LAMB SPED program?

Anonymous
Anyone know what to expect from LAMB's SPED program?
Anonymous
We were generally happy with it.
Anonymous
We have had a positive experience with the SPED program. We did have to put in a lot of work to make sure my DC's IEP was right but we feel good about where things are currently. The director of student support is GREAT.
Anonymous
I've had a great experience from LAMB's Sped program.
Anonymous
As others have said, our family has had a good experience. Agree that the initial part took a lot of advocacy but my understanding is that is fairly common.
Anonymous
It used to be one of the best programs in the city. Super caring people, super involved top notch teachers, kids were treated like gold.

They hired a mom with questionable credentials to run it. Now it is really hard to get your kid evaluated, there is a strong push to get kids off IEPs and on 504s for no reason at all, and many kids have no providers because so many sped teachers have quit. Why did they quit? Insane leadership choices, lots of leadership turnover, and the promotion of white women over people with actual experience and credentials.

Personally I would not expect much. I would expect providers to leave after a year. I would expect to have long fights for services if your kid remotely does well. What does it mean for your child to “do well”? Well since there are no tests or homework, a lot of sped decisions are based on whatever the teacher thinks. And guess who is getting heavy pressure to agree with the sped program and get kids off sped? God help you if your kid is remotely doing well on the NWEA. Anything over 25% is considered average. I was flipping out when my child had a 27% but the teacher assured me this was “low average”. Um okay.

My older two had an incredible experience with lamb sped. My youngest is not getting services right now despite having an IEP because there isn’t enough providers. Everyone I know is paying for services out of pocket after school. It’s incredibly depressing. I can’t afford to do this, but I know it’s happening and most families aren’t saying anything. Lamb is real against parents complaining, so I try to be as nice as possible to avoid getting a bad reputation but there is only so long that I can watch my kid struggle.

Oh and no services are provided in spanish at all. So expect that your kid will always be in the lowest reading group with spanish. And there will be no plan at all to address your child’s needs in spanish. People usually hire a tutor but again, that’s expensive.

If your kids are in the younger grades and recently diagnosed, I would do my best to find another school for the following year. If you’re concerned, I would immediately get an outside evaluation since lamb’s will find nothing.
Anonymous
We have had a very good experience with LAMB student support and learning disability assessment this year. Don’t want to share too much because of child confidentiality, but they have been fast to respond and have moved quickly to act. I was prepared to do the assessment through a private provider, but LAMB moved faster (we are only one month in!) and I have been impressed with the results.
Anonymous
We've had mixed results over the past 6 years. Obviously the pandemic was not ideal. Agree with others that they will provide services, but you have to push.
Anonymous
Great a few years ago, terrible now. We are missing providers in upper el!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:We have had a very good experience with LAMB student support and learning disability assessment this year. Don’t want to share too much because of child confidentiality, but they have been fast to respond and have moved quickly to act. I was prepared to do the assessment through a private provider, but LAMB moved faster (we are only one month in!) and I have been impressed with the results.


This tracks with us- moved really fast, great initial experience. Then once the child is improving a little bit, they were quick to try to limit or stop services. We had three providers in one year, and each one was progressively more checked out. At the moment, we have no one because there is only one provider in upper el (I’m the one who posted above).
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