Thanks Tzoya-will do-and thanks for that tip abt re applying-I had no idea abt that :)
Love ya,
Tammy
One thing that Medicaid in school is good for. In schools, sometimes therapies can LEGALLY be given by assistants -- Asst ot's, for example. If the school uses Medicaid to access therapy for a child, they must meet Medicaid's standards. And Medicaid ALWAYS requires that a therapy be given by a fully certified therapist. Also, if Medicaid is being used, the therapist MUST have DAILY notes on the therapy. You can request those notes thru the Freedom of Information Act. School personnel paid for thru the school are not required to take notes daily. Just wanted you to know the two ways using Medicaid CAN benefit your child.WEll guys...........
I got the time out room gone-I also got the time owed after school gone. BUt sheesh.. what a headache. We are meeting in two weeks after the "chair" time out is charted and timeowed is charted.
I gues the spec ed etacher thinks Bailey LIKES the timeout room in his resource class-as it is happening way too often-hence the charting over the next two weeks. Basically the time outs in the time out room are the only things that Bailey doesnt like.
They showed me different postive techniques they have used. Rewards for behaviors every half hors-had tried this last year-I had forgotten why they stopped-and they said it was because the behaviors didnt change. Hence their need for the time out room.
Basically we left with if behaviors get violent-distructive etc-they are to use the time out chair-and then call me to come get if he gets violent in th ecahir or wont go sit in chair and gets violent-throwing thinsg scratching etc.(which will count towards a suspention)and then reconveen the next day-if no behaviors we will meet agn in two weeks to look at data collected.
I guess my big deal with teh time out rom is taht not enough info is given-if I coudl get them to fill out an emergency sheet EVERY time I guess that would be okay. Not more than 1 time per week-as law states-then reconvene.
I was going over my time out sheets from last year-and that is why we stopped them -as they were happening every day at least 3 times for two weeks etc-so I dont see how the time out chair is any worse to them-they are both not working-except the time out chair I feel more comforteable with-kwim?LOLOL-doesnt make a heck of sense....but IM just the parent here...
WE also talked abt placement at that other school. Its a 4 teacher/ 8 student ratio there. Its a self contained classroom wher ethey are at levels 1-4. 1 being so restricted they eat lunch in the room and have recesses in the room etc. A 4 being just inside for resource classes-and all else mainstreamed with the reg class. Just coming in fro rewards and trackers etc.So depending on what behaviors are displayed dettermines placement and what the child would be capable of in the mainstream class. The main point being if off day-there are tecahers understanding who coudl be there without making the situations worse etc-not like at his homeschool....Also he woudl have teh same tecaher for the nest 3 years- which is what Baileys doc recomeends etc-which would take a huge deal of anxiety away from Bailey-I think....I think he would learn to really like it in that classroom...????
The behavior specialist was honest with me and said it would be extremelyy difficult to get him back to his homeschool-which is what I was afraid of. I asked her and she said basically that it woudlnt happen. :(That it was their goal, but it seldom happend. But it is a 1-5th grade program then he would transfer to his middle homeschool with the same type of set-up. They just dont have this type of program for his homeschool now but do for middle school. There are kids with Autism as well as behavior issues in this classroom. They would provide transportation. and his academics wouldnt drop, asthey now see he CAN do teh work-but his behaviors would be worse at the beginning....but woudl get batter as he had teh I;! he basically needs to handel them. BUt I guess she was trying to let me know that if he is supported that much it is nearly impossible for any child that is in that program to be out of there in a year or so as the supports are very hard to loose once given etc...which I agree would be hard.
I talked with dh and he said that he doesnt like the idea of the other placement-as he feels we would be giving them too much power and wouldnt be in control at all.....(like we are now-HA!)Can anyone help me with dh on this?
But anyway I was given alot to think about and it went fairly well....
Just wanted to say thank you as well to all of you who have helped with this and also if you had any comments abt this other placement for Bailey????I ahev appreciated everyones input and help sooo ooooo much and thanks isnt thanks enough.....
Thy want to make it work at his homeschool.......but when I talked with the behavior specialist after the meeting she said if we were thinking about another placement that after X-mas break would be the best time for it....?????
I dont know...what do you guys honestly think here-Tzoya be honest with me please. I really want to know what you all think about this placement.....They said they could have the teacher come to the next meeting-if I wanted that to ask her questions....I could also go and see the classroom in session....
Love ya,
Tammy
The whole fingerprinting thing is only if the people are getting paid by the school systems. All people employed by the school have to have fingerprints and background checks and all substitutues have to have fingerprints and background checks in order to get put on a sub list. At least in my state anyway. We do have volunteers who come in and do not have to go through that process. No parent or senior citizen is going to go through that and pay the fee to be able to come in and volunteer at the school. So it doesn't apply to them, for some reason. I have never run into a problem where someone from an agency had trouble having access to the school. The deal is that these volunteers aren't suppose to be supervising kids alone. The person you ask to come in and evaluate Bailey has your permission to be with Bailey and shouldn't be with the other kids. I don't know about volunteer's coming in and supervising breaks if no other board employee is around.
Anyway, I just had one comment to add. I think Tzoya has covered this put I want to encourage you to stand your ground with the FBA being done by mulitple people and someone other than the main teacher. This is info to me that I am learning. I suppose school systems will get by where they think people are ignorant and I had no idea that multiple people should be included in the FBA, although I did know multiple settings. I bring this up because I remember way back when, you were posting that they told you that the teacher was trained to do the FBA and they didn't need to bring in someone else to do this. I think this is why it is imperative that you go with requesting the IEE for behavior. So that the school people are not responsible for doing it and keeping up with data. Please stand your ground on that and make sure they know that you might have info in your possesion that "isn't the law" but you also do have that law in your stack of files. Don't let them get away with telling you the sp ed teacher is trained to do the FBA. I am sure he is, but in this case, someone who is knowledgable of ASD behaviors and the whole gamment of behaviors and triggers that surround that disability. This is totally different than trying to figure out plain on disruptive behaviors. I see that as being a battle given what you have posted some time back, so don't back down.
And I had one more point. How come they can take data on how many times he goes to the chair and how many times you have to come pick him up but they cannot produce data leading up to all that. That leads me to believe they really don't get it.
That's just my two cents, as Tzoya and karolsygirl have given you lots of ammunition. I know this is hard and I admire your persistence in helping your son. Just don't give up, read it, learn it, through it in their face. They have been jerking you around ever since I came to this board in early August. Why? Because they don't know what to do and they are only making things worse by not bowing out and letting people in who do know what they are doing. It's gonna cost them in the long long, you know what i mean?
As far as the placement, think about it, it sounds good on paper, or from what you have provided here. But what does it really look like? You have to go observe and don't let the behavior person push you into sending him there before you are ready. Yes, after Christmas would be an ideal transition time, but it's not the ONLY time that he can make that transition. My advice is to see the placement and go from there.
FIrst of all, you CAN get an Independent Educational Evaluation on your child's behavior. Tell them you want them to pay to bring in the autism expert of your choice to observe your son in class and to develop recommendations. Don't ask for an IEE simply for an FBA. The FBA is a TOOL. What you want to ask for is an evaluation by an outside behavioral expert who is familiar with autism. The school is REQUIRED to give you a list of such experts, but I wouldn't go by them. Here is where knowing what autism centers, etc., are in your area comes in handy. THis is the very reason that every parent on this board should be getting involved in whatever autism support groups there are in your area. Here, we can talk in general about autism, but we can't give each other tips on what's available locally. At any rate, do some research and choose the best autism expert you can put your hands on. Have THAT person come in an render an opinion about what is going on in school and what sorts of measures should be taken to fix things.
If you want to check out the legal wording of your right to an Independent Educational Evaluation, google IDEA 2004 and look it up. Then write it out EXACTLY and quote it to them. However, I don't understand what everyone was discussing law for anyway. You are not a lawyer. Was there a lawyer present? Yours? Theirs? If they had a lawyer present and you didn't, NEVER let that happen. Walk out of the meeting. Reconvene when you also have representation. They have no right to simply bring a lawyer into a CSE. The ONLY people who are allowed to be at a CSE are the people who have information about the CHILD. However, if one side brings a lawyer, it is only fair that the other side bring a lawyer. The District can't bring their lawyer first, because they are only allowed to have people who have important information about the child at the meeting unless the parents bring a lawyer. Then they can have one because you have one. Don't speak about law unless you have the legal citation right there.
Below is an email that was posted on an advocate's message board. I got permission from the author to distribute it. I think it describes how an FBA is done in the real world and makes lots of common sense to me:
Writing from NY, but believe this generally applies everywhere: As a new parent, please remember how important it is to advocate in writing to keep a paper trail of your efforts. This does not mean to write 12 letters in one day, as I have seen happen, but it is important to document your efforts to address your child's needs in case there are future problems that need to be addressed by a hearing officer or judge. In your scenario, you indicated that there have been multiple minor behavioral issues. I would suggest that you request IN WRITING that a functional behavioral assessment be conducted specifically to look into these types of behaviors so that an appropriate behavioral intervention plan can be developed. This is extremely important as the district may be documenting their own efforts to remove him from the gen ed environment to protect his "safety and the safety of others," which could really be their desire to segregate him because they view him as too much trouble, meaning work for their staff, to have around. (I've seen this too many times to count with ASD kids.) I am confused a bit by you indicating that your written request was to "whether they have anyone on staff qualified to perform an FBA." A true FBA is not really something performed by an individual, although there may be one individual coordinating it. FBAs are the gathering of information (data) through observation, and then analyzing that data in a meaningful way so that antecedents to negative behaviors can be identified and effective measures employed. The data should, in my opinion, be gathered by multiple individuals throughout the child's day, and these individuals may be any of the adults having contact with the child - aide, teachers, parent, after school day care person, etc. It has always baffled me why districts have such a hard time doing these FBAs and arriving at appropriate behavioral interventions, ESPECIALLY in regards to ASD kids, as an FBA is kind of simple. And the interpretation of the data is not rocket-science either, and could be done by anyone who sat down and applied a little common sense. Often that last factor of common sense is the missing element, and why often I am pushing to have an outside behavioral consultant involved in coordinating the FBA and interpreting the data. BTW, these outside consultants typically are not "on the district staff." Many evaluations conducted on students are not conducted by "district staff," and if I had my way, I'd always prefer an outside evaluator. One of the first ASD cases that I ever handled involved child that we had pushed to bring back into the district, as they were sending him to a segregated classroom setting in another district over an hour and a half away. We were successful in a DP hearing bringing him back and having his program include a great deal of mainstreaming. However, there were frequent tantrums that disrupted his participation in these settings, and the district was desirous of undoing what we had won in the earlier hearing. They were actively documenting all of these incidents for a later legal battle to have him removed. We saw this coming and began requesting the FBA as a defensive measure and because the negative behaviors began to escalate. Like your district, this one did not respond to the requests for the FBA and developed a Behavioral Intervention Plan without one. The situation deteriorated until we could no longer put up with it, and we requested a hearing with this a primary issue. As I look back on this, it seems humorous to me, but at the time it was a scary display of district staff incompetence. The special education teacher testified regarding the tantrums and the actions they took to address these tantrums. Basically, every time he began to erupt (which included tearing up the papers on his desk, tipping the desk over, taking everything within arms reach and launching it around the room), the district response was to take him to the counselors office where he would watch a cartoon video until he was quiet. THE DISTRICT KEPT GREAT RECORDS ON THIS, much like an FBA would do, and their records also demonstrated that the behaviors increased dramatically since the implementation of this "wonderful" BIP they had in place. Duh! When this was testified to at hearing the sped teacher just couldn't explain why the behaviors were escalating. I cannot forget sharing a look with the hearing officer that basically was, "He just did explain why these behaviors were escalating - they are rewarding him for them." They taught the kid that if he had a temper tantrum he could leave the class and watch TV, and they sat there at the hearing arguing that they had a great program and the kid did not belong in the gen ed. Basically, a large part of this hearing was "doing" an FBA through the testimony of the witnesses. The IHO did order the FBA and we had it coodinated by someone from outside the district. Within a very short time, through observation, we found that these tantrums were essentially the child exibiting frustration over anything involving reading. He couldn't read, would be looking around at the other kids' success reading, he knew he was as intelligent as they were, and was frustrated by his inability. Further evaluation of his reading identified a need for special programing, this was provided, his reading improved, the tantrums decreased and then vanished. Obviously the kid could not have stood up and said, "I have a reading disability, get me some help," but that is exactly what he was doing. The happy ending is that last time I spoke to mom he had been on the honor role 4 quarters in a row. Now, what you describe is a bit different, but not all that different. The FBA is important. Don't worry so much about who is doing it, ask that it be done. If you don't like it, you can then move on to asking for an "independent" FBA. And as with most requests, put in your written letter that you expect a response within a certain amount of time. For example, "I am requesting that the district conduct an FBA on my child to in order to assess his behavioral needs and so that an appropriate behavioral intervention plan can be developed. Please indicate to me within the next 10 days who will be coordinating the FBA and when, so that I might offer my input. I look forward to hearing from you." In that way, the district can't put you "on hold" and should behavioral incidents occur you can point to your letter(s) that indicate you were expecting responses by certain dates. For the behaviors you are describing, seems as if these are social skills issues. These are very common issues with high functioning ASD kids. What I have observed to be very effective in these type of situations is a systemic program of social skills training. These often have been called social stories, and there are a few actual programs published that address common social skills development. The scissor poking seems to be his inappropriate means of getting someone's attention. The response is to identify a series of social stories that address how to appropriately get someones attention in various settings, teach these methods to the student, and then work on him employing this methods in different settings. For example, method 1) handraising - method in class with teacher; method 2) "AHEM" throat clearing method used with peers prior to making request for them to pass something; method 3) "excuse me" method used to get someone's attention prior to asking directions to the restroom, etc. I am simplifying this for illustration, but you get the point. Your kid is not poking with scissors to injure. He is doing it to get someone's attention. So the appropriate way for the program to address this is to teach the appropriate social skill to eliminate the inapprorpiate scissor poking that he currently has employed. One other point to keep in mind and what needs to be worked into these kind of programs, are taking advantage of "teaching moments." Johnny poked with scissors to gain attention, the moment is used to bring the inappropriate action to Johnny's attention in a constructive manner, and the need for the social skills training in this area identified and then social stories developed to address the need. The incident itself is a teaching moment both for Johnny, AND THE STAFF. The negative behavior must be recognized by the staff as an indication of a need for Johnny that has not yet been met. This is kind of like a mini, on the spot, abbreviated FBA - negative behavior (scissor poking), what immediately proceeded it - antecedent (Johnny trying to get classmate's attention to pass something), how do we address the antecedent (teach Johnny appropriate methods of getting classmate's attention.) Okay, sorry that I started to write a book. This is a common problem, however, so I hope it is of help to you and a few others. AC in NY The district has not prepared positive behavior interventions that address the issues effectively. There are no behavior intervention plans. The district has neither replied to my written request as to whether they have anyone on staff qualified to perform an FBA nor actually performed an FBA. I'd appreciate any input as to appropriate response to the district.
YOu'll notice that while he suggests that teacher can be some of the people who give input, there is ONE person who is gathering the data. That person needs to ask the person reporting, "What happened immediately BEFORE the behavior?" What happened immediately AFTER the behavior?" The person taking the data should discourage those reporting the data from editorializing and should encourage them to think about what REALLY happened before and what REALLY happened after. For example, an adult might tend to say -- oh, he was sent to time out but neglect the fact that IMMEDIATELY after the behavior the child's peers laughed, giving the child craved-for peer attention. Just thought you might like to see what is recommended by a really well-thought-of advocates around here. NO ONE would think that what you received is an adequate FBA. What's more, an FBA is supposed to result in a POSITIVE BEHAVIOR INTERVENTION PLAN. A usable BIP has TONS of opportunities for reward each and ever day. Every 5 minutes is typical at first. Some kids need primary reinforcers like m&m's. Some kids are fine with earning points for a later reward. The idea is that the reward has to actually be REWARDING. If a child craves attention, then the reward should be attention from the person or people he's trying to get attention FROM. What I see happening in Bailey's situation is a bunch of adults who are bound and determined to look good while they're actually trying to prove he doesn't belong in this placement and would like nothing better than to get rid of him. Not unlike the situation described in the email.
Okay Tzoya-Ill look into it a bit more. It just worries me if they DO take it to a hearing and Im thrown for a loop Im no where in the know that I need to be on all of this-kwim? I can just see them being stupid like that. But Ill look into it a bit more.....
You know what is tooo crazy-is that this bonded and fingerprinted is NOT going on-I recieved a flier the other day -the principle was asking for family and relatives to come and supervise breaks at schoolas teh satff was short and thsi was theri only break-Wahhhhhh;) sheesh....-and i thought to myself well thats just really not cool-who exactly will these people be????BUt yeah theyd prob give me a hard time even though they dont abide by it.
Thanks for the link :)and also for helping me through this today and everyday{{HUGS}}I dont know what I would do without you all ....
Love ya,
Tammy
Below is the actual law on Independent Educational Evaluations:
(a) General. (1) The parents of a child with a disability have the right under this part to obtain an independent educational evaluation of the child, subject to paragraphs (b) through (e) of this section.
(2) Each public agency shall provide to parents, upon request for an independent educational evaluation, information about where an independent educational evaluation may be obtained, and the agency criteria applicable for independent educational evaluations as set forth in paragraph (e) of this section.
(3) For the purposes of this part—
(i) Independent educational evaluation means an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the public agency responsible for the education of the child in question; and
(ii) Public expense means that the public agency either pays for the full cost of the evaluation or ensures that the evaluation is otherwise provided at no cost to the parent, consistent with §300.301.
(b) Parent right to evaluation at public expense. (1) A parent has the right to an independent educational evaluation at public expense if the parent disagrees with an evaluation obtained by the public agency.
(2) If a parent requests an independent educational evaluation at public expense, the public agency must, without unnecessary delay, either—
(i) Initiate a hearing under §300.507 to show that its evaluation is appropriate; or
(ii) Ensure that an independent educational evaluation is provided at public expense, unless the agency demonstrates in a hearing under §300.507 that the evaluation obtained by the parent did not meet agency criteria.
(3) If the public agency initiates a hearing and the final decision is that the agency's evaluation is appropriate, the parent still has the right to an independent educational evaluation, but not at public expense.
(4) If a parent requests an independent educational evaluation, the public agency may ask for the parent's reason why he or she objects to the public evaluation. However, the explanation by the parent may not be required and the public agency may not unreasonably delay either providing the independent educational evaluation at public expense or initiating a due process hearing to defend the public evaluation.
(c) Parent-initiated evaluations. If the parent obtains an independent educational evaluation at private expense, the results of the evaluation—
(1) Must be considered by the public agency, if it meets agency criteria, in any decision made with respect to the provision of FAPE to the child; and
(2) May be presented as evidence at a hearing under this subpart regarding that child.
(d) Requests for evaluations by hearing officers. If a hearing officer requests an independent educational evaluation as part of a hearing, the cost of the evaluation must be at public expense.
(e) Agency criteria. (1) If an independent educational evaluation is at public expense, the criteria under which the evaluation is obtained, including the location of the evaluation and the qualifications of the examiner, must be the same as the criteria that the public agency uses when it initiates an evaluation, to the extent those criteria are consistent with the parent's right to an independent educational evaluation.
(2) Except for the criteria described in paragraph (e)(1) of this section, a public agency may not impose conditions or timelines related to obtaining an independent educational evaluation at public expense.
Here are a bunch of the types of forms procedures used for an FBA. I wish I could just share the whole manual with you, but it looks like they have posted alot of it here. Maybe it will help.
http://www.washingtonwatchdog.org/documents/cfr/title34/part 300.html#300.1
Above is a really excellent version of the Federal Regulations of IDEA. Each section is listed with a link. VERY easy to find stuff. (SCROLL UP TO THE TOP TO SEE THE WHOLE LIST OF LEGAL RIGHTS).
Yes, Tzoya you are right-I called the Disability Law Center and in just a few min I am going to call my local support group.......to see abt whom she would suggest.
They didnt bring legal council to the meeting-but the beh specialist from the district was acting as though she was one. She would ask to see my paper-which I had told them I had gotten off of Ideal Best Practises websight which is funded by the Dept of Ed and then as she was passing it ard to the other team members she would tell them"yeah... but this is not law..." LOLOLOL It wasnt funny at the time-but it just sounds rediculous now-kwim? The paper was on Punishment vs Discipline-LOLOLOL and it clearly stated that what they were doing was simply punishing. The principle copied it though :)I didnt bring up law or anything liek it-I think the behav specialist was just trying to discredit whatever I was saying to the team-kwim? by bringing that up....I just simply printed what the sight said abt it and I thought it was credible as it is funded by The Dept of Ed-kwim? So I thought they should see it....
Okay-so Ill find my own consultant Ill even pay for it-Im sooo done....
The Disability Law Center said that by law they couldnt use the room now and that I didnt have to pick up my child and abt the suspensions that you talked abt as well....if they do any of this I am to call them immediately.....
Okay Im going to go call and start another search-gee my life on the internet.......what a thrill-LOLOLOL
Thanks Tzoya,
Tammy
Thansk Karolysgirl and Tzoya-Il def be printing off the "laws"
one more question:
Say I just go out and find a behaviro consultant on my own insteasd of dealing iwth their crapola-how do I work thsi out with teh school so they can comen and evaluatedo I have to ask them, or do I just inform them he or she will eb coming to observe?
Loev ya,
tammy
Allowing someone you are paying for into the school can get tricky because there are laws about being bonded and fingerprinted, etc., for school safety. There really is no problem in asking for the schools to pay for an Independent Educational Evaluation, though, because since they'll be paying for it, they'll make SURE the person who is coming in has access. Also, they can't say no. They have to say yes or they have to take you to a hearing, which is WAY more expensive. Plus, few Hearing OFficers would back a school in denying a second opinion since it's guaranteed in the law (check out that site).
Thank you Tzoya-
That is exactly what is going on here. So I can request an IEE for the FBA right-as no"a" was written-it was left blank on their FAST sheet. I request it just as I would an IEE for a medical test then?
Does it matter how long ago it was-it was done 2/26 this year?
So they would have to list people I could go through and then I could pick from them-just like an IEE? or I could go out on my own and find someone with the same qualifications. Where would I go to find someone to do this? What would their title be???
Also during our meeting today the behaviro specialist kept referring to my papers that I brought to share as "not being "law"-sh ewoudl take the paper-pas it on and tell everyone "this isnt law' I guess I could run into problems with requesting this FBA as well as the "law" is not very specific when it come to doing FBA's-pretty much gives the schools lattitute to do it how they want-right?
Thansk again,
Tammy
Thanks Tzoya for responding-
I told them abt the FBA and they all wipped out the FAST type deal scoring sheet. I asked them what the ABC's were to Baileys behavior. And the beh specialist told me his A was attention-getting out of work, getting attention from the teachers . they claimed the FBA had already been done per FAST sheet????
So this is what is on the fast sheet and a couple of yes no questions which are scored below:
most likely when?-everyday varous times
settings: PE Music, Free time in class
least likely: at table with teacher
what is usually happening right before behavior-this was BLANK????does taht mean nothing or out of the blue???
behavior-aggresion-hitting poking, scratching, pushing, spitting
right after:time out, talk abt choices
current treatments: timeout, time in office(which is no longer treatment)
Scoring:
Teacher/me
3/4-Social(attention/preffered items)
2/4-social(escape)
3/3-Automatic(sensory stimulation)
0/0-Automatic(pain attenuation)
Okay so I guess this sheet is pretty good-but now what are they supposed to do with this info to help him> What are the normal replacement behaviors that you would give to sensory attention seeking behavior or get them to leave etc???
They think he likes the time out chair-as it is in the resource room with his spec ed teacher whom he adores etc....
But his behaviors and causes have changed since last year-so can I request they do another sheet? By this new teacher?
LOve ya,
Tammy
Thanks Wray{{HUGS}}
I often wonder how I got into this situation?-is it me?-am I doing something wrong? It just blows my mind-I have to be doing something wrong here as I know its not supposed to be like this-LOLOL-kwim?
It jsut blows my mind sometimes-one goo dthing-they are becoming pretty predicteable. I just NEW I was going to hear them shouting for anothe rpunishment to replace the timeout room-LOLOLOL I just knew it and sure nuff.....-go figure-it had NOTHING to do with luck on my part....LOLOLOL
And of course I had nothing to say as I dont think Punishment is the answer here...I mean what do they want from me....IM going to look into an IEE behavior specialist coming in-should really tick the district behav spec off-but whats being on one more persons list-right;)
Love ya,
Tammy
IT is not your fault. You have done nothing wrong. Have they ever even accepted his Dx of ASD or are they still trying to say it isn't? I can't remember how that has turned out?
I am like you, I wonder why they stopped the postive stuff you described in your original post? This all boils down to they can tell you what "punishments" work and don't work, but they can't tell you how he gets to the "punishment" to begin with. And you are also right in trying to get them to see this as a consequence vs. punishment thing. In one of my behavior management classes a couple of semesters ago, the professor stressed how inappropriate the code of conduct is for students with disabilities. Tzoya has said over and over what is acceptable for discipline for children without disabilities is not what is acceptable for our kids.
They have got to get passed this punishment trip they are on and decide what they are going to do to help your son. Period. End of story. Don't worry about being a pesty parent. And get some help. They want to run their mouth about how something you brought in is not the law, well you bring the law with you nexgt time, get some help. And stop blaming yourself. You can't help it you are dealing with a very incompetent IEP team. Do they not have any other children with Autism in the school? Has this teacher never had a student with Autism before?
I ask these questions because if this were happening in my school system, I am afraid the parent would be in the same position as you because our system only has like 5 children with ASD. Therefore, no one in the system in administration is trained in appropriate ASD things. I really think you are just dealing with a bunch of school personnel who do not understand Bailey's dx and you are the sole warrior here. That is why I think in this case you should get an advocate. It doesn't even have to be someone who is from an "advocacy" place. You can ask another parent to come with you that has experience in dealing with this. Someone who is able to speak on your behalf aobut what you want. Sometimes there are other sp ed teachers nearby who may not work for the same system and would be willing to advocate for you. This is just a suggestion. But if you are willing to pay an advocate, get one before the next meeting in 2 weeks.
I have been told that some outside providers have been refused entry to schools because, since 9-11, there are ALL KINDS of safety and security regs that apply to ANYONE entering the classroom. I know this may sound silly, but I'd hate to see someone pay out of pocket for an outside evaluator and then have the evaluator turned away on some techinicality. Also, the IEP Team does not have to listen to the outside evaluator, just "consider" the evaluation -- like you'd "consider" a kleenex before you threw it out. However, if they're PAYING for the eval themselves, they are far more likely to listen. This is just human nature.I don't blame you for not trusting your school. They are less competent and sleazier than most I've seen or heard of. If and when you get Medicaid (apply tons of times....NO ONE gets it the first go-round), get whatever therapies you can for Bailey OUTSIDE of school. But don't let the school off the hook. Keep your outside therapies a secret unless it's vital to tell them for some reason. Get the IEP to cover Bailey's necessary therapies. And remember the following, iron-clad rule:
If it's not in writing it was not said!
Oh man-I knew there was a catch to all of this......So what you are saying is dont let them totally push all of this on me to do on my own-make them address as much as they can? Then go to the Mental Health with what hasnt been addressed etc.....I dont understand the dipping into funds deal--can you explain this a little more?
I know since reading up on things that they need to provide counseling as a related service-they were last year-wasnt in writing, but he was going once a week thsi was before he was offically in the spec ed program-it just suddenly vanished. But anyway I know they have to address that bit. The social skills is something I really want something outside to be working on with Bailey....kwim?It was my understanding that I thought I WAS just going to pay fr these services adn that it had nothing with them getting into eth medicaid or whatever. Im really confused now-LOLOLOLOL
Im applying for Medicaid as we speak-this is something different I thought..... basically I didnt think the school was having anything to do with this-I wa sthinking this as like me going outside with my own insurance.
I just feel at this time that I want as many services as I can get OUTSIDE the school-are you saying they are somehow connected togather-thsi mental health program. This just wasnt possible when I applied for SSI or the Disability places I had contacted as we were over the income level-I couldnt get ANYTHING and then there where HUGE waiting lists.....this we can start now and ist a sliding scale type deal-so its not too bad etc.....
Im just not trusting the school period anymore and when it comes to actually helping him with coping skills and social skills Id rather pay the bill myself then have someone who isnt even competant enough to do it-kwim?
Loev ya,
Tammy
What you need to do is get counseling on the IEP for Bailey. Do not use your private insurance or Medicaid to do this. That will limit the total amount of services Bailey can get. He should be getting services through the school AND through Medicaid. If your son needs counseling (frankly, I don't think that will do much good in school unless and until THEY change their ways), they have to provide it on their own nickel. Yes, they can ASK that your sons Medicaid or private insurance pay for it but they can't insist. IF you let them, then you will be dipping into your medical insurance limit on these things. Get them to provide for Bailey FIRST (they can contract out but pay thru school funds). If that's inadequate or doesn't address issues you have at home adequately, get those services after school for him through medical insurance. I think you should keep in CLOSE touch with the Disability Law Center.Well at thsi meeting teh beh specialist asked me if Bailey wa srecieveing outised counsleing. He is getting med adjustments, but not really counseling. I thought they had a counselor at the school-but no, they contract out for one. So I called her and we are going to see abt getting inrolled to the Mental Health Programs. They offer social programs as well as therapists etc-EVERYTHING I have been trying to get through Medicaid and SSDI-they can provide for Bailey!!!:)IN TOWN!!!!
She told me that they work with the schools-but are not on their side etc-kinda like an in between guy etc.....She said sometimes the schools just arent understanding the child and thats where they come in :)
I am VERY thrilled abt this!!! So we will see what they can help us with here :)I HIGHLY doubt teh school woudl have a problem with any of their people-right-since they contract out with them??
LOve ya,
Tammy