Re: IEP-*ell!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/4/2003 2:01:03 PM Central Standard Time,

rybabysmom@... writes:

How was he found eligible now after being removed from prek several

months ago? ***because he was age appropriate on the HELP...I wasn't at the

meeeting though...altho I am sure they still woudl have outnumbered me and it

wouldn't have mattered. In his classroom he was in total control. He

controlled the smallest child (think cult-leader mentality), got to be the line

leader

every day, got to do whatever he wanted. They never did his sensory diet or

they definitely would have seen his behavior. She did use sensory techniques

when he was upset but said he didn't have behavioral problems...kinda

contradictory. I saw him hit children and it was never addressed.

Did you go back through Eligibility?***that is what these meetings have been

about.

Did you request ALL new testing? I find it hard to believe they'd only see

speech issues if they did a full battery of tests.****I did my own independant

psych eval and have requested an independant OT eval b/c the girl that did the

one through the system only had him color, use a glittler glue pen, theraputty

and stack a tower. She did a sensory intake but then said she couldn't use

it to justify services b/c it was my opinion and she just didn't see all that.

She just didn't check any of that! I asked about them doing to the HELP

again...although it could backfire on me and I just got blank stares.

A prek class of any type w/o a proper IEP will be a nightmare.

However it might be your tiocket to getting them to acknowledge his

full scope of difficulties.***because he has such a hard time with

transitions, I am hesitant to let him be in three placements in the next nine

months

which is likely to happen.

Also you lost me again, where do the speech services come in? You

mean if you chose not to go w/ that prek, he will simply get group

speech at your homeschool?? Speech is for stuttering only...communication

and language is okay altho there are pragmatic issues but they have never

really looked at it. Yes that is the way it would be...he would get 30 min

twice a

week at the home school.

As for the FBA they are intimidating you. I think I'd file a

complaint. I asked them for the paperwork to file the administrative

complaint, in the meeting...they had to call the compliance guy at the

board...had

never heard of it, but I got it! However they ahve 60 days to respond. I have

a call in konw to the top lady in the district and left a msg that I was

giving her one last chance to contact me before I start filing complaints and

law

suits....

I think the school KNOWS he qualifies. I mean the team has met him,

right??? ***the school pyschologist hasn't met him...the speech and OT have

and the supervisor walked through his class a few times last year and says she

knows it all when it comes to him. The stuttering only started in the last

few months...so I have tried to convince her that he has regressed and she has

no right to consider that. most of the people on the team have not met him.

I would not give up. In my opinion that's more time wasted.

How does one prove AS affects his academics as a prek student? Well

adequate testing should prove it. I asked them yesterday if they had done

every test they needed and they said yes. I asked them what I needed to prove

to them that he needed a placement...waht test or who need to say it and they

said everything had been done...thats bull!

thanks for your comments...by the way in your other email...they did do the

Vineland but wouldn't consider the scores b/c it was my opiong...same with the

sensory scale and the BASC....apparently I know nothing!

deb

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/4/2003 11:59:30 AM Eastern Standard Time,

VisibleWorship@... writes:

Anyway...anyone have any advice? Anyone know how to prove how a four year

old is affected by Aspergers?

Deb,

is in a preschool disabled only because the developmental ped wrote

Asperger's in his report. Before that we even had a lawyer but couldn't get him

help. He is also got motor dyspraxia and global hypotonia so he is way behind in

motor skills. He gets 2 each of OT & ST a week and one session of PT. I got

his progress report and it said that he achieved all his goals in the cognitive

area accept for the ones having to do with conversional and descriptive areas

of speech. He is very bright and that is why he is always denied services. My

point is that if you get somebody, a doctor, to write the right report you

can get him what he needs. Keep fighting!

, Mom to , reflux, hiatal hernia, compacted bowels, asthma, global

hypotonia, motor dyspraxia, SID, Asperger's

[Guest guest]

I sent you a previous post via your email account.

How was he found eligible now after being removed from prek several

months ago? Did you go back through Eligibility? Did you request ALL

new testing? I find it hard to believe they'd only see speech issues

if they did a full battery of tests.

A prek class of any type w/o a proper IEP will be a nightmare.

However it might be your tiocket to getting them to acknowledge his

full scope of difficulties.

Also you lost me again, where do the speech services come in? You

mean if you chose not to go w/ that prek, he will simply get group

speech at your homeschool??

As for the FBA they are intimidating you. I think I'd file a

complaint.

I think the school KNOWS he qualifies. I mean the team has met him,

right???

I would not give up. In my opinion that's more time wasted.

How does one prove AS affects his academics as a prek student? Well

adequate testing should prove it.

pAULA

[Guest guest]

Is there anyway you can access an educational advocate? I would call your

local Parent Information Network, tell them what is going on and see what they

recommend. Pam

[Guest guest]

--- > Anyway...anyone have any advice? Anyone know how to prove how

a four year

> old is affected by Aspergers?

This was so hard for me, my son is now 7 and was dxed with autism at

2, then made great strides and is very high functioning. Four and

five were hard years because he was talking and potty trained, etc. I

knew he had major social deficits but they kept testing him in ideal

situations or the examiners had only seen severe autism so Zach

looked great in comparison. I did pull him out of preschool after

three months, his behavior and mood got so much worse there. I did

the same after a few months of school and now we homeschool and the

only service we get is home based speech. I have found, after

watching many therapy sessions and doing a lot of research, that

most " therapeutic " activities are the same activities many parents do

anyway. The transition was so hard that most services made our lives

harder. I would seek a dx from people with A LOT of Aspie experience,

TEACCH rocks if you live near NC. Developmental pediatricians who

have not been out of school for too long have better knowledge of the

new ASD info. HTH, and terribly sorry to hear about . I cant

even imagine. Blessings for your family. - christine

>

> I am beginning to think maybe I should just give up and keep him

home until

> kindergarten...but I know these years are so important and it would

be so good

> for him to get some interventioin so we don't loose the first six

weeks of

> kindergarten working on this stuff.

>

> frustrated*************

> **deb...mom to three great adopted kids... (07.04.96-

05.26.03) with

> Mitochondrial Disease, Gaige age 4 with Aspergers Syndrome and

Bliss age 2 with

> very very mild Cerebral Palsy.

> www.HeartLiftersGallery.com

> NurturingHeavensKids/

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/4/2003 3:39:19 PM Central Standard Time,

the3stacks@... writes:

My

point is that if you get somebody, a doctor, to write the right report you

can get him what he needs. Keep fighting!

I understand what you are saying. Yesterday I talked to the head of the

psychology dept where we got the bogus eval. He was very nice...very

understanding and upset about the services we had lost. He agreed to review the

information and to write a letter to the school board, I think he is doing

explain that

much of an aspergers diagnosis is observation and that the criteria used to

discredit Aspergers was not valid. He is also going to put more info in there

about how aspergers are affected at this age and how it impedes their

learning. hopefully it will help. At least it gives me a new document to take

to the

schools system next week to request a new eligibility meeting. I told them

wednesday that I was going to keep doing this over and over and over again and

I would bring more and more evidence which would prove that they denied him

services despite was more educated experts said about him.

also...I have a call in the sped director for the district...I hear she is

very parent friendly and has even attended IEP meetings. I am anxious to hear

what she has to say about the fact that they offered me bussing that will cost

at least $800 a month to send us to a school way accross town that is on

Notice with no child left behind when they could send him to a sped preschool

around the corner for little or no additional costs than what they are paying

for

the existing students.

deb...mom to three great adopted kids... (07.04.96-05.26.03) with

Mitochondrial Disease, Gaige age 4 with Aspergers Syndrome and Bliss age 2 with

very very mild Cerebral Palsy.

www.HeartLiftersGallery.com

NurturingHeavensKids/

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/4/2003 9:11:48 PM Central Standard Time,

ppanda65@... writes:

Is there anyway you can access an educational advocate?

I have been working with a couple but found one that seems a little more

specialized and hope to meet with her soon.

deb

[Guest guest]

How many times have you gone through Eligibility? I would assume you

did it first when he went to prek. And again recently which is why he

can now get speech. Are you signing off on these meetings despite the

fact you disagree? Also you mentioned a variety of testing. All I can

say is you should request that the school do a FULL work-up ALL at

once. Speech w/ pragmatics, pysch, neuropysch, OT, PT, etc. I know

they keep discrediting alot of it. I guess I'm saying that I believe

this is against the law. And that if you start writing these official

State complaints perhaps even go Due Process then you will get the

help he needs as I believe the law says he is entitled. I just did

this dance. After filing the State complaint we went back through

Eligibility. Same tests as before yet this time they changed the

label. They say it is because his grades have dropped, but I think

it's because they knew he qualified all along, but waited til I

realised this and fought back. I think they hope you'll never learn

better than what they tell you. His grades went from ABC to ABCD so

you can see why I think it's malarkey. NOT to mention you can still

qualify w/o having poor grades. Apparently they have not read IDEA.

Same for IQ. They can NOT use one piece of evidence only. Prek SHOULD

be even easier as grades and IQ are generally not done. It should be

about motor skills, speech, comprehension, self help, and social

including behavior. I realise despite the law the schools often do

things their way. However when you go above the school you can and

should get results. I would not push for this except it appears that

your son undoubtedly SHOULD qualify and NEEDS help. List all the

testing that has been completed and by whom. Get copies. I bet there

are missing components. Take what you have to the school. Tell them

in addition you want the missing components to be completed. OR if

the testing is old a redo. IF they continue to scoff or refuse, go

above them. How long ago did you restart this process of trying to

get him back in special education? I can not believe the special ed

cordinator has not attended a meeting. Yes I'd go first to them.

Hopefully he she will know more than the school. UGH.

Keep fighting, a

At least it gives me a new document to take to the

> schools system next week to request a new eligibility meeting. I

told them

> wednesday that I was going to keep doing this over and over and

over again and

> I would bring more and more evidence which would prove that they

denied him

> services despite was more educated experts said about him.

[Guest guest]

Hi-

Could you please tell me what State you live in? I am interested in perhaps

being able to help you and your child.

Have you ever read slaw? It is available at wrightslaw.com.

Related services (such as transportation are required if a change of

placement is determined in the IEP).

Please write to me- I will try to help, if I can understand what your needs

are>

Ann Combs'

acombsmom@...

[Guest guest]

Deb,

At 3.5 we got services for speech only and they said he was really on the border

at 11th percentile and so we went to speech for a month (school yr ended) and

the teacher said he needs more.....so we held an impromptu IEP just the teachers

and myself and got him in to a Spec Day Class~preschool. After the year, his

scores were high on the preschool test, but I and the teacher knew he needed to

be there and that he functioned in class at a lower level than the testing.

They (thankfully) decided to do a neuropysch evaluation by the school

psychologist and that is where they found discrimations in his thinking process.

It was such a blessing b/c I had the biggest fight on my hands and that just

cinched it for us. Otherwise my child would not have had any services. Having

moved to San Diego, he is now in a spec ed K/1 class b/c they don't have high

enough functioning preschool classrooms. Right before I got (day before the

IEP) the neuropsych eval I spent hours working on a

synopsis of my son. I wrote all the areas he is different than the

neurotypical kids and gave concrete examples (several for each one) so I

wouldn't have to come up with them on the spot. This whole thing became part of

his current IEP and makes they understand that yes, there is something going on.

I'd request a neuropsych evaluation in writing. Also, if you can't make the

meeting call them Monday morning and tell them they did not allow a reasonable

time for planning the meeting and suggest other times. IF they continue, I'd go

to the meeting and just sign that you were there but don't sign anything else

unless of course they give you what you want. Even then its always your option

to sign later and think about it or take it home to dh and talk it over. I've

heard they can pressure you but so far no one has done that to us. Lawrence

Siegel has an excellent book that you can get on Amazon called The IEP Guide. I

can't tell you enough how great that book is! Its worth every penny.

What about a Headstart program?

I dont' know, if they hadn't done the neuropysch eval we would have had the

fight of our lives....tests are only a part of the picture. I'm hoping your dr

writes a good letter too!

If you want help writing a syopsis...I can give you some of my descriptions to

help get you started. I think it's a good thing to do every year as it's a

record of areas your child had trouble in but improved or where he/she is still

not progressing.

Johanna

Hi there

well the meeting was awful...worse than the first I think...am sooo

frustrated! It lasted over three hours. They right off the bat found him

eligible for

services based on his communication disorder (stuttering/dysfluency), however

they only offered speech. He was in a preschool program last year but they

tested him out. Of course aspies have great minds and 'know' a lot and that

works against them in this case I guess. He has really regressed in the last

six months and the argument is...is it because his older brother/bestfriend died

or b/c he lost his services...both of those things happened in the same

week...two days apart!

anyway, I was afraid if they qualified him on that they would totally deny

his need for services based on his aspergers and ADHD diagnosis. They still

keep insisting on the fact that he scored average IQ on his Stanford-binet

proves

that his learning is not affected b/c I guess they figure he knows enough

with an IQ of 97. They can't understand why I would want him in a room with a

bunch of mentally retarded children (which is not what I have seen with three

kids in these programs...I have never felt like my children were not benefitting

from being around the others). They finally offered to put him at an 'at

risk' public preschool...its 25 mninutes away by car and in the ghetto...I am

going to look up thier scores and see if I can make an issue that way. Anyway I

said they would have to pick him up first and drop him off last and he would

be gone all day...she said, no he would be the only student on the bus...which

means they are willing to spend a couple hundred dollars a week to take him to

that program (because they say its the least restrictive enviroment) so they

don't have to give him spec ed services at a school two miles away where it

wouldn't cost them anything more to have him picked up by that school's driver.

And to top that off, he would need a bus aide b/c he has a horrible time with

transitions...last year it took a good six weeks before he would leave the

house and get ont he bus without trying to pry the doors open...we had a bus

driver who wanted to stick it out...we were lucky. (I tried taking him...he

would strip all his clothes off on the way and then I would have to literally

drag

him and throw him in the class and leave).

He never had a functional behavioral analysis when he was in, so I requested

one. They said they couldn't do it unless i chose to enroll him in that room.

Then they said they could do it during speech therapy...I asked how that

could be profitable since it would be an unusual situation with him one on one

with a therpist. They then informed me...that no, he was going to have group

speech with other children with speech issues. They told me that i would have

to wait outside and he would be expected to sit with the other kids and

participate...boy will they see! It will take him 30 minutes to get

transitioned.

Anyway...anyone have any advice? Anyone know how to prove how a four year

old is affected by Aspergers?

I am beginning to think maybe I should just give up and keep him home until

kindergarten...but I know these years are so important and it would be so good

for him to get some interventioin so we don't loose the first six weeks of

kindergarten working on this stuff.

frustrated*************

**deb...mom to three great adopted kids... (07.04.96-05.26.03) with

Mitochondrial Disease, Gaige age 4 with Aspergers Syndrome and Bliss age 2 with

very very mild Cerebral Palsy.

www.HeartLiftersGallery.com

NurturingHeavensKids/

[Guest guest]

Weaknesses of Stanford Binet from the Special Educator's Book of

Lists second edition by Pierangelo, phd-

not particularly valuable test for children 2 1/2 to 4, esp if there

are dev. delays

some subtests have a ceiling that's much too low for some older or

bright individuals

several subtests contain 2 types of items that seem quite

dissimiliar, e.g., easy items requiring pointing, harder items

involving enhanced language responses

time limits suggested, but examiner may have to rely on clinical

judgement regarding enforcement of limits

to keep testing time to 60-90 minutes, the test developers suggest

several abbreviated batteries, thereby reducing test reliability

normal samples for some tests at some age levels are inadequate