Storygirl Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Well, that's not great news. But you are right to double check. Ask your state department of education directly. I've asked ours several questions. Sometimes the info I received from our local school was correct, and sometimes it was not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaitfish Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 It's almost like calling Verizon- if you just keep calling back you may get an answer you like. ;) Ya, I have left a message for our school district's director of special education, regarding policy, because I could not find the specifics in the policy I read online. We'll see- I'm still glad that I at least tried for it. I always felt like there should have been more closure with it all, so this could be it. If I was not homeschooling, it may have worked, but I'm not going to start the Virtual Academy for sure. And just like Elizabeth said, they most likely don't give a crap about the working memory stuff, so moving forward with the school's idea of testing what is important is fruitless. It's infuriating that so many kids (from what I have read) are struggling with these "nonspecific learning disabilities" and the school doesn't take it a step further??? That's like saying 'oh you have a cough, here take these pills that we don't know if you need or will work but at lease we gave you something'. If I didn't have my own troubles here I would be trying to make some changes...it's so wrong. And I'm sure there are AMAZING school districts that get it!!! And Special Education Teachers that are really making a difference. Thanks, Storygirl! Well, that's not great news. But you are right to double check. Ask your state department of education directly. I've asked ours several questions. Sometimes the info I received from our local school was correct, and sometimes it was not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 (edited) I would consult with your STATE, though, not just the district special ed department. Sometimes the district coordinators have their own preferences about how they run things, whether it aligns perfectly with state law or not. I questioned our state about several things the district special ed coordinator told me. I was able to get both phone calls and emails returned quickly (same day) from our state dept of ed. Edited January 5, 2017 by Storygirl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Also, there are probably nuances you're not catching. For instance, it's not that the IEE would run the same tests, but they would address the same areas that were listed on the consent to eval form you signed. That form probably had categories like behavior, cognitive, learning disabilities, adaptive, etc., and they would have marked the areas that needed to be eval'd. So for them to pay for evals BEYOND those would be odd. But no, the private would not re-run the exact same tests. If it's close, you *can't* rerun the exact same tests. They would run similar tools and give fresh interpretation. So the point of that is see what you signed. If what you signed doesn't address the areas you were concerned about, you'd need a fresh meeting and fresh consent to eval form to begin again. The school is incorrect if they are implying they have NO responsibility to you. If they did not eval certain areas and you have evidence to indicate they should be eval'ed, they have the legal responsibility, under federal law, to identify those. But they don't have to do the IEP, that's true. But eval, yes. The sad thing about evals is that you can put $$$$$$$ into them and have nothing left for interventions. It's a really hard thing to balance. Evals don't make problems go away, and evals that don't answer ALL the questions leave you with even less money. It can be really frustrating. :( That's why sometimes we suggest these odd, slower, piecemeal approaches, because it's really thinking through how you can get where you need to be for a price you can make happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaitfish Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 Yes, very good advice. She made it sound like they would only do the one specific test they did and not address the other problems, even though it SHOULD take further tests, like the WISC for sure. I think that is what you meant. So I'll clarify with the state education representative.. The state of Idaho is shut down because of snow so they are not in office yesterday or today, but I left vm both days. So I'll try again Monday because I need to know much more about this before I write it off. I guess I just want to do all of the tests because I want to make sure there is not a bigger problem here that I didn't find because I didn't do all of the testing.... But now that I've got a little more of an idea what her processing is like, I have a list of specific tests that i think she needs and maybe I should start with those specific tests if I can't get into a neuropsych for quite a while. I also have some interventions I can really focus on- the visual/auditory/ working memory stuff I can work on at home and see if it helps. I have a referral for OT, I'm thinking of starting that too.... thank you... I also have formally requested her chart from the school so I can make sure I have it all here. Thanks, Elizabeth!! Also, there are probably nuances you're not catching. For instance, it's not that the IEE would run the same tests, but they would address the same areas that were listed on the consent to eval form you signed. That form probably had categories like behavior, cognitive, learning disabilities, adaptive, etc., and they would have marked the areas that needed to be eval'd. So for them to pay for evals BEYOND those would be odd. But no, the private would not re-run the exact same tests. If it's close, you *can't* rerun the exact same tests. They would run similar tools and give fresh interpretation. So the point of that is see what you signed. If what you signed doesn't address the areas you were concerned about, you'd need a fresh meeting and fresh consent to eval form to begin again. The school is incorrect if they are implying they have NO responsibility to you. If they did not eval certain areas and you have evidence to indicate they should be eval'ed, they have the legal responsibility, under federal law, to identify those. But they don't have to do the IEP, that's true. But eval, yes. The sad thing about evals is that you can put $$$$$$$ into them and have nothing left for interventions. It's a really hard thing to balance. Evals don't make problems go away, and evals that don't answer ALL the questions leave you with even less money. It can be really frustrating. :( That's why sometimes we suggest these odd, slower, piecemeal approaches, because it's really thinking through how you can get where you need to be for a price you can make happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 If her grades are good and she's able to access her education, you're going to have a hard time disputing and getting the school to agree to anything. They'll contest paying for it. Now with my ds, we had disputed diagnoses, hours of observations, etc. There was no disagreement that lots was going on. But first and foremost the goal of the IEP/504 process is to enable the dc to access their education. If they are already accessing their education, the school doesn't give a rip what medical diagnoses are going on. You can have autism, anything you want, and they won't care. It's all about accessing their education. That's the term, that's the goal, that's the line. With no discrepancy in scores, you're hard-pressed to argue they have to do more. ANY discrepancy would be a start. If your educational therapist gave you ANY normed test or tools that showed significant discrepancy, you could argue that, get a disability advocate, etc. etc. and be on firm ground. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaitfish Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Hey guys, long time no chat. So I found out the IEE was going to be really hard since we decided to homeschool. I could have enrolled her in virtual academy and then pursued a re-examination of the IEP (a new IEP through the virtual academy) then from there gone on to the IEE. So this would mean a sit down with the school, etc etc. In the meantime, I found another great doctor that has agreed to see us sooner than waiting to get to Seattle Children's. This Neuropsych also takes three days to test versus the only one day...she likes to get a complete picture. Then she helps us come up with a plan for therapies, interventions, etc. I spent forever on the phone with her and I'm super excited about it. We are bothering family to help us pay for it and will put the rest on a credit card :/. Seems so unfair that people have to pay sooooo much for testing when it could seriously alter the path the child goes down. I am fortunate to have friends and family that will help us get there, since I quit my job to homeschool and take this on. I'll be selling a bunch of stuff too! I just don't have the energy to do all of that in order to get the testing done....she wouldn't do great in virtual academy either. Thank you for your input and support! I'll report back on what we find out for those that are interested or took some guesses with me. I also would say that if your kid is still in public school, and you are still not happy with the results, the IEE does seem like a definate way to go. Keep fighting the good fight!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Good luck!!!!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I'm glad you were able to work out a plan! Keep us posted! :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaitfish Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 Thank you!! I will for sure! I'm glad you were able to work out a plan! Keep us posted! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaitfish Posted April 19, 2017 Author Share Posted April 19, 2017 Hey! Just wanted to send an update in case there is a parent traveling down my road. So I found an amazing neuropsych in Portland, you can PM me if you want more details. She tested for 3 days and then after two weeks, we met back with her and she spent around 4 hours with us going over the results and basically training us on what we can do to help my daughter. The diagnosis we got was ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyscalcula, and a language disorder! Along with slower working memory and processing, but she did not label those as a disorder. The language disorder threw me, but after she showed me all of the results, it fits perfectly. Wow. She said her IQ is actually in the above section of the average, but she just processes slower and anything with symbols really confuses her brain. So now we're moving on to the next phase of intervention and trying to decide if little north idaho is the best, or moving closer to kids like her is the best for her. The test was $4,000, which I raised through asking for help, which was hard, but I'm so thankful to have these detailed reports. It really makes me feel better, even though I know we have so much work ahead of us. I was so pleased to have a doctor that really took the time to figure her out and test her is several different ways instead of just counting up the numbers. Thank you all for your advice and help along the way!! Cheers to you and best of luck as the school year ends! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Congrats on the really helpful evals!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaitfish Posted April 19, 2017 Author Share Posted April 19, 2017 Congrats on the really helpful evals!!! Thank you so much for your help. And all the people you help on this forum!! Now I'm moving on to googling all the new things Im trying figure out haha. Hope your son is doing well and life is going smooth for you!;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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