Son with LDs and ADD--need advice on DC public schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD has ADHD and some fairly minor LD's and sensory issues, the services she is receiving through our public school are quite good and she makes the IE goals every year. Though we did do private testing through Dr Stixrud's office in SS prior to the start of K where they had to accept the results which got us into the system for at least 2 years until she is eligible for retesting. I do not think that the public school system was capably of doing as good as and as through of a job as the private office, but they were willing to offer the OT, PT, and modifications reccomended.

DC is fine if you are at one of the better schools and stay on the ball. This is our second year in the system and find them responsive and professional.

Hi PP, I'm a parent of a kid who may have ld/add issues. Can you clarify what you mean by "they had to accept her results"? If we have our DC tested by a reputable outside tester who recommends certain accommodations, on what basis do they "have" to be accepted. We had no success with some recent test results which were provided to MCPS. The testing was done at Georgetown hospital, and the MCPS person just kept saying to us -- well, we consider that normal and rejected the IEP request. But they refused to cite to any scale they were using for "normal" or not normal.

How do we get MCPS to accept these results? Is there some kind of legal section to cite to?

Any help appreciated.

[Anonymous]

We are in DCPS; they had to accept the ADHD diagnosis as well as the WPPSI testing and other test results as you cannot retest within a 12 month period. They also accepted the OT evaluation diagnosis for the same reason. The IEP was then built upon those results. There were a few suggestions for modifications that were not integrated but overall I was pretty impressed by the outcome. I am 100% certain that the testers through the Early Stages program could not have done as through and as extensive of a job in testing DD as I was able to get privately (as a few things came out of the testing that I was not aware of, nor were flagged during the Early Stages screening). The testing cost over $3,000 but was worth every penny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it used to be close to 75% when we looked about 8-10 years ago. I believe Lab was trying to bring that down. It often includes transportation which is why there are school busses from all 3 jurisdictions dropping off there in the morning. Also as I understand it you are on the hook for tuition until any funding comes through. But to get current info you'd have to ask the schools as I am not current at all.

Wow, that's depressing. All that and there were bathroom doors missing and broken faucets in the public school down the street. DCPS needs to get its act together so it can stop sending our tax money to support private schools!

You are a tad misguided there - the tax money is going to provide an education for kids with learning disabilities that the city is unable to provide adequate services for.

I'm not misguided. That's why I said DCPS needs to get its act together. "Getting one's act together" as in providing better services to the kids who need them.

And guess what, lots of kids are not getting adequate services in DCPS. It's just that the learning disabled kids have a court order on their side. And coincidentally it's the LD kids from the wealthiest wards who are getting their way paid in way higher percentages than, say, Ward 8 (Washington City Paper). Another reason DCPS needs to get its act together. The situation as it stands now does not serve poor learning disabled children well at all and draws resources away from the many kids who are not learning disabled. If DCPS weren't so screwed up, this inequity wouldn't exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it used to be close to 75% when we looked about 8-10 years ago. I believe Lab was trying to bring that down. It often includes transportation which is why there are school busses from all 3 jurisdictions dropping off there in the morning. Also as I understand it you are on the hook for tuition until any funding comes through. But to get current info you'd have to ask the schools as I am not current at all.

Wow, that's depressing. All that and there were bathroom doors missing and broken faucets in the public school down the street. DCPS needs to get its act together so it can stop sending our tax money to support private schools!

You are a tad misguided there - the tax money is going to provide an education for kids with learning disabilities that the city is unable to provide adequate services for.

I'm not misguided. That's why I said DCPS needs to get its act together. "Getting one's act together" as in providing better services to the kids who need them.

And guess what, lots of kids are not getting adequate services in DCPS. It's just that the learning disabled kids have a court order on their side. And coincidentally it's the LD kids from the wealthiest wards who are getting their way paid in way higher percentages than, say, Ward 8 (Washington City Paper). Another reason DCPS needs to get its act together. The situation as it stands now does not serve poor learning disabled children well at all and draws resources away from the many kids who are not learning disabled. If DCPS weren't so screwed up, this inequity wouldn't exist.

sorry - yes agree with all that. Your disdain for private schools though made it sound like the Lab School is some elite institution for the blonde mom crowd and that's really not the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
sorry - yes agree with all that. Your disdain for private schools though made it sound like the Lab School is some elite institution for the blonde mom crowd and that's really not the case.

I see why you thought that. I'm not the anti-"blonde mom" poster from the other thread. My dd now goes to private school after having spent years at the DCPS school I described with the broken washrooms. We get no financial aid for sending her to private school, nor should we.

What I have disdain for is how poor and working class people in this city get the shaft. There's this lovely loophole where some people have been able to get private education paid for (which last I heard was a quarter of the entire DCPS budget for 2000 students). As per usual, in some cases it's the well-educated and well-resourced folks who have taken advantage of it and it appears to be at a higher rate than others . Same old story everywhere throughout time.

But if it's true that the Lab School once had 75% of its students attending courtesy of DCPS, then I am bitter about it. I tutor a kid from Ward 7 who ought to be at a place like the Lab School but her parents don't have the wherewithal (and I'm don't just mean economic -- I mean the sense of entitlement or the personal networks) to pursue this solution. I'm hoping she doesn't become another statistic in the teen mother high school dropout column and I'm thinking it would be less likely if she were at private school.

[Anonymous]

My understanding is that a school has to consider outside testing. You can provide this information to the school and they will determine if more testing needs to be done to determine eligibility. Just because you have a private evaluation that identifies learning differences does not mean the school system has to find them eligible for special education. The school has to agree that there is educational impact.
If the school system wants to do more testing, they will ask for your consent to do this. They can not repeat a test done within a certain amount of time because it nullifies the results of both tests. However, there are different IQ tests and acheivement tests that can be used to avoid this problem.
I think the way things typically go is the school system tests. Finds eligible or ineligible. If child is found ineligible a parent can disagree with results and then ask the school system to provide an independent evaluation at the school system's expense. The school can disagree or agree to do this, but if they disagree they need to give you a "prior notice" letter stating why. Then parents can take them to due process (court) or some parents just pay for a private evaluation at that point.
I know lots of parents who had the school test, children were found ineligible and then the parents did the private evaluation and went back to the school with the results. Some of these kids were then found eligible.
If you go the private route first, you probably get a more comprehensive evaluation but sometimes the schools don't like having a private report forced on them. Try to work with the school as much as possible. Especially in this time of school systems being stingy with IEPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in DCPS; they had to accept the ADHD diagnosis as well as the WPPSI testing and other test results as you cannot retest within a 12 month period. They also accepted the OT evaluation diagnosis for the same reason. The IEP was then built upon those results. There were a few suggestions for modifications that were not integrated but overall I was pretty impressed by the outcome. I am 100% certain that the testers through the Early Stages program could not have done as through and as extensive of a job in testing DD as I was able to get privately (as a few things came out of the testing that I was not aware of, nor were flagged during the Early Stages screening). The testing cost over $3,000 but was worth every penny.

So that's both good and bad to hear. Good that the school will have to accept the diagnosis because one can't retest in a year. But bad from this perspective -- our initial speech and language tester made some diagnoses and then also referred us for an "attentional" evaluation, i.e. to consider whether DC might have ADD. I am not so sure I agree with that, but I'm not the professional. Also the ADD testing will cost $5,000 (as quoted by Stixrud). So, it was my understanding that we could ask MCPS to pay for testing with their own testers. But, given how obstinate MCPS has been so far, I'm concerned that the testing would be poorly done or skewed. My comfort is that I thought if parents didn't agree with the results of MCPS testing they could ask for and receive testing by an outsider paid for by MCPS. But, if the same logic applies, then does that mean that I can't have my DC tested by an outsider for a year after MCPS tests because otherwise the results would be skewed?

$5000 is a lot of money to me. Like pay the electricity bill or pay for the tester a lot. I don't want to be cheap and of course and I want to make things right for DC, but we have to pay for food, bills and the roof over our head too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that a school has to consider outside testing. You can provide this information to the school and they will determine if more testing needs to be done to determine eligibility. Just because you have a private evaluation that identifies learning differences does not mean the school system has to find them eligible for special education. The school has to agree that there is educational impact.
If the school system wants to do more testing, they will ask for your consent to do this. They can not repeat a test done within a certain amount of time because it nullifies the results of both tests. However, there are different IQ tests and acheivement tests that can be used to avoid this problem.
I think the way things typically go is the school system tests. Finds eligible or ineligible. If child is found ineligible a parent can disagree with results and then ask the school system to provide an independent evaluation at the school system's expense. The school can disagree or agree to do this, but if they disagree they need to give you a "prior notice" letter stating why. Then parents can take them to due process (court) or some parents just pay for a private evaluation at that point.
I know lots of parents who had the school test, children were found ineligible and then the parents did the private evaluation and went back to the school with the results. Some of these kids were then found eligible.
If you go the private route first, you probably get a more comprehensive evaluation but sometimes the schools don't like having a private report forced on them. Try to work with the school as much as possible. Especially in this time of school systems being stingy with IEPs.

Thanks. This is useful and answers Qs per my post below. Sorry, I should've read thru the whole thread before asking more. I'm worried that by the time I go the whole test w/ MCPS, ask for independent, get rejected, go to court route, my kid would be 20 or I would have spent the $5000 any way in lawyer fees writing due process letters and going to the hearing for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in DCPS; they had to accept the ADHD diagnosis as well as the WPPSI testing and other test results as you cannot retest within a 12 month period. They also accepted the OT evaluation diagnosis for the same reason. The IEP was then built upon those results. There were a few suggestions for modifications that were not integrated but overall I was pretty impressed by the outcome. I am 100% certain that the testers through the Early Stages program could not have done as through and as extensive of a job in testing DD as I was able to get privately (as a few things came out of the testing that I was not aware of, nor were flagged during the Early Stages screening). The testing cost over $3,000 but was worth every penny.

So that's both good and bad to hear. Good that the school will have to accept the diagnosis because one can't retest in a year. But bad from this perspective -- our initial speech and language tester made some diagnoses and then also referred us for an "attentional" evaluation, i.e. to consider whether DC might have ADD. I am not so sure I agree with that, but I'm not the professional. Also the ADD testing will cost $5,000 (as quoted by Stixrud). So, it was my understanding that we could ask MCPS to pay for testing with their own testers. But, given how obstinate MCPS has been so far, I'm concerned that the testing would be poorly done or skewed. My comfort is that I thought if parents didn't agree with the results of MCPS testing they could ask for and receive testing by an outsider paid for by MCPS. But, if the same logic applies, then does that mean that I can't have my DC tested by an outsider for a year after MCPS tests because otherwise the results would be skewed?

$5000 is a lot of money to me. Like pay the electricity bill or pay for the tester a lot. I don't want to be cheap and of course and I want to make things right for DC, but we have to pay for food, bills and the roof over our head too.

Indeed that is the problem... neuropyschological testing at Stixrud's office cost us a little under $3,000 though, and the ADHD was diagnosed there. Also get the list of CPT codes from them to see if your insurance will cover it. Ours did as long as the diagnosis was not ADD (do not cover educational testing). Stixrud's office also does some probono work as well though it sounds like the wait list is long.

Indeed, there has to be at least a year between giving the same tests, but different tests can be given

[Anonymous]

Always ask the school for a "prior notice" letter if they refuse to test or they deny eligibility. It is a wierd name, but that is the official term.
Sometimes the school will say no verbally, hoping you might go away. When you ask for the refusal/denial (and grounds for refusal/denial) in writing, they sometimes change their mind. Sounds cynical but it is true. They don't want to go to due process either, especially if they might lose.