Is it worth requesting special ed services if child probably won't qualify (DCPS)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No.
1) you have an evaluation and diagnosis
2) do they only need accommodations? If so, just request a 504.
3) do you think they need specialized instruction and meet the eligibility criteria for autism (search your county’s website or ask the dept chat for the autism eligibility form). If you think they need specialized instruction, you can request a local screening committee meeting and the school team can agree or deny testing.
4) if you don’t think your child needs specialized instruction, then requesting a meeting and testing would be a waste of everyone’s time.

The psychologist recommended specialized instruction, as stated in the OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in DCPS (were in a Charter) and have navigated 504s and IEPs.
To answer your question "Is it worth requesting special ed services", I think the answer is yes.
If I were in your shoes, this is what I would do. Schedule a meeting with the current K teacher to discuss what classroom placement they would recommend for 1st grade.
During the meeting probe for how the areas of your concern have impacted your child this year. Take great notes (or record the meeting on your phone - you do not need to tell the teacher since DC is a 1 party consent state).
In the meeting with the teacher, ask what is the process for requesting special education services. This question officially triggers the process.
https://dcpsspecialed.wixsite.com/home/at-a-glance
The school is going to say - let's wait until the fall.... everyone is busy now ...... they are going to try and kick the can because once you make the verbal request, the clock starts ticking for when they need to complete the process.
Given that you want to keep a + relationship and the school is being supportive, I when they recommend that the process starts in the fall, agree. But the 1st week of school, send an email and ask what the process is and if there is any paperwork you need to sign.

If a team agrees to testing now, it won’t be completed this school year. It would likely go to summer clinic- not the school team.

I have the experience of requesting testing in early April - the school dragged their feet and had the meeting to discuss my request in late April and recommended that they start the evaluation in the Fall because "everyone was busy" with year end. The school had a reputation of dragging their feet and I asked what DCPS's required timelines was once a request was made and for a copy of the "Acknowledgement of Referral to Special Education Letter"
Surprise - they did not officially put the request in the system as they were hoping to do everything in the fall.
They were actually able to complete testing in May and had the Eligibility meeting in June.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like either your DS doesn’t actually have autism, or the educational impacts won’t be apparent until later. Don’t waste the school’s time. Also I’m curious about an evaluator that would dx autism with zero impact at school, and activitely discourage the IEP. It doesn’t add up.

My son wasn't diagnosed as having ASD until he was 11, because he is smart and does well with the school routine. He had issues at home all along - and 123 Magic or whatever works with NT kids was an utter failure with him.

It is possible for kids to mask very effectively in one setting but not others.

OP - seek out services, your son probably qualifies for a 504 if not an IEP, and there are probably some things that the school can offer under a 504 even if he doesn't get a full IEP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it would be worth it to go through the school evaluation process. It sounds like he would qualify for a 504 with accommodations for extra prompts and breaking down multi step processes. He might also qualify for an IEP for social skills support - it wouldn’t necessarily mean pull out services but could get him into the co-taught classroom.

He is very young and the demands on kindergartners aren’t much, so you don’t know what the future will bring. Having the school evaluate now might shave some time off their response if things go off the rails in the next year or two.

I disagree. The demands on kindergarteners are actually quite high if the child is on the spectrum and exactly when you’d expect to see the disability readily apparent. Truly scratching my head at this one.

Tons of kids, especially girls, are being diagnosed with autism as teenagers. The disability is often NOT readily apparent during kindergarten. Associated behavior/attention issues are often misinterpreted as being caused by something else.

Those are not accurate diagnoses.

You're wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like either your DS doesn’t actually have autism, or the educational impacts won’t be apparent until later. Don’t waste the school’s time. Also I’m curious about an evaluator that would dx autism with zero impact at school, and activitely discourage the IEP. It doesn’t add up.

He definitely has autism. ADOS was administered and the results were very clear. He was identified earlier than he might otherwise have been because he had extreme anxiety as a toddler that required therapy, leading to the eventual recommendation to get evaluated for autism.

Evaluator is NOT discouraging IEP. Actually evaluator is recommending we seek IEP. They are just being realistic about what the system will actually provide. We definitely don't want to antagonize the school by requesting the evaluation, but it also feels irresponsible to ignore the psychologist's recommendation.

Please don't self-deny. It is very common that parents are told (incorrectly) by someone (friends, school staff, etc.) that they will not get an IEP.

It is your legal, civil right, as parents, to a free and appropriate public education for your child (FAPE). Schools have an affirmative "Child Find" duty to seek out and evaluate all potential "disabled" children and make sure that those children receive the necessary support to get FAPE.

Upon receipt of your (preferably written) request, the school is obliged to form an IEP team composed of specific school personnel who have qualifications to determine eligibility. You are an equal member of this team.

There are many laws that address educational (and other institutional) disability discriminations, because education is an investment in our country's future human capital. We all need your kid to be able to give their best contribution to society in all dimensions. You are not being the best possible parent if you willing give up some of your student's civil rights. Asking for your civil rights shouldn't "antagonize" anyone. Anyone who is antagonized by your request is behaving unprofessionally.

Also, practically speaking, if you are denied an IEP and then come back again later when things have deteriorated, it makes your subsequent request for an IEP stronger.

There is a huge shift K-3 - social rules become more complicated, students are expected to know and learn implicit classroom rules, language becomes increasingly complex, expectations are higher. All of this places an increasing burden on a student who may be able to compensate initially but at some point later those compensation skills become overwhelmed and the student has increasing difficulty. Common points to become overwhelmed are - entry to preschool, shift to K, 3rd grade, 6th grade, 9th grade, college and grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it would be worth it to go through the school evaluation process. It sounds like he would qualify for a 504 with accommodations for extra prompts and breaking down multi step processes. He might also qualify for an IEP for social skills support - it wouldn’t necessarily mean pull out services but could get him into the co-taught classroom.

He is very young and the demands on kindergartners aren’t much, so you don’t know what the future will bring. Having the school evaluate now might shave some time off their response if things go off the rails in the next year or two.

I disagree. The demands on kindergarteners are actually quite high if the child is on the spectrum and exactly when you’d expect to see the disability readily apparent. Truly scratching my head at this one.

Tons of kids, especially girls, are being diagnosed with autism as teenagers. The disability is often NOT readily apparent during kindergarten. Associated behavior/attention issues are often misinterpreted as being caused by something else.

Those are not accurate diagnoses.

I will give your uncredentialed, anonymous opinion all the consideration it deserves.

My dd has been evaluated by multiple specialists. There was disagreement over whether she had ASD in elementary school. She’s in high school now and it’s abundantly clear that she is on the spectrum. The gap between her peers’ social skills and her own has widened considerably over the years.

She’s had a 504 for ADHD since first grade. She didn’t qualify for an IEP until high school. Her primary issue that qualified her for an IEP is anxiety. Her ADHD would also have qualified her. Her whole education management team is in agreement that her ASD has the least impact on her ability to access the curriculum, although it does impact her socially. Twenty years ago she would have been diagnosed with Aspergers, but today the diagnosis is ASD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No.
1) you have an evaluation and diagnosis
2) do they only need accommodations? If so, just request a 504.
3) do you think they need specialized instruction and meet the eligibility criteria for autism (search your county’s website or ask the dept chat for the autism eligibility form). If you think they need specialized instruction, you can request a local screening committee meeting and the school team can agree or deny testing.
4) if you don’t think your child needs specialized instruction, then requesting a meeting and testing would be a waste of everyone’s time.

The psychologist recommended specialized instruction, as stated in the OP

What psychologist said that? A school psychologist or a private psychologist? A private, medical psychologist has no understanding of specialized instruction in the schools or school eligibility. It doesn’t matter if they said that or wrote that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No.
1) you have an evaluation and diagnosis
2) do they only need accommodations? If so, just request a 504.
3) do you think they need specialized instruction and meet the eligibility criteria for autism (search your county’s website or ask the dept chat for the autism eligibility form). If you think they need specialized instruction, you can request a local screening committee meeting and the school team can agree or deny testing.
4) if you don’t think your child needs specialized instruction, then requesting a meeting and testing would be a waste of everyone’s time.

The psychologist recommended specialized instruction, as stated in the OP

What psychologist said that? A school psychologist or a private psychologist? A private, medical psychologist has no understanding of specialized instruction in the schools or school eligibility. It doesn’t matter if they said that or wrote that.

Why are you being so combative? Obviously we need to get him assessed for eligibility through the school. The psychologist thinks he needs specialized instruction. We (including the psychologist) are well aware this doesn't mean he is eligible, and that was pretty clear in my OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in DCPS (were in a Charter) and have navigated 504s and IEPs.
To answer your question "Is it worth requesting special ed services", I think the answer is yes.
If I were in your shoes, this is what I would do. Schedule a meeting with the current K teacher to discuss what classroom placement they would recommend for 1st grade.
During the meeting probe for how the areas of your concern have impacted your child this year. Take great notes (or record the meeting on your phone - you do not need to tell the teacher since DC is a 1 party consent state).
In the meeting with the teacher, ask what is the process for requesting special education services. This question officially triggers the process.
https://dcpsspecialed.wixsite.com/home/at-a-glance
The school is going to say - let's wait until the fall.... everyone is busy now ...... they are going to try and kick the can because once you make the verbal request, the clock starts ticking for when they need to complete the process.
Given that you want to keep a + relationship and the school is being supportive, I when they recommend that the process starts in the fall, agree. But the 1st week of school, send an email and ask what the process is and if there is any paperwork you need to sign.

If a team agrees to testing now, it won’t be completed this school year. It would likely go to summer clinic- not the school team.

I strongly disagree with the advice to wait until the fall, because this is the timeline for an IEP request.

30 days from request to first meeting at which team is supposed to determine if more data or assessment is needed.

if so, 60 days until 2nd meeting, during which time school system does further assessment

At 2nd meeting eligibility is determined (or not). If eligible team has another 30 days to write IEP.

You definitely do not want to wait for several reasons. If you ask for IEP ASAP, you can request that the school collect data from current teachers who will know you child better and will be willing to be more honest because they will not be her teachers next year when any IEP is implemented.

The time clock doesn't stop running over the summer, so any psychological assessment can be done over the summer. If the 60 days elapses over the summer the school is obliged to meet and make a determination. That may mean you meet with a summer team and you can ask who will be on that team - the law requires certain kinds of people, like a general education teacher but not necessarily your kid's teacher. In the summer, none of your kid's teachers would be available to participate. But, since you can "waive timeline", you can assess the situation prior to the second meeting once you have the data (which you should be provided 5 days prior to the meeting) if the data is clearly in your favor, you might chose to proceed with the eligibility determination meeting. If it is not, you can write a letter and request to delay the meeting and you agree to waive the 60 day timeline requirement if you can schedule a meeting in the first 2-3 weeks of school.

Once determined eligible, there are another 30 days to draft and hold the IEP meeting (at which you go over the contents of the IEP).

In the above scenarios by requesting the IEP now, you would have an IEP in place prior to the start of the next grade or in the first month-ish.

If you choose to wait to request the IEP, the current teachers will not provide input. New teachers who don't know your child will be providing input to the team's recommendation. Also, remember, it takes a 120 days from initial request to approved IEP document. If you wait until Aug 15 or Sept 1 to make your request, your student will not have an IEP until the mid or end of December. Your DD will have gone 1/2 the school year without necessary supports.

[Anonymous]

If you email teacher and say I would like my child tested for special education services, they have to meet within 10 days. At that meeting everyone brings their concerns and teacher input to share. You would submit your report from your private provider as some tests cannot be repeated more than every X years.
The team will then decide on a plan- may be test for eligibility; may be implement X supports and meet again in a few weeks to see if those help.

If the team decides to test, there are then 60 business days to complete that. The timeline doesn’t stop in summer but the issue is that the summer team is not the same people as during the year. So they don’t know your kid in terms of writing the IEP. However at this point maybe the IEP part (if eligible) would be kicked back to the school in August before school starts again.

It’s certainly worth requesting.

[Anonymous]

I have had part of my child's evaluation done by the summer team. The cut and paste my private assessment into their form.

I have not been impressed with "Central Office" if this is the same term for "Summer Team" within DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No.
1) you have an evaluation and diagnosis
2) do they only need accommodations? If so, just request a 504.
3) do you think they need specialized instruction and meet the eligibility criteria for autism (search your county’s website or ask the dept chat for the autism eligibility form). If you think they need specialized instruction, you can request a local screening committee meeting and the school team can agree or deny testing.
4) if you don’t think your child needs specialized instruction, then requesting a meeting and testing would be a waste of everyone’s time.

The psychologist recommended specialized instruction, as stated in the OP

What psychologist said that? A school psychologist or a private psychologist? A private, medical psychologist has no understanding of specialized instruction in the schools or school eligibility. It doesn’t matter if they said that or wrote that.

Why are you being so combative? Obviously we need to get him assessed for eligibility through the school. The psychologist thinks he needs specialized instruction. We (including the psychologist) are well aware this doesn't mean he is eligible, and that was pretty clear in my OP.

Nothing about my comment is combative. It seems you are just defensive and entitled.

[Anonymous]

“Is it worth requesting special education assesments if I know my child won’t qualify for special education service?”

Is this a serious question?
The answer is of course not.
Special education is not the same as private/medical world.
Please just no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Is it worth requesting special education assesments if I know my child won’t qualify for special education service?”

Is this a serious question?
The answer is of course not.
Special education is not the same as private/medical world.
Please just no.

Great job answering a question nobody asked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No.
1) you have an evaluation and diagnosis
2) do they only need accommodations? If so, just request a 504.
3) do you think they need specialized instruction and meet the eligibility criteria for autism (search your county’s website or ask the dept chat for the autism eligibility form). If you think they need specialized instruction, you can request a local screening committee meeting and the school team can agree or deny testing.
4) if you don’t think your child needs specialized instruction, then requesting a meeting and testing would be a waste of everyone’s time.

The psychologist recommended specialized instruction, as stated in the OP

What psychologist said that? A school psychologist or a private psychologist? A private, medical psychologist has no understanding of specialized instruction in the schools or school eligibility. It doesn’t matter if they said that or wrote that.

Why are you being so combative? Obviously we need to get him assessed for eligibility through the school. The psychologist thinks he needs specialized instruction. We (including the psychologist) are well aware this doesn't mean he is eligible, and that was pretty clear in my OP.

Nothing about my comment is combative. It seems you are just defensive and entitled.

I hope that attacking me is helping you manage your rage towards whoever it is you are actually enraged at.