been verbally asking for pragmatic testing for about a year, everyone was very polite until one day I was speaking with the diagnostician and had set down a stack of papers on the top was a rough listing of the tests I had wanted my son to have. I laughed when the diagnostician asked what they were, I said that this was my formal written request for his testing, the diagnostician told me to sign it and took it from me and made the phone calls and arranged every test while I stood there. I could have screamed, but if this tip helps some other family. Maybe its worth it. JoyceSent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with Nextel Direct ConnectFrom: kahalia smith Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:15:50 -0700 (PDT)To: <Texas-Autism-Advocacy >Subject: Re: texas special ed system I understand how you feel. My son is 7 years old and was diagnosed Autism/ADHD. You should speak to your son's school diagnostician about your concerns regarding your son. The school would then began a series of test. Depending on the results, the school will then call a ARD Meeting to discuss any and all services they can provide to your child. My son currently receives speech and occupational therapy as well as help with reading. Like you I applied for SSI and got it. Hang in there!!!!From: nancylinguist <nancylinguist>Subject: texas special ed systemTo: Texas-Autism-Advocacy Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 4:26 PMi am the single mom of a 7 year old son that was recently diagnosed as having high functioning autism (not aspergers). my next question is the s.p.ed. system in texas. i think i want to scream. how do i get the school to call an ARD? what is the difference between an ARD and a 504 update/STAFFING. what are my rights as a parent? help!!!!! i am very overwhelmed and still proccessing the diagnosis. on top of all that we are going through an SSI review, and an MDCP review. aaarrrgggghhh! !!!!

[Guest guest]

the school thought that they would do the tests that they wanted to do on my

son. they had a meeting and called it a staffing so that they could get away

with not having me there for the meeting. all they sent me was a stack of papers

saying that they wanted to test my son for a whole bunch of stuff all they

wanted was my signature. i did not give it to them as i already had appointments

set up for these exact same tests else where at no cost to me or the school

system. now that they have the results i feel as though i am getting the run

around with school system. my son was in the SpEd system when he was 3 and they

ARDed him OUT against my better judgment and now he is back knocking at the SpEd

door and they appear to be doing what they can to keep from having to open that

door to let him in. the diagnostition, the assistant principl, and the school

counselor along with a few other school officials have already seen the report.

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> Subject: texas special ed system

> To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy

> Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 4:26 PM

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> i am the single mom of a 7 year old son that was recently diagnosed as having

high functioning autism (not aspergers). my next question is the s.p.ed. system

in texas. i think i want to scream. how do i get the school to call an ARD? what

is the difference between an ARD and a 504 update/STAFFING. what are my rights

as a parent? help!!!!! i am very overwhelmed and still proccessing the

diagnosis. on top of all that we are going through an SSI review, and an MDCP

review. aaarrrgggghhh! !!!!

>

[Guest guest]

>

> A very big secret that cost my son a year of therapy is to make your request

in writing not a standard typed letter just write it out and sign it. I found

this out by accident I had been verbally asking for pragmatic testing for about

a year, everyone was very polite until one day I was speaking with the

diagnostician and had set down a stack of papers on the top was a rough listing

of the tests I had wanted my son to have. I laughed when the diagnostician asked

what they were, I said that this was my formal written request for his testing,

the diagnostician told me to sign it and took it from me and made the phone

calls and arranged every test while I stood there. I could have screamed, but

if this tip helps some other family. Maybe its worth it.

I just want to add that this is not a piece of advice to ignore because this

exact same thing happened to me. For us, it was TWO YEARS. A lawyer friend

finally tipped me off that I had to make my requests IN WRITING. It was

amazing. The minute I gave them my written request for a " full and individual "

evaluation, they dropped all the game playing and did it.

Of course, then they commenced with other game playing. Like " let's pretend he

doesn't have autism... " But that would be another post.

It seems every step of the way is another game to figure out.

Ruth

[Guest guest]

>

> the school thought that they would do the tests that they wanted to do on my

son. they had a meeting and called it a staffing so that they could get away

with not having me there for the meeting. all they sent me was a stack of papers

saying that they wanted to test my son for a whole bunch of stuff all they

wanted was my signature. i did not give it to them as i already had appointments

set up for these exact same tests else where at no cost to me or the school

system. now that they have the results i feel as though i am getting the run

around with school system. my son was in the SpEd system when he was 3 and they

ARDed him OUT against my better judgment and now he is back knocking at the SpEd

door and they appear to be doing what they can to keep from having to open that

door to let him in. the diagnostition, the assistant principl, and the school

counselor along with a few other school officials have already seen the report.

Hi . Your situation is somewhat similar to ours in at least some ways. We

had most of our own evaluating done ourselves (everything from educational

testing, autism testing, speech, OT), and have been in the process of bringing

it back to the school for some time. It has been an ongoing process.

Some information that may help you organize your thoughts... The school has to

do their own evaluation. Sounds like that is happening, so that is not a

problem in and of itself.

What it sounds like you may not be aware of is that you need to request in

writing that you want your evaluations considered as input to the ARD. They

don't have to automatically do that just because you handed them the reports.

You need to make a list of the evaluations and request each one explicitly be

considered as input. There is also some kind of deadline, just a few days

before the ARD, that they have to have receipt of them.

You may well be getting the run around. We certainly did. The key for us was

finding out what the official protocol is and following it to a " T " .

When our school is getting dippy and not making sense, it has helped me to call

the school district SPED office and discuss what is going on, find out what the

protocol is supposed to be, etc. They generally speak " English " better for some

reason. They also call the school administrators at that school and discuss the

concerns. It is good to network and get to know people too.

And I have also discovered the secret of making things concrete to the point

where they can't deny it. Make sure you are ready with specific examples and

documentation.

We also had to have the patience to let them have some space and time to see

things for themselves, especially since all the evaluations were coming from us.

As you well know, autism is complex, and it will take them some time to absorb

everything and do their own experiments with what works and what doesn't. They

may accept the evaluation results but not agree with the recommendations.

Just make sure you keep pushing them. The initiative may well have to come from

you. They may drop the ball if you don't hang right with them, which is natural

if they don't even want to be playing the game.

I'm sure an advocate might be helpful. We have been able to do without one.

Although I have talked with attorneys and advocates on these lists, sometimes

extensively, so I don't really feel like I have gone without. It is worth it to

spend a little time on the TEA and IDEA websites and get to know what the laws

actually are.

Hope this helps.

Ruth

[Guest guest]

The correct terminology is a full and individual evaluation (FIE). School

districts have the responsibility under the Child Find provision of the

Individual's with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)to locate all children within

their boundaries with disabilities and to assess in all areas of suspected

disabilities. The catch is that you must provide written consent for the

district to assess. By the way, if they say that you must use their forms that

is bunk. There is no magic in their paper work. You should send this to your

building principal as soon as possible and be certain to obtain a receipt of

delivery. By the way, I recommend that everyone on this list serve sign up with

the web site " READNOTIFY.COM. " By utilizing this service, you will be notified

when someone reads an email that you send them and they will not know that they

are being tracked. The cost is $36 a year. To utilize the service, simply add

the extension .silent.readnotify.com after the normal email address. IT IS

IMPERATIVE THAT YOU PUT IN .SILENT.READNOTIFY.COM AS WE DO NOT WANT THE SCHOOL

DISTRICTS TO GET WISE TO THIS PROGRAM. For the benefit of the group I will

upload a new file to the list serve providing you a format for requesting an

assessment.

Louis H. Geigerman

President

National ARD/IEP Advocates

http://www.narda.org

louis@...

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> > > From: nancylinguist <nancylinguist@>

> > > Subject: texas special ed system

> > > To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy

> > > Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 4:26 PM

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> > > i am the single mom of a 7 year old son that was recently diagnosed as

having high functioning autism (not aspergers). my next question is the s.p.ed.

system in texas. i think i want to scream. how do i get the school to call an

ARD? what is the difference between an ARD and a 504 update/STAFFING. what are

my rights as a parent? help!!!!! i am very overwhelmed and still proccessing the

diagnosis. on top of all that we are going through an SSI review, and an MDCP

review. aaarrrgggghhh! !!!!

> > >

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