Re: School's Fmy System taken home

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/26/00 2:48:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

abad@... writes:

<< I am curious about one

thing though. Are you worried about liability? In other words what happens

if the FM got damaged or broke while you had it. Would the school system

still replace it? Has this happened. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

>>

I had to sign a " use of school equipment " form. On that form it states that

if any damage takes place while the FM system is at home, I must pay for the

repairs. I did sign the form. I'm going to investigate the possibility of

insuring it. I don't know how that will go since I don't own it.

To get back with everyone on the language used on the IEP, we simply added to

the previous IEP in red ink that in addition to use of the FM at school, the

FM would go home with everyday after school, over the weekends and

holidays, and during the summer with the agreement that it would be turned in

to the school for the time needed to have it serviced. Then to the side of

the red ink, the IEP team initialed it and then at the bottom we all signed

it with the new date. I feel very blessed because from the beginning of our

experience with 's teachers and the whole team, we have never had any

negative responses to any of our requests or questions. They really just want

what's best for . I wish all of you the best with your efforts to take

the FM home for your children.

Suzette Maners

Titusville, Florida

[Guest guest]

>This interests me a lot because I would love to have my daughter's FM system

>sent home instead of us purchasing one, which we have been considering.

>Thank you for all the information you have posted. I am curious about one

>thing though. Are you worried about liability? In other words what happens

>if the FM got damaged or broke while you had it. Would the school system

>still replace it? Has this happened. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Appendix A to Part 300 of the Implementing Regulations to IDEA - NOTICE

OF INTERPRETATION, addresses the issue of liability for the home use of

a school-owned AT device, which an FM unit is:

" 36. Under what circumstances is a public agency required to permit a

child with a disability to use a school-purchased assistive technology

device in the child's home or in another setting?

Each child's IEP team must consider the child's need for assistive

technologyin the development of the child's IEP (Part

300.346(a)(2)(v)); and the nature and extent of the AT devices and

services to be provided to the child must be reflected in the child's

IEP (Part 300.346©).

A public agency must permit a child to use school-purchased assistive

technology devices at home or in other settings, if the IEP team

determines that the child needs access to those devices in nonstop

settings in order to receive FAPE (to complete homework, for example).

Any assistive technology devices that are necessary to ensure FAPE must

be provided at no cost to the parents, and the parents cannot be

charged for normal use, wear and tear. However, while ownership of the

devices in these circumstances would remain with the public agency,

State law, rather than Part B, generally would govern whether parents

are liable for loss, theft, or damage due to negligence or misuse of

publicly owned equipment used at home or in other settings in

accordance with a child's IEP. "

Best to ask your state dept of ed about it. If they don't know (who

would be surprised?) then best to contact the state Attorney General's

office. Enclose a copy of Question 36, and the answer.

Celeste

[Guest guest]

Marc:

I only know of one person where the parent prevailed in having the school

district pay for hearing aids and it was a very hard fought battle. You

could ask for the aids and be surprised when/if they agree. The aids they

provide though, might not be what YOU want for your daughter - but

technically could be adequate or appropriate falling under the umbrella of

" free and appropriate " . For instance they might be plain aids with no

directional microphones. If you can get them on your own, I agree with Kay,

if your insurance can cover them, that would be a better route - and believe

me I've been there as well, wondering about paying for them and am very

thankful that I am getting a big tax return this year. (I think).

Good Luck

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[Guest guest]

Marc:

I only know of one person where the parent prevailed in having the school

district pay for hearing aids and it was a very hard fought battle. You

could ask for the aids and be surprised when/if they agree. The aids they

provide though, might not be what YOU want for your daughter - but

technically could be adequate or appropriate falling under the umbrella of

" free and appropriate " . For instance they might be plain aids with no

directional microphones. If you can get them on your own, I agree with Kay,

if your insurance can cover them, that would be a better route - and believe

me I've been there as well, wondering about paying for them and am very

thankful that I am getting a big tax return this year. (I think).

Good Luck

________________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

Celeste, Kay et al....

To follow up on the IEP thead, we are preparing to go through our first

round with our 5 year old daughter Toni in preperation for kindergarten in

the fall. I've been reading and studying and trying to become as well

versed as possible, but one of the questions I have (of many!), and this

seems to be an extremely gray area, pertains to this section of IDEA which

Celeste included in yesterdays littany of EXTREMELY helpful info (thanks

SO much Celeste!!!!):

Each child's IEP team must consider the child's need for assistive

technologyin the development of the child's IEP (Part

300.346(a)(2)(v)); and the nature and extent of the AT devices and

services to be provided to the child must be reflected in the child's

IEP (Part 300.346©).

As part of Toni's right to FAPE, are hearing aids considered to be part of

the AT devices being referred to? I know that Kay has many letters from the

US Dept of Ed. on the website that touches on this subject, but I can't get

a grip on what the standard practice is here. Toni definately needs the

hearing aids (which we are in the process of purchasing) to function

effectively at school, so shouldn't I push to have this included in her IEP

and have the school system be required to provide her hearing aids?

Same question I guess for my 18 month old son . We have our first

Early Intervention meeting coming up fo him! Are we having fun yet????

Anyway, thanks for all the info and support y'all, knowledge IS power!

Marc

Daddy of Toni , 5 1/2 HI and 18 months, HI

[Guest guest]

> As part of Toni's right to FAPE, are hearing aids considered to be part

of

> the AT devices being referred to?

OSEP letter re: hearing aids are assistive technology

http://www.listen-up.org/rights/osep1.htm

Celeste's article Who Pays For Audiograms Used In Schools is also helpful.

http://www.listen-up.org/rights/whopays.htm

Most school districts will tell you " we don't do that " , in which case this

OSEP letter would apply:

OSEP letter re: presumptively denying assistive technology

http://www.listen-up.org/rights/osep4.htm

The only time I've pushed this issue with the school district is at the IEP

meeting I mentioned earlier. The district reps told me " we don't do that "

and I asked them why then had their offices signed the insurance form

stating they would and then say at the bottom they provide services listed

as appropriate on the child's IEP. I let them know their options were to

either put up, or sign a new insurance form that reflected a more realistic

view of what they would provide my son. After I told them that they

immediately agreed to sign a new form. Heck, in the first one someone in the

office sent us, they had actually agreed to provide a cochlear implant, if

it was in the IEP. The way our insurance works, that would have left JD out

in the cold because I knew there was no way in heck we would ever get that

into an IEP and if the school district says they would provide it, our

insurance won't pay.

One of the reasons it's so difficult to even get into the IEP that your

child uses hearing aids is because it opens the door to their having to

provide them and they know that.

If you decide to go this route, there are lots of things you need to

consider before hand, and have addressed during the IEP. Will your child

only be allowed to use them during school hours? What happens over the

summer break? What about if you ever have to move? What happens if it gets

lost? Who services them? If you did manage to get them from the school and

even during the summer, what happens if they break during the summer? Do you

have to wait till the beginning of the school year to get them fixed?

Personally, if there was any other way to pay for the hearing aids, I would

avoid going this route. In the case I mentioned above, I would have pushed

for hearing aids through the school district only because their first

signature made it impossible for me to get them through the insurance

company. As soon as they realized I wasn't going to back down, they did.

Kay

[Guest guest]

Marc -

I think it depends how hard you want to fight for it - I know a woman up

here in NY who successfully fought and won - the district bought 2 pairs of

aids for her son - one pair for back up - I know it was a very tough fight

though so decide what you're up for. Up here EI will cover aids for

children under 3 so get moving on that - unfortunately, we got a definitive

diagnosis six weeks after Max's 3rd birthday and missed out on EI benefits ;

( I'll be praying for strength and stamina for you - I remember those

days and am happy to tell you for us it has gotten better. Warmly,

--

[Guest guest]

This is a dumb question, but does an FM system only work if the speaker is

wearing the microphone? I've looked through Kay's links and can't get a handle

on this.

We'll be adding an FM system to Zach's IEP next month, and had never thought

about having him bring it home as well. But there are occassions that it could

be really

helpful. For example, we took him to see " Sesame Street Live " a few months ago,

and I could tell he was missing a lot of what the characters were saying. It

would also

be great to have for church. I'm still trying to get all of this figured out!

Deb, Mom to Zach (5 with mild/moderate hearing loss bilaterally), (12),

ph (10), n (7) and Lucas (18 months and not talking yet!)

[Guest guest]

You can get a conference microphone to hook into the receiver for most

fms and then you can pick up all sound within 10-15 feet of the fm unit.

Deb Bartnick wrote:

>

> This is a dumb question, but does an FM system only work if the speaker is

wearing the microphone? I've looked through Kay's links and can't get a handle

on this.

> We'll be adding an FM system to Zach's IEP next month, and had never thought

about having him bring it home as well. But there are occassions that it could

be really

> helpful. For example, we took him to see " Sesame Street Live " a few months

ago, and I could tell he was missing a lot of what the characters were saying.

It would also

> be great to have for church. I'm still trying to get all of this figured out!

>

> Deb, Mom to Zach (5 with mild/moderate hearing loss bilaterally), (12),

ph (10), n (7) and Lucas (18 months and not talking yet!)

>

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[Guest guest]

> This is a dumb question,

No, it's not a dumb question. If you don't know the anwer to something, it's

never dumb to ask.

> but does an FM system only work if the speaker is wearing the microphone?

This actually depends on the microphone. There are 2 types of microphones.

One is called a unidirectional one and it only picks up what it is pointed

at and within about 6 inches of. The omnidirectional mic will pick up sounds

from any direction, but it has to be fairly close to them to pick them up.

The only sounds the FM picks up are those picked up by the mic. There are

some systems out there that also have an environmental mic. This is usually

built into the receiving unit and picks up sounds near the child (so he can

hear other kids) and there's usually a switch to turn this on and off. Since

JD boots his FM into his hearing aids (or at least when he was using 2

hearing aids), if he wanted environmental sounds he just turned the mic on

his hearing aids on. I don't think he ever used the environmental mic on his

unit.

So I guess the answer is yes, and no. Yes if the environmental mic is turned

off, no if the environmental mic is on and the mic on the transmitter is

turned off.

Clear as mud?

Hugs,

Kay

[Guest guest]

> Marc:

> I only know of one person where the parent prevailed in having the school

> district pay for hearing aids and it was a very hard fought battle. You

> could ask for the aids and be surprised when/if they agree. The aids they

> provide though, might not be what YOU want for your daughter - but

> technically could be adequate or appropriate falling under the umbrella of

> " free and appropriate " . For instance they might be plain aids with no

> directional microphones.

Right now Petya cannot wear hearing aids because of all the surgeries she is

having. She knows sign and has an interpreter at school. But it says in

her IEP she needs the fm and hearing aids. So I brought up bone conduction

aids with the school. They provided a bone conduction fm. That is what

they have. They don't want to get into getting her aids. I am not fighting

it because hopefully we will only need this type of amplification for six

months or so. It is so nice to have her aided with anything right now, I am

happy.

Barb