IEP Meeting help

[Citrusheights5]

Hello again! 

 

Monday we have yet another IEP meeting.   The charter home school has had him evaluated, and at our last meeting "strongly encouraged me" to place Miles is Public School special education, since it is his desire to go back to school and why he just so social.   I was over whelmed with a bunch of scores and tests, and really had no clue how that played into his bigger picture. I agreed to go and visit the school/class and make the decision at a later date.   I have since visited with his CT, the head of special education, visited the classroom, and talked with the lead for our IEP.   They are going to push HARD for this.   I was not impressed with the curriculum used.  It will not benefit my son, and the classroom had a very "warehouse" feeling.  Not much instruction...yet all kids were "busy"  

 

Any ideas on how to convey that diplomatically?

What can else can I expect at this meeting?

I'm at a loss of what I can reasonably expect from this charter school in terms of assistance.

Because of funding we no longer have advocates that can help determine individual needs and rights..  I've called and asked to no avail. 

 

 

I'm also having a problem with his CT (Teacher), who we visit once a month who is making it impossible to work with.   She reported that attendance and miles is not making any progress this year.   The bottom line is she just doesn't understand Miles difficulties.  for example at out last meeting she pulled out a four paragraph page about telephones.   She read it to him and asked him what was this about .  I cheered on the inside thinking YES YES she finally get it!!!!!.    He answered phones and how they have changed over time.   She then handed him the page and asked him to underline 5 sentences that support what he said.   Miles has just started box three of BARTON and cannot read well enough to do it.      We also do teaching textbooks for math, and when I turned in the print out for Miles Gradebook, she said she had no way of knowing if he actually did the work, and it does not show how long he has been working on it and if that is adequate work...   So we meet with her boss/administrator who suggested a modified amount of work separately.  His suggestion was to write out Three problems that he is working on, every day and in that way she (the teacher) could see his work in his own hand.   Sounded like a great idea to me!  Next month I wrote out 30 problems from the 10 lessons were were due to make in that learning period.  He did them.   We turned them in, and she looked at me and said, well anyone who turns in one page of work I am going to ask where the rest of it.   I explained again that he did 25 more problems online.

 

Is there anyplace on an IEP where teacher- expectations are spelled out, or is this a constant problem>?

 

I really don't want to drop the charter mostly because of the classes they provide.   Miles is extremely social, and I sign him up for 4 classes usually every semester.   I will not be able to afford to fill that void with out them.   I'm willing to jump through hoops, and play their game, and turn in what they want.  I start with the expectation that what they want and what he can do are two different things.   Would requesting a new teacher be appropriate at this meeting? (they usually carry over year after year).  Ugh so many questions.    How do you usually handle it.  

[PeterPan]

You're in the US or Canada?  

 

For our IEP we first have an ETR (evaluation team report).  Do you at least have that done?  Then in the IEP meetings you dicker over what services should be provided to fit those findings and who provides those services.

 

Seems to me your charter is probably legally required to provide those services and doesn't want to?  Can you call your state department of education and ask them?  You can also email and ask them in writing.  Be very precise describing your situation so they can forward your question to the correct person and get you a precise response.  That response, in writing, should hold a lot of weight when you talk with these people.  

 

Questions you might ask?  

-who is required by law to do the evals and create the IEP?

-is the charter school required to service the IEP? even if they need to hire extra providers or a new teacher?

-can they kick you out or compel you to leave the charter over this?

-is there another charter that would be more suitable?

-if they create an IEP that you are not satisfied with, what are your legal options?  

 

You may have specific legal rights you don't yet realize.  The IEP process is creating a legal document for what they are committing themselves to provide, and there can be a lot of friction there.  You SHOULD NOT assume any information you've received from the schools is complete.  This may be a less common situation for which they don't really understand the law.  Your state department of education can be a FABULOUS resource for help.  They're there, they're free, and they're POWERFUL.  If you want things to happen, want answers, want help, CALL them.  Keep your notes with dates, who you talked with, and what they said.  Call/write your state department of ed.  Do NOT sign things you do not understand or do not agree with.

 

[MamaSheep]

First of all, hugs! IEPs can be really stressful!

 

Secondly, yes, I think it would be appropriate to talk to the boss/administrator about having a different teacher. It sounds like the boss/administrator was pretty open to finding a good way to work together, even making workable suggestions. You could just tell him/her that you don't feel your current teacher is a good fit, and you'd like to see if things go more smoothly with someone else. 

 

Thirdly, assuming you're in the United States, YOU are as much a member of the IEP team as anyone else, and they should be taking you as seriously as they take each other. They should believe you when you say he did the work, just as they'd believe any other professional teacher. And you have the right to politely call them on that. Sweetly. With a smile. But firmly. I'm his teacher for this class, and I'm telling you he did this work. (I'm kind of wondering why they think they need to see his math homework if you're the one who's teaching him math. Is this just an evaluative thing? Is it required by law where you live?)

Also, I would strongly recommend asking to have someone sit down with you and explain the test scores. As a parent you have a right to have it explained to you, and re-explained to you, and to have someone higher up come in to explain it again (or whatever) until you understand it. And as an educator, the information in those test scores can be VERY useful in figuring out the best ways to help your child. 

 

And as far as advocates, is there someone in your homeschool group, church, neighborhood, family, etc. who you think would make a good advocate and would be willing to go with you to the meetings without charge? Again, assuming you're in the U.S. you have a right to bring anyone you want with you to the meetings. It's good form to tell them in advance that you'll be bringing along a friend, but they can't tell you you can't.

It's a good idea, too, to have an idea of what kind of assistance you would ideally WANT from the charter school. My experience has been that most IEP teams don't quite know what to offer, or will only offer a limited number of options--mostly because they are overwhelmed. But usually if I ask for things that aren't on their list, they're more than happy to accommodate my requests (as long as they're reasonable). You can ASK for anything you want. Whether you can have it will depend on things like funding and personnel issues, and the convergence of a ridiculous number of weird legal requirements. But you can always ask. 

Also, yes, you can definitely spell out teacher expectations in an IEP, and it's often a good idea to do so because then everyone is clear on what is supposed to happen. (But yes, teachers are a constant problem. I find that my children's teachers almost never actually read the IEP, and I generally try to meet with them in person or at least email them at the beginning of each year/class and make sure they understand at least the highlights. Because if I don't educate them, they don't usually bother.)

[Citrusheights5]

I am in the US.  

We've been through the initial evaluation.  Where they determined that an evaluation was warranted.  In January all evaluations were made through our Charter.   We had a meeting in March where  the results of the evaluations were discussed and some proposed IEP goals were talked about, but they really felt that he would be better served in special education through the public school.   The reason being that the charter school just doesn't have the resources to provide them, therefore the recommendation would be PS.   Their services are all consultative.  

 

I know I can decline their suggestion for PS.  I'm just not sure what happens after that.   What comes next.  

 

A major struggle I have is that while I feel the test results are accurate and do reflect Miles accurately, I feel like they don't understand their own results.   While it shows that Miles needs many repetitions to learn something, they still expect me to continue with "a lesson a day".   He needs about 2 or 3 days on a lesson depending on if it connects with something he has already learned, how much practice he can do with it the next day, and just "sink in" processing time.  

 

Thanks for the suggestions so far..  It really makes me feel like

 

While I feel that the neropshyc from the school understands, i feel like the other members of the team do not.    

 

As for the math.  I am required to turn in "work samples"   and while I do, she (the teacher ) wants one for every single day for every single subject. and she uses that to prove attendance.   I have talked to others at that school, including his teacher from last year.   They do accept a project, or a pictures that hes taken and explained to the teacher about what he has or has not done.   Its just that this teachers wants him to produce "grade level" work samples for everything...  

[OneStepAtATime]

I don't have any good suggestions for the specifics of dealing with the charter school but I do want to send sympathy.  As you are saying, it seems pretty obvious the teacher doesn't get it.  And that puts you in a difficult position.  BTDT.  If you CAN change teachers, that might help.  I would strongly urge you to have a meeting with all parties involved and come up with very specific expectations.  You may need to help educate them on specific points and clarify what you want from them and what they want from you.  

 

Make it clear that your goal is for everyone to work as a team to help the child succeed in both the short and long term and keep that as the primary goal.  Sometimes instructors lose that viewpoint.  They just want to check off boxes and if something you are doing prevents them from easily checking off boxes they see you as the problem.  They lose sight of the goals for the child.  They get frustrated and unhappy and may not work with you at all to actually help the child.  Box checking becomes more important.

 

None of the teachers DD or DS had really got it, even when we had evals.  I WAS able to have a productive meeting with DD's 5th grade teachers after we had solid evals.  We met as a team, all of us at once, including the director of the school, and I walked them through not only the eval but the latest research, what I was expecting DD to gain from her last year at that school and what I was hoping the school and the teachers could provide in terms of instruction/remediation/accommodations.  I also provided a paper with some resources they could look at for more detailed information and scientific research.  Many of them really had had very little actual experience or info regarding LDs.  

 

The meeting lasted a LOOOOONG time.  There were some that were very on board with what I had to say and had some good recommendations for specific things they could do in their classrooms.  There were a couple that were just.....clueless.  And one that actually felt we were just spoiling our child and what she needed was harsher consequences for not doing her work to expectations.  Poor DD actually had 9 teachers that year (they rotated like in High School).  It made it challenging.  But I had to be the one that spearheaded everything.  I had to be polite and supportive of the challenges the teachers were having in their classrooms and realistic about what they could and could not do, but I also had to be the advocate.  Many of them honestly had a lot less knowledge and information to work with than I did, since I had been doing so much targeted research and had been working one on one with my kids for quite a while.    

[MamaSheep]

I haven't ever used a charter school, so I'm not familiar with exactly how all that works. I do know that in my state, the charters are considered part of the public school system even though they're not affiliated with the local public school district, and they are supposed to follow all the same legal requirements as the other public schools, including providing special education services when needed. In reality, though, the charter schools really don't have very good special education services (depending on the specific needs) so a lot of the special ed kids wind up back in a regular public school anyway. But I know they're at least supposed to provide special ed services. 

What we've done is to use the non-classroom kinds of special ed services, like speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and that sort of thing, but to do the academic work at home, because our son can't really tolerate a classroom environment. Especially one that, like you say, tends to be a bit like a warehouse full of busy-ness. Here, they allow us to do that under a "dual-enrollment" arrangement. I know that's not available everywhere, but it might be worth asking about. 

 

One of the things you can do in an IEP is to specify how much work a child can reasonably be expected to do, based on his individual challenges, and what pace is reasonable to expect. The teacher might be legally obligated to hound you UNLESS you have an IEP, but may be able to back off a bit if the alternate expectations spelled out in the IEP are being followed instead. If he's legally designated as having a disability, which is part of what an IEP does, then the requirement for "grade level" work might be able to be dropped. But again, that's something you'd need to ask about. 

I would definitely ask the charter school what would happen next if you (hypothetically) decide to decline public school. 

I would also suggest asking the public school if you can access just the non-classroom kinds of services through them while continuing to do the academic work through the charter school or independently as a home school. 

Take it one step at a time, and remember to BREATHE. This is a marathon, not a sprint. It will come together eventually. 

 

[MamaSheep]

OneStepAtATime brings up a very good point. Most teachers actually have very little education about or experience with learning (or other) disabilities. You'd think that would be part of getting a teaching degree, but it turns out that unless they're specifically going into the field of special education, most teachers have only one or maybe two semesters worth of classes that cover ALL disabilities lumped together all at once. So they might have read a couple of paragraphs about any given disability and spent ten minutes on it in class ten years ago, and that's all they know about it. Don't assume the teachers have any clue how to actually teach a child who doesn't fit the "box". 

 

And also, teachers are often overwhelmed by the number of students they're given, and frustrated by all the conflicting requirements they're supposed to meet, and they just want things to work. But wanting it doesn't mean they know how to get there. And they're tired. Teachers are always tired.

 

So yeah, a little sympathy for the teachers is always appreciated, and it usually helps to assume that they know nothing much about working with disabled children. It's not really their fault, it's not something they were ever taught, and now they have three in their class, and they're all different, and they just don't know what to do.  So they really need you, or the neuropsych, or someone, to explain it to them, and to help them see how they can modify their checklist of conflicting requirements so that they don't get in trouble for letting this kid fall through the cracks, or get left behind, or whatever the current jargon is for the teacher not doing their job. 

 

[Murmer]

In the IEP there is a section called accommodations....its towards the end after all the goals...this is where you can have them address things like preferential seating (if actually in a classroom) or amount of work to be shown...This could be a really good place to have it written in that he show 3 problems each day from math or all none handwriting specific tasks be dictated or typed, or non-reading (IE the task of decoding activities) be read aloud...if these are list in the accommodations then they have to offer them and they have to allow you to offer them which should make the teacher back off on her requirements.

[OneStepAtATime]

OneStepAtATime brings up a very good point. Most teachers actually have very little education about or experience with learning (or other) disabilities. You'd think that would be part of getting a teaching degree, but it turns out that unless they're specifically going into the field of special education, most teachers have only one or maybe two semesters worth of classes that cover ALL disabilities lumped together all at once. So they might have read a couple of paragraphs about any given disability and spent ten minutes on it in class ten years ago, and that's all they know about it. Don't assume the teachers have any clue how to actually teach a child who doesn't fit the "box". 

 

And also, teachers are often overwhelmed by the number of students they're given, and frustrated by all the conflicting requirements they're supposed to meet, and they just want things to work. But wanting it doesn't mean they know how to get there. And they're tired. Teachers are always tired.

 

So yeah, a little sympathy for the teachers is always appreciated, and it usually helps to assume that they know nothing much about working with disabled children. It's not really their fault, it's not something they were ever taught, and now they have three in their class, and they're all different, and they just don't know what to do.  So they really need you, or the neuropsych, or someone, to explain it to them, and to help them see how they can modify their checklist of conflicting requirements so that they don't get in trouble for letting this kid fall through the cracks, or get left behind, or whatever the current jargon is for the teacher not doing their job. 

 

:iagree:

 

FWIW, my mother is a reading specialist and taught for many years.  She has several degrees.  She had no clue what to do with my two dyslexic kiddos.  And initially was making recommendations that were not helpful.  

 

I, too, actually started to get a second degree in education (1st degree was in Communication) and was taught virtually NOTHING about 2e or specifics regarding any LDs.  LDs, as mentioned above, were not separated out.  Everything was just lumped together and skimmed through in about a day.  Sooo useless and unhelpful.  

 

Did I need a degree to assess LDs?  No.  Professional trained people can do that.  But having some clue what to look for in my classroom and what might actually help would have been a much better path than tons and tons of semesters of text book learning about managing a classroom without much in the way of practical experience in managing said classrooms or actual knowledge of what to do with kids that struggle or are advanced or both....

 

The teachers ARE tired. Their job is HARD.  And they don't have the training or scaffolding that they should, IMHO.  You will need to educate yourself to help educate them.  Unfortunately, that can be a challenging path to follow.

 

:grouphug:

[Citrusheights5]

That was very very helpful  Thank you so much!   

 

I have been trying to be more understanding about the teacher, but she is actually the reason I went forward with the IEP. Our last teacher was very understanding about where Miles was and was able to navigate without it.  I realized going forward I was going to need documentation showing Miles capabilities and his disabilities so that every teacher we come across can see where he is at.   My goals for this process is to have guidelines that I as the parent/teacher and the CT (school teacher) can follow as far as expectations.   While I know traditionally it is used to determine where they are, I have already had this info through private dr, and evaluations.   

 

I knew coming in that the school would not offer much for services, and truthfully other than speech I am not really looking for more.   They will recommend OT, and again that is referred out like speech, meaning that they give us funding and then we find a provider who takes the voucher.   It is actually a pretty good system, and works better schedule wise for my kids, and  I like having choice. 

 

The team determination of Eligibility that was given to me, says that the team has found severe discrepancy between measures of intellectual ability and written expression.   And that this is due to Sensory motor skills Attention and cognitive abilities.  and that he has a specific learning disability but it is never stated exactly what it is..    (Yes I pulled it out again to double check it).

 

Looks like I am off to research and pull some info to hand out to the team.  

 

 

 

[PeterPan]

So it sounds like they're giving you SLD Written Expression?  That's good.  So google it and see what the standard IEP recommendations are.  Fwiw, they gave my ds that label too (and the other SLDs, sigh), and I haven't googled it myself yet to be helpful.  I'm definitely interested if anyone wants to expound.

 

You know the first private psych we used had some line in his report about how ds' disabilities were not to require him to spend more time than other kids to do the subject.  So if it took him twice as long, then he was going to have to have work decreased, rather than working an insane number of hours a day to keep up.  I don't know, just saying there might be some lines like that that are reasonable or normal.

[MamaSheep]

So about that "specific learning disability" label. (My daughter got this tag too.)

 

The thing is, IEPs operate under the IDEA law (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). To qualify for help under IDEA, the child has to be shown (through the evaluation process) to have a disability, the disability has to negatively impact their ability to learn, and they must require specialized instruction to learn effectively (whatever alterations are made to the regular program to accommodate the disability). Having a medical diagnosis isn't enough. A child can have a proven, medically diagnosed disability and still not qualify for an IEP if the evaluation team determines that it doesn't affect their academic functioning (etc.). Likewise, a child without any sort of actual medical diagnosis can still qualify for an IEP if the evaluation shows impairment in academic functioning (etc.). Which is why you have to have an evaluation done even if you already have a diagnosis. (Weird, but whatever.)

BUT, the disability has to be in one of the thirteen CATEGORIES specifically listed in the IDEA law. They can't fund the IEP without putting it in a category. My son, for example, qualifies under the "autism" category. My daughter used to qualify under the "specific learning disability" category, but the gap in discrepancy between her actual performance and estimated ability has closed enough that she no longer qualifies under that umbrella. However, if I wanted to push the issue, I could very likely get her qualified again under the "other health impairment" category because of her ADHD--as long as we could show that it negatively impacts her learning, and that she can benefit from specialized instruction. Which I don't think would be a problem. However, right now she's only taking art, drama, and orchestra at the school, and we're doing math, English, history, and so forth at home where I can give her more individual attention and customize her curriculum a bit more than the school can do. But the point is, "specific learning disability" isn't a diagnosis, it's just one of the categories of disability in IDEA, and it includes a wide range of actual learning problems.

 

Now. Once your child has QUALIFIED for an IEP under IDEA, it doesn't really matter very much WHICH category. It mostly matters THAT they qualify. After that, the expectation is that the school will evaluate the child's INDIVIDUAL needs, and come up with an individualized plan that meets them (within reason, and within the budget and personnel limitations under which they operate because this is reality). The actual accommodations, goals, expectations, etc. that go into the IEP don't have to necessarily tie back to the category, they just have to address the need of the child. So for example, my daughter QUALIFIED under "specific learning disorder" because they had to stick her somewhere. But since she also has ADHD (which would fit in the "other health impairment" category) a lot of the accommodations in her IEP actually addressed her attention issues rather than specifically dealing with her problems with written expression--though the attention issues are definitely one cause of the written expression problems. But she didn't need to be ALSO categorized under "other health impairment" because she had already been qualified for an IEP, so that would have been redundant. But again, if we decide to send her back for subjects where she'd need accommodations, I don't think it would be hard to get her either an IEP or a 504 plan (more disability stuff under a different law, but an IEP is better IMO) because of her ADHD issues. 

So "specific learning disability" is just the category to get you in under IDEA so he can have an IEP. The contents of the IEP plan should reflect your particular child's needs, NOT a generic list of accommodations that are given generally to all children in the same category. And you can ask for anything you think would be useful. They might try to talk you out of it, but I find that usually if I can justify WHY I think it is necessary and specifically HOW I think it would help, especially based on anything useful in the evaluation test results, they are usually just glad somebody at the table has useful suggestions and sounds like they know what they're talking about.

Some ideas, off the top of my head, could be: 

Reduced work load (my daughter had this because of the writing thing; we interpreted it differently in different classes, worked out individually with the teachers--in math class it meant she only had to do every other problem; in English, it meant that she had to write for the same amount of time as the other kids, but then she just got graded on the work she had finished, not on the whole assignment. So for example, if the kids were supposed to write a one page essay, and she only managed half a page, the teacher just graded the half page and couldn't take points off for it not filling the page. But her teachers were really good about recognizing that dd really was trying to do her best, and she wasn't just being a slacker. Anyway, some accommodations will be interpreted differently for different classes/subjects as common sense dictates. Even after you have an IEP you might need to meet individually with each teacher to discuss HOW the IEP will be implemented for THAT class.)

Extra time for test taking. 

 

Extra time for take-home projects if needed.

Reduced distractions for testing. 

Preferred seating (for example, my son likes to sit in the back of the room close to the door in case he needs to escape to prevent a panic attack; my daughter likes to sit up front so there aren't distracting wiggly kids between her and the teacher)
 

Alternate or modified assignments. (This could cover things like doing every other math problem, doing an oral report instead of a written paper, dictating answers to a scribe who fills them in on worksheets, etc. Sometimes it's enough to just say modified assignments, but sometimes it's a good idea to list specific kinds of modifications you're going to want to try out, so that there's no question with teachers as to whether you're "allowed" to do it that way or not)

 

Reader for tests. (This is someone--or a computer program--that reads the instructions, etc. to the child during tests if the child has a hard time reading, so the child is tested on the actual information the test covers, and not on his ability to read the instructions)

 

Breaks (If sensory overload is a problem this might be a good idea--these can be scheduled or as needed)

 Anyway, that's just off the cuff, and I don't know your child. All of these are accommodations my kids have had at one point or another, though. Really, you can suggest anything you think would help your child learn, or would make the curriculum accessible to your child with his current ability levels. If you think your child would do better with a popsicle break every day at three, you can ask for it. The worst they can do is say no. 

So yeah, I'd say do a little research, and a little brainstorming, and go in with a list of whatever you genuinely think would be reasonable and helpful. 

Oh, and one other thing to know is that with IEPs nothing is ever set in stone. You can request another meeting with the team any time you feel changes need to be made (or sometimes you can just change things informally by talking it over with whoever holds your file). And they SHOULD be having a meeting to revisit and update the IEP once a year, and doing a re-evaluation every three years. So don't feel like this is permanent. It's a work in progress. 

[Citrusheights5]

Mamá sheep thank you thank you thank you!! That is exactly what I needed to hear. From what I understand they wanted to do placement before goals.. since I am rejecting their placement now I need goals to put forth. And basically I can ask for anything, and since I am the teaCher- the sky the limit. The worst the can say is no, but if I walk in there with research supporting the need I might get it.

 

Thank you thank thank you all. and thank you mama sheep!!

[OneStepAtATime]

Wow, MamaSheep, what a great breakdown.  So helpful!

[OneStepAtATime]

Mamá sheep thank you thank you thank you!! That is exactly what I needed to hear. From what I understand they wanted to do placement before goals.. since I am rejecting their placement now I need goals to put forth. And basically I can ask for anything, and since I am the teaCher- the sky the limit. The worst the can say is no, but if I walk in there with research supporting the need I might get it.

 

Thank you thank thank you all. and thank you mama sheep!!

Good luck!!!!

[Tokyomarie]

Mamá sheep thank you thank you thank you!! That is exactly what I needed to hear. From what I understand they wanted to do placement before goals.. since I am rejecting their placement now I need goals to put forth. And basically I can ask for anything, and since I am the teaCher- the sky the limit. The worst the can say is no, but if I walk in there with research supporting the need I might get it.

 

Thank you thank thank you all. and thank you mama sheep!!

 

When designing an IEP, once weaknesses have been identified, goals should be developed next. Answer this question first: How is the student performing now? Then this one: What level of function are we aiming for- in each area of identified weakness? You can't decide what interventions to use or where those interventions will be implemented until you have a clear listing of present levels of performance and the target levels of performance for each area of weakness. After goals are set, you determine what interventions are necessary to meet those goals. You can't decide the setting for services until you know what interventions will be used and identify the options for implementing them.

[VinNY]

Placement is the last  thing that should be discussed.

[PeterPan]

Placement is the last  thing that should be discussed.

Oh, but the 4-5 school personnel wouldn't have the chance to sit around the table and bully her till she cowers and leaves, eliminating the problem for them altogether!

[MamaSheep]

Mamá sheep thank you thank you thank you!! That is exactly what I needed to hear. From what I understand they wanted to do placement before goals.. since I am rejecting their placement now I need goals to put forth. And basically I can ask for anything, and since I am the teaCher- the sky the limit. The worst the can say is no, but if I walk in there with research supporting the need I might get it.

 

Thank you thank thank you all. and thank you mama sheep!!

You're very welcome. I've been to a lot of IEP meetings...heh. I don't know everything, but I have picked up some good info over the years. If you have other questions, please ask, and if I don't see it give me a nudge through private message. I don't read everything on the forum and might miss it. 

 

Oh, and something else good to know might be that you can actually waive some of the options they offer if you don't need or want or like them. Sometimes they need you to waive it in writing, but that's to cover their own rears so that if someone federal comes to check up on them, and says why isn't this kid getting THIS thing (like a particular placement or whatever) they can prove that they offered it and you declined, so they don't get in trouble. So if they ask you to sign something to say you're rejecting their recommended placement, that's all it is, it isn't personal. As an example, when ds was younger they used to offer a one-on-one classroom aide every year for a while because when he was in school full time he really needed one. But when we pulled him out to homeschool him, and we only wanted the OT, PT, speech, etc., and he wasn't in the classroom anymore, they still had to offer it as an option, but we just noted next to it that we were waiving that one, and initialed it, and everyone was happy. 

 

But yeah, there's a bit of a learning curve, and I'm more than happy to help if you need it. You'll do fine, though. Just remember to breathe, and remember you're as much a part of the team as anyone else at the table. You'll do fine. :)

[PeterPan]

Amy, just as a total aside and rabbit trail, how do they decide on the need for an aide and what services (in the IEP) does the aide provide?

[MamaSheep]

Amy, just as a total aside and rabbit trail, how do they decide on the need for an aide and what services (in the IEP) does the aide provide?

 

I'm not really sure. It's a very individualized process. In our case there were "behavioral issues" that a teacher couldn't manage while trying to also teach a class full of kids and it was obvious to everyone that an extra pair of adult hands was necessary.