Questions about IEP's and a child entering K in the fall

Anonymous
I have several questions concerning IEP's in MOCO Elem schools. I have been all over the mcps website and cannot seem to find details/specifics that I need. If there is a place that spells out the info I am looking for, can you please direct me to it.

Does anyone know....

1. What is involved in an IEP for a child entering K?
2. how long does it take to get the IEP and the results?
3. What OT services are offered to a child who qualifies (just handwriting help or other things- for gross motor and what are they)?
4. Does the county offer SL help via an IEP?
Anonymous
Does your child currently receive services through the county? I would guess not, or he or she would already have an IEP in place. Contact they county (I believe it is ChildFind) about having the child evaluated now, prior to kindergarten. It migh take awhile to have the evaluation done, so better to do it before school starts.
Anonymous
You start the IEP process by calling the school principal and asking for your child to be assessed for special education services. Technically this should be done in writing, so I would follow up with a letter to be on the safe side. Assuming your child qualifies once assessed, an IEP will be developed. OT and speech are some of the services that are offered if your child qualifies. Services are provided only for those problems that interfere with a child's ability to learn. So, for example, my DS had a serious feeding disorder, but did not get services through the IEP process for it because we could not show that his inability to eat during the school day had any effect on his performance. (I am not saying that for other kids in the same circumstances, services would be denied, but with my DS, not eating has zero effect on school performance, so he didn't qualify).

As far as time frames, the school has 60 days from the date you give approval to have your child assessed to get the assessment done. Then, the team must meet within 30 days of the completion of the evaluation. There are some circumstances that can result in getting this extended, but not too many - like if you don't produce your child for the assessment or if you give your permission, which can be to your benefit if the assessment is to be done over the summer.

If your child has been in infants and toddlers or any preschool programs through the county, an IEP should be automatic, but I would suggest that you ask if you haven't been given a date for the IEP meeting by now.


Anonymous
http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/specialed/childfind.shtm

Child Find does assessments up through the spring prior to kindergarten.
Anonymous
Thanks. My child is currently receiving private OT services. We decided in the beginning not to go through the county b/c some of the OT he is receiving privately he would not get in the school system (use of swings etc... for neuromuscular reeducation and therapeutic listening). The principle of our local elem told me that for what my child has already been diagnosed with he would most likely only get handwriting help in the school. I didn't want to go through the entire process if that was going to be it. Then there is the issue that we are not sure if we are going to send to public school and do outside OT or do private and do outside OT (the issue is purely financial at this point).
Anonymous
OP, if your child needs accommodations, you still need an assessment. I wouldn't throw out the idea of getting one just because you don't think you'll get only some very basic services.
Anonymous
Do I need to do an assessment now if my child goes to a private K program? Can I still do it when he actually goes to public school?
Anonymous
You can not get OT as a stand alone service in MoCo. It is a related service, so you need a primary disability in order to get an IEP, like Speech/language or a Specific Learning Disability. I would call Child Find and your local elementary school to see where to start. If you have recent reports, I would submit them. The school can review the reports and they will determine if they need to do any other additional assessments.
Anonymous
OP here. Thank you. I find the whole IEP issue/process in the county to be very confusing. Even more confusing since we may not go the public school route and it seems they offer even less services if your child isn't in a county school.
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