Oh, and yes, do bring up that it is not an expired IEP or one even up for reevaluation and you want to keep it in place as is until it IS time for a yearly review. Honestly, you go in there LIT. "IEPs are good for a year. My son has had his for three months. Tell me why on earth you are trying to take the IEP he needs from him 9 months before it is even up for yearly review." If you can hire an advocate, that's great. If you can't (they're expensive), YOU are the advocate. Read as much as you can. Do not go in willing to back down.

I've been through this shit. "She's making so much progress we're discontinuing her!" I promise you, THE PROGRESS WILL STOP. It's bullshit.

Here's what you do: go into the IEP meeting. Refuse to sign to terminate. Say you want a full reevaluation done. Get one privately if you can, because they will do whatever they can to find him "typical" and "not qualified" for services. READ WRIGHTSLAW. KNOW your rights as a parent and what you can ask for your child. Know HIS rights.

They will tell you "If he needs another IEP in the future he can get one." Wrong. Once you've signed to terminate, you essentially agree he doesn't need services. Good luck trying to get them in March if he has trouble. You will be facing another 18 month evaluation process where they have to do Child Study first to see if that helps, after the one or two quarters in which he proved to have difficulty first, THEN maybe a reevaluation that MIGHT find him eligible.

You fight this as hard as you can. A 4 year old does not outgrow ASD and the difficulties it can present in school. I LOATHE these vultures who pounce on the kids making progress and try to scoot them out as if they're success stories. Often the progress DEPENDS on those one on one special services they get.

There is another active thread discussing advocates - see that for recommendations.

Sped teacher here.

A 30 day review at a new school is definitely best practice. So they're a little late to the game, but it's not terrible.

BUT to exit special ed, the schools need A LOT of documentation, which usually means a re-evaluation. It's possible that the school might have enough information without the re-eval, but it's not likely that they have that, given that it's only November.

You said he has an ASD dx from childrens - what's the label on the IEP? ASD or DD?

Exiting special ed is a BIG DEAL. You can't "just switch back" like PP said.

I would also bring in as many outside evaluations as you can get. I have a child with ASD who when moved from pre-k4 to K, the shit really hit the fan. Pre-k is so much easier than K. So many more supports. You may find that with the given structure he is ok. But once those structures are removed, it can be very tough for ASD kids to function.

At the upcoming meeting, just say that you disagree, your outside evaluations disagree and that they don't have enough data to remove his IEP. This is so sad and shocking to me that they want to terminate an IEP for a child with ASD so soon.

OP - you said you moved and started at a new school. So was your IEP developed in another school district or even a DC charter school? If so, the current school is within its rights to reevaluate and start a process to redo it.

Strongly suggest getting an advocate to help you through this.

They can't take it away without your approval. I would just say you're not willing to address that at this time, that's what triennials are for. Period full stop.

You have an unexpired IEP. They cannot take that away. Even when it expires, it stays in place as it is until the IEP team agrees to a new one. An IEP can not be removed without parental agreement.

I would brush up on the law at wrightslaw.com.

Please do not name your school to protect your privacy, but if you are at Janney, the school psychologist there was the psychologist at my son's prior school and does not know how to appropriately interpret needs. We had a situation in which we were being pushed to a 504 from a long term IEP. It is because your child is getting support that he is doing well.

Please push back and you may want to get yourself an advocate. They should not be revising his IEP so soon after implementing it based on a very recent set of evaluations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here, yes I am saying his IEP start date was August 2015!

They cannot terminate an IEP without a comprehensive evaluation:
http://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/15/nl.0421.htm

I would fight this tooth and nail. He may be doing well and continue to do so, but that does not mean he needs to opt out of having an IEP.

Exactly, especially with him being so young and not starting K yet. Now if they want to reduce his service hours that might be an option.

Anonymous wrote:Op here, yes I am saying his IEP start date was August 2015!

They cannot terminate an IEP without a comprehensive evaluation:
http://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/15/nl.0421.htm

I would fight this tooth and nail. He may be doing well and continue to do so, but that does not mean he needs to opt out of having an IEP.

Op here, yes I am saying his IEP start date was August 2015!

First - at least where I am - the move to a 504 plan is not permanent. If he is switched, and he starts struggling, he could be put back on an IEP.

I've had students who move to 504s and parents are understandably nervous. However (again, where I am) we would never move a child to a 504 unless we had solid evidence that they did not need the IEP.

That said - I would hesitate with moving someone so young so quickly off an IEP, especially if there are transitions coming up (i.e.: the move to a different school for kindergarten).

Schools cannot terminate an IEP on a whim. IEPs do not begin/end the same date as the school year, it depends on when the IEP was started - i.e.: some IEPs start/end dates are in September, others in December, others in March, etc. Annual IEP meetings are every year, re evaluations are at least every 3 years. Are you saying the IEP was only established 3 months ago? If so that is way too soon to decide whether or not he needs it and to take away services.

Ending an IEP is a process, and it requires your consent. If you don't feel comfortable moving your child off an IEP, say so.

OP here. One more note. Last year, his disability was definitely interfering with his ability to access the education. This year, SO FAR, i cannot say that with the same certainty. He is very bright and is able to participate appropriately in all activities and lessons, according to his teacher. He does get overwhelmed my sensory needs (hence the OT). But His social skills are pretty good on the whole (mind you he's just 4). Perhaps as he gets older, the deviation in social skills from his peers will get more pronounced, but that probably does not qualify as affecting his ability to access the education now.

Last year in PK-3, DS was having major behavior problems in school. He was evaluated by the school, then diagnosed with ASD by Children's, and we finalized an IEP for him for SLP, OT, PT, and behavior support. We moved over the summer and he started PK-4 in a new DCPS. He started receiving all services this school year for the first time, barely three months ago. The school has scheduled an IEP meeting for mid December and tells us that DS is doing so well that they want to drop all services except OT and move him to a 504 Plan. Of course, we are shocked and are now freaking out.

To be fair, the new school is a much better fit for DS, and we do think he is doing better. We love his teachers and they have a wonderful classroom and playground. DS is thriving. And we definitely had our doubts about some of the specialists who evaluated him before (e.g. The SLP). But we do not want to terminate IEP - just a few months in. Can't we give it at least a year? So Q #1 - can the school terminate the IEP before it hits its end date of one year? Q#2- can the school terminate without our consent? Q#3 - should we seek the legal expertise of an advocate? If so do you have recs for somebody? Thanks.