Tzoya
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last summer my summer got his official diagnosis in writting. At the begiining of the school year I gave this to them and wanted his diagnosis to change from DD to Autism. I also asked for more services to be considered. They told me they would have to do a psycholgical test with him before all that can happen. Needless to say..here it is Feb. and I am still waiting. They said the psychologist is very busy. Can they do this? I really need some help. What are my rights. I was hoping the autism dx would get him more services.He gets NO ABA and group ST & OT x2/wk. Also in a class with 13 students with one teacher and 1-2 aides. Thanks..I know you know your stuff. Of course I am in Florida I know tzoya will have the right info, but I'd immediately put in writing that you want an immediate CSE meeting based on the autism diagnosis. Of course, in NY, that makes a big difference. Once I had my medical dx, it greatly increased. services. I don't know about Floria. An educational diagnoses is required for school-provided services (the requirements of DSM-IV make a medical diagnosis, and those are different from the requirements listed in IDEA for educational diagnoses.) If you have an educational diagnoses the school is REQUIRED to provide services if your child's diability impairs his ability to learn. That being said, they cannot deny you services because they are understaffed, it is illegal. It is their obligation to immediately find an acceptable professional to preform any evaulations required. Also, they can't refuse to re-test your son until he's a certain age, that's also in violation of his rights under IDEA. I'd second the above post-write a formal letter to the school district, stating that this matter needs to be addressed immediately as it is your child's rights under IDEA. Good Luck! Jessica My son C just turned 6 last week, and just prior to that we had his "re-eligibility IEP meeting." His label of devleopmental delay was changed to "educational autism." When I asked what the difference was between "educational autism" and "autism" they said that they have to call their diagnosis "educational autism" because only a MD can provide an official autism diagnosis. We confirmed with our private therapists that from a services perspective it wouldn't matter whether we had a medical diagnosis as well. We have a 1:1 aide, speech twice per week, OT once per week, plus pull out time with a Learning Specialist. However, we've never had ABA. How do I know if C needs it? The pp's got it right. The truth is, your son is ALREADY eligible for special education services and those won't change just because his label changes. Autism, educationally, is defined in Federal law. Each state has to write its own definition, too, but it cannot be more restrictive than the IDEA 2004 definition: (1)(i) Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age 3, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance, as defined in paragraph (b)(4) of this section. A medical diagnosis (the education piece is called an evaluation -- only a medical doctor can diagnose) is technically IMMATERIAL. The Feds say that a medical dx is NOT necessary for access to IDEA. And if a school district ever requests information that only a medical doctor can provide, they can be required to pay for the doctor's visit and the report. Of course, then it's THEIR choice of doctor and THEY get to be in control of the resulting information. That said, having a MEDICAL dx can make getting the educational label far easier. In NY, this is very important because NY law has some very specific protections ONLY for kids with autism. However, in most states, the autism dx doesn't change things. Even ABA. ABA is given to kids who NEED that sort of methodology to make educational progress. Many kids who have other dx's (Down Syndrome, in particular) also get ABA services. Kids with ASD don't always NEED it, so they don't necessarily GET it. My guess, from your previous posts, is that your child doesn't NEED ABA to learn. If he does, you must show that he does through evaluation. A child does not automatically qualify for ANYTHING based on an autism dx. NOT EVEN CLASSIFICATION INTO SPECIAL EDUCATION AT ALL. The ONLY way to receive spec. ed. services is to show that the child cannot make "educational progress" without the support of an IEP. "Educational progress" is not just academic. It must include analysis of the child's social, emotional, developmental, behavioral and physical progress, too. So MOST kids with an ASD dx of some kind, DO qualify for an IEP. The few who don't (mostly older, Asperger's kids) STILL qualify for modifications and accommodations under Section 504. IDEA 2004 now defines "educational progress" more strictly and many kids who didn't used to qualify may do so now since IDEA 2004 is completely aligned with No Child Left Behind and our kids now are going to be required to meet grade level standards, too. To answer your original question... If you put your request for testing in writing, the school district HAS to test your son and have the services that might result from that testing IN PLACE within 60 days. If they are telling you that they have a policy of doing the testing all at once, ask them to give you that policy in writing. They'd be FOOLS to have such a policy in writing because mass testing and postponing individually necessary testing is a violation of IDEA and you could lodge a state complaint. But I'll give you some good advice -- don't. State complaints often result in nada, anyway, and all the complaint serves to do is irritate the District and make them not WANT to cooperate with you. Also, by the time you fight with them, the testing time will be upon you anyway. If it were me, I'd get a copy of your state's regulation of IDEA and/or a copy of IDEA 2004. Become familiar with the parts of those laws that pertain to your son. Then, when you have an issue, make an appointment with the Director of Special Education in your District. Bring the law and ASK the Director to explain the parts you are interested in to you. The fact is, MANY Directors have never taken a look at the law themselves. They just go by what's been done before. It never pays to anger the people who are in charge of your son's education, so try to do this in the spirit of "working together." Plus, if they make a procedural mistake (like missing a deadline for testing) that doesn't result in significant harm to your son, you don't have a leg to stand on in a Hearing. However, you CAN ask for "compensatory services," no Hearing necessary. For example, once they retest him and find that, say, he needs an extra speech session every week, you can go back to them and say that you requested this testing on such an such a date, which means that the 60th day is on this date, which was X# of weeks ago, so you are requesting X# of extra session of speech as compensatory services for the District having missed the 60th day deadline from the date of parental permission to test. Of course, you MUST have put your request IN WRITING. If something is not in writing, it WASN'T SAID. The BEST book to use to learn about how a parent can effectively advocate is From Emotions to Advocacy. I'm currently starting a class here using that as the text. Of course, it's a LONG commute from Fla. to Long Island ( Thank you sooo much everyone for your help. Unfortunately I never asked for this in writing Tzoya..I will look into getting the book you talk about. I really need some help with this IEP process..I feel like they walk all over me b/c I don't know my stuff and I'm sure they know that.
Thanks Everyone..your the best! |
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they also said since he is close to 6yr (which they retest all kids at that time) they are just waiting to do it then.
) so you'd be best off searching this site for the posts on the book. There are many.
