Public Pre-School IEP conflict

December 14, 2007

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

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