Re: Letters for DC trip - further thoughts

[Guest guest]

Hi tricia,

First i want to say I think it is wonderful that you are going to

D.C. on behalf of all our kids.

I do have a question though. With this new legislation does that mean

that the IEP is no longer a working document that can be changed as

the child changes? I have had my share of issues with the school

system but they have always worked with me to add goals and

objectives to 's IEP whether mid-year or over the summer. Do we

now lose this right?

denise

--- In , " Morin Family " <morinfamily4@n...>

wrote:

>

> Upon further thought about all this, I think of kids like Tanner. What if

> he started out with a 3 year IEP? , wasn't Tanner still basically

> non-verbal at 3 years old? Would his goals at 3 years old have been

> appropriate for him at age 6? At age three he might have been working on

> individual letter sounds. At age 6 I think said he was just about

> totally intelligible and wasn't Tanner learning to read? I know that much

> of this is due to EFA's but **also due to his IEP being updated each year**

> to revise his speech and academic goals and objectives.

>

> For my own son, I remember meeting with his private SLP every 6 months to go

> over goals and recap the semester (since was being treated at a

> university clinic). Each time we met, had met just about all of his

> goals and we had to completely revamp his program. By the last semester of

> therapy (after 3 semesters of treatment), we were working on language and

> literacy skills. Even though this was in the private realm, the point I am

> trying to make is that goals and objectives have to be revised more often

> than the proposed every 3 years in the Senate's proposed legislation 1248.

> If had a 3 year IEP, we would still be working off his original IEP

> from when he was 3 years old!!!!! That just seems ridiculous to me since at

> 3 years old we had sign language and individual letter sounds in his IEP.

> When Apraxic kids finally have their surge, you want to have a program that

> will be updated on a regular basis. A three year IEP would have to be so

> general that why even bother having an IEP at all.

>

> In the Late Talker book, Dr. Judy Flax, senior research pathologist at

> Rutger's University's Infancy Studies Laboratory, states, " Six months for a

> two-year-old is equivalent to a quarter of their lifetime

> developmentally.... " I think this says it all. For these young children

> especially, they change so quickly. As I said with , he was changing

> so quickly thanks to EFA's and very specific objectives in his IEP (S. 1248

> does away with objectives in an IEP) that his speech program needed updating

> just about every 6 months!

>

> Here is a HYPOTHETICAL SITUATION THAT VERY POSSIBLY COULD HAPPEN IF S. 1248

> IS PUT INTO LAW. is a 3 year old just entering the school system who

> has a 3 year IEP (valid through age 6) with VERY general goals so that they

> can span a 3 year period. Speech goal to span 3 year period -- " will

> exhibit age appropriate speech and language skills " . Under S. 1248 there

> would be no objectives so how would a speech pathologist go about

> implementing this broad goal (with no objectives to guide therapy)? As a

> consequence of a weak program with no short term objectives to guide his

> program, gets more and more frustrated since he is not learning to

> communicate and is maturing and is growing more aware of his speech

> deficits. Behavior starts coming out as a manifestation of his frustration.

> On top of his frustration, he is getting teased about being a " moron " .

> Since S. 1248 takes away many of the procedural safeguards for behavior and

> placement, a school can unilaterally place a child in a new temporary

> classroom setting (mentally retarded or behaviorally impaired self-contained

> classroom??) until a permanent placement is decided. AND THE PARENT CAN'T

> DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. Then 's behavior continues to worsen as he is in

> an inappropriate placement as his parents bicker with the school to get him

> to a more appropriate classroom. Things come to a hear and is suspended

> because there are no longer the safeguards that IDEA had in regards to the

> behavior of a disabled child dictating how a school would go about dealing

> with it. Then it is too late.... has fallen through the cracks and

> there is nothing that his parents can do about it. I don't care if they have

> all the money in the world to hire a high-powered special ed lawyer. IDEA

> is gone and there are no suitable laws in place to help get back on

> track.

>

> I have received some GREAT letters from various states, however there are

> some states that I still need representation from. When I meet with each of

> the senators, I would like to have letters from every state!! I would hate

> to meet with a senator from a state and not have any letters from his/her

> constituents. What kind of message would that send?

>

> So thank you to those of you who have written. I am truly hoping to get

> letters from all states. I really think I have a shot at making a difference

> so I am pulling out all the stops and GOING FOR IT!

>

> My husband (who is returning from a 4 month military deployment on Mar 19)

> fully supports my trip even though I will pretty much be leaving right when

> he gets home for my trip. Not knowing when he will deploy again, we value

> our family time, however S. 1248 will destroy our son's life (and ours) so

> my trip in DC will be time well spent. I am just praying that politicians

> will understand **how many** children will be affected by having bad

> legislation put into law.

>

> Tricia Morin

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Tricia,

Good Luck with your DC trip, but you never said which states you

hadn't received letter from. Jeanne

>

> I have received some GREAT letters from various states, however

there are

> some states that I still need representation from. When I meet

with each of

> the senators, I would like to have letters from every state!! I

would hate

> to meet with a senator from a state and not have any letters from

his/her

> constituents. What kind of message would that send?

>

> So thank you to those of you who have written. I am truly hoping to

get

> letters from all states. I really think I have a shot at making a

difference

> so I am pulling out all the stops and GOING FOR IT!

>

> My husband (who is returning from a 4 month military deployment on

Mar 19)

> fully supports my trip even though I will pretty much be leaving

right when

> he gets home for my trip. Not knowing when he will deploy again,

we value

> our family time, however S. 1248 will destroy our son's life (and

ours) so

> my trip in DC will be time well spent. I am just praying that

politicians

> will understand **how many** children will be affected by having bad

> legislation put into law.

>

> Tricia Morin

[Guest guest]

,

IDEA is a relatively parent-focused law. So when schools are bullying,

those of us who know the law can point to it and most of the time our kids

are taken care of. One of the scariest things about S. 1248 is that it

shifts the control from the parent to the school. I think that technically

you can still request an IEP at any time. However, what use is the IEP if

you don't have any objectives in it anyway. In my opinion, the IEP that

once held our hopes and dreams will turn into a another useless paper that

sits on teachers' desks and collects dust. A goal that even covers a year,

that is without short-term objectives, is pretty useless. There are issues

with tracking progress now, can you imagine how progress with be tracked

with no benchmarks. I feel silly that I am going to have to go into these

meetings with Senators and explain why we need short-term goals. All of us

in our lives set short-term goals. That is the only way we can achieve our

long-term goals.

So, to answer your question, yes...I believe we can still request an IEP

meeting at any time. Will the school agree to switch goals at that time?

We don't know. S. 1248 will change the overall tone of how IEPs will be

handled. Schools feel parents are overly involved and look for reasons to

leave us out. We as parents will have to fight harder for accountability if

S. 1248 is passed.

Tricia Morin

North Carolina

wrote:

Hi tricia,

First i want to say I think it is wonderful that you are going to

D.C. on behalf of all our kids.

I do have a question though. With this new legislation does that mean

that the IEP is no longer a working document that can be changed as

the child changes? I have had my share of issues with the school

system but they have always worked with me to add goals and

objectives to 's IEP whether mid-year or over the summer. Do we

now lose this right?

denise

[Guest guest]

" Do we now lose this right? "

our children could lose more than just 'one' right. They

could be set back over thirty years in educational rights. This is

why Tricia and many others are traveling toWashington to meet with

the Senators and bringing our letters, to help raise awareness for

our children that don't have a voice.

As Sandy was quoted to say:

" Parents have every reason to be concerned. Decades of special

education's best practice procedures will soon be made unavailable

to students and teachers. " The Senate bill would eliminate some of

the basic protections for students, and change the required

individual education plans for each student by removing the short

term educational step-by-step goals that are so helpful to both

parents and teachers, " according to Alperstein. "

http://www.antonnews.com/portwashingtonnews/2004/02/27/opinion/

If someone like you is not sure what these bills mean in spite of

all that is out there on this, then I'll try to answer some more

questions for everyone since there is not much time left and we have

many new parents on this list as well. This again pertains to

anyone and everyone that cares for a child that will receive special

services in school (like speech therapy). In my last message I

posted a parent friendly version written by Sandy -but you can also

search for it here in the more complex version:

http://thomas.loc.gov/

I don't know anyone who cares for special needs children who

approved of HR 1350 and yet it was approved by the House of

Representatives by a vote of 251 to 171.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll154.xml (how did your state

Senator vote?)

What does HR 1350 mean?

http://www.bridges4kids.org/articles/5-03/IDEA5-6-03.html

http://www.wrightslaw.com/news/2003/idea.disrights.advocates.pdf

And of course Sandy's website

http://www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com/

Even though the Senate bill ( S 1248) has improved from HR 1350,

there are still flaws. And especially for the group of children we

all care for here -communication impaired, who have needs would not

be addressed. And yes -that would mean for your son .

Even though many are advocating to stop or change this bill from

being passed, there are only a few speaking out on behalf of

specifically our children. Tricia will be one of them. Most

direct their advocacy to specific reasons that are relevant to the

population they outreach to, such as the hearing impaired

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=25 & letter_id=71475511

(perhaps however this relates to our children too! " Schools and

programs must not be allowed to simply consider a child's language

and communication needs, they must provide language and

communication access, the cornerstone upon which all learning

rests. " )

The Senate vote on S 1248 will happen within days at this point so

time is short.:

What's the problem with that in regards to our group here?

" The problem is that NCLB only tests certain academic subjects; it

does not address many of our children's goals, such as speech, motor

skills, behavioral and social skills, etc. Without short-term

objectives/benchmarks, therefore, there will be no accountability to

parents and no way for parents and teachers to effectively monitor a

child's progress in these critical, non-academic areas. "

http://www.s92488448.onlinehome.us/Events/S1248TalkingPoints.htm

About three year IEPs.

" Sec. 614(d)(5) - Multi-Year IEP: Districts may offer parents the

option of developing a multi-year IEP, not to exceed three years,

designed to cover " natural transition points for the child. " The

IEP would include a statement of measurable goals coinciding with

natural transition points and measurable annual goals for

determining progress in meeting " transition point " goals.

http://www.ldaamerica.org/HR1350SummaryFinalBill5-7-03.htm

(A) IN GENERAL- A local educational agency shall ensure that a

reevaluation of each child with a disability is conducted in

accordance with subsections

( and ©--

`(i) if the local educational agency determines that the educational

or related services needs, including improved academic achievement

and functional performance, of the child warrant a reevaluation; or

`(ii) if the child's parents or teacher requests a reevaluation.

`( LIMITATION- A reevaluation conducted under subparagraph (A)

shall occur--

`(i) not more than once a year, unless the parent and the local

educational agency agree otherwise; and

`(ii) at least once every 3 years, unless the parent and the local

educational agency agree that a reevaluation is unnecessary.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c108:2:./temp/~c108wNFbtp:e719667 :

S 1248 also eliminates stay put which means that if the school

decides your child belongs in a " mentally retarded or behaviorally

impaired self-contained classroom " your child will no longer be

allowed to " stay put " in his regular classroom until the issue is

resolved as they are allowed to do today. In addition, if your

child is in " out of district placement " and the school no longer

believes this to be appropriate placement -your child can not " stay

put " in the out of district school until the dispute is decided as

done now.

" S.1248 (like H.R.1350) eliminates the " stay put " provision of

current law. " Stay put " allows a child to remain in his/her current

education setting (subject to exceptions for dangerousness or

drugs/weapons) while proceedings (manifestation determination,

parent appeal, etc.) are pending. Without " stay put, " the child can

be unilaterally removed from the current education setting and sent

to an alternative setting, even if the child is not dangerous and no

drugs/weapons are involved, and even if the school later

turns out to have been wrong in its decisions. "

and

Senate Bill 1248:

Makes it easier for school personnel to remove students with

disabilities from school instead of requiring behavior to be treated

as an education issue.

Eliminates the right of students with disabilities alleged to have

violated school codes (e.g., cutting class, being tardy) to " stay

put " in their current school placements during the period of an

appeal by parents who challenge the basis for removing their child

for more than 10 school days; or a school's determination that the

student's action was unrelated to his/her disability; or that the

school was not providing the student needed supports and services.

Removes parents' decision-making role in programming and placement

determinations affecting teaching and learning.

Eliminates required benchmarks or short-term objectives from a

student's IEP ---components described by the House-Senate Committee

Report in 1997 as " crucial " for improved and effective teaching and

instruction.

Allows 3 year IEPs instead of requiring annual IEPs for students in

their last years of entitlement.

Permits teachers of those students with disabilities, who are

presently achieving behind their peers, to have less content-based

knowledge than teachers of non-disabled students who are also behind

grade level. This exception will encourage placement of students

with disabilities in separate " sped " classes. Remember: special

education is not a place or a curriculum; and what doesn't get

taught isn't likely to be learned!

http://www.cleweb.org/Alert/2003/Fall/update_on_the_congressional_proc.htm

If this passes this will be the case for all our children except

those that have parents that are wealthy enough for private

therapies and schools for them. And even if you are that wealthy,

please show support by emailing a letter to Tricia for the vast

majority who can not afford to do this for their child.

Thank you again to those of you that have taken the time to send

emails already to Tricia and have offered to go with her and Sandy

and everyone else. Like 's mom Robin Ketchum (who will be

more than happy to explain to you how horrible the three year

IEP would be for even as a teen

http://www.cherab.org/news/.html )

The children need our help, support, and our voice! If you decide

you don't want to send a letter now to Tricia after reading all of

the above still, only you will know. And you will also know this

going ahead if and when the Senator from your state approves S

1248.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some here have preschool children and may feel this doesn't apply yet to

their child, so why bother reading today when one can deal with it when it

matters down the road. Some here may have older children already in school

and receiving appropriate services that they take for granted will always be

there. After all, up till now, through advocacy support and awareness

raised through grassroots nonprofits like CHERAB, books like The Late

Talker, and websites like Speechville.com and Ourchildrenleftbehind.com, we

have learned how to help our children succeed so that they too have a chance

at a bright future just like everyone else. We assumed this wouldn't change

for 'our' child. We were wrong - it is changing as we sit here and read

this. Our truth today may become a distant memory tomorrow unless all of

us - including you - reach out to make a difference.

Tricia Morin ( http://www.cherab.org/information/silentnomore.html ) is so

upset about what the future holds for her own son, , as well as for

all of our children, that she has volunteered to fly at her own expense to

Washington D.C. in just a few days now, March 24th and 25th, for all of us,

all of our children, so that the voices of our children can be heard.

Tricia has already set up appointments with various senators from all over

the country who are taking her concerns - our concerns - seriously enough to

sit down and talk with her about them. This is an amazing opportunity for

each of us to make a difference. We can all be there with Tricia, and that

is what she requests from us. You don't even have to fly to Washington, but

if you want to do that you can.

Tricia only requests of us something that will take each of us just a few

minutes, but will make a huge impact. It is up to us to share our voices

for our children who can not yet speak for themselves.

All letters can be emailed to Tricia

Morin at morinfamily4@... ( morinfamily4 at nc.rr.com )

Please feel free to either cut and paste the following and keep

exactly the same with just filling in the blanks, or send your own

letter to Tricia.

Sample letter that you can just cut and paste and personalize:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~start of letter

Name____________________

Address__________________

( if you don't want to include, please include State)

State____________________

Date: ___________

Senator ______________ (Find your Senators here:

http://www.senate.gov/ )

Washington DC 20510

Re: Letter Regarding S. 1248

Dear Senator ____________,

There are 6.5 million children in this country who desperately need

help

that only you and the other Senators on Capitol Hill can provide.

As a _____________________ (examples: mother of two children with

apraxia, parents of a special needs child, father of a child with

autism and ADHD, teacher of special needs children, speech

pathologist for a rising number of speech and language impaired

children, neurologist who is researching neurologically based

disabilities in children, etc.), I am asking that you vote NO to S.

1248.

Education is the key to independence and future success. It is

critical to getting a well paying job. Before the passage of the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, which

granted all children with disabilities a free, appropriate public

education, many children with disabilities did not attend school.

They did not have access to school buildings or general education

curriculum. IDEA was reauthorized in 1997. IDEA 97 is giving

children with disabilities access to education so unlike years ago,

almost all with special needs graduate today! Please leave IDEA

alone - it is not broken, nor does Part B need to be reauthorized as

it is already permanently authorized.

The " Education Gap " is the difference in levels of educational

achievement between people with and without disabilities. S. 1248,

eliminates many important provisions contained in current law (IDEA

97), provisions upon which parents have relied in obtaining a Free

Appropriate Public Education for our/their children. For example,

the proposal to write Individual Education Plans (IEPs) every 3

years instead of the current annual schedule is setting children up

for failure without accountability. No professional can write a

document that will cover 3 years worth of specialized and intensive

instruction for a speech and language impaired child, for example.

If passed, S. 1248 will condemn children with communication and other

disabilities to struggle against the same segregation, neglect, and

abuse they faced more than 30 years ago.

As ____ (a parent/s of a beautiful son named who is speech

impaired, a professional) I/we believe that current IDEA legislation

should be enforced to allow students with disabilities to close that

gap. The enforcement of IDEA has been left largely on the backs of

parents. ______ (examples: Parents/As a parent I) do not have the

resources, money and teams of lawyers at my/our/their disposal.

With the passage of this bill we/they will have nowhere to turn when

______(our/their) _______(examples: our son who is tested to

have above average intelligence but who has a severe impairment of

speech, children with disabilities) is/are not getting a free,

appropriate public education.

School districts are only now beginning to implement IDEA 97 and No

Child Left Behind. Even though IDEA has been a law for thirty

years, only in the past few years have we seen the districts

actually begin to provide appropriate speech and other special

services. Please give IDEA 97 and No Child Left Behind a chance to

work. The bill you are about to vote on, if passed, will directly

affect 6.5 million American children with disabilities and their

futures, including _____ (examples: my innocent and intelligent

five year old son who deserves a chance not to be " left behind "

due to his inability to speak/ my patients) Please look at the long

term consequences of this decision by you and the rest of the

Senate, for it will have a lasting impact on our society.

The question is simple: do we want those 6.5 million speech impaired

and other special needs children of today to be independent,

contributing taxpayers of tomorrow, or do we want them to be forever

reliant on the government, a burden to society?

Please help bring our innocent children a voice, and a future, and

vote no to S. 1248

Sincerely,

____________________________

(optional phone number)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End of letter

Again, we were told actual signatures were not necessary - so just

fill in the above email and " mail " to Tricia Morin at

morinfamily4@... ( morinfamily4 at nc.rr.com )

Our thanks for taking this seriously on behalf of all of our

children and for acting on this ASAP, and for passing this on to

everyone you know that also cares for the children's futures.

Washington said, " The basis of our political systems is the

right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of

government. "

So " do we lose this right? " the answer may be up to you.

=====