seeking services through PS

[TracyP]

I could really use a tutorial on dealing with my local school. I have no idea where to start. Do I have to wait until the school year starts in the fall? Is there somebody in particular I should ask for? Do I ask for an IEP? Or an evaluation? Should I call? email? write? Any info you can provide would be helpful. FWIW, I live in a very small community (pop. 750). While I question whether or not the PS will be beneficial, I fully expect them to be cooperative and friendly.

 

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but google didn't turn up what I was looking for. Probably because I'm not even sure what to search for... Feel free to link me to old threads.

[Crimson Wife]

I highly recommend the book Nolo IEP Guide for Learning Disabilities by Lawrence Siegel.

[nature girl]

Our district has a special services coordinator, who I talked to the summer before my DD started PS. There should be someone with a similar title, but if not you can look for the school psych or a guidance counselor, or even the head of the PTA who should be able to give you the correct contact.

 

I would call, I think talking it through is most effective. If you don't have an evaluation, you can ask for one and (I think) they're required to give it, although it won't be as thorough as one you can get privately. Before you can get the IEP, the evaluation will need to be completed (and even after that, it can take 90 days more.) But you can ask for the services you think will be necessary, like pull-outs for LD's, and they should be able to provide them even before the official eval. (My DD has ADHD, and we got the ball rolling a couple of months before she started school. They had a para in place, she had weekly OT sessions, and a behaviorist observed her in the first 2 weeks and set up a behavioral plan shortly after...All this was around 3 months before we had an official IEP.)

[maize]

You can start now, ask for an evaluation. You could try calling the school and asking for the email address of the person who handles special education evaluations. The school by law has to provide evaluations within a certain number of school days from the time a request is received, so while nothing may happen until after the school year starts you will at least be at the front of the queue.

[OneStepAtATime]

Call but requests for evaluations don't have to be honored unless they are in writing. Call this next week. Should be someone in the office eventually. Find out who you need to send The letter to and what they can offer.

 

Are you intending to put your child in school there? Has your child already attended school there? Have you had any evaluations already? What has you concerned?

 

ETA: They can end up really dragging feet on actual evals so even after a written letter is received it can take time to get anything done. You will need to be in the driver's seat, doing research and staying on top of deadlines.

Edited July 15, 2017 by OneStepAtATime

[kbutton]

This book: https://www.amazon.com/When-School-Says-How-Get/dp/1849059179

 

It's the people side of IEP stuff, including how to be in the driver's seat. It's not as detailed as the Nolo book about the legal side.

 

Your state department of education will have your state's process for handling the evaluations and such. Different states use different words, but it's all fairly similar because it's all regulated by IDEA. http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home.html

 

After you submit a written request for evaluation for an IEP, the first thing they will want you to do is to have a meeting where you check off boxes for what you want to have evaluated. Ask them what they do for each category because sometimes their categories are not what you think they would be. There should also be a box you check to bring in any outside reports (pediatrician, speech, language, ADHD, etc.) that you already have. That is a very important thing to get right--if it's not in that document, it can bite you in the end.

 

In the end, as his teacher, you will need to be the one that makes the case for needing services or not. If other people have mentioned problems to you, have them fill out a survey, checklist, write up their observations, etc. It helps to have more than just you seeing things. There are many observation forms designed for teachers that are widely accepted and can be given to people who see your child in a variety of settings even if they are not educators. These forms cover time on task, social skills, ADHD, etc. Also, you can use symptom checklists from books, published articles, websites about your child's issues, etc. to help you phrase your concerns and be comprehensive in your own observations.

 

I'm thinking you are the one posting about language issues in another thread--if not, I apologize. ASHA has some good informative pages about language issues. Do expand the links on the page.  http://www.asha.org/Practice-Portal/Clinical-Topics/Spoken-Language-Disorders/

 

One very powerful combination of information for the school (in each area of concern) is something like this: 1. This is the nature of the problem (doesn't respond when spoken to), 2. This is how it messes up school (xyz), and 3. This what seems to help or not, or what we think/know needs to happen (xyz).

[mysticmomma]

Are you planning to enroll your child?

[PeterPan]

I highly recommend the book Nolo IEP Guide for Learning Disabilities by Lawrence Siegel.

 

THIS. Must do this. 

 

You have the legal right, a federal right, to request evals. Must be done in writing, and there's a legal timeline to hawk. It takes a LONG TIME to get evals and an IEP, so you don't want to wait till fall.

 

The tricky part here is that you would like the evals done or at least started before he enrolls. Some schools will deny your request for evals, saying there's not enough evidence, and want to watch him for a grading period first. Then they wait for their teachers to refer. This throws him into their regular cycle (watch, refer, eval, write IEP/504) and just about guarantees he won't have an IEP in place till the following school year. 

 

So what you're trying to do, really, really wanting to make happen, is to get him evals by the ps early, sooner rather than later. The ps has a process called RTI, and they can say they want to do RTI. If you have evidence of disabilities (previous evals) and have evidence of something you've done that is comparable to RTI (programs that are known to be appropriate for that disability and are at that tier of intervention) then that can help. 

 

Schools vary in how they're going to receive you. No matter what, eventually you're going to get evals. The ps has the federal responsibility under the law, under the Child Find law, to identify students with disabilities in their district. You have not given up your FAPE (right to a free and appropriate public education) and they are required to eval. But they do have the ability to have that first meeting and deny your request saying there's no evidence and that they want to observe for a grading period. So to my mind, if enrolling is not firmly decided, I might kinda hold back that information and just present the information that compels them to eval. Then see how that goes, kwim? But, you never know. Sometimes they're super awesome and they roll out the red carpet. Maybe they will.

 

Besides the NOLO book, also go to your state dept of education and search for an IEP process timeline. Typically states have EVERYTHING about their IEP process on their dept of ed website. The timeline, the forms, EVERYTHING. The state will have contact info so you can call or email questions. It usually takes a week, but you can get replies and get answers. There will sometimes be a parent support person funded by the state for your district. 

 

It's a lot of learning curve, but it can be worth it. Some schools do a really good job! It's good to have the OPTION. I've been through the IEP process ad nauseum. I'm not some huge fan of it, sigh, but one GOOD thing about it is that you're getting a TEAM approach. They're going to bring more people into the room who can look at all the angles and sort things out. 

Edited July 15, 2017 by OhElizabeth

[TracyP]

Just to clarify, I am not enrolling him in school.

 

OneStep, he has always been homeschooled. He has MERLD and we recently had a psych eval done to look for other LDs. It seems like all his struggles stem from the language disorder. We have been in private speech therapy for years, but the psych suggested that he might benefit from added school services. I don't even know what that would look like, but I figured it can't hurt to check them out.

 

Thank you everyone. This is very helpful.

[PeterPan]

Sounds like a plan! You need to check to see what your state offers to homeschoolers. Some states require the ps to provide services to homeschoolers and some don't. Some leave it up to the district. So definitely find out what the law is in your state for schools providing services to private school and homeschool students. The evals are a federal right, but services vary by state.

 

Ok, now to emphasize what Kbutton said. She said to be astonishingly careful about the planning form you sign at the very first meeting. These things are legal documents, and the form you sign there, checking off boxes for what *areas* will be eval'd, determines how the entire process goes. So, when you go in, it is in your best interest to bring up EVERYTHING you can. Like you say he was on the line and the psych thought he might qualify under autism. Say it. Say EVERYTHING and get every box checked that might even POSSIBLY apply. Any box you don't check won't get eval'd and will be held out months and require another eval, another form, a long drawn out thing. 

 

That's where seeing the form ahead from your state dept of ed can help. I swear, the guy who did mine the first time was utterly incomprehensible (literally) and went SO FAST. So don't get bulldozed and don't be wishful or hopeful. Evals cost them money and they will limit them to the least amount they possibly have to do.

 

 

[Pen]

Call and follow up with a written request for evaluation now. Depending on size of district they may not be able to do it until fall in no one is in during summer. To keep things friendly accept that rather than insisting on mid-August if they can't do that, but don't wait to start the process in fall.

 

Depending on how your dc does on testing, and the rules in your state/district, services may or may not be offered.  When I did this, we had to use dual enrollment as homeschoolers and public schoolers to get services. The IEP co-ordinator (who is great and clearly wanted to find a way to help, not put up barriers) wrote up the IEP to say that the best placement for ds would be to do most of his learning at home to make this work.  It was friendly, and ds is now going to PS in the district.

[kbutton]

You might also find that part of the team is amazing, and part of it is hostile (my experience was the hostile person was the one running the show). That is where the people side of things comes into play, lol!

[PeterPan]

Call and follow up with a written request for evaluation now. Depending on size of district they may not be able to do it until fall in no one is in during summer. To keep things friendly accept that rather than insisting on mid-August if they can't do that, but don't wait to start the process in fall.

 

 

This isn't the LAW. Yes, they'll try to pull that stunt, but it's not the law. You make the formal, written request, and the legal timeline begins. If they say something about hey it's summer, they're asking you if you will give them permission not to follow the law. You don't have to do that. Besides, it's already middle of July. Mid-August they're back anyway. 

 

So you have to know the law and force them to follow the law.

[OneStepAtATime]

Just to clarify, I am not enrolling him in school.

 

OneStep, he has always been homeschooled. He has MERLD and we recently had a psych eval done to look for other LDs. It seems like all his struggles stem from the language disorder. We have been in private speech therapy for years, but the psych suggested that he might benefit from added school services. I don't even know what that would look like, but I figured it can't hurt to check them out.

 

Thank you everyone. This is very helpful.

Since the school is really pretty small they may not have much experience or many services but because it is small they may be more willing and flexible in seeking out avenues to help.  You may need to be the one guiding them, though, unfortunately.  Nearly everyone who has posted on the LC board about going this route has had to take the lead in some way, be the staunch advocate at least with some things, do tons of targeted research so they could present their case with solid information and achievable goals.  

 

Reality is that most people in the educational system do not have much, if any, real training in the various aspects of different learning challenges.  That being said, there are a few gems out there and certainly the school may have access to resources that you do not.  I agree, check it out.  :)

[Pen]

This isn't the LAW. Yes, they'll try to pull that stunt, but it's not the law. You make the formal, written request, and the legal timeline begins. If they say something about hey it's summer, they're asking you if you will give them permission not to follow the law. You don't have to do that. Besides, it's already middle of July. Mid-August they're back anyway. 

 

So you have to know the law and force them to follow the law.

 

 

I understand that it isn't the Law.

 

Whether requesting a wait till fall would be a "stunt" or not would depend on the situation at the school /  district.  In our own situation I think it was a legitimate difficulty and better not to demand that the Law be followed to the extent of bringing people in during the summer.  It would not have helped with building a Team and good relationships.

[OneStepAtATime]

I understand that it isn't the Law.

 

Whether requesting a wait till fall would be a "stunt" or not would depend on the situation at the school /  district.  In our own situation I think it was a legitimate difficulty and better not to demand that the Law be followed to the extent of bringing people in during the summer.  It would not have helped with building a Team and good relationships.

Pen brings up a good point.  

 

OP, try hard not to make the school your enemy.   I am sure that is not your intention but it can happen inadvertently.  Don't be a door mat or expect them to have all the answers and accept everything they say at face value but do try to work with them.  I have a lot of relatives that are in or were in the ps system (including my mother, grandmother, an uncle, cousins, SIL, etc.).  Their jobs are hard and getting harder.  Lots of red tape and limited flexibility.  Same with the administration jobs.  Sometimes they are more than willing to help but need to brain storm with you on how their limitations within the confines of their school can be flexed to help you and your child without negatively impacting anyone else.  That can take some work.  Coming at this with a team mentality really helps with that.

[Janeway]

OP, there will be a ton to fight with the school over. You do not want to make an enemy of them. Waiting until fall for an eval is nothing. If you realized there is such a big problem now, you would have realized it two months ago when school was in session and it can wait the month until school starts again. 

 

If you plan to continue to home school, the PS eval might be of very little use. In some states, it could complicate your home school.