[QUOTE=Wray]
Yes, I agree that she at least needs a second opinion. That is why I asked if the lawyer was familiar with special ed laws at all. It doesn't sound to me as if this lawyer is willing to go above and beyond for Allison and her child. Allison, I would really get a second opinion on these things before you withdraw complaints from the state dept.
In my state, a special education teacher does not have to be certified in ABA in order to get a teaching certificate and become HQ. ABA is not something that is used in every school or school system. I have never been formally trained in the exact program of ABA. Only discrete trial trainings, so I am not "certified to do ABA." I can still do therapy with children and I do. I can do discrete trial training with children with Autism and other disabilities as well. So, for Allison, she may or may not like the services I give. But being certified in ABA, to my knowledge has nothing to do with being HQ. I am HQ and not certified in ABA. My state is also a non-categorical state. That is, any label gets any of the services. The label in this state doesn't drive the services. The child's needs drive the services. So, in my state, in order to become a special education teacher, you declair which grade levels you want to be certified in and when finished, you are eligible to teach ANY disability under IDEA. That is one reason why I don't think special ed teachers have the knowledge they need in Autism. Because the training for it normally doesn't come at the undergrad level of college. Most of that training, for me, came from working in places with Autistic children and getting training independent of my college education.
That is why I suggest to you, Allison, that you be very careful in taking notes when the therapy does start. If the therapist isn't a good fit for you son, you can request a change, I think.
[/QUOTE]
Barbie, I have read your posts for a while and it seems dishonest to keep acting like you are so experienced and everything. You have only taught about 4 autistic kids your whole career and I think you should be honest about it. Also that you and oscar were the same poster, even though you took alot of oscar's posts off the forum so no one would notice there still are plenty there to compare. You should be honest about how much teacher experience in the public school you really have before your telling parents what to do or pretending to be someone with lots of experience. Like with your oscar name, when a new moderator comes on they can compare ip addesses too and see you are the same person. You should just be honest about who you are instead of trying to pretend you are someone your not.
Does Peoples know your still on the computer during the day?
Hi Tzoya and Wray,
Thanks for responding. The Lawyer is from the NJ advocacy and protection inc. There number is listed on the IEP and the advocate from SPAN recommended I call them for help.
Am i wrong to assume she has experience in special education law? She sounds like she knows what she is talking about.
Her fee is set according to our income. The rest is funded by the state. My guess of why she isnt the most helpful
The state complaint will decide whether or not the therapist who works with Gabiel needs to be ABA certified or if a therapist under the supervision of a ABA certified consultant is sufficient. She said she cannot discuss that because that is what the complaint is about. I am asking for is that the district provide discrete trial services by a certified special education teacher who has worked with autistic children doing discrete trial for at least five years. If the complaint addresses the level of qulaifications and the fact that services have not started shouldnt that be sufficient? 60 days from when I filed the complaing will be Dec 6th. Our mediation date is Dec 4th. I was hoping we would have a decision by then. She said if i withdraw those two issues i can always refile at a later date. I am so confused at this point. Thanks for any advice. Tzoya, I am bringing a letter to the district this morning asking for the qualifications of the person they want to start working with Gabriel. In the past they have told me that they do not have to provide me with that information. This will be the second time I put it in writing. http://www.wrightslaw.com/idea/tchr.hq.require.htm This is what being a "highly qualified teacher" means. Eventhough this applies typically to teachersof "core academic subjects," at your child's age, ABA is being used to teach pre-core subject skills, so I think there is an argument that ABA teacher also need to be highly qualified. I will go search the law on requesting techer credentials and post that, too. http://www.wrightslaw.com/idea/comment/46688-46713.reg.501-5 20.procedures.pd This is the actual Federal Register page where public comment on the specifics of the new IDEA 2004 was discussed. Ther is info about allowing parents to request teacher credentials (there are limits, but lots can be requested. You might want to show this to the lawyer who told you you cannot request credentials. I am having difficulty getting to that page by clicking this. If you are, too, go to www.wrightslaw.com and type into the search engine "requesting credentials" Then go to the Federal Register link that is on the search results page. BTW -- I found it easier to read the HTML version. The area of interest is on page 6 of that version. It says that while it's not required for the school districts to provide ALL the information on the credentials of a teacher, they have to provide a lot, including his major, whether or not he is teaching under an emergency waiver and many more things. I think what you want to know IS covered under this part of the law. Yes, I agree that she at least needs a second opinion. That is why I asked if the lawyer was familiar with special ed laws at all. It doesn't sound to me as if this lawyer is willing to go above and beyond for Allison and her child. Allison, I would really get a second opinion on these things before you withdraw complaints from the state dept. In my state, a special education teacher does not have to be certified in ABA in order to get a teaching certificate and become HQ. ABA is not something that is used in every school or school system. I have never been formally trained in the exact program of ABA. Only discrete trial trainings, so I am not "certified to do ABA." I can still do therapy with children and I do. I can do discrete trial training with children with Autism and other disabilities as well. So, for Allison, she may or may not like the services I give. But being certified in ABA, to my knowledge has nothing to do with being HQ. I am HQ and not certified in ABA. My state is also a non-categorical state. That is, any label gets any of the services. The label in this state doesn't drive the services. The child's needs drive the services. So, in my state, in order to become a special education teacher, you declair which grade levels you want to be certified in and when finished, you are eligible to teach ANY disability under IDEA. That is one reason why I don't think special ed teachers have the knowledge they need in Autism. Because the training for it normally doesn't come at the undergrad level of college. Most of that training, for me, came from working in places with Autistic children and getting training independent of my college education. That is why I suggest to you, Allison, that you be very careful in taking notes when the therapy does start. If the therapist isn't a good fit for you son, you can request a change, I think. There is a difference in being HQ and being certified to do ABA. My co worker here is HQ in special education, but she couldn't even tell you what the letters ABA stand for. Just because a teacher is HQ doesn't mean that are certified or competant in ABA. I believe your lawyer is trying to tell you that as long as the district hires someone to do ABA, it should be a teacher who has certification in ABA. You can always keep documentation and have evidence and ask the IEP team to provide someone who might be a better fit for your son if you get one you feel isn't capable of ABA. But I don't understand why your lawyer is telling you to request a copy of the resume if you don't get a say so in the matter. Does this lawyer have experience in special education law? If so, then I suppose I would trust what they were telling me. That's why you hired them, after all. If you don't feel comfortable with what the lawyer is telling you, get a second opinion. At least so you know you aren't dropping complaints that are legit. I am no lawyer, but I would have thought the one thing you could take them down on was not starting services when they said they would. That is one of the things she is asking you to drop. Also, around here, it doesn't matter if a doc writes recommendations. The IEP team has to except that and the IEP team has to discuss the recomm. but the IEP team doesn't have to except them. Maybe it is different in your system. I would just make sure your lawyer is experienced in Special ed law. my notes. The four mail topics are: 1. ABA home services not starting 2. qualifications of person doing ABA home services 3. increase in home ABA service hours 4. inclusion class The attorney says she can only represent us in two issues; an increase in hours because we have a report from dev ped recommending 20 hours a week of ABA and the inclusion class because the report also recommends having him spend 1-2 days a week in an inclusion class. We jsut received this report a few days ago and have not submitted to the district. She said we have to withdraw our other concerns or she will not represent us. The first two about the home services starting and the qualifications are addressed in the complaint we filed seperately. She said we cannot dispute the level of qualifications of the individual doing the ABA home services, it is up to the district to make sure they are qualified. I asked her what the code requires the qualifications to be and she said there isnt anything specific about that???? Is that true? It has to be written who is qualified to do ABA services otherwise they could send anyone out to do it(as our district did in the past by sending someone without a teaching degree or fomal training) I am at a loss. This is the advice she gave me today. Deliver a letter to the district asking for the resume of the person who they have available to work with Gabriel. Also give them a copy of the dev ped eval saying that he should have 20 hours of ABA discrete trial and 2 days inclusion with typical peersalong with a letter asking them to address it. I will deliver the two letters tommorrow. I also have to call her back and tell her if we are willing to drop the other two issues and have her represent us. Any advice is appreciated thanks
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