At the end of the school year I wrote to my son's school wanting info on getting him tested for dyslexia. I received a response stating that the schools don't test for dyslexia. If I wanted any form of testing done in this area, it was up to me to pursue it and fund the testing myself. (I was also informed that the only reason my son receives any form of special education is because of his autism diagnosis, not because he actually needs it. Whatever!)
The more I thought about it, the less sense it made. Why wouldn't the school test for dyslexia? They seem to test for just about everything else! So, I called the Indiana State Board of Education. I was told that the school does indeed have to test for dyslexia and the woman went on to say that it still amazes her that the different school systems are not up on what is required by law. Of course she also said that in many cases, the school just doesn't want to be bothered. She was preaching to the choir on that one!
The board of education woman said what I needed to do is write a letter to the school and to the regional special education co-op requesting the testing . They then have 60 days, from the first day of school, to get the testing done. My problem is, I'm not quite sure how to word this letter. This isn't usually a problem for me, as I tend to be very wordy, as some may have noticed from previous posts.
Thanks!
If you have already written one letter, I would think that should be the start of it. I would write a "follow up" letter, to the school board/special education department that the school reports to. Attach a copy of your letter, and the school's response. Basically, refer to the prior correspondence in your new letter to the board. If you get the same type of response, I'd take it to the state dept of education (where you called).
Mary
What they are saying is that they don't determine the diagnosis and "dyslexis" is a diagnosis. What they DO determine is a child's present levels of performance, including reading performance. Ask that your son be tested to determine his reading needs. Refer to your old date. Or, if that letter was not written that long ago, forget it and use the new date. Say in the letter that they should construe this letter as your written permission to evaluate your son to determine his needs in reading. If their testing comes back showing no needs, public expense. Then, you can have them pay for an outside eval. You can also get your own eval at your own expense and they will HAVE to "consider" it at an IEP meeting.
Your son is NOT getting special education simply because of a medical autism diagnosis. His autism has to be shown to have a negative effect on his education in order to qualify for services. And he should be getting ALL services in areas where it can be shown he has deficits compared to his NT peers. Getting tested in ALL areas of suspected disability is the BOE's responsibility. Get the book From Emotions to Advocacy from www.wrightslaw.com and you'll find the BEST advice. I use it all the time, myself, and recommend it to every family I advocate for.
Go to the web site or to Amazon.com and order this book ("From Emotions To Advocacy", as above)ASAP!!! It is EXCELLENT and will help you more than we can explain to you here!!!
I second tzoya's recommendation of this book. It was an indispensible guide for me while meeting with my kid's IEP team and negotiating for services he needed but hadn't been getting. The book contains sample letters for many occasions, and instructs parents on the do's and don'ts of letter writing and what to say when interacting with school staff.
If you do need to go ahead and write this letter without the guidance of this book, however, I highly recommend keeping it courteous and proffessional. Avoid anger and criticism of any kind. You'll quickly learn why this is important if you read this book.