Education Consultant

[Anonymous]

Can anyone recommend an Education Consultant to help with developing our son's IEP and make recommendations on schools? I know we're a bit late in the game as he starts kindergarten in September, but better late than never. We live in VA.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I highly recommend Dr. Ruth Heitin. I've posted about her in a number of other threads. She's not cheap (@$250/hr) but we feel we've gotten excellent value. I can't tell you much our meetings and IEPs have turned around. The meetings are no longer stressed filled. We get well crafted, appropriate IEPs and they get implemented. She's also really helped us manage our expecations. You also haven't gotten started late in the game! You're early if your child hasn't even started K yet. Good luck!

http://www.educationalconsultingva.com/

[Anonymous]

PP - I used a different consultant and we got what we wanted at the IEP meeting. BUT, when it came to actually following the IEP, that was another story. I find myself getting frustrated on a daily basis because the teacher does not do what she is supposed to -- like constantly forgets to send home communication log. It stresses me out having to constantly monitor everything and I have found that the IEP meeting is just a small part of an ongoing battle. So does your consultant monitor the day to day transgressions, or is that something you have to do yourself? And do you still pay the $250/hour for things like that beyond the IEP meetings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP - I used a different consultant and we got what we wanted at the IEP meeting. BUT, when it came to actually following the IEP, that was another story. I find myself getting frustrated on a daily basis because the teacher does not do what she is supposed to -- like constantly forgets to send home communication log. It stresses me out having to constantly monitor everything and I have found that the IEP meeting is just a small part of an ongoing battle. So does your consultant monitor the day to day transgressions, or is that something you have to do yourself? And do you still pay the $250/hour for things like that beyond the IEP meetings?

Not the PP, but start keeping a log. Do you write down every single time something varies from the IEP? If not, start immediately. If you don't write it down, it didn't happen. This is powerful leverage, but only if you document it.

[Anonymous]

17:24 here. I agree with the PP that you have to document when the IEP isn't being followed - like when the communication log doesn't come home. You can do it in an email the night you notice it doesn't come home. It's a hassle but it's what you've got to do. One of the other ways we make sure the IEP is being implemented is that the IEP defines how the goals are being measured. On a monthly basis, we used to go into the school and review the logs/checklists and other things the teachers were using to document IEP progress. Again, it's a total hassle but we'd gotten screwed before and we got it written into the IEP that we could do that. I used to photograph the log. Now, I don't recommend writing this into the IEP unless you have good reason. We did because DS's teacher had indicated on the progress report that DS had 'mastered' the goal and we disagreed because it was clear to us that DS couldn't do what she said he had mastered. Dr. Heitin requested to review the log and after a lot of back and forth the teacher provided it. It showed that DS had not mastered the goal at all (not a big surprise to us because it was quite clear he was unable to do it).

We've (me, Dr. Heitin, teachers) spent a lot of time at IEP meetings discussing the checklist/data collection form used to determine how the goal is being met. But, Dr. Heitin doesn't review the checklists/data logs on a regular basis. I do that. If the log doesn't agree with the progress report, I contact the teacher with a copy to Dr. Heitin. That pretty much takes care of it. It doesn't take long for the school team to realize they're going to be held accountable by a knowledgeable and persistant person. I believe that since we've been working with her, we've gotten better teachers and more teamwork from the staff. Dr. Heitin didn't charge us for copying her on email but she does for reviewing material prior to the IEP and the meeting itself. When we've felt the school wasn't implementing the IEP, we've called a meeting.

I want to point out that this doesn't have to be a knock down drag out. As I mentioned earlier, one of the things Dr. Heitin has heloped us with is to manage our expectations. We're going to be in teh school system a long time and all of this is part of our learning process. We acknowledge that we're new at this and how much we appreicate the assistance the staff provide in helping us better understand what we should expect and how our DS's challenges affect his education.

[Anonymous]

20:57

Would you mind sharing who you used as an educational consultant?

TIA

[Anonymous]

Is Suzie Blattner still at ITS in Kensington? She was amazing when we worked with her years ago.

[Anonymous]

Not OP, but can pp's elaborate on the progress log? We've never seen one or had one, nor a checklist. Is this automatically kept by teacher, or person responsible for goal? Or, does the parent need to ask for it to be kept and sent home?

Also, is it sent home on a daily basis? Does it address each goal, every day?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

17:24 again. You might not have seen the logs/checklist because the teachers typically don't make them available. I don't think it's because they're trying to hide something, it's just part of their routine stuff - or at least should be. The IEP must indicate how progress towards the goal will be measured. If Johnny is supposed to decode CVC words on 3 out of 5 opportunities over the course of a week (I just made this up), then the teacher must document when he's given the opportunity and how he performed. Here's a link with some basic sample logs/checklists http://circleofinclusion.org/english/formsarticles/forms/8eval.data.monit/form8index.html#7 Here's a link to Wisconsin's guide to writing IEPs. It's got some good links to some other sites http://dpi.wi.gov/sped/pdf/iepguide.pdf When the goal is to be measured by teacher observation and report, then there needs to be a form/log/checklist for the teacher to indicate when she's that and/or other behavior. If it's a related services goal (OT, ST, PT), the therapist should be be doing something similar.

The checklist may or may not be done every day, it depends on the goal. Our DS has a goal related to sight words - the goal is that by the end of the IEP, he will read X number of words. Periodically (maybe once a month), the teacher will test him on the words and report/log the number of words presented and the number he got correct. Progress on organization goals is pretty much recorded every day - Johnny will remember to turn in is homework every day. (The teachers may have a LOT of recording to do!)

We asked to review the logs because on DS's IEP progress report, the teacher indicated he mastered some goals that we just knew he hadn't. Under pressure from us and Dr. Heitin, the teacher made the logs available and they indicated our DS had, in fact, not mastered the goals. We then wrote into the IEP that we could review them. However, the school will not make copies for us but we can come in and review them and make our own copies if we want.

[Anonymous]

PP, I am the poster who asked about logs/checklists. Thanks so much for sharing the info!

[Anonymous]

We used Ruth Spodak and were disappointed. She said almost nothing at the meeting. Total waste of $$.