not having time is NEVER an excuse for providing services. Services are based on child needs- NOT time or however many clients the provider has....You can get what she got under her old IEP, however that means nothing changes. Technically, this can only happen if you take them to a Hearing. What CAN happen is that you approve the rest of her IEP and "table" the discussion pending an outside OT evaluation. Services are based on the results of an evaluation. If you disagree with what the school district is recommending, you cn ask for an outside evaluation at public expense (they HAVE to give you one or take you to an expedited hearing at which they can try to convince a hearing officer that they are correct in their recommendation) or they can give you the $ for the eval. However, if you can get an eval thru your insurance or by using some other means, do that. It's faster and it's TRUELY independent. They don't HAVE to implement the recommendations of the outside evaluator, but if they don't , they have to send you Prior Written Notice explaining WHY they don't accept those recommendations and you can then take them to a hearing, if your wish, and the hearing officer can judge whether or not your daughter MUST receive the extra OT in order to receive a free appropriate public education. In the end, you may find it's easier and better to try to get her extra OT on your own dime or thru your insurance. Of course, the school district's excuse is illegal, but it will cost you in time and money to prove them wrong. For more info on your legal rights, search www.wrightslaw.com and buy their book From Emotions to Advocacy. It will pay you back your over and over and over again.For the first time, I have a feeling I am going to be disagreeing with dd's upcoming IEP. I mentioned to the special ed teacher that I thought her OT (1x a week for 30 minutes) was too short to address both sensory and fine motor issues). She said getting more than that would be tough because the current OT has 60 something clients right now and she is only supposed to have a caseload of 20. I let it go for the time being, but after giving it a lot of thought I decided this is something dd really needs more of and that it isn't dd's fault that the OT has such a huge caseload.
So, how does it work if I find out at the meething that they still will only do 1x a week? If I don't sign will she still get her services while the OT issue is being contested?
Any help would be appreciated!
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