IEP for anxiety and OCD

[Anonymous]

Has anyone been successful getting this?
My 5th grader has a 504 for ADHD but we are now seeking IEP for his extreme OCD and anxiety. Should we hire an advocate to help and attend our meetings?

[Anonymous]

What accommodations/services are you looking for that can't be achieved with a 504?

To qualify for an IEP you will have to show significant impairment to ability to learn, to the point that scores are below grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What accommodations/services are you looking for that can't be achieved with a 504?

To qualify for an IEP you will have to show significant impairment to ability to learn, to the point that scores are below grade level.

Having below grade level test scores isn't the standard for an IEP. It's whether specialized instruction is needed. For example, if the OP's child's anxiety is so bad that they are in constant fight or flight and can't focus in the classroom, that might require specialized instruction.

[Anonymous]

Yes and was able to get a non mainstream county placement. What are you looking for in terms of services?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What accommodations/services are you looking for that can't be achieved with a 504?

To qualify for an IEP you will have to show significant impairment to ability to learn, to the point that scores are below grade level.

Having below grade level test scores isn't the standard for an IEP. It's whether specialized instruction is needed. For example, if the OP's child's anxiety is so bad that they are in constant fight or flight and can't focus in the classroom, that might require specialized instruction.

Yes but they need to define why it is needed. "They need it" isn't a compelling argument. They want to see data before they pay for an IEP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What accommodations/services are you looking for that can't be achieved with a 504?

To qualify for an IEP you will have to show significant impairment to ability to learn, to the point that scores are below grade level.

Having below grade level test scores isn't the standard for an IEP. It's whether specialized instruction is needed. For example, if the OP's child's anxiety is so bad that they are in constant fight or flight and can't focus in the classroom, that might require specialized instruction.

Yes but they need to define why it is needed. "They need it" isn't a compelling argument. They want to see data before they pay for an IEP.

I gave an example of need that isn't test scores. The data would be, for example, eloping 10 times a week or not completing 75% of assignments.

[Anonymous]

I'd suggest talking to your 504 case manager to see what their thoughts are before bringing in an advocate. Maybe they are seeing the impact and agree with a special ed evaluation referral.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes and was able to get a non mainstream county placement. What are you looking for in terms of services?

We want one-on-one pull out instruction because he cannot complete tasks otherwise.
-OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes and was able to get a non mainstream county placement. What are you looking for in terms of services?

We want one-on-one pull out instruction because he cannot complete tasks otherwise.
-OP

This translates into a discrete program because the number of service hours you are requesting cannot be accommodated in a gen ed setting---is that what you'e aiming for? I think you'd have a hard time going from a 504 to this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes and was able to get a non mainstream county placement. What are you looking for in terms of services?

We want one-on-one pull out instruction because he cannot complete tasks otherwise.
-OP

It’s too late for that - he needs to work in the classroom and be supported to learn to finish it outside of the classroom as homework. IEPs aren’t 1:1 instruction and they really taper off pullouts as kids get older. And it won’t work for MS at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes and was able to get a non mainstream county placement. What are you looking for in terms of services?

We want one-on-one pull out instruction because he cannot complete tasks otherwise.
-OP

It’s too late for that - he needs to work in the classroom and be supported to learn to finish it outside of the classroom as homework. IEPs aren’t 1:1 instruction and they really taper off pullouts as kids get older. And it won’t work for MS at all.

(Or a different placement as PP suggests)

[Anonymous]

Experienced special education teacher here who also has had OCD for years:

No school has the staffing to pull a child for 1:1 teaching. They might get small group instruction if they are way below grade level and need a specialized math or reading program. Those children might also have intellectual deficits or behavioral issues, so if your child doesn’t fit there, that’s difficult for your child.

An IEP would be to address specific goals, and the eligibility for an IEP would depend on their being an educational impact of the child’s disability. So you’d be looking for an eligibility of emotional disability due to the anxiety and OCD. Your child might benefit from another school geared towards ED kids.

Your child’s therapist or doctor and you need to consider what the triggers are for the OCD in the current classroom and how to make things better there. They will not get pulled out to work on grade level lessons 1:1.

I would focus on working on the anxiety and OCD. They will just manifest themselves in a new setting, anyway. If the child is not on medication, please try that first, as it can be like a miracle for people with your child’s profile. I’ll never forget getting on meds for OCD and how relieved I was. When my child developed OCD, I took her right for therapy and meds. I’d never let my child suffer with the agonizing worry that I had. She was able to go off the meds after a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Experienced special education teacher here who also has had OCD for years:

No school has the staffing to pull a child for 1:1 teaching. They might get small group instruction if they are way below grade level and need a specialized math or reading program. Those children might also have intellectual deficits or behavioral issues, so if your child doesn’t fit there, that’s difficult for your child.

An IEP would be to address specific goals, and the eligibility for an IEP would depend on their being an educational impact of the child’s disability. So you’d be looking for an eligibility of emotional disability due to the anxiety and OCD. Your child might benefit from another school geared towards ED kids.

Your child’s therapist or doctor and you need to consider what the triggers are for the OCD in the current classroom and how to make things better there. They will not get pulled out to work on grade level lessons 1:1.

I would focus on working on the anxiety and OCD. They will just manifest themselves in a new setting, anyway. If the child is not on medication, please try that first, as it can be like a miracle for people with your child’s profile. I’ll never forget getting on meds for OCD and how relieved I was. When my child developed OCD, I took her right for therapy and meds. I’d never let my child suffer with the agonizing worry that I had. She was able to go off the meds after a few years.

My autistic ES child gets pulled for 30 minutes 3x per week for 1:1 grade level lessons. They work on preteaching and finishing work she couldn't do in the classroom. Other times she gets 1:1 attention from the special ed teacher inside the gen ed classroom. I agree that you aren't going to get all day 1:1 instruction (in public school or anywhere else), but some 1:1 time is appropriate and realistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Experienced special education teacher here who also has had OCD for years:

No school has the staffing to pull a child for 1:1 teaching. They might get small group instruction if they are way below grade level and need a specialized math or reading program. Those children might also have intellectual deficits or behavioral issues, so if your child doesn’t fit there, that’s difficult for your child.

An IEP would be to address specific goals, and the eligibility for an IEP would depend on their being an educational impact of the child’s disability. So you’d be looking for an eligibility of emotional disability due to the anxiety and OCD. Your child might benefit from another school geared towards ED kids.

Your child’s therapist or doctor and you need to consider what the triggers are for the OCD in the current classroom and how to make things better there. They will not get pulled out to work on grade level lessons 1:1.

I would focus on working on the anxiety and OCD. They will just manifest themselves in a new setting, anyway. If the child is not on medication, please try that first, as it can be like a miracle for people with your child’s profile. I’ll never forget getting on meds for OCD and how relieved I was. When my child developed OCD, I took her right for therapy and meds. I’d never let my child suffer with the agonizing worry that I had. She was able to go off the meds after a few years.

My autistic ES child gets pulled for 30 minutes 3x per week for 1:1 grade level lessons. They work on preteaching and finishing work she couldn't do in the classroom. Other times she gets 1:1 attention from the special ed teacher inside the gen ed classroom. I agree that you aren't going to get all day 1:1 instruction (in public school or anywhere else), but some 1:1 time is appropriate and realistic.

Our school offers exactly this for various kids with IEPs with various diagnoses. This is exactly what we are hoping to get. I don’t think it’s unrealistic at all to push for it considering he can’t function in a regular classroom without doing OCD rituals and being constantly distracted an overcome with anxiety at all times.
-OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Experienced special education teacher here who also has had OCD for years:

No school has the staffing to pull a child for 1:1 teaching. They might get small group instruction if they are way below grade level and need a specialized math or reading program. Those children might also have intellectual deficits or behavioral issues, so if your child doesn’t fit there, that’s difficult for your child.

An IEP would be to address specific goals, and the eligibility for an IEP would depend on their being an educational impact of the child’s disability. So you’d be looking for an eligibility of emotional disability due to the anxiety and OCD. Your child might benefit from another school geared towards ED kids.

Your child’s therapist or doctor and you need to consider what the triggers are for the OCD in the current classroom and how to make things better there. They will not get pulled out to work on grade level lessons 1:1.

I would focus on working on the anxiety and OCD. They will just manifest themselves in a new setting, anyway. If the child is not on medication, please try that first, as it can be like a miracle for people with your child’s profile. I’ll never forget getting on meds for OCD and how relieved I was. When my child developed OCD, I took her right for therapy and meds. I’d never let my child suffer with the agonizing worry that I had. She was able to go off the meds after a few years.

My autistic ES child gets pulled for 30 minutes 3x per week for 1:1 grade level lessons. They work on preteaching and finishing work she couldn't do in the classroom. Other times she gets 1:1 attention from the special ed teacher inside the gen ed classroom. I agree that you aren't going to get all day 1:1 instruction (in public school or anywhere else), but some 1:1 time is appropriate and realistic.

Our school offers exactly this for various kids with IEPs with various diagnoses. This is exactly what we are hoping to get. I don’t think it’s unrealistic at all to push for it considering he can’t function in a regular classroom without doing OCD rituals and being constantly distracted an overcome with anxiety at all times.
-OP

You'll need really good data regarding how the OCD impacts him in the classroom. I recommend hiring an ed expert to observe him in the classroom. It's not an unrealistic ask -- just a difficult one.

-special ed lawyer