Anonymous wrote:Has anyone found Early Stages to be useful and provide meaningful evaluations?

I thought they did a good job on fine and gross motor. Same results as our private testing. But those are fairly objective tests.

I also found the staff very professional and sympathetic. This is only the eval stage - eligibility is a whole different question!

It's actually now a 90 day timeline which was shortened from 130. So it's now on par with other area jurisdictions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, Is it better to go through the school or Early Stages?

You don't have a choice. If your child is less than 5 years, 10 months, early stages is responsible. Older than that it's the school.

If my child is right on the border agewise, any advantage to doing it quickly with Early Stages vs. waiting for the school?

From a logistical standpoint, it's easier to go through the school, where testing will be in a familiar place with perhaps familiar people, instead of going to early stages. I've heard anecdotally that it's easier to qualify through early stages, where they look at delays more broadly. But I suspect the comparison depends on the attitude of your individual school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, Is it better to go through the school or Early Stages?

You don't have a choice. If your child is less than 5 years, 10 months, early stages is responsible. Older than that it's the school.

If my child is right on the border agewise, any advantage to doing it quickly with Early Stages vs. waiting for the school?

The same legal timelines apply to both Early Stages and a school. If you think your child may need a special placement -- e.g. a self contained classroom or other special program -- I'd go to Early Stages as they manage that across all DCPS schools.

https://dcps.dc.gov/specialeducation

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, Is it better to go through the school or Early Stages?

You don't have a choice. If your child is less than 5 years, 10 months, early stages is responsible. Older than that it's the school.

If my child is right on the border agewise, any advantage to doing it quickly with Early Stages vs. waiting for the school?

Has anyone found Early Stages to be useful and provide meaningful evaluations?

Some schools are better than others with IEPs and processes. Email the special education coordinator at your school and ask for a brief meeting or call to walk you through the steps.

The good ones like to know as early as possible about issues and are happy to help parents. We had an LEA who would parallel process eligibility and IEP meetings when it was a clear case of a child being eligible. She and the school psychologist worked really well together. It truly felt like we were an actual team. She was not about wasting anyone's time, including the kids!

Sadly, she went to central office and then left DCPS.

Oh, cc the principal on EVERYTHING. Better yet, invite the principal to be involved.

Anonymous wrote:NP, Is it better to go through the school or Early Stages?

You don't have a choice. If your child is less than 5 years, 10 months, early stages is responsible. Older than that it's the school.

I don't think it matters. But I think you should always do your own evaluation if you can possibly afford it.

NP, Is it better to go through the school or Early Stages?

Just make all requests in writing. If you have a conversation with anyone about it, write a confirming email to document.

How old is your child and what are the concerns?

Anonymous wrote:Anything to watch out for or be concerned by?

It takes a really, really long time. DCPS has, by statute, longer at each stage of the process than any other jurisdiction. Other problems are likely to be specific to your school/team.

Anything to watch out for or be concerned by?

Process in DC is same as most everywhere. You need to start with a written request to your principal.

This is a simple outline of the process. https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/special-services/ieps/the-process-of-getting-your-child-an-iep

Can anyone help walk me through how this works for DCPS? We don't have an independent diagnosis yet but agree with the issues the teacher is identifying.