Funny. Laura Solomon gets bashed on this forum all the time. She is abrasive alright, but she definitely got us what we needed. She rewrote the IEP and got us a much more appropriate placement than the school's initial offer.

Anonymous wrote:IEPs are year round. But it is transition meeting time for many - ES to middle, middle to high school.

We had our transition meetings in February for both MS and HS. That is around when classes are decided, so it worked well. We have had additional IEP meetings and Addendums, but they never changed the end date of the current IEP. We are in FCPS.

IEP dates tend to move a bit because they aren't held exactly one year later. The school may hold it early because it would normally be over the summer or right when school starts, or just schedule it a month before the date in case the parents cancel and they need time to make it up. There's a trend of IEPs meetings clustering in April/May, typically. It's also impacted by testing-the school has 90 days to complete the testing so they often request it in January, to avoid the long winter break. Then there's a meeting in April/May to update the IEP, which may become the annual.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My experience has been that many IEPs are intentionally scheduled to be towards the end of the year.

How does that work, when children are identified throughout the year and it needs to be updated annually? Do they do an extra one in the early years?

Some school systems always stay with annual reviews tied to the first eligibility date. Others try to get everyone on a similar schedule and will do an extra one at some point. Our elementary school always updated goals and had a transition meeting with teachers from the class the child was leaving and the ones for the next year in th Spring. For is that also meant things like related services began / resumed as soon as school started in the fall.

Nothing preventing an extra meeting.

Anonymous wrote:My experience has been that many IEPs are intentionally scheduled to be towards the end of the year.

How does that work, when children are identified throughout the year and it needs to be updated annually? Do they do an extra one in the early years?

Anonymous wrote:My experience has been that many IEPs are intentionally scheduled to be towards the end of the year.

+ 1

Especially in MCPS. Speech therapist can't meet with mom this week because she has so many ieps scheduled.

My experience has been that many IEPs are intentionally scheduled to be towards the end of the year.

IEPs are year round. But it is transition meeting time for many - ES to middle, middle to high school.

Our IEP expires early January. Based on when eligibility was found. Why would this be 'IEP time'?

I don't agree with the school evaluation. It is not based on a test or sufficient documentation. It does not reflect my child's abilities and progress. I am looking into obtaining an independent evaluation.

For what? To help you choose a school (public or private)? To help you write a better IEP? To help you get funding for private placement?

Different consultants are better/worse at different things.

A second rec for Clare Anderson

Claire Anderson Consulting in Chevy Chase.

Our dev pediatrician recommended Elizabeth Stoff at 301-294-7319.
We needed someone who knows FCPS, so we asked Stoff for referrals in Fairfax.
She was very helpful the couple of times I spoke to her.

Can anyone recommend an experienced, qualified educational consultant in the Bethesda/Rockville/Gaithersburg area?
Thanks in advance.