Re: Re: Common sense? Duh!

[Guest guest]

Hi Cari - welcome!

Cari's right, Kim - if you don't get everything done in the (jeez!) 1/2

hour they have scheduled, extend it and don't sign the IEP.

Barbara

Cari wrote:

>

> Jeesh! You are right, that should have been common sense, but at the

> very least he should have been sitting close. I just went to a great

> meeting the other day preparing me for our son's first IEP and it

> was suggested that if a school tries to only give us a short period

> of time for our IEP, such as a half an hour b/c they do back to back

> IEP's all day, call the school and insist that they block out more

> time 60 or 90 minutes, that way there's no frustration of trying to

> hurry or feeling rushed by them, or having to reconvene. Just a

> suggestion.

> Cari (first time posting!)

> mom to Caleb, 2yo w/bilateral CI's

>

>

> >

> > Our son (12yo, 6th grade) brought home his report card yesterday,

> and he is receiving primarily Cs with one D--mainly because of low

> or missing quiz and classwork grades.

> >

> > I sent out an e-mail to all of his teachers asking for input

> about *why* he has those grades (he had mainly As and Bs on the last

> report card!). He has not missed any school, and he does have a

> resource teacher to help with language issues and ADHD issues in

> most of his classes.

> >

> > The lowest grade he had was in Social Studies, which is

> typically a subject he does relatively well in. But his in-class

> quiz grades were *extremely* low, and I wanted to know what we could

> do to help him prepare better for those quizzes.

> >

> > The SS teacher called me this morning in response to my e-mail,

> and told me that the format of her in-class quizzes are that the

> class watches a video of a current news story on TV, then answers

> oral questions about the content of the broadcast. I pointed out

> that does have hearing problems, and asked if the closed

> captioning was turned on, or if there were other issues that might

> prevent him from hearing the video. Her reply: " Wow, closed

> captioning is a great idea for all of the kids! I'll have to find

> out if I can do that. " Then she added, " I guess it would help him,

> too, if he was sitting closer to the TV. Right now, he sits in the

> back of the room and there are some other noisy kids back there. "

> Duh! (Preferential seating *is* in his IEP, too!!)

> >

> > Gearing up for an IEP meeting on November 10th, there. I've got

> a LOT of subjects to bring up with them. ;-) They've scheduled the

> meeting for only 30 minutes, but they've NEVER had an IEP meeting

> with me before... (FM systems and an audiology/TOD evaluation are on

> the list so far.)

> >

> > Kiminy

> >

> >

> > ---------------------------------

> > Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 10/19/2006 10:11:14 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

bkmackellar@... writes:

One of the things I really hate about IEP meetings is that we have

to make decisions DURING them. I don't function well like that.

I would rather have a meeting to discuss the options, and then

go home and think them over. Then another short meeting, or

even a phone call, to finalize the plan. Why are IEP meetings done

like this, anyway?

I have absolutely no answer for that except to say that they will bully

people whenever they can to agree with their assessments and having a time

constraint is an effective tool for that. Our district no longer allots us a

half

hour, it is always an hour, based on our past experiences. And I have become

far from shy about calling for a meeting at any point in the year when I think

it is needed to discuss something that isn't working. We don't wait for an

annual meeting. I will make appointments with the 504 officer to discuss a

concern and if it is not adequately addressed, call for a formal

meeting/hearing.

Now that you know this is how your district handles things, come prepared to

actively not agree with their conclusions, or to actively refuse to agree on

the spot. Bring a pre-written letter requesting that another meeting be

convened. You can say the reason is to address the things which were glossed

over

or ignored, or that you are considering the CSE's proposals and want another

meeting to solidify the plan.

Our district also doesn't give us IEPs to sign (it's NY, after all). So

instead I would proactively NOT sign it, by immediately handing them a letter

stating that we disagreed with their stated assessments and were requesting

another meeting. You can word this to meet your needs.

I also send along letter asserting what I understood them to have said

during the meeting and what I expect to show up in Ian's plan. Not sure if this

has any legal teeth, but it seems to get and keep their attention focused on

exactly what we discussed. I haven't had any IEP/IAP surprises since starting to

do that.

I learned about all this the hard way. Someone suggested that I arrive with

a few pre-written letters in my briefcase. They were simple letters, only a

few lines long. One letter stated that we did not agree with the conclusions

drawn by CSE committee and that were requesting another meeting. Another

requested an IEE (independent evaluation, I forget what the acronym is exactly)

Another said simply that I was ending the meeting and was requesting it be

reconvened, and I would handwrite in whatever the current reason was --like

when

they included unannounced guests at out meeting: a social worker, a " parent

expert " who knew nothing about hearing loss in non-multiply handicapped kids,

the usual loading-up of their side of the table. The CSE Chairs eyes rolled

as I reached into the briefcase and pulled out whichever letter I needed,

signed and dated it on the spot and handed it to him in front of the entire

committee. He had the social worker leave as I reached into the briefcase. They

could not justify her presence, and I was not going to have our son's meeting

with Social Services sitting there. She left as I pulled the briefcase onto

my lap and opened it to get a letter.

To be honest, in retrospect, my district played tons of games that I learned

as I went along, delay after delay after delay. In truth, I'm an idiot who

should have called a lawyer long before I did. Only in retrospect do I see the

collection of stuff they pulled and how cliche it was.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 10/19/2006 10:19:27 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

kiminyme@... writes:

Now that he's in middle school, I *want* all six of his teachers in the

meeting, so it has to be done during their planning period.

Not sure if you can legally demand this, but I'd give it a shot. Here in NY

there is a list of the players -- which jobs they hold and must be at these

meetings. But they are representatives and the law does not require that they

have even met the child being discussed. We've been through this often. One is

a classroom teacher, but that doesn't mean that the teacher was even from

our elementary school, or that the psychologist has ever been in the same room

with our child. To some extent they can fill those seats with warm bodies

and have satisfied the letter of the law. Luckily we parents can call that into

question and request new meeting be convened.

We have friends and family who have been called into these meetings to act

as the representative teacher. One memorable one was to discuss a child with

Asberger's, the poor man had never even heard of it and he was expected to

provide competent recommendations. He was blunt in his statements that he was

the wrong teacher to be there since he had never met the child and was

completely clueless about the disability and what sort of supports the child

might

need or benefit from. The district was not terribly pleased when the meeting

was ended and another immediately requested " with competent and relevant staff

attending to provide appropriate information. "

I'd give it a go, but I don't think that they legally have to agree to this

request.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

That doesn't help us in states where we don't sign IEPs. This is pretty

much the story of Elias's last IEP meeting - we only had 30 minutes,

and it was over before I even had a chance to collect my thoughts.

I hadn't seen two sets of evaluations before the meeting, and I didn't have

time to even read them, let alone coherently respond. In New York,

not only do we never sign an IEP, but we don't usually see the final

version for weeks or even months. Elias's IEP meeting was

in April, and I didn't see the final version of it until August (although

I had heard the recommendations verbally).

One of the things I really hate about IEP meetings is that we have

to make decisions DURING them. I don't function well like that.

I would rather have a meeting to discuss the options, and then

go home and think them over. Then another short meeting, or

even a phone call, to finalize the plan. Why are IEP meetings done

like this, anyway?

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the suggestion.

My son is 12 now, and I've been doing IEPs for him for nine years now. :-)

One of the blocks to scheduling the IEP is that the teachers are only

available for a set period of time. In elementary school, only one teacher had

to attend the meetings, so they could put a sub in the class during the meeting.

Now that he's in middle school, I *want* all six of his teachers in the meeting,

so it has to be done during their planning period.

I generally attend the meetings with a list of the topics I want to address.

If I don't get through the list during the scheduled time, with satisfactory

answers, I request a follow-up meeting before the IEP is signed off. By the time

he left elementary school, they had figured out that we needed at *least* 90

minutes for his IEPs, and they started scheduling them toward the end of the

school day as the last meeting of the day.

Kiminy

Cari hislilma@...> wrote:

Jeesh! You are right, that should have been common sense, but at the

very least he should have been sitting close. I just went to a great

meeting the other day preparing me for our son's first IEP and it

was suggested that if a school tries to only give us a short period

of time for our IEP, such as a half an hour b/c they do back to back

IEP's all day, call the school and insist that they block out more

time 60 or 90 minutes, that way there's no frustration of trying to

hurry or feeling rushed by them, or having to reconvene. Just a

suggestion.

Cari (first time posting!)

mom to Caleb, 2yo w/bilateral CI's

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

I always told them that I wouldn't buy a used car without thinking about it over

night, so I'd do no less for something as important as the IEP.

[Guest guest]

I think you misunderstood the point of my statement here.

The reason the school scheduled only 30 minutes for our son's IEP is because

that is the only time all of his teachers are available to attend the meeting. I

accepted the 30-minute time slot specifically for this reason. If they didn't

expect the teachers to attend, we would be more flexible in scheduling the

meeting, both in when and how long.

Our son's teachers have always been present for his IEP meetings. We also have

therapists or the school psychologist present, but each of them has made a point

to come in and observe our son in the classroom at least once before the

meeting. The only exception we've had in the last six years is when the OT who

had observed and evaluated DS in preparation for the IEP went into early labor,

and a colleague had to fill in for her. However, the colleague did have all of

the first OT's notes from the observation.

We also had one IEP rescheduled *because* one of the therapists did not have

time to do a pre-evaluation before the meeting.

Kiminy

JillcWood@... wrote:

I'd give it a go, but I don't think that they legally have to agree to this

request.

-----------------------------------

In a message dated 10/19/2006 10:19:27 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

kiminyme@... writes:

Now that he's in middle school, I *want* all six of his teachers in the

meeting, so it has to be done during their planning period.

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[Guest guest]

Bonnie,

I agree, it makes no sense. I'm fortunate and I've never had this type of

meeting before. Infact, up until last year, we did sign the IEP at the end of

the meeting to put it into place. Now they use a computer to complete it and

they have it back to me in about a week to sign it. I think our shortest IEP

meeting might have been 45 minutes. I've never been told that we have a 30

mintue meeting. There was always a start time, but never an ending time. Last

year, however, we actually ran into the next meeting time, oh well!

The time between the meeting and you recieving the IEP to sign seems a little

" much " . You know that they are not just sitting on it for a few months before

printing it up. I'd put a call into your state board of education and ask to

speak to someone in the communication department (which should be the department

that deals with students and hearing loss). I would think that there is a

specified time frame in which districts need to complete and have IEP's signed.

Debbie

Bonnie MacKellar bkmackellar@...> wrote:

Why are IEP meetings done like this, anyway?

Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were

and ask why not. G.B Shaw

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[Guest guest]

I think they actaully have to go up to the Board of Education, or maybe even

the

state, before we receive the final version, so that may account for the time

lag.

Bonnie

>

>

> The time between the meeting and you recieving the IEP to sign seems a

> little " much " . You know that they are not just sitting on it for a few

> months before printing it up. I'd put a call into your state board of

> education and ask to speak to someone in the communication department (which

> should be the department that deals with students and hearing loss). I would

> think that there is a specified time frame in which districts need to

> complete and have IEP's signed.

>

>

>