We were told also that Daniel's school label should be Ed also. The se directer said no way. I taught Daniel/Dara their basic K skills at toddler age which is now alot of what preschool teaches now to kids in preschool. Most 3-4 yearolds have the k readiness when they start k now. The 3 things that effected Daniel's reading was 0 visual tracking/capd/lpd. I just never give up and never take their no's. This not giveing kids the Fape is a line of crap!
I think you need to contact a special education advocate. This stinks. And unless you and the parents can learn the laws QUICKLY, your grandson will suffer. There is too much going wrong with his potential placement to take care of online. Go to www.copaa.org and click on Find a Lawyer/advocate. Then go to your state. Contact someone there, preferably an advocate since you're not at the lawyer stage yet. This can cost some money, but it will be very worth it. Think of it this way. Your grandson will never be ABLE to use his college fund for college if he doesn't get a good start in kindergarten. Use whatever you would have put toward a college fund to help him now.
my grandson is 6 and we tried to get an IEP for him going into K., we were told he did not qaulify for an IEP and they did an AIS and said they would change if he later needed an IEP.
Dylan is now having to repeat K and we went to the IEP meeting today to find that they want to label hin as emotionaly distrubed rather than Autism or PDD because he has fair verbal skills and this same school wants to have him take an 1.5 hr bus trip in the am and the same in the pm. We refused the emotionaly distrubed and got not IEP and have another meeting in the morning...we are so frustrated wit the school system....if anyone has information that could help please let me know
Found this interesting LRE checklist on the NY State Ed website:
http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/persprep/c se/0403cse1.htm#LRE
LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT (LRE)
FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) means that placement of students with disabilities in special classes, separate schools or other removal from the general educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that even with the use of supplementary aids and services, education cannot be satisfactorily achieved. Any time services are not provided to the student in the general education setting, an explanation of the extent, if any, to which the student will not participate in general education programs must be provided on the IEP.
The concept of LRE reinforces the idea that special education is a service, not a place. Districts should have specific practices and procedures in place regarding LRE, describing how responsibilities are carried out within the district.
Sections 200.4 (b and d) of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education and Federal Regulations Section 300.347 (a)
___Does the school have evaluation procedures to assure that students are assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability, including, where appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, vocational skills, communicative status, motor abilities and assistive technology?
___Does the school have general education classes with consultant teacher services?
___Does the school have supplementary aids and services provided in general education classes or other education-related settings that enable students with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled students to the maximum extent appropriate in the least restrictive environment?
___Does the school have support for school personnel to address participation and progress in the general education curriculum and extracurricular/nonacademic activities?
___Do students with disabilities have access to and opportunities to participate in district-sponsored programs and activities?
___Does the school have program modifications or supports for school personnel and students to allow the student:
____ to advance appropriately toward attaining annual goals
____ to be involved and progress in the general curriculum and to participate in extracurricular and nonacademic activities
____to be educated and participate with other students with disabilities and nondisabled students?
___If the student’s behavior impedes his or her learning or that of others, did the CSE consider, when appropriate, strategies, including positive behavioral interventions, and supports to address that behavior?
___In the case of a student with limited English proficiency, did the CSE consider the language needs of the student as such needs relate to the student’s IEP?
___Does the district have adequate space to provide all services?
___Other____________________________________________________ ____
__________________________________________________________
have you gotten an outside diagnosis. if, not get an outside diagnosis and call another IEP meeting. Make sure the teammembers receive the outside diagnosis evaluation before the team in order for them to review.The us govt is pushing for kids to have this in school big time. They only want severe disability kids in Se. The staff will have to be retrained to help all kids now. Don't feel alone that your school is doing it it will happen in the whole usa. To me it'another budget cut. To me this is totaly unfair for our special needs kids. They need to teach to master the lessons not just past test the govt. required tests. This will mean alot more multisensory teaching in the class rooms. Least Restrictive Environment is INDIVIDUAL. It does not necessarily mean inclusion or mainstreaming. It's VITAL that every parent know his or her child's PRESENT levels of performance so that those levels can be tested at the end of the year and the scores compared. If the child has not made adequate progress, the environment in which he's been placed is NOT the LRE for him. He will need extra supports in that environment or need to be placed in a more restrictive setting, since that would be the LRE for HIM. The definition of LRE is the Least Restrictive Environment in which, given all the supports and accommodations necessary for his disability, a child can make adequate (ie, more than minimal) progress. And passing from grade to grade does not count. A teacher's grades are subjective. "Progress" is gauged using standardized tests, so ask for them -- or get them on your own nickel. Those are the scores that stand up in a HEaring, should it come to that.That's lousy...I'm starting to feel like kids on the spectrum are the ones whoLast year my son was in mainstream kindergarten with a 1:1 aide and many pullouts for services. He became very dependent on his aide for prompts to perform tasks and to stay engaged. He was out of the class more than he was in it, and when he was in it he was engaging with his aide rather than the other kids. It was like he was a class of 1.
At our placement meeting in the spring we decided to put him in a self-contained special education classroom for high functioning kids for 1st grade, without a 1:1 aide. The team, which included us, felt that in the special education classroom, with a smaller group of kids, but no 1:1 aide, would give C more opportunity to function independently at school and that it would actually be a less restrictive environment for him.
To me, this is a great example of how, per Tzoya's post above, LRE is very individual. For some kids, the LRE will be a mainstream class. For others, a self-contained class.
If I could get what you *really* want (inclusive class with suitable aides) I'd go for that. But my experience is that a suitable aide for my son can make --- in the private sector --- about 4X what the SD is willing to pay and has years of experience vs. a weekend of training. The SD solution to this is to offer either general ed with no supports, or a warehouse sort of program with 10-20 Sp Ed kids an 1 teacher and 3-4 of these aides. Nothing in between.