My son is 5 yrs old and is in preschool at a Lutheran School out of our district. He has been recently diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder and is also delayed in speech. He just had his 1st appt with an Occupational Therapist for the SID (not through the district) and I need to get him speech therapy ASAP. I've called the district and requested an evaluation but I dont seem to be getting anywhere. He starts kindergarten in the fall and I would like to get him a head start on the speech therapy. I spoke with the principal of the school he will be attending and he has completed the kindergarten screening but no one seems to be offering any info to me. I cannot afford to get the speech therapy done privately so I have to get the services from the district.
Does anyone know how to go about getting this done in this district? I feel like no one wants to help me and I'm very frustrated.
I don't usually condone this, but just keep nagging. Plus write hard copy letters requesting the evaluation. Send it certified mail.Have it signed That way no one can say they never got it. Things get lost, phone calls are forgotten. The old squeaky tire gets the bike or something means something here. They won't forget you then.
They HAVE TO provide services if he qualifies. It sounds like you are going to have to be pushy. Call back again and let them know that you need to set up a screening and let them know your sons diagnosis. o they have a preschool program in the public school? Even if you don't send you son there, you can still bring him to your neighborhood elementary school for sp/lang if he qualifies for services.
I too would go the route of pushing to get the evaluation and such done soon, particularly with kindergarten in the fall. Thought I'd respond mainly because it looks like we have a lot in common there. I too live in West Chicago (though West Chicago School District even though we live so close to Benjamin School), have 2 sons who are ages 3 and 5, one of which has sensory integration dysfunction/disorder. It is my 3 year old with the SID though, we've done private OT for the past 7 months (insurance paid for ALL of it) and he is a totally different child now than he was 7 months ago! His speech has always been his strong point actually, so we haven't had that with him, but he has come SOO far with the SID through occupational therapy! We've cut WAY back on OT services because he is doing so well. Have you looked into going through the medical route for OT?? Our pediatrician was great with being on top of it and I am SOO thankful for that! (All our school district could offer was preschool 5 days/week which there's no way my son could have handled at that time.) I'm confident that starting to help as soon as possible really does make a big difference, so I would push the district to do the evaluation along with checking with the pediatrician if you have not yet already. Feel free to contact me if you want to talk about it anymore as it seems we have a lot in common there and we've just been going through dealing with SID. :) Also have you read the Out-of-Sync Child or Sensational Kids?? EXCELLENT books on the topic! Best wishes to you!!
I had the same situation a few years ago. When my daughter turned 4, she needed speech therapy so I was told to contact the school district. Her Catholic school wasn't providing speech therapy at that time. I contacted the district in April, she had the screening at the end of May, but the services did not begin until the fall when school started again. My nephew is in a different school district, and it was the same for him. I don't think any of them do speech therapy in the summer.
the school district should be doing screenings. I know that ours does. when my oldest was 4, he had a speech problem, they had him come into the elementary school to see the therapist. keep after them. if you get no where, call the district office. as a taxpayer, you are entitled to this service.
My children attend Evergreen (2nd grade and preschool)and the school is absolutely wonderful. I have a student at the high school who has ADHD as well as sensory integration. They worked really well with him by giving him all the extra help he needed (study guides, extra time, etc.). Their psychologist is Dr. Huenecke and he was always my one contact that I would call whenever I needed something for my son. He would intervene on my behalf. I guess the first thing you need to do is have your child evaluated by Dr. Huenecke and then get something in writing. I did this for my son when he was in 2nd grade. Once I got his official diagnosis, the school helped in anyway that they could. They are wonderful and you will not be disappointed. Please let me know if you have further questions. You can email me at ____@____.com.
K., When did they do the early screening? Was it done thru the district? What were the findings? The school district is required to give the speech therapy. However they do have the ability to dictate when he recieves it. If he has been identified as needing it then sometimes a program is offered thru the summer. The school will not be requred to do an evaluation unless he is already a student registered in the district. On a seperate note. you indicate he is in a lutheran preschool. Will he be moving to a public school? Your first step or one of the first steps is to contact the school in writing. get it printed out of your computer and make several copies. send one to the school, one to the district office of the district you will be in. and keep one for yourself. then all bases are covered. if he is a registered student they only have 30 days to take care of this. if he's not you may have a hassle. but my experience with school districts is that they want at risk kids to have the best advantage they can to be in the least restrictive learning environment possible. good luck.
S.
Good morning K.,
I live in Carol Stream and my kids are in district 25. Everygreen has a pre-school speech program that Mrs Ables runs. I would start with her. When you son is in Kindergarden they will put him in speech classes seperate from the class if that is what he needs. I know you want him in therapy, before he starts school, but they want to see how he is doing in the class room setting and then they get him additional help as needed, or requested. It really is a great school, so sorry you are having feedback issues. Please email me any question or if you need info.
K.,
I am a speech therapist for a public preshcool in a local district. Your public preschool should offer free screenings throughout the year. After the screening the team (usually a teacher, speech therapist, and perhaps a school psychologist) would either say your child is fine or recommend bringing him in for further evaluation. It sounds as though your son may also qualify for school based OT as well. I would call the preschool and explain your situation including the recent testing you had done and asked if you can be placed into one of the screenings left in the remainder of the year. Be aware though that they may be full since it is later in the year and suggest that you need to wait until the fall. But if you really plead your case they may still squeeze you in and if it is warrented complete and eval in the late spring or summer. Hope this helps. Good Luck
First, your son is entitled by IL law to these services. You already have a diagnosis so you are one step ahead of the game which should move things along more quickly. Chances are your son will not receive services in the summer but there is no reason why they cannot start planning ahead for the fall so something is in place when he starts kindergarten. Trust me, I work as a teacher and see this all the time, if you do not push this issue they will wait as long as possible to initiate services; make sure the ball is rolling before the end of this school year with a plan for next year. You are the best advocate for your child - speak up and nag if you have to. If you are not getting anywhere with the principal contact the director of special education for the district - this is who you need to be speaking with anyway. They should be able to get things rolling for you. If you want services right now, you are going to have to work with the public school district that your sons preschool resides in. The paper work they gather can then be transfered to his new school and district if that is the case. I hope this helps and good luck.
Currently IL law dictates that the district in which your child's private school is located is required to provide the services, not your home district. Typically services are not provided in the summer unless the child is already involved in services and demonstrates significant difficult retaining skills. Good luck!
Is your child going to kindergarten at the public school or the private school? My personal experience in dealing with a private school and getting services through the district while you are in the private school was not a good one.
While the private school can help you with this, they are NOT required to do it. Your school district is required, but they might want a doctor's recommendation to do an evaluation.
What about the place you got the evaluation? Can they give you any guidelines? Can you get a letter to help move the evaluation process along? Then you could tell the district you have a letter saying that services are required.
You need to move fast on this as the end of the school year isn't that far away and they do not like to do evaluations when school is not in session.
M.
