IEP for HFA/ADHD/Dysgraphia
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Anonymous
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We are in PG County and I am working hard to get an IEP. We do have a assessment review meeting coming up, but I am confused at why we are starting there. I have documentation from KKI, JHU, and a private Behavioral Specialist indicating HFA, ADHD, Dysgraphia, etc. I have provided these to the school, but yet we still need to review? What gives? I feel that we are losing time, especially at the beginning of the year. I was told that the school district hardly ever accept outside assessments without doing their own - MORE wasted time.
Any thoughts? Do I have to wait until they come around to what we need? I need help. EmansMom |
Anonymous
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Hi I am not in PG county but yes, the county will want to do their own assessment. In FCPS--the steps are
1. Local Screening Committee--you fill in a form saying what your concern is and that you are seeking to figure out if your child is eligible for SPED services. 2. If yes, they will go forward with evaluation. 3. Based on the eval--they will give you notice of elgibility. 4. Create IEP It does take a long time. We started in December and was denied by LSC. I then got the private evals and went back in March and then they agreed to evaluate. They finished the testing in May, and we finalized the IEP in June for the next school year. Its a long journey just get started! |
Anonymous
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I'm in DCPS, but when we came to the table with similar diagnoses/lots of outside documentation, the steps (after I filed my initial paperwork) were:
1. Evaluation review. This is when we all discussed the evaluations in detail and what other evaluations were needed. They had their psychologist "review" our neuro-psych eval, which essentially involved summarizing it (a waste of time, but not a big deal), an observation, and OT/SLP evals. I could have said no to the OT/SLP evals, but didn't see any need. 2. Eligibility meeting. The shortest of our meetings. Everyone went around and agreed that DC met the educational criteria of autism (which is different from the DSM criteria). 3. IEP meeting. Lasted a long time. We were given a copy of a draft IEP ahead of time, so we were working on changes to the proposed goals. It took a very, very long time. DC law allows 120 days and it took about 140 days from initial request to signed IEP. |
Anonymous
| What is the educational criteria of autism? I never heard that it is separate from the DSM. Very interested in that. (EmansMom) |
Anonymous
Sorry, I can't find the paperwork that listed it. It was, of course, similar to the DSM but involved whether the social deficits and repetitive/obsessive interests affected accessing the curriculum. I'm sorry I can't find the specific wording -- it was specific to DCPS. |
Anonymous
Basically, you can have a diagnosis, but not necessarily an IEP. Whatever a kid's issues are, you have to get the school to acknowledge that they have an educational impact. Not every kid with autism is going to have identical goals. Wright's Law is a good website to school yourself on the ins and outs of IEPs, 504s, etc.: http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/iep.goals.plan.htm |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous]Hi I am not in PG county but yes, the county will want to do their own assessment. In FCPS--the steps are
1. Local Screening Committee--you fill in a form saying what your concern is and that you are seeking to figure out if your child is eligible for SPED services. 2. If yes, they will go forward with evaluation. 3. Based on the eval--they will give you notice of elgibility. 4. Create IEP It does take a long time. We started in December and was denied by LSC. I then got the private evals and went back in March and then they agreed to evaluate. They finished the testing in May, and we finalized the IEP in June for the next school year. Its a long journey just get started! I would just like to add that the whole process will go a lot faster, better (more in your favor) if you have outside testing done, a psychiatrist willing to bring that testing in to explain what the issues are and what accommodations are needed. We brought in tutor, tester and psychiatrist. Good luck. |
Anonymous
| I don't know about PG County, but my MD school IEP team was happy to accept private testing because it meant they didn't have to take the time to do it themselves. If the disability is obvious and clearly affects education, they are likely to base eligibility on private testing unless it didn't include something they need (like a classroom observation for LD or an educational assessment). If they don't think your child needs special ed, they're more likely to conduct their own assessments to back them up. |