I need some amo for my oldest sons IEP next week. I will try to make this long story as short as I can. My son is 4 1/2, he just started his 3rd yr with the public school pre-k class. Last year he had soo many behavioral issues, we had the behavioral assesment yada yada, fast forward. We are in the 5th week of school and I got a phone call yesterday from the Teacher, she wants an IEP meeting so she can cut his hours in 1/2. I just had a meeting with her last week and he was doing great, now he is having meltdowns and she cant handle him....I told her I did not agree with that but to go ahead and call the meeting. My thing is they want to transition him to a regular Kindergarten class next fall, which is all day program here, but yet they only want him to go 2 hrs per day now, See the problem arising, I do.
So I guess what my question is, can they force me to accept on 2 hrs per day where as he has been getting 4 hrs per day for the past 2years or can I simply refuse to sign the amendum to his IEP. I appreciate your help!!!!
I guess my son just decided that hey the honeymoon is over for the new teachers
Kim it is my understanding that you always have the right to appeal any decision made as far as iep. I would write a detailed letter why you want him to remain in the program for the same amount of time and also verbalize your concerns as to why. You have the letter for their and your files in case you need to appeal. And if you are seeing any oher specialists on the side or ped, ask them for letter also. if you really feel he should stay in same program than fight it all the way, don't back down on something you think your child needs. I would actually use the IEP meeting request as an excuse to request an FBA. Turn it around on them
The teacher is wanting to reduce his hours (and her stress) because of his meltdowns, when in fact that is actually counter-productive to the ultimate goal of transitioning him to a full-day kindergarten class. They should be trying to figure out what causes the meltdowns and put a Behavior Intervention Plan in place so that he cope, not trying to make the teacher's job easier! A FBA is a functional behavior assessment. The output of the FBA is a BIP (behavior intervention plan). We did this a few years ago. From what I observed, during the FBA the child is observed carefully, with the intention of not only documenting the troublesome behaviors, but to identify the specific situations in which the behaviors occur, any triggers, and strategies that seem to thwart the behavior. It's important that the person doing the FBA is trained and knows what to look for. Then that person writes the BIP, which the team at school will then use a guide to handling each of the troublesome behaviors. Thanks everyone for the input. I do have a few questions..What is an FBA and how do I go about telling the team that I want to claim pendency? I am pretty sure that I can navigate through the system to manage a hearing. I have 2 little ones that I am trying to keep everything straight with, they go to 2 different schools too!! Never a dull moment here.....
Kim About the final say... If an IEP Committee recommends a change in the old IEP and the parent does not agree and cannot budge the IEP Team to see it her way, the parent can then claim pendency, which means everyone MUST follow the last agree-upon IEP (which means nothing can change, including placement/program). However, that means that the parent MUST initiate Due Process (a Hearing request) OR convince the Team to agree to what the parent wants. I agree than an FBA needs to be done. A BIP needs to be put in place that the teacher must be trained to use. You might ask for a BCBA to be the person who does the FBA and BIP. The only way your child's hours can be cut back is if he no longer NEEDS those hours. My guess is that his behaviors is saying he DOES need the hours, especially since he must be prepared to go to K. Let us know how it goes. The Teacher did that last year, in March I think, and a BIP was put into place but apparently its not working, so I guess I will just listen to them and then ask for a hearing to possibly move him to a different school. We have a school here for childrent with Autism but the team has to refer the child to that school. I am going to type out why I dont feel that he will benefit from a shorter day and have it in hand at the meeting in the morning. Thanks for all of your help!!! Kim
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