I would think they would want to review the EI reports prior to the meeting so they can compare them to their evals and make sure they are looking at appropiate placement for you child.
I would ask for copies of everything you sign. I am sure there is a copy machine in the building.
Put in writing a letter/email requesting the IEP as you have not received a copy yet. Go into the school and ask for one. The teacher should have the IEP handy even if you are having a hard time getting one from your case worker. Call your case workers boss (director of student services) and let them know you still have not recieved a copy.
I think you are supposed to get a copy of the evals 10days prior to the IEP meeting so that you have a chance to review them before the meetings as well. That way the meetings do not take hours.
I believe they need to provide you with a rough draft of the IEP at each meeting with written in corrections and then mail you one that has been updated in their system. It takes about a week for my district to mail an updated IEP. You have 15 days to review the IEP before it takes place unless it is the first one. YOu have to sign that one to get him into school. From that point on if you dont respond to their IEP with in 15 days then it automatically goes into effect.
Not sure about the restraints. I would think you would need to be notified if they are using them but I am no expert on that.
I believe there are others on this board that can help you more then i can
I'm hoping someone can tell me where to find some of the answers to my questions. My head is about to explode from reading up on wrightslaw, and IDEA, but I can't seem to get my specific questions answered. My questions are:b
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I have gotten a lot of legal advice, and if I want to I think I can stop them from moving Nathaniel, or at least attempt to stop them. They CAN move him, because the boys attend a coop school that extends over something like 8 different districts. They have to keep the same services, and IEP. If they change anything more then 25% then it's a violation. However, with all that aside, we visited their new school today, and it's totally the opposite from the one they are leaving. This school has very nice staff, that seem to have the kids best interest. They welcomed us in to tour the school, and within minutes the entire staff was greeting the boys, the speech therapist, PT, OT, the teacher, the aides. That would've never happened at the school they have been going to. They let the boys play in their new classroom (the kids were already on break) while we chatted with the staff about what the boys like, and what things the school as been doing with them so far. The teacher at their current school was wrong, they will be in a class of 8, and it is integrated. So, all things considered, I think this place will be much better then the one that they've been attending. It seems to be a happy ending! If they are going from one class of 8 in an integrated setting to another class of 8 in an integrated setting, it's possible to move them without another IEP meeting. However, there is NOTHING that allows them to change the IEP 25% or even 5%. They MUST get the same things on their IEP that they are currently getting or you can take them to a hearing. If you are getting advice that they can change ANYTHING on the IEP without your agreement, then you are getting bad legal advice. And IEP stays the SAME until another IEP is agreed to. If there is a dispute, the parents can ask for a "stay put," which means the CURRENT IEP stays in place until you CAN agree to another. However, all of this info will be for your future reference since, happyily, the current change sounds like it's going to be a positive one.WHAT ABOUT WANTING TO DO A NEW ARD TO REDO A IEP FOR SECOND SEMESTER THAT PUTS A KID BACK IN MAINSTREAM EVEN IF PARENT'S DON'T WANT THAT. WE WANT THE STAY PUT HE IS DOING GREAT IN SE ALL DAY. READING WENT FROM 2.8 TO 3.9 JUST THIS YEAR SO FAR. 5TH GRADE KID HERE.
Your son's IEP is his protection. It is an INDIVIDUAL plan. If they are using a Rifton chair with him, they MUST have that in the IEP with a plan for how, when and why to use it. He should have TONS of behavioral goals in his IEP. There should be a functional behavioral analysis done by someone who is an expert in behavior (BCBA would be MY choice) and a POSITIVE behavior plan put in place that MUST be followed by all adults in school. Ask your lawyer about the corporal punishment law...a child CANNOT be punished for behavior that is an outgrowth of his disability. That is FEDERAL law, whether it's spanking or suspension or any kind of normal punishment that is part of the school's policy. I would DEFINITELY have it written into his IEP that corporal punishment is OUT. There can be a crisis plan written into his behavior management section in case the behavior gets so bad he has to be removed from the classroom, for example. But, if they keep him strapped down, what sort of things could he possibly do to be punished for? And what can he LEARN? As I said in a previous post, a Rifton chair is not supposed to be used as a disciplinary tool. It's supposed to be used for kids who need physical help in sitting up straight and not slipping out of a chair. A one-on-one aide should be used to train a child to come to circle time and sit there with the other kids. A lap is as effective as a strap. And, IMHO, much more effective and socially acceptable. If we are trying to teach our children socially acceptable behavior, we sould PRACTICE socially acceptable behavior. HOw can a child learn to act properly if he can't act at all?
At the moment you have the case manager and the lawyer on your side. Use them to get help with the school ASAP.
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/flp/ece/promprac/classman/i3cmpe.htm l
http://www.winonapost.com/archive/www/120901/2news120901.htm l
THe above are two posts on the use of a Rifton chair. What they are doing with your son seems to fall between the first post, which describes appropriate use of the chair (under the Special Needs heading) and SEVERE abuse of the chair, which was ordered STOPPED by a court. Thought you this might be of interest to your lawyer.
Serenity if don't want the chair with the strap used, you have the right to tell them that, and provide it in writing and they can't go against that.
Ask the lady who stopped in to type up a report of her observation so you have that documentation. When you get it, I suggest calling an IEP meeting to address the fact that he is in the chair for all those activities. That is crazy. Even if they are going to use the chair during circle I don't understand why they wouldn't move him to the circle. That is not right. And I do suggest finding out why they leave him strapped during activities like the cooking one and why when he is in the chair and can't move himself they don't let him up to move the chair to circle.
Tzoya is right that there are ways to teach a child to sit. Maybe they choose to work on sitting at some other time of the day. Although it doesn't sound like it if he is strapped in for all activities. Anyway, circle time may not be the time they choose to work on a sitting goal, so using the strap so he will stay in circle time isn't all bad, in my opinion, as long as you agree. But heck, he isn't even in the circle when he is strapped because they don't move him there. That just really gripes me. I do think you should address this and not wait for the IEP, but do get the written up report of the observation.
bump!I can understand where you guys are coming from, and I'll try to explain this as best as I can. I'm not familiar with a lot of law terminology, but I'll try.http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/abuse.index.htm
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/discipl.index.htm
A few more articles. You are doing what you can at the moment and, as opportunities come up, you will do MORE. Yes, states have leeway to do as they wish as long as that does NOT violate Federal Law. The best way to protect your own child is to get a functional behavioral assessment by an outside behavioral/autism consultant. You can ask the District to pay for this. Of course, it's not easy to get them to say yes -- we parents OFTEN have to fight for what we want for our kids -- but your lawyers/advocates should be able to help you with this. Once your child has a funtional behavioral assessment, that consultant will put together an individual behavior management plan for YOUR child. If it says no restraints, it means NO RESTRAINTS. An INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION PLAN -- IEP -- trumps state law in many cases. Of course, state and local disciplinary procedures can trump the IEP under certain circumstances where safety is an issue, but your child is in no way threatening anyone's safety. It is VERY important to try to change Kansas law. However, that will take time. Right now, your child's personal behavior plan needs to be a better one. Or, if there IS no behavior plan on the IEP, it needs to be developed.
I would check your states DOE website. Laws vary from state to state.
You can request copies of any evaluations prior to the meeting. This way you will not be blindsided at the meeting.
In Ma, the sped dept has 30 days to mail you a copy of the revised IEP and a parents rights brochure. You have 30 days to sign and return the revised IEP.
In most states it is illegal to restrain a child without parental consent. Here is another http://fcsn.org/index.phpwebsite that offers advocates and training on parent rights.
I will try to answer all your questions the best that I can based on what is practiced in my state and what I do. I don't speak all that legal jargon that tzoya does so she may be along later and re-state things.
1. If you request reports or findings about the tests prior to the meeting, the school should provide. In my state we don't have to automatically send them to you. In fact, in all my years of teaching, only one parent has requested the results prior to a meeting. If you didn't request, that is probably why you didn't get them. Remember from now on to request in writing any info you want prior to the meeting. The papers that people were reading off of were the reports, I imagine, and different teachers have different ways of handling meetings like this. This teacher obviously doesn't hand over info in a metting, instead just sounds like she referred to it. I usually lay it all out on the table and a parent can look if they want. Most don't. A copy of these reports and test findings do not automatically have to be given to you after the meeting, either, unless you request.
2. Most of the time, I do not give a copy of the IEP at the meeting. The reason I don't is because I have to take the IEP from the meeting that is agreed upon and enter it into the computer program that the state dept requires and actually print out your copy. This is done after the meeting and is something that is new in my state within the pasta 2 or 3 years. So after the meeting, I go directly to my computer and enter the info, print out final copies and get them where they go, usually within a day or 2. There is no computer in the room that we hold IEP meetings, but some systems do allow access to a computer during IEP meetings, so this depends on what the system is like. No matter what, plenty of time has gone by for you to received your copy. Send a letter ASAP to the case manager (teacher) and let her know you would like your copy of the IEP and any tests results and reports that you want, too. Give her about 5 days to get these to you. Then you may have to call someone over her head. But yes, you should have gotten that before now.
3. Anytime I have had to use a chair with a belt, I have had to get parent permission to do so. There is a thread somewhere on the board where we went through this with another parent whose child was being strapped in the chair during circle time. I have my thoughts on this, but we won't get into all that because that isn't your question. I would tell you that YES they should have gotten your permission and if they haven't or you aren't happy with what they are doing, request an IEP meeting in that letter you are going to send about your IEP copies. At the meeting, have them answer all your questions. IF you aren't happy, then make sure they write in the IEP that they can not use the belt. The biggest thing here is not really using the belt to keep him seated, but more of what are they doing to teach him to sit because that belt is not teaching him to sit. So before I agreed to let them use this, I would want the plan of action of what they are doing to teach him to sit. Make sure whatever you do or don't want is written in the IEP.
Don't feel bad about not finding answers on wrightslaw.com. I can NEVER find an answer to anything I am looking for there. I hope this helps a little bit.
Due process goes like this (and these are FEDERAL laws- see IDEA):
An IEP cannot be written until a child has been evaluated by the school district and found to be eligible for special services. To conduct an evaluation:
The school must obtain a signature for the tests they plan to administer. They may not do a single thing without the signature. Once the signature has been obtained, the school district has 30 SCHOOL DAYS to complete a written report AND meet with you to report the results of the assessment. They do NOT have to provide you with test protocols or results of subtests, etc. (though there is no legal reason to withold it, simply a bad practice because an untrained person may not realize that results of one subtest can be misleading). I will provide copies of test protocols if asked, but have never been asked. The report should contain all relevant data including background information, file review and test results from all tests administered, observations, interviews, etc. If a specific test was inconclusive the report should state that.
Upon the evaluation report and meeting, if there is agreement from the team to move forth with a particular educational diagnosis then an IEP can be written. To write an IEP:
A meeting must be held. There must be a written invitation to this meeting that contains the date, time and meeting location, as well as the people expected to attend, and a copy of the parental rights and procedural safeguards must accompany this notice EACH time one goes out. The meeting is to PLAN to write the IEP- not to bring along a draft and edit, not to bring along a final copy and ask parents to sign. Once the meeting has been held the school has 2 calendar weeks to write the IEP and submit it to parents. If the parents agree and sign, the date of their SIGNATURE is the date that the IEP becomes effective. Keep in mind this is true ONLY of INITIAL IEPs. For every subsequent IEP a signature is not required.
From Serenity's post, I cannot even figure out what happened yet. It sounds as though there was an ititial IEP written and submitted without ever even having an evaluation meeting (prep-eval or post-eval). However, I am not jumping to that conclusion. There is never a time when there are multiple papers to sign. There is only the permission for the eval and the signature page for the IEP. Other papers would have to be related to something other than due process.
As far as a rifton chair- MHO is that this is equivalent to "strapping" my child into a high chair or car seat- and with the EXCELLENT reason of helping the child to sit in a group. If the child was fighting this little nylon strap wildly, group would be over, or the child would be excused from group because no one else would be able to participate. So instead, this is a tool that helps the child remember to stay seated when their body is accustomed to jumping up and running or moving without any self regulation. I DO want to be informed if the strap is being used. This type of chair is a piece of equipment and should be listed in the IEP under accommodations.
Karolysgirl, When you say due process, you make me think of when a parent is taking a school to a hearing through due process. I don't understand the law when you talk about it as being a due process.
Multiple papers: When we sign an IEP, we sign the IEP and that is it at that meeting. If it is a meeting where we have discussed evals and determined eligibility, then the parent would have to sign the eligibility report, permission for sp ed services from the system, and a decesion regarding sp ed services form. Then if we do an IEP at the same meeting, the IEP meeting is signed. There is the possiblity that this parent could have had to sign at least 4 forms.
The initial IEP: Your state must be different regarding this because we are allowed to take a draft of the IEP to the meeting and write on it as the team discusses things, either adds or deletes what has been written. We then sign that draft because I have to go back to the computer and enter everything exactly as it appears on that draft. I can not change one single thing as I am entering it as a final copy. Our IEP's are signed every year. We have signature pages that are a part of every single IEP and are signed every time there is an IEP meeting. This is not an option.
I do agree with you on the rifton chair. Circle time doesn't have to be the time that a teacher is working with a child on learning to sit. I fully believe in the use of a strap in a rifton chair during circle time or any other activity for that matter. I am also like you and only been asked once for copy of reports and tests and I think that is because the parent was talking to an advocate or going over them with someone before the meeting.
From this post, I gathered that serenity's child had been evaluated and then called in to go over results of evals, determine eligibility, and write the IEP.
Time lines- I believe your state must be different here too. We have 60 days from the date of the permission for evaluation to conduct evals and call a parent back in to to discuss and determine elgibility. Also, since we don't do out initial IEP's the same as your state (we are required to write the IEP there with the parent and don't have the two week thing afterwards, there is a place on our signature page that asks if a copy of the IEP was given to the parent at the meeting. IF not, when was it provided? So we have to document right on the IEP when we gave a parent a copy.
We would be in tons of trouble if we held an IEP meeting with a parent, wrote the IEP, signed the IEP, and then gave them one with info not on the original one signed. What ever we sign to is what is entered into the computer. No questions asked.
I always thought due process was what a parent did with the school as a way of resolving disputes.
[QUOTE=Wray]Anytime I have had to use a chair with a belt, I have had to get parent permission to do so. [/QUOTE]
Wow! I didn't not know that parent permission was needed to use a chair with a belt. One of my son's preschool teachers used them, and I never gave permission for it's use. In our state, the school has to provide all reports in writing 5 business days before the IEP meeting IF THE PARENT REQUESTS THIS. A rifton chair is very helpful. I don't believe it's considered a restraint in the sense of disciplinary restraints. It's usually recommended by an OT or PT for a child who has physical trouble sitting (this can include sensory issues). It's not for management needs. It's for physical needs. I believe the parents have to agree to put it on the IEP. There is no timeline for getting the final copy of the IEP, but it should be "without delay."A Rifton chair is to help with balance. It's not supposed to be used as a disciplinary tool. A better way to handle circle time would be for an aide to sit on the floor with him between her legs or put him in a chair with arms and bring him back to it. Believe me, every child understands a behavior plan if the rewards are truly rewarding. Positive reinforcement was shown to work on pigeons by Dr. Skinner, the grandfather of the behavioral approach to learning. It can certainly work on delayed children. YOur son may need a Rifton chair for reasons other than behavior management. Speak to the teacher and staff about it. Also google it and you can find out more.Okay, I have an update. I did receive the IEP last Wednesday. I got copies to the DRC, and the advocacy place, and today was going to be the day they were going to all look at it together, and come up with a plan of action. (of course the school knew nothing of this) Though I do think they suspected something was up with me, because of my insistance on getting the IEP, and I went in to observe the classroom last week too. And, of course, when I got there they were using the rifton chair, and they were very rude to me, the aide stopped me at the door, but did allow me in, as she went to inform the teacher that I was there. I never spoke to any of them, except for the aide that I told I wanted to observe the class. Well, I guess I must look threatening, because yesterday, I got a letter in the in Nathaniel's backpack that said "due to an overgrowth of students" The kids in our district, and one other was going to be moved to a new school when they return from x-mas vacation, Jan 4th. A whole whopping 4 kids are being moved, and 2 of them are mine. I guess it could be a coincidence, but I doubt it. The move will probably serve Ian well, as it will put him in a classroom of 4 kids. He will get the attention he needs, but not Nathaniel. He is doing wonderfully in his current classroom. He has made real friends. And he doesn NOT do well with change, especially one where there is no transitioning. Today was his last day of school, and the next time he goes to school it's gonna be a whole new school. I have to call the director of spec ed tomorrow, and find out more about this new classroom. I'm not sure,but I think all the kids they are putting in this new classroom are nonverbal, except Nathaniel. That can't be the LRE for him. I'm happy for Ian, but worried for Nathaniel. Does this sort of thing happen often? You can stop Nathaniel's move. They cannot switch a child unilaterally unless his whole classroom is moving. THere MUST be a new IEP. YOu really, really need legal advice for both your boys.THey cannot move him if you don't sign for it. Once you ask for a "stay put," the process of going to a hearing kicks in. Get professional advice if you are inching toward a hearing. If your son is making testable progress in his current setting, the District will have a hard time convincing a Hearing Officer to move him.
NEVER simply ASK for anything. WRite a letter to the director of special education and request an FBA and ask that they reply IN WRITING, too. They will get CREAMED by any hearing officer that sees a written denial of an FBA for a child with a behavioral issue of any kind. They know this, so they won't say that in writing -- they finally DO it. ALso, a proper Behavior Intervention Plan cannot be developed without the data a formal FBA will provide. If they refuse ANYTHING, ask that they refuse it in writing. If you don't receive a letter from them explaining their refusal within a few days, write back saying that you believe, due to their lack of reponse, that they have agreed to do a formal FBA (say this even if they have refused, verbally. The "if it's not in writing it wasn't said" rule applies to THEM, too) and that you expect an IEP meeting to be held within 60 days to discuss the results of the FBA and the BIP that will be created from it. Write, also, that you will NOT allow the Rifton chair to be used AT ALL for ANY reason. PERIOD. Tell them that if they want a Rifton chair to be considered as a part of his eventual FBA, you expect that a professional BCBA (behavior specialist) be called in to conduct the FBA and create the BIP. Until such time as a BCBA recommends restraints and YOU approve them, there will be NO restraints used on your child.
I know you say that you live in a rural area, but Kansas DOES have some universities, doesn't it? There MUST be a psychology dept. at the university that your school district can tap for a BCBA. Will it cost them a lot of money? Yes. But money cannot be used as a factor to deny your child what is appropriate for him. In fact, your local school district gets funding from both the state and the Federal government to help cover the extra expenses incurred in special education.
For further legal contacts:
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If you don't have a current copy of the IEP, wait until you get one. Read it from top to bottom. Write down questions based on what you don't understand. Anything you don't see written there does not exist. Everything you see written there you can hold them to. Once you go over the IEP, call the advocacy people you are in touch with and see if they will go over the contents of the IEP and answer your questions. You are TOTALLY right. You've given them the opportunity to do what they are supposed to do -- allow you, the parent, to fully participate in your son's education by helping you understand what's going on. Since they did NOT (keep a copy of the letter in which you asked your questions and add it to your 3-ring binder/chronological file), they will be seen by a Hearing Officer as in violation of one of the BASIC spec. ed. laws -- parent participation. If you want to get good guidance about how to help your son get what he needs in school, get a copy of From Emotions to Advocacy from www.wrightslaw.com It really is EXCELLENT. You are doing just the right thing.
BTW -- I agree to wait to request and FBA until you see the current IEP, which should be SOON. Let the advocacy center help you take it from there.