Re: Public Pre-School IEP conflict

[Guest guest]

This is BS. Get that " Nobody gets more than 1 hour " thing in writing.

#1: They are not supposed to be sharing other kids IEP info with you

and #2: It is called Individual Education Plan for a reason...it is

individual. Your son is entitled to the services he requires and not

what everyone else gets or there would be no services in the first

place.

Their way to monitor him is by the speech therapists report. They

want him in their preschool to get the funding that comes with him

only to then cheat him out of services...no dice.

Fight like hell Holly.

>

> Hi:

> My son will be turning 3 in January, and transitioning out of EI

into

> the public school system. We had a meeting to review his pre-

> academic testing today (he scored above average in nearly all areas

> except expressive language-due to his apraxia) and discuss pre-

> planning for IEP. What I would like is for my son to continue

> attending the private pre-school he has been attending, and for the

> school to pay for the 2 hours of private speech therapy per week

that

> he has been getting (that I have been paying for out of pocket

since

> EI services were not sufficient to address his apraxia). I do not

> want him to attend the public pre-school, for several reasons, but

> especially because they are down several SLP positions and do not

> currently have an SLP to work with him. They are " out-sourcing "

all

> individual SLP services at this point until they can hire, and

since

> they are contracting with the same private SLP that I am using, it

> makes perfect sense for him to continue with her, and have them pay

> the bill. Well, here is the problem...they only want to pay for 1

> hour per week " because nobody gets more than that " and basically

they

> can't justify that it would be worth the money. He has been

> receiving 2 hours a week for the last few months and has made

> wonderful gains so I can assure them it is worth the money and he

is

> truly benefiting. They also said he must attend their pre-school

> program at least 2 days per week, in order for them to pay for the

> individual speech services. Here is my question: Does anyone have

> the public school providing and paying for more than 1 hour per

week

> individual speech therapy, and if so, was there a condition that

you

> had to attend their pre-school program as well? Does anyone get

just

> speech services provided and payed for through the school, and if

so,

> how much? The school is saying it is too hard to monitor my child

> without him attending their program, since the speech services are

> also outside the school district. Basically, they want a way to

> monitor him since the are " ultimately responsible for him " . I

don't

> think my son should have to attend their program in order for him

to

> get his individual speech therapy paid for; it seems they should

find

> a way to monitor his progress since it is their problem they do not

> have in-house speech services to offer. Any thoughts?? Thanks.

> Holly

>

> mother to Adam, nearly 3, moderately apraxic

>

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to chime in that I live in Central Florida (Seminole

County) and my son's pre-filled out IEP noted only 1 hour per week of

group speech therapy. It seems this norm is nation-wide.

They did not care how many days he was in the program. I wanted to have

him in it for 3 days a week for 3 hours a day (the teacher strongly

encouraged me to have him in 5 days a week 3 hours a day).

(I have since withdrawn him.)

" ...Well, here is the problem...they only want to pay for 1 hour per

week " because nobody gets more than that " ... "

[Guest guest]

I'm really glad that this is coming up.....my EI service coordinator said the

same thing about the speech services. They are also planning to cut his OT

(take it away), and it's helped him so much. Thanks for the advice about

getting everything in writing.

@...: debjward@...: Sat, 15 Dec

2007 00:24:07 +0000Subject: [ ] Re: Public Pre-School IEP

conflict

I just wanted to chime in that I live in Central Florida (Seminole County) and

my son's pre-filled out IEP noted only 1 hour per week of group speech therapy.

It seems this norm is nation-wide.They did not care how many days he was in the

program. I wanted to have him in it for 3 days a week for 3 hours a day (the

teacher strongly encouraged me to have him in 5 days a week 3 hours a day).(I

have since withdrawn him.) " ...Well, here is the problem...they only want to pay for 1

hour per week " because nobody gets more than that " ... "

_________________________________________________________________

Get the power of Windows + Web with the new Windows Live.

http://www.windowslive.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_powerofwindows_122007

[Guest guest]

Holly,

My son is in the same situation as yours except that my son is severely

apraxic with one word mum. He transitions in January also. I just had his IEP

meeting and he is going to get 3 1/2 hour sessions a week, an itinery teacher to

teach him once a week at school for 30minutes and 30min. with the family once a

month. There is also an OT co-treat for once a month. And a bunch of 15 min

consults from ST to his preschool teacher etc. I am in Pa

hlnoone <hlnoone@...> wrote:

Hi:

My son will be turning 3 in January, and transitioning out of EI into

the public school system. We had a meeting to review his pre-

academic testing today (he scored above average in nearly all areas

except expressive language-due to his apraxia) and discuss pre-

planning for IEP. What I would like is for my son to continue

attending the private pre-school he has been attending, and for the

school to pay for the 2 hours of private speech therapy per week that

he has been getting (that I have been paying for out of pocket since

EI services were not sufficient to address his apraxia). I do not

want him to attend the public pre-school, for several reasons, but

especially because they are down several SLP positions and do not

currently have an SLP to work with him. They are " out-sourcing " all

individual SLP services at this point until they can hire, and since

they are contracting with the same private SLP that I am using, it

makes perfect sense for him to continue with her, and have them pay

the bill. Well, here is the problem...they only want to pay for 1

hour per week " because nobody gets more than that " and basically they

can't justify that it would be worth the money. He has been

receiving 2 hours a week for the last few months and has made

wonderful gains so I can assure them it is worth the money and he is

truly benefiting. They also said he must attend their pre-school

program at least 2 days per week, in order for them to pay for the

individual speech services. Here is my question: Does anyone have

the public school providing and paying for more than 1 hour per week

individual speech therapy, and if so, was there a condition that you

had to attend their pre-school program as well? Does anyone get just

speech services provided and payed for through the school, and if so,

how much? The school is saying it is too hard to monitor my child

without him attending their program, since the speech services are

also outside the school district. Basically, they want a way to

monitor him since the are " ultimately responsible for him " . I don't

think my son should have to attend their program in order for him to

get his individual speech therapy paid for; it seems they should find

a way to monitor his progress since it is their problem they do not

have in-house speech services to offer. Any thoughts?? Thanks.

Holly

mother to Adam, nearly 3, moderately apraxic

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

Never miss a thing. Make your homepage.

[Guest guest]

Hi Holly:

I live in GA and when my son transitioned out of EI the assistant

director of Special Education said they only had to offer 1 30 minute

session by law. We were able to get two 30 minute sessions. He goes

to a private church program so I have to take him to wherever the SLP

is.

Since you already are using the SLP the school uses, you should ask

her to write a recommendation letter of how severe the apraxia is and

what she recommends for therapy and have her go to your next meeting

with the school. You can request to use that SLP also through the

school district. I had to call and get the SLP changed for my son

this year because of schedule conflicts.

When you are in your meetings and they say some of the things you

mentioned ask them to put it in writing. And you don't have to sign

the IEP at the meeting, you can bring it home and look it over and

then sign it if you agree with the terms.

You might want to go to your State Department of Education site also

and see if you find any good info that will help you with the school

district. You can also call and ask questions, and they might be

able to to help you.

Good luck to you,

Tina

>

> Hi:

> My son will be turning 3 in January, and transitioning out of EI

into

> the public school system. We had a meeting to review his pre-

> academic testing today (he scored above average in nearly all areas

> except expressive language-due to his apraxia) and discuss pre-

> planning for IEP. What I would like is for my son to continue

> attending the private pre-school he has been attending, and for the

> school to pay for the 2 hours of private speech therapy per week

that

> he has been getting (that I have been paying for out of pocket

since

> EI services were not sufficient to address his apraxia). I do not

> want him to attend the public pre-school, for several reasons, but

> especially because they are down several SLP positions and do not

> currently have an SLP to work with him. They are " out-sourcing "

all

> individual SLP services at this point until they can hire, and

since

> they are contracting with the same private SLP that I am using, it

> makes perfect sense for him to continue with her, and have them pay

> the bill. Well, here is the problem...they only want to pay for 1

> hour per week " because nobody gets more than that " and basically

they

> can't justify that it would be worth the money. He has been

> receiving 2 hours a week for the last few months and has made

> wonderful gains so I can assure them it is worth the money and he

is

> truly benefiting. They also said he must attend their pre-school

> program at least 2 days per week, in order for them to pay for the

> individual speech services. Here is my question: Does anyone have

> the public school providing and paying for more than 1 hour per

week

> individual speech therapy, and if so, was there a condition that

you

> had to attend their pre-school program as well? Does anyone get

just

> speech services provided and payed for through the school, and if

so,

> how much? The school is saying it is too hard to monitor my child

> without him attending their program, since the speech services are

> also outside the school district. Basically, they want a way to

> monitor him since the are " ultimately responsible for him " . I

don't

> think my son should have to attend their program in order for him

to

> get his individual speech therapy paid for; it seems they should

find

> a way to monitor his progress since it is their problem they do not

> have in-house speech services to offer. Any thoughts?? Thanks.

> Holly

>

> mother to Adam, nearly 3, moderately apraxic

>

[Guest guest]

Holly, my son transitions out of EI in Jan too. We had our

transition mtg, our school district doesn't have a SLP so they said

they'd have an itinerant teacher do ST w/ him if he qualifies. I

said no, that's not good enough! He goes Monday for his eval. I've

got documentation from several sites state board of ed is one about

children w/ speech issues only and the need for them to get services,

along w/ a family in Texas suing the brd of ed for b/c their school

didn't have a qualified SLP to give their son ST - they won. A

school psych (where I work) gave me info on what the school is

qualified to do (they are only planning on evaluating my son's

communication, not do a full MFE. Again, I was a bit confused as I

used to be one of the people that did evaluations on EI kids before

they'd come into our sped prek prog and we always did a full MFE, not

just parts. I'm planning on letting our SD do the eval, then show

them my info. I think I should probably wait until I get some scores

or at least some inkling as to how he's going to score.As far as the

amount of ST services provided - the " minimum is 30 minutes weekly

individually or in a small group " . That is what is put on the IEP of

the children that I serve in my sped class. The SLP does try to come

twice a week to see my kids, although she doesn't always make it, so

they put the minimum required by federal law on their IEP. It makes

sense that the SD pay for the SLP that you're already seeing and who

is providing services for the SD alreay. They can monitor him

through the progress reports done by the SLP every nine

weeks/quarters. Or the SD can always ask for the SLP to do more

paper work, but that can take actual therapy time awway from your

child, be careful how it's written on the IEP (consultation could be

doing paperwork, not actual therapy). Good luck.

Bonnie

[Guest guest]

Hi Holly!

It is legal for a school to put in writing in an IEP that a child

will only receive one hour a week of speech therapy. What is not

legal is for the school to put in writing that they never provide any

more than one hour a week of speech therapy for any child. Also it's

not legal for a school that is federally funded to refuse appropriate

services and/or placement (please see my past post about the catholic

school that expels a child due to a diagnosis of ADHD)

On the other hand you are only a member of the IEP team and are

probably outnumbered in opinions against you right now -so you don't

have a right to demand that your child attends a certain

private school and to expect them to just say " OK " You have to know

how to play the game as one very wise school administrator once told

me when I too was more than very anxious to get Tanner placed in out

of district placement ( Kanter from the Summit Speech School)

BTW -that's what it will be called -out of district placement. Your

job now is to provide the school enough rope -and to be able to prove

that the program that they want to put your child in is not

appropriate. I had to end up keeping Tanner at the public preschool for

3 months -long enough to prove my point- until we were able to prove

that the public preschool program was not appropriate for his needs. And

that's what this is about -not what school or amount of therapy is

best -but which placement and what amount of therapy is appropriate.

Always use the word appropriate. Below is an archive on more -but I

also suggest you read The Late Talker. At the end of the book we

talk about how Tanner had just secured placement at an awesome out of

district preschool -that was the Summit Speech School in New

Providence, NJ and below is just part of the history of how we got

him there. Of course it's too long to put it all in one message -but

the point being -learn the rules to the game and you'll find that

believe it or not -advocating can even be fun! (one of my favorite

moments in IEP world was the day my husband and I showed up to an IEP

meeting with a tape recorder that was out of batteries -but I acted

like it was working and when someone said something I didn't care for

I would turn the tape recorder toward that person and say " excuse me

could you please repeat that a bit slower? " (it was so hard

not to laugh -but it was a small recorder so nobody knew it wasn't

even on- I had to biting the inside of my mouth to keep from laughing!)

From this very long archive

/message/53292

From: " kiddietalk " <kiddietalk@...>

Date: Fri Feb 11, 2005 6:17 pm

Subject: Re: Am I being naive? SLP/OT issue kiddietalk

Hi !

You don't mention -but I'm going to assume the SLP and the OT are

school based? I mean otherwise the obvious advice for private is -

" Next! "

(there are tons of other professionals out there)

I found myself in the same situation as you with the school back

when Tanner was three. You don't even have to 'be' naive to know

it's fun to just 'act' naive when you are dealing with people that

are messing with your baby! (was going to say idiots but thought

I'd be nice)

Just remember the average person has average IQ -so just outsmart

them -and even use their lame info to help advocate for your child.

Let them say he's got a thin upper lip -instead of giving them a fat

upper lip. Get all of their " professional " reports in writing. In

addition -document their comments about why they disagree or won't

even consider the diagnosis already given to your child. Then use

that to go above their heads, superintendent of schools, to prove

that they don't have a clue about your child's condition, no less

how to provide appropriate therapy for him to give him a chance to

be mainstreamed as soon as possible. Be nice -not emotional. You

can even say " I'm sure they are wonderful professionals in dealing

with children that have conditions that they know about -like simple

delays and all " Use their documentation to prove just how clueless

they are in dealing with 'your' child. Back up what you say not

with what you believe -but with what the private professionals that

worked with him for __ years say. And add " I myself for example am

not a pediatric neurologist, I'm just a parent, but I believe when

Dr. ____ states that my child is not ____ and instead has _____ and

that _____therapy is appropriate, that the type of therapy the

school based SLP and OT want to do is highly inappropriate. By the

way I'm just curious -neither of them are going to medical school to

first become neurologists are they? " " Oh just wondering because

they seemed to disagree with everything that a respected pediatric

neurologist had to say and I wondered why " " My husband and I (or my

wife and I) have checked into appropriate out of district placements

for my child where he will be able to receive appropriate therapies

and placement with professionals who are knowledgeable about my

child's condition and who respect the neuro medical doctors and

private SLPs who work with him "

Request " out of district " placement immediately, follow up in

writing.

So yes -we were in that situation -and yes -Tanner was put into " out

of district " placement at The Summit Speech School for the hearing

impaired in New Providence, NJ. Most all of the apraxic children

that attend there from our group have no hearing problem 'at all'

Kanter (we miss you) let our kids in to this school because

she felt all kids had a right to have a voice -not just hearing

impaired. I hear today that's not the case for many of you. I say -

fight it - would have! just in case you don't know

since for some strange reason it's not mentioned anywhere anymore -

is the one that started the school -and made it what it is today.

passed away of cancer.

http://www.oraldeafed.org/schools/summit/

http://www.summitspeech.com/

's on this page from when we were on Inside Edition

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

I myself did not use my own views of Tanner to advocate for him in

school to get him out of inappropriate placement in his preschool

through the town school. Yes of course my husband Glenn and I let

them know what we saw in Tanner, but understand that I knew that

they would view most that I said about Tanner as a " parent in

denial " if they viewed him as anything different than us. So when

Tanner was three and they wrote in his IEP that he was manipulative

and would speak more as his self esteem " increased greatly " , and

when the preschool teacher told me " you have to forget this apraxia

thing and treat Tanner like a normal child " and the lack of any

mention of motor planning, DSI, hypotonia in his IEP -it read like

they viewed Tanner as an elective mute with psychological problems -

and from feedback -due to possible emotional abuse from us! Just

like you, my husband Glenn and I were of course horrified by this,

and didn't agree one bit, and didn't sign the IEP -neither of us

did. They lied -it does matter if you sign it.

Tanner always had an incredible self esteem, and he was far from

manipulative. Tanner as most of you now know from The Late Talker

had not a clue he had apraxia -we treated him like any other child -

and acted like it was normal to go to speech therapy because after

all " everybody learns to talk " All Tanner's private therapists

described Tanner as " so sweet " In fact Tanner's Early Intervention

therapist Zimet CCC SLP who now works with EI in Georgia was

just as horrified as us at what went on. loved Tanner.

is still a special person in our lives -and is part of this

group. She may not read every email however so I'll have to

remember to call or email her for input.

So just want you to know Kathy that it's expected to be emotional

and upset, and even outraged! -and OK to cry, but that's not the

face you want to show the school -you need to show you are not just

an emotional parent. You also need a plan.

My brother is a partner in a law firm -and he advised us to separate

emotions from facts. I'll let you know what we did and fill in

Kayla's name instead. Create a paper trail, write down Kayla's

history up till now and each event that happens now, phonecalls with

date and time and who you spoke with, letters or emails. Hard copy

every conversation by following up with a fax, email or letter.

Secure documentation to support an accurate diagnosis and placement

for Kayla.

We had signed a report to get Tanner into the preschool summer

program, he turned 3 June 11th -and somehow that became his IEP that

fall even though it's all questionable how that even happened if you

check the paperwork. What we then did however is request a meeting

to immediatly reopen Tanner's IEP based on " change in diagnosis " and

state we didn't agree with is current placement due to documentation.

For Tanner, as upset as I was my brother (the lawyer) said

something that I really enjoyed to pass on " Actually based on their

own IEP which so greatly deviates from documentation and history

about Tanner through Early Intervention and his private therapists

and doctors reports -they in their own writing have proven that

their own program is in fact so highly detrimental to Tanner that he

regressed substantially within two weeks in it and needs to be

removed from this environment and placement immediately. "

Each time something inappropriate happened at school -like when they

punished Tanner for not doing something he did the day before and

blamed it on him being " manipulative " and let him sit on the floor

and cry for hours (!) and ignore him -I would take Tanner to another

neuromedical doctor for his or her views and present that instead of

our own outrage.

I didn't stop with just an evaluation from Dr. Agin at that time

because back then I felt like we were drowning, Tanner was drowning -

and didn't know how to save him. Tanner went to see a slew of

doctors and therapists -each writing up reports. If in fact Tanner

was MR or autistic or an elective mute we would have loved him just

the same, so we wanted to know for sure what the reasons were for

Tanner's lack of speech, etc. for reasons outside of his school

IEP. We wanted to know how best to help him. In fact each report

came back the same -that Tanner's placement and classification was

inappropriate, punishing an apraxic child for something that may be

beyond their abilities is inappropriate, and that Tanner was an

intelligent child with a severe to profound motor planning disorder

both verbal and oral, with mild global hypotonia and sensory

integration dysfunction. We used the professional reports to

advocate for Tanner's therapy and placement. I recommend the same

for Kayla. Then you are no longer presenting your opinion of Kayla,

you are presenting reports from various professionals on what their

professional views are on appropriate diagnosis and treatment.

For us, the approach we did for Tanner secured out of district

placement for Tanner's preschool years at The Summit Speech School

for the hearing impaired and deaf. The most awesome school you

could imagine for an apraxic child. Tanner was not the only apraxic

child that thrived there and then transitioned into a mainstream

kindergarten class at six. (because the school went up to six -and

for hearing impaired children they already appreciate the benefit of

the additional year developmentally for a child with an impairment -

they set up the children for success by keeping them in preschool

until 6. Most with speech impaired children don't appreciate this

(in response to)

<lisamcz@y...> wrote:

>

> Hello Group

>

> Anyone out there been through something similar?

> I am wondering if the SLP/OT for my 4.0 " apraxic " son

> Jack really have his best interest at heart.

>

> He has been seen by a developmental pediatrician who

> concurrs that he has a speech/language problem,

> however it is dyspraxia. When I gave the report to

> the SLP she argued this finding. Likewise when my son

> was seen by his osteopath, he didn't find the concerns

> expressed by his OT - she has found a myriad of " hard

> signs' regarding his physical concerns that others

> cannot find.

>

> When I called to " re-vamp " the treatment and follow

> the advice of Jack's caregivers who have the D.O. and

> M.D. behind their names, the SLP and OT argued with me

> my decision and made it difficult for me to say no.

>

> Just recently they gave me a long laundry list of

> areas where they see Jack regressing. I won't go into

> detail, but I am saavy enough to know that without

> acutally writing it on the report [which they cannot]

> they are saying my son is autistic and the next step

> is genetic counseling [that they told me].

>

> I will share that one of the items in the " physical

> features " portion of the report - they mention a thin

> upper lip and small pointed chin - what does this have

> to do with anything I ask you?

>

> Long story short. His Dev. Ped, school teacher,

> grandmother, mom and dad are wondering if this report

> was written with another little boy in mind.

>

> Jack's " fan club " tell me that this looks like a case

> of job security on their part, and it is working on me

> because of the fear it invokes.

>

> The dev. ped. will be observing Jack at pre-school

> next month with her findings. In the meantime I think

> what they have done is very irresponsible and I am

> angry. It's as if this report came out of the blue,

> as I have not seen 80% of what they are talking about,

> nor has anyone else. And Jack sees his therapists

> once a week for one hour. The report is based on

> their findings for the past two months. Unbelievable.

>

> - worried mom

~~~~and in memory of from the same archive

" Kanter is the one that taught me " how to play the game " with

the school. She helped us get Tanner into the out of district

placement at the Summit Speech School when he was the only child

there with apraxia that was not hearing impaired. Never knowing it

would lead to a slew of others. She used to pass me at school

functions and whisper in my ear as she passed " lose my number " and

we would both laugh.

As you can see at the Inside Edition interview -in spite of helping

our children -she never wanted anyone to know just how many apraxic

children were in the school.

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

Here in this more recent interview with her before her death -at a

time where I heard through the grapevine that there was close to a

50 -50 ratio to hearing impaired vs apraxic children - was

still playing and not letting on that she secretly was helping so

many children find a voice that were not hearing impaired. She

really had such a huge heart and wanted to help all children find

their voice - not just hearing impaired! God Bless you where

ever you are today -you are so missed by me that just saying your

name brings tears to my eyes.

http://www.healthyhearing.com/library/interview_content.asp?

interview_id=97

Sadly today I hear that Summit Speech School is no longer taking

children with apraxia into the school who are not hearing impaired.

It also appears that 's name is not even acknowledged after

all that woman did to make that school what it was. All I can say

is thankfully those of you with children with frequent ear

infections that affected your apraxic child's hearing while his or

her speech was developing at least are still able to get in. "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end of archive

Actually that last line should have read " All I can say

is thankfully those of you with children " with frequent ear

infections that affected your apraxic child's hearing while his or

her speech was developing " (wink wink) at least are still able to get

in. "

Get it? Know how to play the game!

And from

/message/45141

Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2003 18:22:44 -0000

From: " kiddietalk " <kiddietalk@...>

Subject: Re: The Similarities and Differences of Oral-Motor Ther...

Just remembered as well -all of the various therapies are covered to

some extent in The Late Talker book. Even though the book was

edited so as not to overwhelm even a new parent -there is enough

information in there to be a valued resource for the most seasoned of

parents and professionals. The Late Talker covers not only the

various

therapies

(including oral motor therapy) but shows numerous examples,

including what

to do at

home to help your child by implementing some of the multisensory

techniques

presented. (I'm not the only writer so I can say that!)

In addition to my Co Authors Marilyn Agin MD, and Malcolm Nicholl,

many

professionals were interviewed to contribute to The Late Talker

including (but not limited to in just the area of speech and

language for example) Sara Rosenthal , CCC/SLP for oral motor

therapy, Kaufman CCC SLP for the Kaufman technique, Deborah

Hayden CCC SLP for PROMPT, Dr. Andy Bondy for PECS, Dr. a

Tallal and Dr. Martha Burns for phonological disorders and Fast For

Word, etc.

And I know that I myself will never again walk into another IEP

meeting without carrying The Late Talker book with me. As Jeanne

just told us (who had a copy of The Late Talker book) the book

helped her secure services for her son. I had The Late Talker

book with me when I went over ESY (extended school year) services for

Tanner who is doing amazing. I was told he's doing too well to

qualify for ESY. While picking up the book I said " well I'll just

have to play the game and go for a private evaluation to have it put

in writing that he'll regress over the summer without ESY "

What happened next? We are

meeting at the beginning of May now to discuss Tanner's ESY -which

the SLP agrees even without me having to go for a private evaluation

that Tanner will regress without ESY services.

Of course then the discussion turned to The Late Talker book which

was agreed needed to be in the school as a resource for all. Which

made me think of this slogan when I left: The Late Talker book -

leave your IEP meeting without it! (just for them to borrow of

course till they get their own)

~~~~~~~~~~~end of archives

=====

[Guest guest]

Holly,

Depends on your state, sometimes also your school district, AND

apparently whether or not you push, too.

I am in NY. We transition 1-1-08 also. By the time I got to the

meeting, I'd read all my rights, all the guides, etc. I chose not to

send my delayed daughter out to a mixed preschool setting - the

toddler program had vastly underwhelmed me the few months I allowed

her to go there once a week - supervised, I might add. My older

typical daughter started private preschool when she was 3 turning 4 so

why would I send a delayed child who cannot speak away from me at an

even younger age??? That's horse pucky in my opinion! I opted for

" preschool " in the home with all her usual services. She will have:

2 - 1 hour Special Ed.

3 - 1/2 hour P.T.

3 - 1/2 hour O.T.

4 - 1/2 hour Speech

All in our home, one-on-one. The only person we needed to replace was

the Special Ed. teacher because the EI one doesn't do CPSE (school

district).

>

> Hi:

> My son will be turning 3 in January, and transitioning out of EI into

> the public school system. We had a meeting to review his pre-

> academic testing today (he scored above average in nearly all areas

> except expressive language-due to his apraxia) and discuss pre-

> planning for IEP. What I would like is for my son to continue

> attending the private pre-school he has been attending, and for the

> school to pay for the 2 hours of private speech therapy per week that

> he has been getting (that I have been paying for out of pocket since

> EI services were not sufficient to address his apraxia). I do not

> want him to attend the public pre-school, for several reasons, but

> especially because they are down several SLP positions and do not

> currently have an SLP to work with him. They are " out-sourcing " all

> individual SLP services at this point until they can hire, and since

> they are contracting with the same private SLP that I am using, it

> makes perfect sense for him to continue with her, and have them pay

> the bill. Well, here is the problem...they only want to pay for 1

> hour per week " because nobody gets more than that " and basically they

> can't justify that it would be worth the money. He has been

> receiving 2 hours a week for the last few months and has made

> wonderful gains so I can assure them it is worth the money and he is

> truly benefiting. They also said he must attend their pre-school

> program at least 2 days per week, in order for them to pay for the

> individual speech services. Here is my question: Does anyone have

> the public school providing and paying for more than 1 hour per week

> individual speech therapy, and if so, was there a condition that you

> had to attend their pre-school program as well? Does anyone get just

> speech services provided and payed for through the school, and if so,

> how much? The school is saying it is too hard to monitor my child

> without him attending their program, since the speech services are

> also outside the school district. Basically, they want a way to

> monitor him since the are " ultimately responsible for him " . I don't

> think my son should have to attend their program in order for him to

> get his individual speech therapy paid for; it seems they should find

> a way to monitor his progress since it is their problem they do not

> have in-house speech services to offer. Any thoughts?? Thanks.

> Holly

>

> mother to Adam, nearly 3, moderately apraxic

>