we have had a great experience with Beth

https://educationteamallies.com

Ugh, this is so hard.

I have a few suggestions as a teacher in an MCPS learning center (not in the same grade as your child).

First, the behaviors/needs of other students in the class could be impacting the amount of time the teacher is able to focus on small group instruction with your DD. Not much you can do about that, but something to think about.

You can get an advocate/lawyer for a change of placement but I have some suggestions in the meantime (since any change there WILL take time).

Really drill down on what her challenges are: are her foundational reading skills good (can she decode? read fluently?). If not, advocate for her to receive some evidence-based phonics instruction (like Orton Gillingham). If her learning center teacher can't provide it, could she attend a pull-out group with home school model students that need phonics support (assuming her needs/behavior would allow for that to be effective)? Does she have any inclusion opportunities that offer reading practice with some non-disabled peer models? Also, if this is a need, could you get her a tutor outside of school?

Or, are her needs with reading more in the area of comprehension, perspective taking, making inferrences etc...? In that case, could the teacher send home CKLA Units for you to preview with your DD so she is familiar with the material before being introduced to it at school?

With writing, again, what are her main struggles? Are they spelling/phonics related or vocabulary related or motor related or syntax related, or idea related? Can she write and spell well but needs significant prompting to generate ideas for non-preferred topics? More sentence starters/frames/word banks/visuals? Could they try some assistive technology with her like Clicker? If you give her a sentence in parts can she put them together correctly (like unscramble words to make a sentence)?

Drill down on what her specific needs are in these two areas. This will make it easier to determine what she needs and what specific skills to progress monitor to show that she either is or isn't making progress (what do her quarterly reports show?).

The curriculum demands increase year over year A LOT and she may still be making progress if she's getting C's and D's in the grade level curriculum (just slower and more incremental progress that would allow her to get A's and B's on the gen ed curriculum).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We started down this road when our DD was 9. Same diagnoses. We tried to improve the IEP, we tried to change placements, we hired several advocates. It wasn’t until things had gotten very very bad that we hired a lawyer when our DD was 15 to get a non-public. It was very stressful, and very expensive, and took a long time. It might not for you, if you can get to CIEP. We couldn’t. We had to file.

Non-public was a game changer. But our DD has suffered irreparable damage from those years we tried to make it work.

My advice is get a lawyer now, if there’s any way you can afford it. We couldn’t really. We made it work and went into debt. I’d still do it again without blinking.

There was a previous post about how parents lose school lawsuits around 90 percent of the time. Can you share what helped make your suit successful?

I'm not the PP and I don't know how accurate it is that parents lose a lot of lawsuits but sometimes the attorney is used through the process to get the school to put what they need in the IEP and it avoids going to a due process hearing. It seems that many cases are settled before mediation or before due process.

Correct, attorneys are often able to resolve things without litigation. That is always the goal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blattner is retiring.

My personal experience with her was quite so so. She also made a really poor recommendation for a lawyer.

As as teacher I believe I know how you are who’s posted this concern before. The problem was you.

If you are really a teacher, the problem is YOU

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We started down this road when our DD was 9. Same diagnoses. We tried to improve the IEP, we tried to change placements, we hired several advocates. It wasn’t until things had gotten very very bad that we hired a lawyer when our DD was 15 to get a non-public. It was very stressful, and very expensive, and took a long time. It might not for you, if you can get to CIEP. We couldn’t. We had to file.

Non-public was a game changer. But our DD has suffered irreparable damage from those years we tried to make it work.

My advice is get a lawyer now, if there’s any way you can afford it. We couldn’t really. We made it work and went into debt. I’d still do it again without blinking.

There was a previous post about how parents lose school lawsuits around 90 percent of the time. Can you share what helped make your suit successful?

I'm not the PP and I don't know how accurate it is that parents lose a lot of lawsuits but sometimes the attorney is used through the process to get the school to put what they need in the IEP and it avoids going to a due process hearing. It seems that many cases are settled before mediation or before due process.

Anonymous wrote:We started down this road when our DD was 9. Same diagnoses. We tried to improve the IEP, we tried to change placements, we hired several advocates. It wasn’t until things had gotten very very bad that we hired a lawyer when our DD was 15 to get a non-public. It was very stressful, and very expensive, and took a long time. It might not for you, if you can get to CIEP. We couldn’t. We had to file.

Non-public was a game changer. But our DD has suffered irreparable damage from those years we tried to make it work.

My advice is get a lawyer now, if there’s any way you can afford it. We couldn’t really. We made it work and went into debt. I’d still do it again without blinking.

There was a previous post about how parents lose school lawsuits around 90 percent of the time. Can you share what helped make your suit successful?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blattner is retiring.

My personal experience with her was quite so so. She also made a really poor recommendation for a lawyer.

As as teacher I believe I know how you are who’s posted this concern before. The problem was you.

Be careful with advocates. I'm an attorney (not in Maryland). I'm constantly amazed at the misinformation that advocates spout. They can do some real damage.

With WEG, you're hiring a business that employs multiple advocates and also provides other educational services. This level of support can lead to higher rates like those you shared.

Quality advocacy can be found with the DC area at lower rates with independent advocates. There are several excellent advocates in MoCo, NOVA and DC that bring substantial SE experience, deliver exceptional results for families and students, and do so for about 10-20% less.

If not already part of your discovery, interview 2 or 3 advocates, including independent ones.

Good luck!

We started down this road when our DD was 9. Same diagnoses. We tried to improve the IEP, we tried to change placements, we hired several advocates. It wasn’t until things had gotten very very bad that we hired a lawyer when our DD was 15 to get a non-public. It was very stressful, and very expensive, and took a long time. It might not for you, if you can get to CIEP. We couldn’t. We had to file.

Non-public was a game changer. But our DD has suffered irreparable damage from those years we tried to make it work.

My advice is get a lawyer now, if there’s any way you can afford it. We couldn’t really. We made it work and went into debt. I’d still do it again without blinking.

Anonymous wrote:Blattner is retiring.

Suzie's practice dissolved. Two of the advocates she trained, Monica Martinez and Anneliese Girson, are still practicing in MD and are highly recommended. OP, we have been down this road. Private school placements are extremely hard to come by. My LO is an 8th grader and has been waiting over a year for a school to accept him. You may be better off seeing what you can get from the school system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't hire an advocate, hire a special education attorney for this.

Most attorneys will tell you that you also need an ed consultant

To do what?

Go in and observe the student, service as an educational expert, review goals and provide feedback

Weinfeld is not what he or his business used to be. Was so disappointed. He’s and his advocates are not assertive enough, it’s about the money for him.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't hire an advocate, hire a special education attorney for this.

Most attorneys will tell you that you also need an ed consultant

To do what?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly OP...this route is going to cost you a lot of money and time...and you may not get a placement at all......they arr very hard to secure. I would take the money and use it instead to hire an OG tutor to meet with tour daughter daily. MCPS Special Education is in shambles right now but they have heavily invested in litigation to fight parents

+1 I've only seen kdis get private placement for behaviors. I'd save my money and send my child to private school with my own money or hire tutors like PP advised. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

I feel like placement for a normal/high IQ kid making no academic progress could be a decent case … especially if OP has any irregularities or failures documented.

OP provided no information relating to her daughter’s IQ. Maybe it’s normal or high. But maybe not.