Should we wait until the fall?
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Anonymous
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I suspect my child has dyslexia. He is in 1st grade in FCPS. He has been making progress, but it's been slow and he HATES reading, which has me concerned. The school has him in a small group with some of the lower readers.
We met with his school team and the psychologist and special education teacher there said that they do suspect a disability is possible and that they don't want him to hate reading, but they'd like to finish up the quarter with interventions and come back together when he is in second grade. The reasons they gave are 1) he hasn't been in their interventions very long and does not have the highest level of intervention, 2) he is young for his grade ( I admit, his birthday isn't until late August when he turns 7), and finally 3, which I suspect is the real reason they pushed away from testing 3) they'd only have one month to complete the testing when they normally have two months and may not be able to do the most thorough evaluation compared to if they start next year and wait for him to be seven (something about how some tests can't be given until that age). I actually really respected the team's honesty and I felt like they probably do want my child to succeed but I am nervous that if we wait until the fall he will just keep falling behind. Right now I am thinking about finding some tutoring for the weekends as he will be in camp this summer. What would you folks do? |
Anonymous
| OP here again just to add- his team said they were willing to do the evaluations now, but that they heavily recommended waiting til the fall. We asked for the weekend to think it over and come back together next week and they agreed to that. |
Anonymous
| Where I am the ability to qualify for services changes at 7. Before 7 is early childhood. If you’re staying at the same school I would wait. I would get in writing that they’re planning to review interventions in the fall. I would get in writing that they considered evaluating now but decided to review in the fall. Then in the fall, about 3 weeks in (to get settled) make a WRITTEN request for special education evaluation. |
Anonymous
| I would send him to summer camp at the Lab school or Sienna and see how he does. I wouldn’t wait 6 more months to start an evaluation that would take you to Nov/Dec? That is valuable time that is wasted. |
Anonymous
| Why not have evaluations now as a truer measure of what he can do within the thick of schooling rather than after a long break in the fall? If he can start the school year with more interventions then that’s better, right? I don’t see how the testing in the fall will be more accurate or a truer measure of his actual skill level. In my experience they always try to delay and it’s not always to the kid’s benefit. |
Anonymous
| I’d do it now. V |
Anonymous
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The IEP calendar continues through the summer. In FCPS (I'm assuming Fairfax?) schools have to follow timelines. See page 71 of this parent handbook:
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/SpecialEducationParentHandbook.pdf 1. Parents make a referral 2. Local Screening meeting is held within 10 days (sounds like you had that part) - determine areas to evaluate 3. Eligibility meeting - must be held within 65 business days of referral - business days include over the summer If you wait until fall it seems like it will take forever to get an IEP... good luck! |
Anonymous
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I am reading the book “Overcoming Dyslexia” (recommend to anyone that has a kid or thinks their kids has dyslexia). In the book, the author talks about the value of time in terms of early interventions. Time is of the essence for these kids.
I would push for an assessment now, they still have time to complete one, so you come out of the gate running in second grade. If he has dyslexia. He will need specialized interventions and you will want to start as soon as possible. A formal written request will start the timeline for the school. On a personal note, get the school to do as much as they can to help him but if you can get outside support also. Unfortunately, I have not heard off many cases in public schools where in school interventions were enough. |
Anonymous
| PP: I would do everything thing in my power as a parent to get an IEP before the beginning of the school year. This way, when they build the master schedule, your child will be already scheduled for pull outs. |
Anonymous
| Special education FCPS teacher here. Absolutely push for the testing now. They can test him in summer clinic. They should not have said there would be more thorough testing by waiting until the fall. You could make a big stink about that, as it’s not allowed. Get it started now and make it clear you want it to be comprehensive. If you wait, it won’t get done and an IEP in place until near the end of first quarter. They will say he needs to get settled into the new school year etc before testing. You want him on caseload the minute school starts, not added onto some overworked special education teacher’s caseload for second quarter when schedules are already made. Believe me. You should also get a summer tutor. |
Anonymous
| I'm confused about why it would take 2 months for testing, but I think (1) defer to next year could work only if the same players who know your kid will be involved but as PP said - move forward now - and (2) indeed make the most of this summer to boost reading through tutor, lab school, sienna, whatever else! |
Anonymous
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If you postpone the testing until next year, it will be January before any support is in place. If you start now and he qualifies, he'll have services on day 1. The statutory timelines don't stop over the summer.
It's specifically against the law to postpone evaluations in order to do more interventions, if you are requesting them. |
Anonymous
The school has him interventions already and the post says they can increase interventions for the rest of the school year |
Anonymous
It’s the legal timeline. I’m confused why and how you think school staff have wide open calendars to complete tasks in five minutes? A request for testing isn’t planned and school teams need adequate time to test, write a report, share the report/results with parents, and schedule an eligibility meeting. |
Anonymous
Not sure about FCPS, but in MCPS if the process goes into the summer and the school team is not working over the summer, then a summer team takes over. I am a special Ed teacher and when I have came back I the fall and a summer team has completed the process, it’s an extremely subpar report and IEP. Last year I couldn’t even locate a copy of the test8ng they had done, and the individuals involved wouldn’t respond to my emails. Hopefully FCPS has a better system. |