Are you obligated to disclose your child's autism diagnosis to a new school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school is well aware that parents do not report known development issues with new students. If the child barely talks, they are going to notice it very quickly. The school will begin their own evaluation process and develop and IEP for the student. Why waste all that time when an evaluation has already taken place?

A school can't do evaluations without the parents' consent. I wonder what will happen when the teachers approach the parents with their concerns?

OP, how old is the child?

There is a family like this at our school. The parents refuse to allow their child to be evaluated. The school has provided extensive 1:1 tutoring for almost two yrs/grades and the child still is not learning anything and getting further and further behind academically. It's very sad.

How do you know all of this? School evaluations are not some kind of magic. It's possible the parents are getting their own private assistance, or the 1:1 tutoring is the same that the child would get otherwise.

It's a small community and people know. The parents are not getting any assistance for their kid: They like the neighborhood feel and convenience of the school and don't seem too concerned about academics.

You sure seem like you must be a great mind reader. Have you thought of monetizing that?

I've heard both sides so I don't need to read minds.

Both sides? So the teacher is telling you that this child is not learning anything due to undiagnosed issues? That's surprising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school is well aware that parents do not report known development issues with new students. If the child barely talks, they are going to notice it very quickly. The school will begin their own evaluation process and develop and IEP for the student. Why waste all that time when an evaluation has already taken place?

A school can't do evaluations without the parents' consent. I wonder what will happen when the teachers approach the parents with their concerns?

OP, how old is the child?

There is a family like this at our school. The parents refuse to allow their child to be evaluated. The school has provided extensive 1:1 tutoring for almost two yrs/grades and the child still is not learning anything and getting further and further behind academically. It's very sad.

How do you know all of this? School evaluations are not some kind of magic. It's possible the parents are getting their own private assistance, or the 1:1 tutoring is the same that the child would get otherwise.

It's a small community and people know. The parents are not getting any assistance for their kid: They like the neighborhood feel and convenience of the school and don't seem too concerned about academics.

You sure seem like you must be a great mind reader. Have you thought of monetizing that?

I've heard both sides so I don't need to read minds.

Both sides? So the teacher is telling you that this child is not learning anything due to undiagnosed issues? That's surprising.

The tutor told me with without identifying the child but she did not know I am friends with the family. Like I said, small community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school is well aware that parents do not report known development issues with new students. If the child barely talks, they are going to notice it very quickly. The school will begin their own evaluation process and develop and IEP for the student. Why waste all that time when an evaluation has already taken place?

A school can't do evaluations without the parents' consent. I wonder what will happen when the teachers approach the parents with their concerns?

OP, how old is the child?

They actually can. Here's a case from the MSDE due process hearing results website from 2010 where MCPS took a parent to court over refusal to consent to assessments in the face of a mountain of evidence that something was amiss with their child, and won the right to do numerous evaluations without parental consent: http://marylandpublicschools.org/NR/rdonlyres/AF37843C-E575-4862-B809-B12B256BC044/29405/10HMONT18299.pdf

Now, obviously this is probably very rare and only happens in cases where there are severely disruptive behaviors and the school is desperate, and I imagine the parent could then just decline services and an IEP anyway after the assessments were completed. But if a school system has the evidence and wants to go to the trouble and expense, they absolutely can take a parent to court and get the right to do testing without consent.

In response to the thread question, no, of course you're not obligated, but in this case they're certainly going to figure it out, likely fairly quickly. And then the question is what kind of relationship do you want to have with the teachers and staff trying to help your child learn, who are now going to be suspicious and mistrustful of you and think you're "that" parent and interact with you accordingly. It's a balancing act.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend says she does not want her child to be labeled as "special needs" and does not plan on telling the school. I also have a special needs child and have an IEP. I want to be sure that the school is informed and ready to help my child. Is this a common thing?.....not to disclose a diagnosis for fear of being labeled? The thought never even crossed my mind.

This is a very common reaction and emotion for a parent.

She is not legally obligated to tell the school, but it doesn't really matter because it won't take very long at all for teachers to start taking note of his behaviors and call a parent meeting which will be followed by recommended testing. She will have to get over her fear because labeling is a reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school will push for an evaluation if they see big problems anyway.

The school will push for an evaluation and then the parents will have to disclose that their child already has an ASD diagnosis at which point the school will know that they are those kind of parents.

former preschool teacher- and this happened a lot. Really wasted a lot of time in the school year and caused both child and classroom/ enrichment teachers to struggle since they were in the dark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school is well aware that parents do not report known development issues with new students. If the child barely talks, they are going to notice it very quickly. The school will begin their own evaluation process and develop and IEP for the student. Why waste all that time when an evaluation has already taken place?

A school can't do evaluations without the parents' consent. I wonder what will happen when the teachers approach the parents with their concerns?

OP, how old is the child?

There is a family like this at our school. The parents refuse to allow their child to be evaluated. The school has provided extensive 1:1 tutoring for almost two yrs/grades and the child still is not learning anything and getting further and further behind academically. It's very sad.

How do you know all of this? School evaluations are not some kind of magic. It's possible the parents are getting their own private assistance, or the 1:1 tutoring is the same that the child would get otherwise.

It's a small community and people know. The parents are not getting any assistance for their kid: They like the neighborhood feel and convenience of the school and don't seem too concerned about academics.

You sure seem like you must be a great mind reader. Have you thought of monetizing that?

I've heard both sides so I don't need to read minds.

Both sides? So the teacher is telling you that this child is not learning anything due to undiagnosed issues? That's surprising.

The tutor told me with without identifying the child but she did not know I am friends with the family. Like I said, small community.

And here is where we can refer back to the recent thread about parents gossiping about an SN child at their child's school. The child's tutor should not be discussing this with PP and PP, you should be shutting him/her down for doing it. Incredibly unprofessional of the tutor and inappropriate for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school is well aware that parents do not report known development issues with new students. If the child barely talks, they are going to notice it very quickly. The school will begin their own evaluation process and develop and IEP for the student. Why waste all that time when an evaluation has already taken place?

A school can't do evaluations without the parents' consent. I wonder what will happen when the teachers approach the parents with their concerns?

OP, how old is the child?

There is a family like this at our school. The parents refuse to allow their child to be evaluated. The school has provided extensive 1:1 tutoring for almost two yrs/grades and the child still is not learning anything and getting further and further behind academically. It's very sad.

How do you know all of this? School evaluations are not some kind of magic. It's possible the parents are getting their own private assistance, or the 1:1 tutoring is the same that the child would get otherwise.

It's a small community and people know. The parents are not getting any assistance for their kid: They like the neighborhood feel and convenience of the school and don't seem too concerned about academics.

You sure seem like you must be a great mind reader. Have you thought of monetizing that?

I've heard both sides so I don't need to read minds.

Both sides? So the teacher is telling you that this child is not learning anything due to undiagnosed issues? That's surprising.

The tutor told me with without identifying the child but she did not know I am friends with the family. Like I said, small community.

And here is where we can refer back to the recent thread about parents gossiping about an SN child at their child's school. The child's tutor should not be discussing this with PP and PP, you should be shutting him/her down for doing it. Incredibly unprofessional of the tutor and inappropriate for you.

Like I said, she did NOT identify the child. Nor did she know that I know the family. She was just incredibly frustrated, felt very bad about situation and was venting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school is well aware that parents do not report known development issues with new students. If the child barely talks, they are going to notice it very quickly. The school will begin their own evaluation process and develop and IEP for the student. Why waste all that time when an evaluation has already taken place?

A school can't do evaluations without the parents' consent. I wonder what will happen when the teachers approach the parents with their concerns?

OP, how old is the child?

There is a family like this at our school. The parents refuse to allow their child to be evaluated. The school has provided extensive 1:1 tutoring for almost two yrs/grades and the child still is not learning anything and getting further and further behind academically. It's very sad.

How do you know all of this? School evaluations are not some kind of magic. It's possible the parents are getting their own private assistance, or the 1:1 tutoring is the same that the child would get otherwise.

It's a small community and people know. The parents are not getting any assistance for their kid: They like the neighborhood feel and convenience of the school and don't seem too concerned about academics.

You sure seem like you must be a great mind reader. Have you thought of monetizing that?

I've heard both sides so I don't need to read minds.

Both sides? So the teacher is telling you that this child is not learning anything due to undiagnosed issues? That's surprising.

The tutor told me with without identifying the child but she did not know I am friends with the family. Like I said, small community.

And here is where we can refer back to the recent thread about parents gossiping about an SN child at their child's school. The child's tutor should not be discussing this with PP and PP, you should be shutting him/her down for doing it. Incredibly unprofessional of the tutor and inappropriate for you.

Yes. Not to mention the fact that the tutor doesn't actually know what the parents are and are not doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school is well aware that parents do not report known development issues with new students. If the child barely talks, they are going to notice it very quickly. The school will begin their own evaluation process and develop and IEP for the student. Why waste all that time when an evaluation has already taken place?

A school can't do evaluations without the parents' consent. I wonder what will happen when the teachers approach the parents with their concerns?

OP, how old is the child?

There is a family like this at our school. The parents refuse to allow their child to be evaluated. The school has provided extensive 1:1 tutoring for almost two yrs/grades and the child still is not learning anything and getting further and further behind academically. It's very sad.

How do you know all of this? School evaluations are not some kind of magic. It's possible the parents are getting their own private assistance, or the 1:1 tutoring is the same that the child would get otherwise.

It's a small community and people know. The parents are not getting any assistance for their kid: They like the neighborhood feel and convenience of the school and don't seem too concerned about academics.

You sure seem like you must be a great mind reader. Have you thought of monetizing that?

I've heard both sides so I don't need to read minds.

Both sides? So the teacher is telling you that this child is not learning anything due to undiagnosed issues? That's surprising.

The tutor told me with without identifying the child but she did not know I am friends with the family. Like I said, small community.

And here is where we can refer back to the recent thread about parents gossiping about an SN child at their child's school. The child's tutor should not be discussing this with PP and PP, you should be shutting him/her down for doing it. Incredibly unprofessional of the tutor and inappropriate for you.

Like I said, she did NOT identify the child. Nor did she know that I know the family. She was just incredibly frustrated, felt very bad about situation and was venting.

FERPA applies to "personally identifiable information." Obviously she was giving out enough information for it to be "personally identifiable."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school is well aware that parents do not report known development issues with new students. If the child barely talks, they are going to notice it very quickly. The school will begin their own evaluation process and develop and IEP for the student. Why waste all that time when an evaluation has already taken place?

A school can't do evaluations without the parents' consent. I wonder what will happen when the teachers approach the parents with their concerns?

OP, how old is the child?

There is a family like this at our school. The parents refuse to allow their child to be evaluated. The school has provided extensive 1:1 tutoring for almost two yrs/grades and the child still is not learning anything and getting further and further behind academically. It's very sad.

How do you know all of this? School evaluations are not some kind of magic. It's possible the parents are getting their own private assistance, or the 1:1 tutoring is the same that the child would get otherwise.

It's a small community and people know. The parents are not getting any assistance for their kid: They like the neighborhood feel and convenience of the school and don't seem too concerned about academics.

You sure seem like you must be a great mind reader. Have you thought of monetizing that?

I've heard both sides so I don't need to read minds.

Both sides? So the teacher is telling you that this child is not learning anything due to undiagnosed issues? That's surprising.

The tutor told me with without identifying the child but she did not know I am friends with the family. Like I said, small community.

And here is where we can refer back to the recent thread about parents gossiping about an SN child at their child's school. The child's tutor should not be discussing this with PP and PP, you should be shutting him/her down for doing it. Incredibly unprofessional of the tutor and inappropriate for you.

Yes. Not to mention the fact that the tutor doesn't actually know what the parents are and are not doing.

I know the parents and they are not doing anything. Pretty much like OP's friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school is well aware that parents do not report known development issues with new students. If the child barely talks, they are going to notice it very quickly. The school will begin their own evaluation process and develop and IEP for the student. Why waste all that time when an evaluation has already taken place?

A school can't do evaluations without the parents' consent. I wonder what will happen when the teachers approach the parents with their concerns?

OP, how old is the child?

They actually can. Here's a case from the MSDE due process hearing results website from 2010 where MCPS took a parent to court over refusal to consent to assessments in the face of a mountain of evidence that something was amiss with their child, and won the right to do numerous evaluations without parental consent: http://marylandpublicschools.org/NR/rdonlyres/AF37843C-E575-4862-B809-B12B256BC044/29405/10HMONT18299.pdf

Now, obviously this is probably very rare and only happens in cases where there are severely disruptive behaviors and the school is desperate, and I imagine the parent could then just decline services and an IEP anyway after the assessments were completed. But if a school system has the evidence and wants to go to the trouble and expense, they absolutely can take a parent to court and get the right to do testing without consent.

In response to the thread question, no, of course you're not obligated, but in this case they're certainly going to figure it out, likely fairly quickly. And then the question is what kind of relationship do you want to have with the teachers and staff trying to help your child learn, who are now going to be suspicious and mistrustful of you and think you're "that" parent and interact with you accordingly. It's a balancing act.

Wow, that's an extremely sad case. I wonder how it ended up, and if there was anything the schools could have done to make it less confrontational and end up better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school is well aware that parents do not report known development issues with new students. If the child barely talks, they are going to notice it very quickly. The school will begin their own evaluation process and develop and IEP for the student. Why waste all that time when an evaluation has already taken place?

A school can't do evaluations without the parents' consent. I wonder what will happen when the teachers approach the parents with their concerns?

OP, how old is the child?

There is a family like this at our school. The parents refuse to allow their child to be evaluated. The school has provided extensive 1:1 tutoring for almost two yrs/grades and the child still is not learning anything and getting further and further behind academically. It's very sad.

How do you know all of this? School evaluations are not some kind of magic. It's possible the parents are getting their own private assistance, or the 1:1 tutoring is the same that the child would get otherwise.

It's a small community and people know. The parents are not getting any assistance for their kid: They like the neighborhood feel and convenience of the school and don't seem too concerned about academics.

You sure seem like you must be a great mind reader. Have you thought of monetizing that?

I've heard both sides so I don't need to read minds.

Both sides? So the teacher is telling you that this child is not learning anything due to undiagnosed issues? That's surprising.

The tutor told me with without identifying the child but she did not know I am friends with the family. Like I said, small community.

And here is where we can refer back to the recent thread about parents gossiping about an SN child at their child's school. The child's tutor should not be discussing this with PP and PP, you should be shutting him/her down for doing it. Incredibly unprofessional of the tutor and inappropriate for you.

Yes. Not to mention the fact that the tutor doesn't actually know what the parents are and are not doing.

I know the parents and they are not doing anything. Pretty much like OP's friend.

Oh, just stop. You don't know anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school is well aware that parents do not report known development issues with new students. If the child barely talks, they are going to notice it very quickly. The school will begin their own evaluation process and develop and IEP for the student. Why waste all that time when an evaluation has already taken place?

A school can't do evaluations without the parents' consent. I wonder what will happen when the teachers approach the parents with their concerns?

OP, how old is the child?

There is a family like this at our school. The parents refuse to allow their child to be evaluated. The school has provided extensive 1:1 tutoring for almost two yrs/grades and the child still is not learning anything and getting further and further behind academically. It's very sad.

How do you know all of this? School evaluations are not some kind of magic. It's possible the parents are getting their own private assistance, or the 1:1 tutoring is the same that the child would get otherwise.

It's a small community and people know. The parents are not getting any assistance for their kid: They like the neighborhood feel and convenience of the school and don't seem too concerned about academics.

You sure seem like you must be a great mind reader. Have you thought of monetizing that?

I've heard both sides so I don't need to read minds.

Both sides? So the teacher is telling you that this child is not learning anything due to undiagnosed issues? That's surprising.

The tutor told me with without identifying the child but she did not know I am friends with the family. Like I said, small community.

And here is where we can refer back to the recent thread about parents gossiping about an SN child at their child's school. The child's tutor should not be discussing this with PP and PP, you should be shutting him/her down for doing it. Incredibly unprofessional of the tutor and inappropriate for you.

Yes. Not to mention the fact that the tutor doesn't actually know what the parents are and are not doing.

I know the parents and they are not doing anything. Pretty much like OP's friend.

Oh, just stop. You don't know anything.

And you know this how? Mind reading.

The situation OP describes isn't rare.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't matter what you know about the parents (you are certainly not their friend) or that the tutor is frustrated or where FERPA applies (not here, BTW, but that's another thread). You, PP, should have shut the tutor down and you should get your nose out of this other family's business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't matter what you know about the parents (you are certainly not their friend) or that the tutor is frustrated or where FERPA applies (not here, BTW, but that's another thread). You, PP, should have shut the tutor down and you should get your nose out of this other family's business.

I can assure you I mind my own business. The tutor was venting and I did not know what she was going to say until she said it so not possible to shut her down.

The mom told me about their situation without any prompting from me.

I never talk about this to anyone except on this forum bc it is the same situation as what OP is describing the except it's been going on a lot longer.