IEP Help

Write, don't call. A phone call is worth the paper it is written on, and if you cannot hold it in your hand, it never happend. What ever they told you, if you cannot hold a copy of it in your hand, it never happened either. From here on, any time someone at the school speaks to you about a special education matter, send them a confirmation email that summerizes what they said, what you said, and any agreements or actions you are depending on and at the end write: "if you do not respond in writing within ten school days and correct any inaccuracy of my recolection of our conversation, I shall assume that I have accurately understood our discussion."

For this issue, write a letter. Send it to the Special education director, say that you wish to call an emergency IEP meeting withint ten school days of the receipt of the letter to reinstate your son's IEP because he has a disablity that is recogonized by IDEA and he has Educational need because of his F's and D's, regaurdless of any score on any test, he still requires special education services, interventions, and supports and accomodations to make academic progress. Tell them that you beleive he is entitled to compsenatory services because thier decision to dismiss him from special education was a mistake, and he is being denined FAPE as a result. Say that you recend your signature on the last IEP (dated, blank) that granted consent for his removal from an IEP (if, in fact, you did sign such a document) If you did not sign such a document, note that you never agreed to remove him from the IEP in writing, and you will hold them to be deliberately indiferent to the needs of your son if they do not respond approriately such that he may recieve FAPE. Send this letter return receipt requested, registered mail, and send it tomorrow to the Special Education Director. You never had to sign an IEP if you do not agree with it, your signature indicates that you agree with everything they wrote.

Do some research on www.wrightslaw.com about advocacy. If you feel like you cannot navigate this on your own, find the wrightslaw yellow pages for your state, and hire an advocate to help you. This is a very simple issue that should be easy to handle, they made a mistake, you ahve the eveidence you need, and they need to compensate him for thier error.

M.

IDEA is fully set up to handle health issues, such as ADHD, asthma, and a heart condition. He has educational need for an IEP, there is no need for a 504 plan too; children do not have both. OHI, or other health imparment is the appropriate category for all three issues, however, the ADHD creates the educational need for an IEP (the need is the failing grades) so he does not need to be identified for the asthma or the heart condition sepearately. He should have home bound instruction if he misses more than 10 days consecutively (state codes will dictate this) and he should have accomodations for his absecnces that do not require home bound intruction. Ask for a plan for these expecte health related abscences.

Please check out wrightslaw and consult an advocate who can look at your son's educational records and help you in the shortest time. You are getting small snippets of information on this site that are not going to be helpful to you, and could end up causing you more harm than good. All of the advice you get should be based on your son's evaluation data, because ultamately, that is the driving force behind your success with this issue. Evaluation data does identify the diagnosis, but, all IEP's are to be written based on the needs that are identifed in the data too, so you need skilled advice, based on the numbers, that the school district cannot ignore. You also need someone who is skilled at IEP negotiations to keep the school from running roughschod over you, as they have already done. A skilled advocate will know how to document your situation, what questions to ask, and how to keep the communication going while they get your son everything they can. They will also be able to preserve your rights, should the worst happen, and you need to go to due process. Actually, if the school knows that you have the evidence you need to win in due process, they are more likely to give you what you are asking for in many cases. If you do not know how to do this, with many difficult school districts, you could shoot yourself in the foot. Some of the advice you have gotten here, will do just that for you, and I do not say that to be rude, it is just that a little bit of information can do a whole lot of damage very quickly, especailly if it is wrong. www.wrightslaw.com. Let this be your bible. Call an advocate if you need help. It should be simple, but it is anything but. From learning to use PRN to knowing when you have negotiated the best services you are entitled to, it is a very specific and requires skill and knowlege. www.wrightslaw.com. MR

That's horrible :( my advice was going to be send Martha R a personal message if you didn't get an answer from her bu I see you did. She gives the best IEP/504/special Ed advice.

challenge the iep decision you have that right. have them retest him. and go to the school board if necessary you can challenge their decision it is your right and his need and since his grades are dropping you have them backed into a corner where they will have to put hiim back on it

You have to put it in writing and you need to put CC on the bottom and make and mail copies to all of the following.

Principal of the school
His special ed coordinator
His special ed teacher
if there is a district liason
school nurse
social worker
guidance coucilor
state board of education.

the school has 30 days to address this. now the 30 days are business days so they actually have as much as 6 weeks. but send the stuff so it has to be signed for and beleive me you will have an appt for a IEP staffing pretty quickly. you will need your ducks in a row. who took him off the iep who took him off the meds? those questions will be asked. Does he have any resource classes at all? does he still see a doctor for the adhd? be ready to adocate for him. have your info written down. document any and all conversations both email and verbal that you have with the school. i love email as it is so much easier to copy off and no questions about whether or not something was said. Good luck

IEP's are for Special Education needs. Since his problems are ADHD, a heart condition and asthma you need to get him on chronic health status so his absences don't count against him and his teachers know his status. You can also set up a 504 which can provide accommodations similar to and IEP but specifically set up for medically related issues. Talk to a principal and the school nurse about setting up a 504 meeting immediately.

My son finally got an IEP at the end of his 6th grade year. We had moved and the first school kept going by test scores regardless of what his daily struggles were. I had inquired at the new school early in the year but his grades were good so they ignored me. Then the right teacher noticed and suddenly they were willing to evaluate. Even when he was not actively getting assistance or attending special classes, I insisted his IEP stay in place so IF he started struggling we wouldn't have to go through re-evaluation and him struggle while we waited...for exactly what you have described above. It was scaled back but still there.

They need your permission to evaluate, your permission to do an IEP, and your permission to change/stop the IEP.

That said, be persistant and insist they the IEP get back in place and he get the help he needs. Insist that they help him with what he is having trouble with and get a chance to do better on it this time (regrade if necessary).

On a side note, my son often did work and may not get it turned in...you may have helped your son get it done but you weren't there to make him turn it in. However, he may have turned it in (I encountered that with a teacher too) but unless you can prove it, it really is his word against the teachers.

As a teacher, I'm looking at the responses you're receiving and they are all worth considering. One thing, though, that I will add--ALL the special ed teachers I know have basically been very overworked--it is, in my opinion, the toughest job in a school system. Caseloads are generally way higher than they should be (and I'm not a special ed teacher). That said, one of my friends in special ed always told parents at IEP meetings--the squeaky wheel gets the grease. In other words...I will do my best for your child, but it might not be enough. If and when it's not enough, don't hesitate to bug me about it, because I *will* attend to what is most pressing. All THAT said...there is a fine line between being a good, supportive parent and advocate for your child and being obnoxious to the teachers. In my opinion, if you sent an email to all the individuals mentioned, you would very quickly be on that teachers' list of high-maintenance parents. Definitely you need to say something, definitely it needs to be written and recorded...but perhaps give that teacher another chance before calling in principal, superintendent, state board of education? Counselors are generally good go-betweens, especially if you have a good guidance department. Principals at smaller schools can also serve this purpose, as could a special services director, if you don't get an appropriate response the next time you've contacted them. If the social worker is not getting back to you in a reasonable time frame, it is absolutely appropriate to go up the chain. But, while advocating and being the squeaky wheel can get you what you need for your child, being demanding and threatening can backfire and wind you up as a parent who just needs to be placated. Is there a regular-ed teacher who could vouch for you--perhaps someone who can tell you what you need to do to "work the system" who sees that his grades are dropping despite his best efforts? Having someone on your side to help navigate can really be an asset.

I agree with Marta you are a part of the IEP team and do have to sign off as well. At the least, a 504 plan would be appropriate. Put your concerns in writing as that is the way to document and get things rolling.

You are part of the IEP team. Once he has an IEP, they can't just discontinue it without your permission. Try contacting the specEd teacher and social worker again. Document the days/times. Then if no response, call the principal. Why is he not taking his meds anymore if he is still struggling?

There's an organization call PACER that can help parents navigate the special education system. They know all the rules, laws, etc and will tell you what specifically to ask for and what if anything your school has done that's not within the laws. They even sent someone to attend a meeting that I needed to have regarding my son's IEP so they are very active and extremely helpful. I'm sorry I don't have the number hand from where I'm at right now but if you Google it I'm sure it will come up. Good luck.