Help please...IEP issuesWe can only use developmental delay as a classification until 6. They have to be reevaluated before their sixth birthday and the developmental delay either replaced with autism, or dropped altogether. I requested the do a full eval for autism, but I know he won't qualify. They admitted he needs the services for OT (even though they haven't reevaled yet), but said if he doesn't qualify for speech he doesn't qualify for anything. there has to be a way around this! I just can't believe it! The school's suggestion for more private OT is not acceptable. THEY should be adding more OT if progress is not being made. Of course you can go private for more OT, but that is separate issue.How did he test under fine motor? If his hand strength is as weak as they say, then one would think he would score very low on the standardized testing and remain eligible for OT. Until what age can you use Dev. Delay as as a qualifying condition for special education in your state? I would keep it as long as possible. I am assuming he doesn't qualify under autism? Good luck. _______________________ mom to 10 year old boy/girl twins (Asperger's/PDD-NOS) Well, we had my sons IEP meeting today. They spent the first twenty minutes telling me how weak his hand strength was and in turn how difficult it was for him to write, that he's not holding his pencil correctly, writing his letters correctly yada yada yada (and suggesting I add in more private OT to address this in addtion to what he's getting now at school and after school because they're just not seeing progress in that area) and discussing how much he needs his time in the ESE classroom (3x week for thirty minutes at a time) because it's a quiet place, his class is large, etc., etc. They then go on to tell me that after the end of the year when he turns six, he will no longer qualify for OT or his few pullouts to the ESE room because he no longer qualifies for language or speech therapies. WTH? I was not aware that the qualifiying factor for ALL services was that speech was needed. I've been poring over IDEA 2004 at Wrightslaw looking for something that says EXACTLY what qualifies a child for services but can't find anything specific. Wouldn't you think that if a kid has a definite delay in pre-writing and quantifiable weakness in his hands that is affecting his performance in writing in school that he would qualify for OT, regardless of whether he gets speech or not? I also want to add that he's in kindergarten and will be six at the very end of the year. He is losing his "developmental delay" label and continuing on with a "speech impared" label but will receive no services. He's up for reevaluation but I've been told he won't qualify for anything through that even though he has the handwriting issues and some processing delays (takes him longer to answer a question, get his work done, etc.). Thanks to anyone who can help me! Julie,I have never heard of this before. In our case the school did the assessment for OT at the age of 7, my son never had speech. I did have to bring in a script from Dr. office for OT, even after he qualified for help from school, before they would provide services. In our district you do not have to have an autism label to get OT or speech, but you do need an IEP. Ask them for a copy of whatever document states that. I find it hard to believe. and am curious to see what you find out. I've never heard of such a thing either. I would ask the school to send you their policy on that.what they mean is once the developmental delayed label is gone, if he doesn't qualify under one of the other qualifications than he cannot get services. Once you qualify under one label (Specific Learning Disability, Autism, Speech and Language, Mulitple disabilities, Death, Blind, Other Health Impairment) than you qualify for any service under the special ed umbrella such as OT. To qualify as Speech and language impaired he must score below the 7% on two or more standardized tests. If his main problem is strength in his hand an good exercise for this is kneading playdoh. I would also request Handwriting Without Tears. It's an excellent program our OT has provided to our entire district. Hi Emma's Mom. We are doing handwriting without tears two times a week for 30 min each after school with a private tutor who is certified. We've been doing that for a year and a half now. He's also receiving private OT, but they work on sensory issues and not handwriting. I have an eval scheduled for him with an OT who specializes in handwriting starting next week. What I don't understand is that they told me he still be classified as Speech Impaired, but wouldn't be able to receive any other services under that label because he doesn't qualify for speech therapy anymore. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I understand they have to have a label to qualify for services, but since they're telling me he WILL have a speech impaired label, they why not qualify for OT (even without speech)? I am getting ready to email the ESE coordinator for our school and ask her to send me the legislation that specifies that a child cannot receive any services unless they receive speech with a speech impaired label. Hi Julie,I also don't get how he can be classified as speech impaired, and yet not qualify for speech! Would they want him on a 504 plan? I am sure you will figure it out! BTW, we had a great private OT who worked on strengthening by dd's hands. They did the Writing without Tears and sensory stuff as well. The private OT gave us lots of home activities for strengthening her hands. Now my dd has the most beautiful writing! You would never know what what we went through in that area! She still has OT at school, but it is for organizing her school folders, carrying stuff, etc. ___________________________ mom to 10 year old boy/girl twins (Asperger's/PDD-NOS) That sounds completely bogus! My son is classified under SLD and gets resource room for reading, writing and math and he gets OT. He qualified under OT for severe visual processing problems mainly but speaking to his OT she is telling me about other issues he is behind in such as fine and gross motor which she is also working with him on...so im surprised they actually told you that your son needs alot of extra help in his fine motor at all esp if they are going to tell you in the same meeting that he will be dropped when he turns 6. Seems weird. If he is tested and shows the need for 0T (and the way they are saying he needs so much extra help in it you would automatically think he would score low on any OT test in that area even after he turns 6) then he should get it. I think what you have to do is drive home the fact and show evidence (which with thier own mouths they admitted) that his deficit interfers with his schooling. Ive been told this over and over i dont understand how they could get away with this or it be the law? Mebe im wrong but i would thoroughly research it. If he doesnt qualify under autism or SLD then they can certainly qualify him under Other Health Impairment right? Maybe that is what you should be concentrating on is getting him qualified somehow under that category? Sorry just seems so wrong! Good luck and keep us updated! Can he qualify under OHI with a sensory disorder impairment? Im not sure but just throwing ideas out....because they said he needs his ESE room so much because his class is so large (again theyve admited overstimulation right?) Maybe bait them with thier own words its harder for them to fight or deny it if you fish for admissions before laying out your plan of using those reasons theyve stated to keep him qualified. At least thats what ive experienced! btw sorry i have no edit button!If he has a label of speech than he must qualify for speech services. They would have to exit him from special ed services if they say he no longer qualifies for speech. Once a child qualifies under any category they qualify for any service they need to access and benefit from the general ed curriculum. Ask for an assessment for OT services. After the assessment they may say he doesn't qualify for OT. But they cannot say that because his disability is speech he doesn't qualify for OT.Well apparantly they do things a little differently (interpreted "backwards" or F'd up, whichever one you pick) down here in good old Fl- which by the way is at the bottom of the barrel as far as education goes. I confirmed with an SLP at another school who works part time where my son goes for private speech therapy that yes, that is what Florida does. And that she keeps kids on "consult" all the time with just a speech impaired classification just to follow them for a year after they test out of qualifying for services to make sure they're still doing okay. Apparantly it's what they do down here. And with a label of speech impaired (and no other label) then OT can only be given to support speech therapy. He IS being exited out of ESE services, but they're going to do the speech impaired label so they can keep him on consult even though he doesn't qualify for therapy. So he'll still have an IEP, but no services So, since my son has made so much progress that he will not qualify for an autism dx (and I wouldn't be able to get him one from a doc outside of the school system either) he will pay the price because he can't get OT unless he gets speech, and doesn't qualify for speech/language therapy. This REALLY sucks eggs! Our next step is going to be to get a formal dx of apraxia from his neurologist along with dx's of hypotonia and all the stuff that goes with apraxia and attempt to have him classified as OHI. Then take that paperwork along with letters from his private OT's and speech therapists recommending he receive occupational therapies to work on specific skills. Hopefully this will work. Adam is doing fabulously, and many of my friends think I'm crazy for worrying because we all dream of the day our kids will not need services anymore. However, because of this stupid, stupid thing they do down here, he's having all supports pulled before he's ready for it! I have a friend that has a son with Asperger's ... she lives in Florida. She is packing up and moving back to NJ as she says Florida is awful as far as getting services go. My grandson whom I am raising is 9 and still receives speech and OT at school. He receives the speech due to hearing deficits. I have heard the same thing about the weak hand and all of that. I have insisted that they continue to OT and in some states they have to continue with the OT if you get a Dr. to write a script for it or the psych will write you a script for it. Does your son have any connection to DD services in your area? They can push the OT as well for him. Good luck! I know how hard it is to sit back and watch your child fall through the cracks. Will your insurance cover private OT. Quite honestly I think private services are way better than anything you get through the school district. I know the cost can sometimes be prohibitive. Last year my dd also tested out of speech and it was explained to me that this would end her o.t. service as well as it was not a "stand alone" service. We live in Tennessee. However, they do have a social skills class and by being in that, she was able to maintain her o.t. service which she really needs due to fine motor weakness. So far, the social skills class this year (new teacher) hasn't been as effective as I would like and not really sure it's worth her being pulled from her mainstream class for but will have to continue inorder to keep o.t. Keep us updated Julie. I would also like to know what specific legislation stipulates o.t. not being a stand alone service. ttfn I had the same problems in Idaho as you all are having inFl. Can I ask what happens if a psychiatrist or psychologist is involved and recommends that the services continue? I finally had to have my grandson's MD,and both a psychologist and psychiatrist involved. All of them were paid for by the state medical. I refused to allow the school people to deal with him though because their attitude is horrible. In fact one teacher slapped him so hard she left a red hand print on his face then the principal called me laughing about it so I had her and the teacher spend the weekend in jail as well as having the teachers license pulled for ever. I also had the school psych on probation with her license over stuff she was doing. I don't know about Fl but in Idaho when the doctors recommend even if they are private docs the school has no choice but to provide the services. They cannot force the school choices and I have done pretty much the same things here in AZ except having the teacher and principal arrested. In phoenix I pulled him out of school and had a lawyer on board when I fought them- they did not want to be sued so he got the services he needed. Most of the time we as caregivers for these children have to fight really hard and it just is not right.Ugh. Julie, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this crap. I read through all of your posts in this thread, and this is just not making any sense to me. OT should be provided if a child has a delay that's impacting his education negatively...it should have nothing to do with speech services. *hug* In reading much of this and knowing what three states have put my 9 year old through I have found that the most difficult to get help for are those who need it. I watched Oregon schools do more for those who were straight A students than those who had DD. I also saw that in Idaho and in AZ I have been told that if the school does not have the money to follow the ADA regs then they do not have to follow them. I was told this by Senator McCains office. I think the biggest problem we all have is that the schools are lax about these laws and they do not want to follow them because they say it costs to much. Julie I can only say that getting the prescriptions written by both psych and MD's as well as the ENT helped me get the services and has helped me keep them. I do alot of very vocal stuff to-the school hates to see me when they know they goofed.My son (nt) has had hand weakness and poor handwriting from the time he was very small and NEVER qualified for services from the school (he's functional) and he never qualified for services through our insurance. I finally got someone to listen and he had OT (private) when he was in 4th grade for 1 year and the OT said it was too late and they wouldn't be able to get him to change now. [QUOTE=JulieA]I've been poring over IDEA 2004 at Wrightslaw looking for something that says EXACTLY what qualifies a child for services but can't find anything specific.[/QUOTE] Try Wrightslaw Special Education Law (2nd edition). See bottom of page 20 to top of page 21. They say that the key phrase is "who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services". [This would be 20 U.S.C. Section 1401 Definitions subsection (3)(A) ] My son is denied services since my District claims that he does not need special education and related services, although they do accept that he has a disability. It just magically vanishes at the school campus boundaries and does not effect him on campus. Your state can also provide definitions of when services will be provided (as long as they allow kids in that would qualify under the Federal standards). So maybe you can find something there. |
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