No consideration of IEP possibility when at or above grade level in Fairfax county?

[Anonymous]

My DD has different needs, but she was performing well above grade level. In elementary school, she had a 504 for accommodations. But once in MS, accommodations were no longer enough. She now has an IEP, initiated by the school, so they could offer her more support. But she is still above grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD has different needs, but she was performing well above grade level. In elementary school, she had a 504 for accommodations. But once in MS, accommodations were no longer enough. She now has an IEP, initiated by the school, so they could offer her more support. But she is still above grade level.

I suspected that this happens - so I can't understand why the blanket "not below grade level, so can't do anything" response - even without a review of the case. I've heard the same thing about a possible 504 as well. Still weighing my options - but that's hard, when I can't accurately determine what they will provide. Have to go down that path a little further.

[Anonymous]

PP here, ask them, "Show me where it says that in the law or the regulation." Followed by "I'm going to confirm this with the Special Education supervisor for this region."

[Anonymous]

Wow. You are getting very bad advice. It is absolutely not true that your dc is ineligible for an iep if he/she is at grade level. The need for an iep is based on a comparison of the child's ability to the child's performance. You need to request an evaluation/eligibility meeting. Just handing suggestions from a speech pathologist to a gen ed teacher is not going to result in meaningful help for your child. You would be surprised at how little teachers understand regarding ieps/special ed.

You can't enforce a 504 plan. School is exhausting for my sn child who has adhd and dysgraphia. He is on grade level and has excellent grades in middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You are getting very bad advice. It is absolutely not true that your dc is ineligible for an iep if he/she is at grade level. The need for an iep is based on a comparison of the child's ability to the child's performance. You need to request an evaluation/eligibility meeting. Just handing suggestions from a speech pathologist to a gen ed teacher is not going to result in meaningful help for your child. You would be surprised at how little teachers understand regarding ieps/special ed.

You can't enforce a 504 plan. School is exhausting for my sn child who has adhd and dysgraphia. He is on grade level and has excellent grades in middle school.

That's what I was thinking. Requesting a meeting in a few weeks. I wanted to give them the evaluation and recommendations I just received, though, in case it would be any help in the interim. Speech pathologist said her evaluation is basis for IEP, not 504. Significant other is on board with paying for private one day, and not the next. What a roller coaster ride. Thanks for advice and encouragement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You are getting very bad advice. It is absolutely not true that your dc is ineligible for an iep if he/she is at grade level. The need for an iep is based on a comparison of the child's ability to the child's performance. You need to request an evaluation/eligibility meeting. Just handing suggestions from a speech pathologist to a gen ed teacher is not going to result in meaningful help for your child. You would be surprised at how little teachers understand regarding ieps/special ed.

You can't enforce a 504 plan. School is exhausting for my sn child who has adhd and dysgraphia. He is on grade level and has excellent grades in middle school.

That's what I was thinking. Requesting a meeting in a few weeks. I wanted to give them the evaluation and recommendations I just received, though, in case it would be any help in the interim. Speech pathologist said her evaluation is basis for IEP, not 504. Significant other is on board with paying for private one day, and not the next. What a roller coaster ride. Thanks for advice and encouragement.

Make the meeting now and ask for an eligibility meeting. You want to be ahead of the fall wave. Look at wrightslaw.com to familiarize yourself with your rights and the procedures and to help you set your expectations. Schools are not required to do what is "best", just what is deemed appropriate. For example, IME, if the recommendation is 3-5 sessions in a certain time period, it will be 3 and never 4 or 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You are getting very bad advice. It is absolutely not true that your dc is ineligible for an iep if he/she is at grade level. The need for an iep is based on a comparison of the child's ability to the child's performance. You need to request an evaluation/eligibility meeting. Just handing suggestions from a speech pathologist to a gen ed teacher is not going to result in meaningful help for your child. You would be surprised at how little teachers understand regarding ieps/special ed.

You can't enforce a 504 plan. School is exhausting for my sn child who has adhd and dysgraphia. He is on grade level and has excellent grades in middle school.

That's what I was thinking. Requesting a meeting in a few weeks. I wanted to give them the evaluation and recommendations I just received, though, in case it would be any help in the interim. Speech pathologist said her evaluation is basis for IEP, not 504. Significant other is on board with paying for private one day, and not the next. What a roller coaster ride. Thanks for advice and encouragement.

Make the meeting now and ask for an eligibility meeting. You want to be ahead of the fall wave. Look at wrightslaw.com to familiarize yourself with your rights and the procedures and to help you set your expectations. Schools are not required to do what is "best", just what is deemed appropriate. For example, IME, if the recommendation is 3-5 sessions in a certain time period, it will be 3 and never 4 or 5.

Guess "appropriate" is the term I need to use from now on. Of course, there are different definitions of that. Dang - think I already used "best" in a conversation with an AP. They know the process, I don't - that's why I'm trying my best to wait for the advocate with whom I'm going to work. Thanks for the advice - I've been interested in Wrightslaw given what I've seen my friends experience.

[Anonymous]

We did receive an IEP in exactly the circumstance you describe. Child is 2E. I felt like the school was very interested in helping my son reach his potential and gave much more support than I expected. It was still been tough, though, not so much academically as emotionally and we ended up leaving in third anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did receive an IEP in exactly the circumstance you describe. Child is 2E. I felt like the school was very interested in helping my son reach his potential and gave much more support than I expected. It was still been tough, though, not so much academically as emotionally and we ended up leaving in third anyway.

Ah. thanks for your input. my child is 2e as well. I know every child is different, but would love to know what choice you made after public. Was getting the IEP a struggle? I think the process will help educate me, at least, and show my sig other what we'd even get from public - whether that works for us or not is another matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did receive an IEP in exactly the circumstance you describe. Child is 2E. I felt like the school was very interested in helping my son reach his potential and gave much more support than I expected. It was still been tough, though, not so much academically as emotionally and we ended up leaving in third anyway.

Ah. thanks for your input. my child is 2e as well. I know every child is different, but would love to know what choice you made after public. Was getting the IEP a struggle? I think the process will help educate me, at least, and show my sig other what we'd even get from public - whether that works for us or not is another matter.

If you give me a way to reach you, I'd be happy to email in detail. The IEP was not hard for us, no. I had done testing privately beforehand, though, and the school accepted it completely. They did not redo anything. The school was very cooperative and supportive. I did not have the experience described by many others. That said, my child is complicated and hard to support adequately and challenge, too. They definitely tried. But public schools have their limitations.

[Anonymous]

You need to request that the local screening committee meets to consider your request. Do you have a diagnosis of ADD? I could not get a written plan of accommodations until I had the diagnosis in hand.

This is the form you need to complete and hand into the school. They are required to meet and consider your concerns. It took me an entire academic year, but we did get a 504 for my dd in FCPS. It has been very helpful for her. You have to keep at it.

http://www.fcps.edu/dss/seps/dueprocess-eligibility/se5.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please do not leave FCPS.

We live in Little Rocky Run.

Union Mill ES is a great school.

Good luck!

NP here, I actually had more trouble with Union Mill when my daughter was there. I had neuropysch and NIH ADHD study papers that both recommended an IEP for my child and had to fight tooth and nail just to get a 504 plan. They pretty much just wanted to say that they are aware now and they would work with the teachers to help her but didn't want to make anything formal.

We moved (not just for this) to a different cluster and it's been so much better working with the team on her 504. Although they still don't see the need for an IEP, but they are at least very good about prompt meetings and are accommodating on the 504 as well as just plain nicer.

[Anonymous]

You can still push for it if there are socio/emotional delays and attention deficits. Also, if your child at or above grade level for EVERYTHING? Mine was above grade level for reading/decoding and average for comprehension, but by the next year wasn't meeting benchmarks for reading comprehension so that helped a lot. The DRL was a good tool for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An iep isn't appropriate if she's at grade level, but a 504 plan is. You can get that with a disability that requires classroom modifications. And it's not law according to fcps, it's federal law

No, it depends. If the child has an IQ at 130 or above level, child should be considered gifted and should be performing above grade level. HOWEVER, good luck getting the school to address this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please do not leave FCPS.

We live in Little Rocky Run.

Union Mill ES is a great school.

Good luck!

NP here, I actually had more trouble with Union Mill when my daughter was there. I had neuropysch and NIH ADHD study papers that both recommended an IEP for my child and had to fight tooth and nail just to get a 504 plan. They pretty much just wanted to say that they are aware now and they would work with the teachers to help her but didn't want to make anything formal.

We moved (not just for this) to a different cluster and it's been so much better working with the team on her 504. Although they still don't see the need for an IEP, but they are at least very good about prompt meetings and are accommodating on the 504 as well as just plain nicer.

Curious to know where you are now, although moving is an unlikely option. My son scores well in some areas - 99+ percentile perceptual reasoning - math is great, good vocab - but his working memory really drags him down. Comprehension takes a hit, for sure, but he already scored on DRA at benchmark for end of this year - not entirely sure how he did that, since a different, more recent test shows his understanding (retelling?) of paragraphs at 9th percentile. He has the official ADD diagnosis and APD diagnosis.

Discouraging to think that they are only interested in getting kids to benchmark. He will "code" or regress without some help and accommodations. I'm willing to pay for private language - can't believe accommodations would be that difficult. I'll try to be positive (but look outside as well) Any suggestions for private schools in Western FFX county for a kid like this, I'd appreciate. Thanks!!