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I scheduled another IEP meeting and just got the reminder that I can invite anyone my choice. I had a meeting with the principal last week where he told me that I was deluded if I thought my ds was getting an appropriate education at his school. He must have come to his self-protective senses later because ever since then the teachers tell me how well ds is doing in class where before they would tell me that he'd miss most of them.Right?! ?The resource room teacher (who is great) told me she was in every evening this week to catch up on paperwork. Anyway, I think they figure that I will bring an attorney to the meeting and if I had any sense I probably should. But I don't think we can afford one and I really am not sure what I actually would sue for: my ds has no cognitive delays and is gifted in some areas so he is actually not behind academically and does make progress on IEP goals. Still much of his day seems spent with his 1:1 in a hallway missing classes and not connecting with peers and I fully agree with the principal that he is not getting an appropriate education. In the asd city-program he would be mostly with significantly lower functioning kids (I looked at a number of the programs and asked who his peers would be) and he would miss that social component nor do the programs actually have an academic curriculum. Academics would be up to the asd teacher, most of whom were not trained in that and work on variances because of the special ed teacher shortage.Does not sound more appropriate to me. So what I really want from the school is to get with the spirit of the law and not just think of inclusion as an imposition. How do you sue for that? Anyway, who do you bring along to IEP meetings? Any suggestions for me? What academic functioning level is your child? He is a third grader in a 3/4 loop class. I'd say his reading is 2nd grade level and has improved (will meet IEP goal), he gets assistance with writing and is starting to use co-writer and the computer by himself and he does 4th grade math in class but tested somewhere in 7/8th grade level.After I read your first post, I thought - "maybe she doesn't realize thebenefits her son would have in a self-contained classroom... most likely where they have more experience with autism and specific behavior management strategies..." BUT after hearing his academic capabilities, a self-contained classroom (though they are typically tailored to meet individual needs, and each child MUST have access to the regular ed curriculum regardless of his/her placement...) --- does not sound like it is where he needs to be. I think I helped you look at your son's BIP a while back? I might be confusing you with you someone else... BUT - the school needs to come up with a better way to manage his behaviors. Is the classroom structured? Is it cluttered? Does he get distracted? What exactly is going on that is facilitating the need to send him into the hallway? Doesn't sound like inclusion to me. It IS a lot of work for a regular ed teacher to have 20-25 students AND manage to "differentially instruct" all of the learners in his/her classroom. However, if these are the cards they're dealt, they need to come up with a way to deal with it. The reg ed teacher is getting the easy way out by sending him into the hall. Obviously, if he's disrupting the other 20 students, he can't continue to stay in the classroom. But the REAL solution would be to come up with antecedent strategies that would prevent these behaviors from occurring. If you give us more details on what's going on in the classroom, perhaps we could come up with some strategies for you to suggest to the 1:1, teacher, spec ed teacher, autism consultant (if you have one) etc. A lot of areas have a local ARC where they can find free advocacy groups, or at least get advice on behavior intervention plans, IEPs, etc. Perhaps there is an advocate in the area that might be able to come to your meeting with you. It's weird that they're telling you that you can bring whoever you want, but I guess it is true that you're allowed to do that. I have just never heard districts "throwing that out there" and sending notes about it, etc. Is going to the resource room an option? As a smaller ratio of students to teachers, quieter area, probably more structured (just guessing)? I feel like at least he'd have a certified teacher as his instructor, be around other peers, and not feel completely secluded in the hallway (not sure if the hallway is a reward to him, or if he knows he's the "weird one" by getting sent out there, or what his feelings are on this...) If your son were a student in my school and the resource room teacher and reg ed teacher had already "exhausted their ideas and options" - they would likely come to me (one of the self-contained teachers...) I've done many observations in regular ed to help come up with behavior supports, ideas to help students be more successful in inclusive environments, while keeping all of the common autism traits in mind. Sometimes people just do not have the experience to be able to come up with successful strategies and they need to seek outside help. Perhaps you could see if a self-contained teacher or autism teacher might have some insight on the behavior challenges. A lot of times, they are a wealth of information. I look forward to providing some more insight... when is the IEP meeting? Thank you for your long reply. The problems are more political than anything. The principal does not want my ds at his school but since he is making academic progress that is where my ds is. This school does not structure the class much and there is no schedule - the teacher and principle have told me that they are not at all interested in changing anything about how they do class to accomodate ds and they don't. Yes i- t says 'posted schedule' and 'repeating instructions' in his IEP but they don't follow it. When I complain to the district they say that the school is known to resist inclusion and that I should move my son to the citywide program since the principals here are running their schools like little kingdoms without repocussions. I could file complaints or sue but since it really comes down to sabotage I am not sure what that would achieve in the end. On the other hand his resource room teacher is great and goes the extra mile with him. His para is not that experienced but has been a great advocate and my son's private asd therapist has been observing my ds in school and based on that working with the aide on how support him better in class. So it is not so much a question of what the teacher could do different (there is plenty) but a matter of the principale setting the tone that inclusion is an imposition. He is considered a very good and effective principale in this district (and is in every other way) but for the special ed kids he is toxic. Still- I also don't care to be bullied out of a school.[QUOTE=micki] .. he is actually not behind academically and does make progress on IEP goals. Still much of his day seems spent with his 1:1 in a hallway missing classes and not connecting with peers and I fully agree with the principal that he is not getting an appropriate education. [/QUOTE] This was my son in kindergarten. More time spent in the hallway with 1:1 (because of behaviors) than in the classroom. Became too dependent on aide and missed too much. We opted to put C in a self-contained class for 1st grade. It was a tough decision. But given the choice between having my kid be the biggest problem in 1st grade or be at the high end of the SpEd crowd, we went with the SpEd class. Yes, he was the most advanced kid in his class, but this allowed him to demonstrate some leadership. He was able to help other kids, which built his self-confidence. Even though he's a bit more advanced than some of the others, they are his friends. They do play dates and have birthday parties. He was mainstreamed in with regular kids for music, art, pe, lunch and recess. This year for 2nd grade he's in the same program, but in November they started mainstreaming him in for math 1 hour per day. Next year they are talking about bringing him back to his home district next year where he'd be in a hybrid program (self-contained for certain subjects, reg ed for others) with the goal of over 50% of his day in regular ed. Do you have options like this in your school district? It shouldn't have to be "all or nothing" mainstream vs. self-contained. It sounds from your post that your son would be a good fit for the same programming that my son has. Decide who you need/want to be present in additon to everyone that is required to be there. I take a 'support person', a friend that knows my child well. She's there mainly for moral support of me. When I've anticipated problems may come up at a meeting I take a professional that serves as a liason. I've taken his psch. and I've taken his councelor. This year I'm considering asking a teacher from last year to show up. She was wonderful with my son, and I love her imput. Plus, she can see things from the schools point of view too. Don't forgot, this is YOUR child, IEPs are supposed to be for the childs BEST interest. Don't let anyone bully or intimidate you. Somene once suggested that I take in a book about IDEA and just place it on the table in front of me. This gives the message that I know my legal rights. I haven't done that yet, but I have suggested it to other moms that have done it with great success.I just had an IEP at my scn's middle school and I brought his Psychologist who is a behaviorialist to it. She was invaluable and scored us a bunch of points as far as things that needed to be changed in his IEP. I don't know about anyone else but it is so intimidating to go into a room of about 6 or 7 other people and then there is just me to stand up for my son. Even if you can bring a health care professional I would bring a good friend or someone close that could support you. Good Luck, keep us posted!Thanks everyone. I have thought a lot about it and I think that for the next meeting, when we start talking about next years I will bring an educational attorney. It is not that the staff is hostile or I feel intimidated and it is not even my intend to sue. It is more that at this time we are sitting there like one big dysfunctionale family. For example the resource room teacher said; "You know with the budget shortfall the district won't give your son a full time aide next year" and I say "This is not about the budget but about what he needs" and she says "Yes it is supposed to be but you know how it is". And the sad thing is, I do know how it is. So I think it would just be helpful to have an outsider at the table to get us beyond how it is and towards how it should be. |
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