Anonymous wrote:DS is 8 and in third grade. He was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at a very young age and participated in MCPS' Infants and Toddlers program and PEP Inc. He is behind in both receptive and expressive communications but was placed in the general classroom since Kindergarten with pull out services for speech and OT. During Kindergarten, he did not fit well in the general education setting even with an IEP and extra support. He had multiple meltdowns and caused a lot of destruction to the classroom and hurt himself and other kids. We requested an emergency IEP then and he was given a BIP. However, COVID hit and there was no opportunity to even implement the BIP. He was at home for first grade with virtual learning in which DH and I took time off to sit with him during these sessions. He returned to in person school for second grade and he did great without the BIP.
Fast forward to the end of second grade and now third grade, his explosive behaviors have returned and we had multiple emergency IEP meetings and the school is currently going through an FBA to determine next steps. We are working with an educational advocate to help us through this process but I want to get some perspectives from others. DS is obviously not fitting in well in the general education setting even with extra supports they have in place. The school insists on collecting weeks worth of data even though he has been very aggressive (hurting others and suicidal actions) to the point where multiple kids have been sent to the nurses office and we have been referred to the crisis center (which was of no help). We are doing everything we can external to the school to treat DS's issues (e.g., physiatrist, ABA therapists, private speech, CBT), but there is a limitation to what we can do in the general education setting. DS is also on Zoloft, Adderall, and Abilify. Right now I am just trying to understand why the MCPS insists on collecting weeks more data when there is plenty already to support conclusions for the FBA.
OP, I am so sorry you are dealing with this. I hope parents of NT general ed kids read your post. There is so much ignorance out there about how the school system actually works and what is actually happening when a child is melting down in a classroom. I always see other parents blaming the parents of the SN kid, thinking that they are doing nothing aside from insisting that their child remain in the current situation. It's so frustrating. All the parents have the same goal: a safe and appropriate place for their child to learn.
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