I'm sorry Rhosyn - I don't remember all the details here. Why is the school board involved? Are you home-schooling him? What are you wanting - an eval by the school district to get services in your home or are you planning on sending him to school this year? Sorry for all the questions - I've been on and off the board a lot and can't keep track!
I got a call from the school board today. They want me to make a list of strengths and weaknesses. Also they want a list of the goals I've been working with him on. They also wanted the records for the aba/speech therapy we were doing the past year. Do they really need these records or should I request another evaluation? Can he get more than one evaluation through the schools? Do I have to put a request in writing? Help...
Signed,
Confused in Louisiana
I also wanted to add that this woman who called me this morning wasn't the nicest person. She was talking to me like I was stupid. She made me feel inadequate because I've been working with him instead of sending him to the public school system. I had very valid reasons for his not being in the system last year but she blew them off and really made me feel bad. I hate dealing with these people, and I know I'm going to have to for the next 16 years.I haven't read all the responses, but if he has never been evaluated for special education services through your school district (or any other) , they MUST do their own multidisciplinary evaluation. If they want ADDITIONAL information, they should also get it doing their own evals. I'd tell them to fully evaluate your son and call and IEP meeting and that you will be happy to bring your parentally acquired evaluations and data with you to the meeting for their perusal. Then bring what you feel will enhance your child's education. If you paid for and/or provided these services, you have no obligation to share what you learned from them with the District. Of course, you may WANT to, but this is YOUR information, so you control it. I'd put the eval request in writing.I remember the school wanting all my evaluations done by our ABA therapists and ABBLS and speech tx, neurologists, dev ped..ect.....and I was told by our BCBA that they need to do their own independent evaluation and they were just looking for shortcuts to get out of doing their job.
I would tell them I want a unbiased independent evaluation:)..and like Tzoya stated..in writing:)
Best of luck!
he's been homeschooled aba style and now he's going to be going into the public system. He's had one evaluation by the school system....when he was 3...that data is so outdated they are asking for me to do a list for them of all of his accomplishments for the past year. I'm using his IEP from age 3 as a guide. I have 4 pages ready for them so far. He's made alot of gains based on that. I didn't realize what a good job he has done for the past year. He's still not at an age appropriate level, but I know his cognitive skills have progressed past a 12 month old level.I would think the school would want to re-evaluate him just to get their side of where they think he is...but then again, now that I think about it, I think it's law, at least here, that they can only do it every 3 years?
If you can, I would ask for the reevaluation. Then you can base his IEP off of what you have and the new info. Hopefully you can get it...if not would you feel more comfortable getting an eval through a doctor or would you just go by what you have now.
sorry if I'm not much help.
I don't know that I would give them those records. I would ask for a re-eval because they may be trying to get out of doing some things that they really need to. Granted, you are his parent and know him best- but there should be trained professionals evaluating where he is at in all facets of his life before he enters the public school system. In addition, doing the evaluation will help them all get to know him better and see for themselves what he is capable of.
Then, after the re-eval, you can pull out your records and compare to what they have.
Just my thoughts!
That's where I was leading too snoopywoman...guess I didn't quite get it out though, lol.
But I think I would definitely want some sort of eval whether through the school or a doctor, just to base my needs on. You would probably get a lot more cooperation that way.