Reply to IEP meeting tomorrow. Need some guidance please.

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[quote=Anonymous]If you are in FCPS you should call the compliance officer.  Call the head administrative office (can't remember the name but they are located in an old school near Merrifield) and demand to speak to the compliance officer and have her attend tomorrow.  We had to call one meeting when it was clear that our son wasn't getting the services promised in his IEP.  The head of special services at our high school seems to think her job is to keep kids OUT of special ed and to grant as few services as possible.  But once she heard I had the compliance officer coming suddenly everyone started behaving.  We had the case worker and all of our son's teachers at the meeting.  We also brought in our tutor and our son's psychiatrist. Make sure you have an IEP (you can sue) not a 504 (can't sue).  504s are worthless.  Do ask to change your Case worker if you don't like her - ours is wonderful.  If you can't pull all of this together by tomorrow, push it off until you can get your psychiatrist, tester, tutor (whomever you are using) to attend as well.  Our psychiatrist was very aggressive and made all our arguments for us.  Some people lawyer up but that is super expensive and I have seen most of those cases backfire.  Your best bet is to get ahold of the compliance officer and say you need help.  That is her job.  BTW there are many books written on how to write your IEP.  Just go to amazon.com and type in IEP and you will find them.  I can't tell you specifically what to ask for because I don't know your daughter.  But she should be in a team taught class, which means a second teacher (usually trained in special ed) is your contact for all homework issues, etc.  She can ask to have a computer if she needs one for note-taking.  She can ask to be seated at the front of the room (to minimize distraction).  She can ask for limited homework.  She can ask, as you already know, for extra time on tests.  Good luck.  Yes, it's brutal.  and 11:25 is correct - don't believe everything they tell you.  And do educate yourself.  Wrightslaw.com is pretty good - he has some books on how to write an IEP.  I helped draft the Americans with Disabilities Act and am constantly amazed at how some school districts do everything possible NOT to comply (because it costs money) and help those kids who really need assistance.  You will have to scratch and claw your way to get what your daughter needs but it is worth it in the end.  Do try to use the County's Compliance Officer first - she's free - before you turn to an educational advocate or lawyer.  It's free and in my experience the schools are more responsive to that than to an outside educational consultant (most of whom I have found have their own problems and are worthless).  Also, keep an enormous file on your daughter and note everything - keep all notes of conversations, test results, IEPs, everything.  You will need proof of much of this should your daughter go to college - there she will have to take her file to the disabilities office (providing the college has one) and present her case for special services.  At the college level that might mean copies of the professor's notes, extra time on tests, seating up front, free tutoring services.[/quote]

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