Hi all, I'm new to this and have appreciated reading all of the posts. It is nice (?) to know thaat I am not the only mother of as AS kid. I am having trouble with the school in being trained to work with my 9yo son, keep IEP goals measurable, complete evaluation needed to guide IEP process. How have all of you dealt with school issues and writing goals and benchmarks. Do you have any samples of goals or good ideas to get the school into compliance. Also,what are your thoughts in private vs. public education.
Thanks for any info.

How old is your child and do they give you an idea of what level he/she is at? Speech or OT problems? Then we can all pull out IEP's and give you what ours say and suggestions. If I find a lot to give you I can scan and e mail them to you...let us know

Chris is 9yrs old. He was diagnosed at the end of last school year. He also has diagnosis of ADHD and CAPD (central auditory processing disorder)He has speech and has been recieving this since he was 4 years old. Still has trouble with /l/ and /l-blends/. He is in the Wilson reading program, but is only expected to make less than one year of progress which doesn't begin to close the gap in the area of reading. He need social stories for every transition and unexpected turn in his day. He has a 1:1 para that the school is fighting to eliminate. He needs a crisis plan to handle meltdowns in the classroom, also measurable goals for learning social cues, social language skills, social conversational skills, doesn't understand figurative speech, and only reads 43 wpm at the 1st grade reading level. Writes at 15 words per minute. Reading fluency is 30 wpm at 1st grade level. Writing is very dificult, yet the school refuses an OT evaluation. The school is very tired of me correcting the IEP and requesting clarification. I want my son to progress as much as possible and we are just not seeing it. He is a wonderful child with a very high IQ that enjoys math, puzzles, and dinosaurs. Yet, he can barely read or write.

Do a search here on IEP. I remember some of the moms discussing some on-line resources during a couple of idea exchanges a couple of months ago.

Thank you countryquilt. What state are you in? Is your son in a regular class or a special ed class? I would get the OT eval done yourself...by an OT trained in sensory issues. Then take it to them, you can then bring them to mediation or request an emergency relief hearing to get that issue addressed. Carbon copy your superintendent or call him and let him know that you can take them to court over these issues. Make a papertrail of everything you do. A behavior plan can be done by a behavioralist...this can be done privately too, to follow your son around during his day to address the meltdowns and transitioning problems he is having. You said PARA...do you mena his own aide? A behavioralist can recommend this aide not be taken away. How amny adults to students in the classroom? Sorry so many questions....( and its only 6 AM). My son just started to write this year at 7 but only because of a good OT and teacher...and lots of praying

Hello,
We live in Kansas. School District is tired of my requests and sent me a letter 11-16 that they, yes THEY, intend to file for Due Process, because they think they have a "Fine Document"!!!!!!! We have a lawyer (just found one 1 1/2 weeks ago) We are working hard to get him up to speed with all the paperwork. He is not a SPED lawyer, but has one he consults with for FREE! They used to work together on cases when in the same law firm. They are both passionate about helping kids.
Chris is in a reg class and pulled out several times per day for 1:1 instruction. I have the mother of all papertrails! Every conversation I have with the school, every meeting, every phone call is followed up with a letter. Every request is put in writing that cites the law they are ignoring and a time frame to get it done. Each failure to respond to requests according to our lawyer shows increased deliberate indifference. Friday is the deadline for compliance or "@&$*#" is going to hit the fan. The lawyer is drafting the letters to the school, SD and the state as we type.
The behavioral therapist that we see would be glad to do the IEE, but we want to be sure that we get full reimbursement from the school, so have to follow the required rules.
The lawyer suggested that I write the ideal IEP to present at the next meeting, mediation, or DP tooutline what all we want. The IEP information requested will help me to write a comprehensive IEP, but I still think we need someone to evaluate him that has AS experience to help determine his needs and expectations for progress. So far the eval he has had, was to qualify for SPED and label of LD. That was two years ago, and no eval done since diagnosis of AS.
Sorry this is so long, I just want to get what my son deserves to be a success at school.
From everything I have read, here and in books, it is the evaluation that gives the challanges and the methods to use and the progress expected. This is what should be used to write the IEP. Am I wrong?

I feel for you parents having problems with the school system. I have yet to have experience here because mine aren't yet old enough. I am glad you are fighting to get what is required but am sad that you must fight. It is not right to treat anyone the way you and your kids are being treated. It sounds like it is a big problem. If they are not helping and it is against the law then how are they getting away with it? Is there something wrong with the law itself? What are the punishments for non compliance? Isn't this considered abuse? Maybe the law should be changed to include this behaviour abuse and demand stricter sentences. How can we teach our children proper conduct and ethics when schools thoemselves don't know how to follow these. Maybe what the schools need is a lesson on their behaviour and how that it effects children and a reminder of why they are teachers or principals etc. To me this is abusive behviour and these are adults entrusted with children who should be on the lookout for the best interest in the children.

Anyways I hope the best for all.

Hi- I have a whole episode on the school abuse that is turning into a continuing nightmare! I think most of the teachers do NOT care, and that's the heart of the problem. Those that DO care, are not trained in how to deal with the kids with special needs and have no funding to be trained. Maybe the state reps can be alerted to the number of diagnosed children there are, and demand that that be part of any teacher's education criteria! At my last "meeting" I told all present about this great discussion group right here- and not one person wrote the site address down. That spoke VOLUMES to me!!

Sparky,
I would have to agree with your statement about only a select few teachers care about the students anymore, or at least that was the way it was in our school district. Sadly, the few that did care had no back up from adminstration. IT is so very true about no education in special needs. My husbands cousin just graduated with a degree in elementary education and when I asked her about Autism/AS and IEP's she had been taught NOTHING about either issue and had not a clue what either was!!!!!!!! I think you are right, it needs to be taught to them before they teach.

Mary

Are any of you aware that the IDEA laws are coming up before SENATE to be changed? They want to take out the short term goals and many other things, making the IEP less paperwork for the districts. It is the dismantling of the stuff that protects our kids. There is a phone number to call. This is a copy of the explanation we posted on our local website so parents can call...

To everyone who currently has an IEP or someone they love who is classified as a special education student, the IDEA law that safeguards all of us and our childrens rights is currently dangerously close to being removed/amended causing all of us to lose. At this time I am asking that all of us ban together for immediate action, please take a minute to read the following message and get anyone you know to respond as well, we need HUGE numbers to facilitate even amendments to the bill at this point.

On friday, Nov. 21, the senate passed a unanimous consent agreement on S1248 (IDEA reauthorization bill), meaning that democrates and republicans have agreed that the bill can be brought to the floor for debate and vote at any time.

It is reported that leadership will bring this bill to the floor when they have 4 hours to debate and complete a vote. This is not enough time... the senate majority leader, Senator Bill Frist, a republican from TN, will be the one to decide when to bring this to the floor... we need to call, fax or email Senator Frist with one message,

4 hours is not enough time to debate this
very important bill, our childrens
educations are at stake, and this bill should not be brought to the floor until there is adequate time for all of the important issues to be addressed.

Please call, fax or email with that one message...

Senator Frist's phone:
202-224-3344
Fax:
202-228-1264
Email:
Senator_Frist@Frist.senate.gov.

If you call they will ask you if you are a TN resident, once they know you are not, they will put you into a voice mail box where you can leave your message. PLEASE CALL AND HAVE EVERYONE YOU KNOW CALL OR FAX OR EMAIL. NONE OF US CAN AFFORD TO HAVE THIS BILL PASS AS IT IS CURRENTLY WRITTEN.

Please everyone call and copy/paste this to e mails and have family and friends call. IDEA is the only thing we have to protect our childrens right to a free and appropriate education.

Just a note from the other side of the NA border: Teachers here (Canada) too are ignorant of AS. A friend who has taught special ed for 30plus years had never heard of it. She's retiring so found it only mildly interesting when I explained. Another who just graduated with her teacher's certificate said she encountered only one paragaph in her university texts. So old and new, we're up against a pretty big hurdle here.
kim