Re: How much time to wait-Debby

[Guest guest]

The supervisor and I both agreed to keep Evan in his private pre-school with

an ABA trained aide as well as the school system providing his OT, possibly

PT (if he is eligible, we will find out today-his eval is today), and speech

therapy which I believe is appropriate. The problem is that it is not

formally written in an IEP at this time, his IEP states he will be in the

autistic class at Clifton Public Schools which is inappropriate as it has

much lower-functioning children than Evan.

In addition, the length of the therapy sessions are 30 minutes, Evan has

speech therapy at home in 45-60 minute sessions and does extremely well, so I

want the sessions longer if possible...I was told, " this is what we offer "

Lastly, I feel that the school should help pay for home ABA therapy 4-6 hours

a week which I pay for now since they do not have a class which is suitable

for Evan in district-their response...we don't pay for home programs!

Those are the issues...and still I have not received any phone calls or

answers to my letters.

What do you think?

[Guest guest]

THANKYOU--THAT'S A GREAT IDEA!

[Guest guest]

Debby,

I don't know if this is relevant to your situation but our school district

is funding 10 hrs/week ABA for the coming year. One of the reasons we were

able to get this is that we started it ourselves and were able to show them

hard data on how it helped our son over a short period. Since was so

young we wanted to continue our home program and they couldn't argue with

success.

Kathy

How much time to wait-Debby

>Debby-

> You seemed satisfied with your son's placement at the last Mosaic

>meeting, what has happened? He is in a typical preschool? Have you looked

>at any programs? If you don't like the Clifton? program you will need to

be

>able to explain why the program is inappropriate and demand your district

>offer you other options. Of course you may suggest some and push for them.

>Do you know where you would like your son to go? If not you should start

>exploring schools. It is very late in the summer and it might be difficult

>to secure a placement or even look at schools. In that case I would

probably

>try to get a home program funded by your district. Because my district sat

>on their hands with my daughter early on they had to fund a 27.5 hour home

>program for us. had turned 3 in 12/98 yet she didn't begin to attend

>school until 7/99. I would hire a professional (be it lawyer or advocate)

>and let them begin to advise you. Also, try to get some professional

reports

>that back you up. (Behaviorists, Dev. Pediatrician, home instructors)

That

>will keep you busy till September.

> In the meantime, any correspondence with your district should now be

made

>by registered mail so a record can be produced that you have made attempts

to

>contact them. Keep calling but start writing registered letters to back up

>each call. In the letters you should comment that your child is in an

>inappropriate placement as discussed by you and the supervisor. The

letters

>should convey the message that they are not only not returning your calls

but

>also that they have agreed the placement is inappropriate and are doing

>nothing about it. This will convey the message of their negligence on

paper.

> They will have 20 business days (I think) to respond on paper to you. By

>sending a registered letter they are forced to deal with you. If they

don't

>respond they are breaking the law.

> The district must offer you a number of placement options - that is the

>law. They can not just stick your son in a school without giving you time

to

>look at it. You might have to fund your child's education a little longer

>but I'm not sure what your options could be at this point. You might want

to

>call Sawtelle and see if they have any openings (I'm not recommending but I

>know its close to Clifton). If they do have an opening call your district,

>leave a phone message and once again send a registered letter to back it

up.

>If you lose a potential placement because of their negligence once again

they

>will look terrible. This sort of thing will help you later on.

> Honestly, I think the summer is against you here. I don't think this

is

>the time to file for due process. I've learned that you really need to

stay

>on top of CSTs and its only been a little over a month since discussions of

a

>different placement has come up. That really isn't very long. They

haven't

>had much of a chance, especially since most placements are made in the

>spring. I think you need to contact a professional and I hate to say it

but

>wait it out for a short while. You can't say they are out of compliance

>since they did place your son, with your approval, in a preschool

>environment. In September you will have a much better case and will

probably

>end up with home hours for awhile. Of course, a professional can advise

much

>better than I. Good luck!

>

>Barb

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>> I have been in contact with my school district since the end of June

>> and now through July. Two weeks ago, I called the special ed.

>> supervisor, because my case worker does not work in the summer to

>> discuss placement for the fall for my son (he does have a placement,

>> but the supervisor and I agreed it was inappropriate and agreed to

>> change it). Last week, I continued to call with no response and I

>> also wrote a letter. Still no response. What do I do at this

>> point. It seems as if she is avoiding me (and my phone calls as I

>> caught her receptionists lying for her). Do I file for due process

>> at this point and ask for it all?

>>

>> Debby

>>

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[Guest guest]

Debby,

We did exactly what Kathy did. They couldn't argue with our hard data,

videos, reports etc. To do it their way would have affected her continued

progress.

Barb

In a message dated 7/27/00 10:19:26 AM, you wrote:

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