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How to ask for an EEN evaluation for spec ed
Jan 18, 2008 01:11AM
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I've seen a lot of posts like this: My _ year old child seems to exhibit __ symptoms. I did some research about autism. I asked my childs teacher about __ behaviors and thought s/he may have autism.
Let me say a few things here. I've been there, done that and got the tee shirt. This could be a battle depending on the state/school district. This blog applies to USA federal IDEA law. This is for USA public schools only. Maybe you folks around the world can comment on your own country on this blog.
Federal IDEA law gives parents a lot of rights. Please be aquainted with IDEA. It was signed into law durring the Ford administration and each time, there have been attempts to change the law and weaken it. We, as parent advocacy groups have tried our best to keep it a vibrant, robust law that will keep our children from falling thru the cracks.
IDEA is the numero uno, big kahuna. It's the Individuals with DisAbilities Education Act: Eat it, drink it, walk it talk it, smoke it.
If your child is identified as having an Exceptional Educational Need (EEN), you will learn fast to become a fighter. The weapons in your arsanal include IDEA, Section 504, Americans with DisAbilities Act, and your individual state laws. You will be on a first-name basis with parent empowerment organizations in your area. You will be respected and feared by school boards, and administration. You will be the "Erin Brocovich" of your school! You gotta be! After all, it's YOUR CHILD, not theirs! You are your child's primary case manager. Walk in with that tude.
The first thing I have to say is that if you see any missed developmental milestones or any delays, U as a parent would be the first to notice these.
For preschool age children: every school district in the USA is mandated by IDEA to have a "child find" agency within the school district. Child Find purpose is to screen and identify children with Exceptional Educational Needs. They shoud be an outreach team to seek out these children. Get in touch with the school district and ask for child find office and they should take it from there.
If your child is in school or a preschool program, if you suspect something, yes, talk to his/her teacher. If the teacher is unresponsive, go up the ladder. Talk to the principal, school psychologist, school speech therepist or OT, or PT. You can ask if your child to be evaluated for special needs.
If you get no response from the school, put a request in writing and be detailed, yet concise about some of the symptoms you observe. Request for an multi-disciplinary team (m-team) evaluation for your child. Address this request to as many administrators as you can. Start with the school Principal. Also write the same letter to the director of Special education services (the title may vary in your district) cc to the district superintendent. After the district receives this letter, PUT THEM ON NOTICE! They have 90 days to deliver the pizza! The clock is ticking!
You should recive a notification of the evaluation process. The law requires: written notice be given to all parents and guardians. and parents must give written permission for the team to evaluate their child. It should list who's who on the team. Look at the credentials of the team members. These should all be there, if not ask to see them! The team MUST include persons with expertise in the areas of your child's suspected disAbility. If not, ask for someone who has. Even if it costs the district extra to outsource these persons, insist on it. It's the law. Example: If your child has speech delays, and U see the school nurse listed as the SLP evaluator ask for a profesional speech therepist.
Once the evaluation process is complete, ask for the reports of their findings IN ADVANCE of the m-team meeting. You will then be invited to a meeting to discuss these findings. Big piece of advice here: BRING SOMEONE. Bring a friend or a signifigant other. This can be a very emotional meeting. You need someone to take notes and track with the rest of the meeting when you may not have the emotional strength to do.
When the m-team meeting is concluded, they may want to jump right into the IEP (Individual Educational Plan)meeting. This is when they make a strategy or plans and goals for your child. Ask to hold off for a while until you have absorbed the findings of the m-team meeting. As I said, this can be emotional for U as a parent. They may be comfortable startegizing and planning and setting goals but you may not be at this time. It's easy for them at this point to set some fu-fu goals and give you some kinda "standard" IEP. When they say this is our "standard" IEP for children with _____, reply "Standard" and "Individualized" is an oxymoron. "If it's all the same to you, I'd lilke to re-schedule the IEP meeting for later" or "I don't feel prepared for planning and goal setting at this time". After all, you just heard what they determined. This also gives you time to cope with the findings and re-group and come up with your own goals and research strategies for yourself. Then you can come in prepared. This has happened to us untill we wised up to that tactic.
If you disagree with the findings or just have a feeling the m-team are off-base, notify the team in writing that you want to get an independent evaluation. They MUST do this at no expense to you. We did this and went to the state university clinic that specializes in developmental disAbilities. I'm glad we did this. We did agree with the evaluation, however, we wanted more detailed reports. The university clinic was able to provide more expertise and more detail than the school district can ever provide with their limited resources. They provided info on her learning styles and modalities, and her way of thinking and processing sensory input. Lotsa good stuff.
You have a right to ALL records and test results etc. ASK FOR THEM. Start a folder with these records. Watch this folder get fattter and fatter with time. Trust me, you will need these records later. 20 years later an we still pull out and show some of her records for various social service agencies.
One last thing, NOTHING should be done in your child's placement, planning, or evaluation without parents written consent. If you don't feel right about something, don't feel pressured to give consent. Trust me on this, I got the tee shirt on this. One of the biggest mistakes I made in my entire life was to consent to my child's placement into her "neighborhood" school after her former placement in a school better suited for the needs of EEN children. I felt pressured by the spec ed staff and adminitrators into it. My john hancock turned out to be a 3 year mistake. She was physically and emotionally and cognitively impared until jr hi 5 years later.
The IEP process is more than I want to blog about now. This should be enough info to get the ball rolling if you want to get an evaluation.
Let me say a few things here. I've been there, done that and got the tee shirt. This could be a battle depending on the state/school district. This blog applies to USA federal IDEA law. This is for USA public schools only. Maybe you folks around the world can comment on your own country on this blog.
Federal IDEA law gives parents a lot of rights. Please be aquainted with IDEA. It was signed into law durring the Ford administration and each time, there have been attempts to change the law and weaken it. We, as parent advocacy groups have tried our best to keep it a vibrant, robust law that will keep our children from falling thru the cracks.
IDEA is the numero uno, big kahuna. It's the Individuals with DisAbilities Education Act: Eat it, drink it, walk it talk it, smoke it.
If your child is identified as having an Exceptional Educational Need (EEN), you will learn fast to become a fighter. The weapons in your arsanal include IDEA, Section 504, Americans with DisAbilities Act, and your individual state laws. You will be on a first-name basis with parent empowerment organizations in your area. You will be respected and feared by school boards, and administration. You will be the "Erin Brocovich" of your school! You gotta be! After all, it's YOUR CHILD, not theirs! You are your child's primary case manager. Walk in with that tude.
The first thing I have to say is that if you see any missed developmental milestones or any delays, U as a parent would be the first to notice these.
For preschool age children: every school district in the USA is mandated by IDEA to have a "child find" agency within the school district. Child Find purpose is to screen and identify children with Exceptional Educational Needs. They shoud be an outreach team to seek out these children. Get in touch with the school district and ask for child find office and they should take it from there.
If your child is in school or a preschool program, if you suspect something, yes, talk to his/her teacher. If the teacher is unresponsive, go up the ladder. Talk to the principal, school psychologist, school speech therepist or OT, or PT. You can ask if your child to be evaluated for special needs.
If you get no response from the school, put a request in writing and be detailed, yet concise about some of the symptoms you observe. Request for an multi-disciplinary team (m-team) evaluation for your child. Address this request to as many administrators as you can. Start with the school Principal. Also write the same letter to the director of Special education services (the title may vary in your district) cc to the district superintendent. After the district receives this letter, PUT THEM ON NOTICE! They have 90 days to deliver the pizza! The clock is ticking!
You should recive a notification of the evaluation process. The law requires: written notice be given to all parents and guardians. and parents must give written permission for the team to evaluate their child. It should list who's who on the team. Look at the credentials of the team members. These should all be there, if not ask to see them! The team MUST include persons with expertise in the areas of your child's suspected disAbility. If not, ask for someone who has. Even if it costs the district extra to outsource these persons, insist on it. It's the law. Example: If your child has speech delays, and U see the school nurse listed as the SLP evaluator ask for a profesional speech therepist.
Once the evaluation process is complete, ask for the reports of their findings IN ADVANCE of the m-team meeting. You will then be invited to a meeting to discuss these findings. Big piece of advice here: BRING SOMEONE. Bring a friend or a signifigant other. This can be a very emotional meeting. You need someone to take notes and track with the rest of the meeting when you may not have the emotional strength to do.
When the m-team meeting is concluded, they may want to jump right into the IEP (Individual Educational Plan)meeting. This is when they make a strategy or plans and goals for your child. Ask to hold off for a while until you have absorbed the findings of the m-team meeting. As I said, this can be emotional for U as a parent. They may be comfortable startegizing and planning and setting goals but you may not be at this time. It's easy for them at this point to set some fu-fu goals and give you some kinda "standard" IEP. When they say this is our "standard" IEP for children with _____, reply "Standard" and "Individualized" is an oxymoron. "If it's all the same to you, I'd lilke to re-schedule the IEP meeting for later" or "I don't feel prepared for planning and goal setting at this time". After all, you just heard what they determined. This also gives you time to cope with the findings and re-group and come up with your own goals and research strategies for yourself. Then you can come in prepared. This has happened to us untill we wised up to that tactic.
If you disagree with the findings or just have a feeling the m-team are off-base, notify the team in writing that you want to get an independent evaluation. They MUST do this at no expense to you. We did this and went to the state university clinic that specializes in developmental disAbilities. I'm glad we did this. We did agree with the evaluation, however, we wanted more detailed reports. The university clinic was able to provide more expertise and more detail than the school district can ever provide with their limited resources. They provided info on her learning styles and modalities, and her way of thinking and processing sensory input. Lotsa good stuff.
You have a right to ALL records and test results etc. ASK FOR THEM. Start a folder with these records. Watch this folder get fattter and fatter with time. Trust me, you will need these records later. 20 years later an we still pull out and show some of her records for various social service agencies.
One last thing, NOTHING should be done in your child's placement, planning, or evaluation without parents written consent. If you don't feel right about something, don't feel pressured to give consent. Trust me on this, I got the tee shirt on this. One of the biggest mistakes I made in my entire life was to consent to my child's placement into her "neighborhood" school after her former placement in a school better suited for the needs of EEN children. I felt pressured by the spec ed staff and adminitrators into it. My john hancock turned out to be a 3 year mistake. She was physically and emotionally and cognitively impared until jr hi 5 years later.
The IEP process is more than I want to blog about now. This should be enough info to get the ball rolling if you want to get an evaluation.
I finally found your blog and it is very informative I really appreciate the help I am getting ready right now to go to the school district, I have already asked the teahcer and school speech thereapist for help but they have done othing besides telliing me they will watch her, this \may sound greedy but thats not enough for me and my eeds for my child.
Not greedy at all!! Those twins are YOUR children!! The school system is YOUR employee!! You HIRED these teachers/adminitrators to make a future for your twins!! DON'T EVER CALL YOURSELF GREEDY! Do you hear me? DON'T let the school system tell you that neither. They are required to provide an education for the twins. You pay property taxes (big time) for them to do this.
If Brianna is evaluated as EEN student, it's up to you to keep them at their word. I know you never signed up for this when you were pg with them, but you will be a force to recken with. Be a mom from hell. Be the Erin Brockovich for you children.
I wish you the best, girl.
If Brianna is evaluated as EEN student, it's up to you to keep them at their word. I know you never signed up for this when you were pg with them, but you will be a force to recken with. Be a mom from hell. Be the Erin Brockovich for you children.
I wish you the best, girl.
I wish I would have found your post sooner! I went blind into an IEP "meeting" and the school performed an SST. Special Skills Testing. I was basically told that I wasn't helping my daughter enough. My daughter was in second grade at the time. She could not read, write, or comprehend instructions beyond one or two. She was at a beginning kindergarden skills level. She simply cannot retain the information. You would never know it speaking to her though. She is a very verbal child and has excelled in her vocabulary (speaking to others) and vocal grammer. She has been speaking since she was 9 months old and could pronounce large words at a very young age. My daughter spoke fluently like you and I before 2 years old. She was predicted to have a junior highschoolers vocabulary. Yet, in school, she could not comprehend what she read or heard. It's all jibberish to her. I constantly hear, "I don't get it". My mother in law is very slow as is my brother in law. My exhusband has the Fragile-X gene, but I'm not sure if it passed to her. I have a friend that has 3 Autistic sons (all different ages) and thinks my daughter should be tested for autism. That she may be very slight, but enough to cause a disability in her learning and comprehension.
She is in 4th grade now and it took my homeschooling her all last year, to teach her how to read and write. She still has a hard time comprehending vowels, they do not exist in her brain. I have been fighting with the schools since 2nd grade to get her the necessary education. I believe my daughter is slow. She learns so slowly, she is in the fourth grade with a beginning 1st grader's ability. She still can't spell simple words like blue and yellow. I asked that she be retained in the 3rd grade when she started in school again. I was her teacher and have that right. I was told it was not my right until after 4th grade. Meanwhile, my poor child has to suffer, at the hands of teachers and other students, who pick on her and beat her up for being "different". The fact that she has to wear glasses does not help this. The schools have been completely unreasonable, and I have moved a few times to get her into a good school. I will try this tactic, because the gloves are off now, and I'm going in fighting. Do you think a private school would be better? Like a Satori or Sylvan school? I am at my wits end with this matter. Sometimes, I get so frustrated that they don't "get it". I have an IQ of 148 and get treated like I'm a friggin' idiot by these people. Thank you so much for your post it really helps to know someone really is out there to help us parents that are going through this nightmare. Thanks Again.
She is in 4th grade now and it took my homeschooling her all last year, to teach her how to read and write. She still has a hard time comprehending vowels, they do not exist in her brain. I have been fighting with the schools since 2nd grade to get her the necessary education. I believe my daughter is slow. She learns so slowly, she is in the fourth grade with a beginning 1st grader's ability. She still can't spell simple words like blue and yellow. I asked that she be retained in the 3rd grade when she started in school again. I was her teacher and have that right. I was told it was not my right until after 4th grade. Meanwhile, my poor child has to suffer, at the hands of teachers and other students, who pick on her and beat her up for being "different". The fact that she has to wear glasses does not help this. The schools have been completely unreasonable, and I have moved a few times to get her into a good school. I will try this tactic, because the gloves are off now, and I'm going in fighting. Do you think a private school would be better? Like a Satori or Sylvan school? I am at my wits end with this matter. Sometimes, I get so frustrated that they don't "get it". I have an IQ of 148 and get treated like I'm a friggin' idiot by these people. Thank you so much for your post it really helps to know someone really is out there to help us parents that are going through this nightmare. Thanks Again.
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