FCPS and possible evaluation for special education. I have unanswered questions...
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Anonymous
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I have a third grade boy and he is below grade level in math and reading. Last year was his first year in FCPS and his teacher suggested that we might consider having him evaluated for learning disabilities in the next school year. She offered to get the referral process started, but I wanted to wait it out and work with him some more. I just feel like they will not give me the information I want to know about regarding the evaluation processes. I asked questions about how they evaluate students and they just told me they pull them out of class and assess them in certain areas and that there is a psych evaluation. They were so vague about the whole process and I feel like if I knew more about what they do, I might feel more comfortable moving forward with requesting a referral. Until they provide more information, I am not comfortable with doing this.
Does anyone here know what goes on during these evaluations? I'm also curious about the psych evaluation and why they do this. My child's main problem seems to be with paying attention and general boredom with what is being taught or how it's being taught. He does really well in subjects that he is interested in, but he just HATES math! I practice with him at home, but he just can't seem to remember anything that is not interesting enough to him. This is why I'm reluctant to have him pulled from class to be evaluated when I don't even know anything about all of this and they seem unwilling to inform me of it. Any input would be greatly appreciated! |
Anonymous
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Did you already review the parent handbook?
http://www.fcps.edu/dss/sei/Handbook/handbook.pdf |
Anonymous
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I think experiences vary, but I can share my FCPS evaluation story. For the evaluation, my child was pulled out 5 times (2 by evaluator, 3 by another) for maybe 20-30 minutes each time over the course of 1-2 months. They did psych evals, academic evals, auditory test, in-class assessment... They also did an evaluation with me where I talked about my child's history, family, etc. And I had to fill in a 200-ish question test about how my child acts, reacts, etc. I think that the reason they do a pysch eval in addition to simply academic testing is to diagnose a potential learning disability, which is signaled by strong intellectual (not academic....think IQ test) performance in a number of areas, but significant differences in others. In order to qualify for services for a learning disability, they need to say that not only is the child behind in academics, but that it is not related to certain factors and does seem to be a result for of other factors (as determined by the psych eval...like visual processing disorder, etc.).
From what I've seen, experiences vary across schools, so this might not be exactly what you'd experience, but the form to qualify is consistent, which requires both academic triggers plus psych triggers. Just as a reference, the psych eval isn't the kid laying on the counselor's couch and recalling childhood events (that's what I pictured first!!!) -- it's things like seeing a picture of a frog and having to pick from one of three pictures which one starts with the same letter: Fish, Log, Ball.... Hope that helps! |
Anonymous
This is a tremendous help, thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience. I just don't understand why the teachers that I met with can't be more transparent about what will happen, like you just did. |
Anonymous
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I wouldn't let the school psych anywhere near my kid. They are so unqualified to actually diagnose anything. So often their go-to diagnosis is what they already have programming for. So they tried to shove my learning disabled child into an autism program.
They also like secrecy because they view it as keeping all the power. I would get my child privately evaluated. You'll learn a lot more. |
Anonymous
This is about the impression I got when I met with them last school year. I felt like they were eager to diagnose him with something and I don't want that "label" to be carried with him if it's not appropriate or helpful. I also worry about the IEP process because I fear what will happen once there is a "legal contract" attached to my childs education (if that's what they decide is the right course). And I realize that there are other routes, like a 504 or I can decline to sign an IEP if I don't agree with it, but then what? How will the school treat my child if they think I'm being difficult? In my gut I feel like my child was behind the other students when he started at FCPS because the school he came from was behind FCPS, he also isn't very motivated to learn stuff that he finds "boring", and he takes after me a lot academically. He has my handwriting, he struggles with the same things I struggled with when I was his age, he is a daydreamer (like I was), he is easily distracted (like I was), he is well behaved and DOES try when he wants to (just like me when I was his age). I struggled through elementary, middle and high school, and I never had special education, and I wasnt a great student until college when it became my choice to continue my education (and my own financial responsibility!). I feel like he has the potential to do better if he applied himself a little more, but the school day is very long in FCPS and he often comes home from school very tired. He doesn't like school and very much looks forward to the weekend and breaks from school. When we do "homeschool" during the summer, he does fine. We keep it short and I give him assignments that I prepare to help him review what he learned in school and he does them with no problem, but when I get his homework out during the school year, he acts like he can't do it (or just flat out tells me he doesn't want to). I don't know what to do. I'm hoping things get better soon or that the answer becomes more clear to me soon. |
Anonymous
| 12:12 is right. That is the process. To OP - the reason you are not getting more info is probably because the teacher herself doesn't know what really goes on in those sessions. But I want to add that after you've gone through all of this you will probably want to privately have NT testing done as 12:30. You will get more in-depth testing (should run at least three days so kid can get a break) and cost about $3K. And you should do it every three years because the results will most likely change as your child matures. To give you an example of what 12:30 is predicting, the school will do the let's call it "mini-eval" and then tell you that your kid has at most ADHD and they say they can handle it. Then you need to insist on a 504 and they will push back. Then you will get private testing and find out he's really Asperger's on the spectrum, has slow processing issues, dysgraphia, etc. and ask for an IEP and they will push back again. In other words, the school system will be trying to find the least thing NT about your child because they DON'T want to provide these services. |
Anonymous
| OP, I would have the testing done privately if what the school is offering doesn't make you comfortable. I was like you (and sounds like your kid, too) in school. I didn't do well, teachers either said I wasn't all that smart or that I was just lazy and unmotivated. It took me until college and later grad school to realize that I was smart, I just had a hard time with certain things. When my son started to struggle in first grade we had him tested and he is dyslexic. I read up on dyslexia and found I am, too, in all liklihood. And I realized that I didn't have to hate school, I didn't have to feel dumb. What a waste of all those years. I didn't want the same thing for my kid. So he's gotten the specialized support he needs and now he likes school and feels smart. Its worth it, OP. Don't consign your kid to hating school and struggling for all those years, just because you did. It can be different. |
Anonymous
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I would start with the school testing. Let it take its course.
If you do not agree with the evaluation, you can appeal and have a private one done. There is no need to start there. (IMO) For my child, the evaluation identified a gap between expected perforamcen as predicted from the IQ test and actual. He now gets OT once a week and support in his classroom 1 hour a day. |
Anonymous
| Do not worry about labeling your child. You want your child to have access to the resources he needs to be successful. Testing may find nothing, but it may find something. At the very least you will know. If something is found, that will give you the next steps to take. An IEP team includes the parents, it isn't just about the school dictating. |
Anonymous
| Don't be afraid of a label if it can help your kid. |
Anonymous
You are fucking crazy |
Anonymous
But I do agree getting the evaluation done independently |
Anonymous
I'm not at all afraid of a label if it can help my child, I know this can be a touchy subject, so I was worried this would be misinterpreted when I said it. What I actually said was that I don't want him carrying around a label if it is wrong because it wouldn't be beneficial/appropriate for his education. I'm absolutely in favor of interventions and extra support if that is what he needs, but I was looking at how they determine eligibility in the FCPS handbook and there were numerous criteria and the child needs to fall into one or more categories to be eligible. For example, autism, or vision impairment, or hearing impaired etc. I didn't see any that said "other" or "undetermined", which implies that the child needs to fall into one of these specific categories to be eligible. I don't want the school to say, "well he can be eligible under this criteria" just to get him intervention. Then they write up an IEP stating that he has this specific learning disability when he doesn't actually have it. He's made progress each grading period, but he's just not at the same level as everyone else in his class, and I'm sure he's ahead of some of his classmates too. There's a wide range out there and not all of it is normal or typical I guess? Anyways, thanks for your responses everyone, very helpful! |
Anonymous
| My child's IEP and services are for "other health impairment", so there's always that option. I just want to throw out that our experience with FCPS has been wonderful. There are no services we think we should be receiving that we are not. There were some bumps in the road early on, when they were just getting to know our child and we were trying to figure out the system, but we are now several years in and couldn't be happier with the teachers, staff, and specialists. So it isn't all bad and scary. |