How to request an IEP when the school is no help

[marcil21]

Hello,

I have been struggling with my childs school, after many repeated incidents this year I realized there is a problem going on. My daughter is an only child and is 11yrs old. She has became very depressed and through recent talks she is having a really hard time in school with her behavior. She tells me she has no friends and that she thinks being mean and acting out in front of them will make the kids like her. She has also told me she has a problem with lying no matter how hard she want's to tell the truth she can't. She said she knows the things she's doing are wrong but she just can't control her behavior. She absolutely hates school and her grades aren't the best.Her latest punishment was one I was totally against which was making her sit all alone during lunch I was very upset and hurt when she told me the other students were laughing at her and the next day one girl came and sat by her so they added another day of punishment instead of telling the student to move. I kept her out of school for the next 2 days and when she came back they continued the punishment because she was absent. I called to request that my child not be disciplined like that and to have her pulled from the lunch room and they refused. I've tried the school guidance counselor but that was a big flop she was being rewarded for good behavior with makeup yes makeup!! She came home awhile ago with high heels and when I asked her where she got them she told me the guidance counselor. So I put a stop to it, her new principle is also head of the special education department, I asked her how do I go about getting an iep done and all she would tell me is that she really didn't know(as a principle shouldn't she have told me about doing an iep) and that I had to go see her dr. The dr is telling me I have to write a letter to the school requesting an iep? I'm so confused can someone pleas give me some advice I would greatly appreciate it. Also I was told to have her evaluated by someone other than the school? Should I take her to a psychologist for the iep? I also want to get her the proper help what type of professional is best qualified in this area would it be a psychologist or psychiatrist I live in Pittsburgh PA if anyone can reccommend a good one.
Thank you for reading my extremely long post this has been a very frustrating situation...

 

[Lothlorien]

Yes, you need to write a letter to the director of Special Education, copy it to the principle of her school. You need to state her age, what grade and what school she's in. You should state that your daughter has trouble focusing in school and you suspect adhd (you could say something else, but in all honesty, this is what gets their hairs up) then state that because of this, you feel she meets the criterior for the "Individuals with Disabilites Act of 2004". You tell them that you would like an IEP evaluation and that you expect this to be a full multi-disciplinary evaluation. That's pretty much all you need.

 

[jal]

Be sure that when you request an evaluation you send it to the Director of Special Education or the Director of Pupil Services (however its worded in your school district) by registered mail. This will give you a copy of receipt which kicks off a federal timeline in which they must complete the evaluations. If you send it regular mail it can be claimed it was not received.

If the principal is also the Dir of Special Education, then yes, of course she should have told you how to apporach an IEP request. Either person in either position should be able to assist you with that information. SD's do not want to give out that info however, because IEP's can cost money and they can also cost A LOT of money depending upon the services needed.

A psychiatrist or a psychologist will not help you with the IEP, but can help with certain independent testing that you can present at the IEP in conjunction with the school testing you requested, but my recommendation would be to seek out a neuropsychologist, that can go above what a psychiatric or psychologist will test for that may help to pinpoint what is going on with your child.

 

[TeDo]

Send a Certified Letter with Return Receipt Requested to the Director of Special Education requesting that you would like your daughter "evaluated for Special Education Services including but not limited to thorough academic, psychological, behavioral, Occupational Therapist (OT), and Speech evaluations." Get that done first.

Then seek out a neuropsychologist. The good ones usually have a long waiting list so get on it as soon as you can. In the meantime, find a good Child Psychiatrist and a Ph.D. level Psychologist. They are the ones that will be able to do an independent evaluation. They can also help with things in the long run for your daughter. Tell them you are "concerned about her level of depression and the troubles she's having at school". They cannot do anything about an IEP but they can help her and give you documentation (after they' ve done testing) to take back to the school as additional info.

Good luck and welcome to our little corner of the world.

 

[zaftigmama]

Principal doesn't know how to initiate IEP procedure--that's rich and right up there with a guidance counselor who gives a CHILD high heels as a reward. Ridic.

This is what you can expect--subterfuge and half-answers and outright lies. My letter said something like "In accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Act of..."

You can also deliver your letter in person and request a date-stamped copy right there. Most secretaries know the drill on this; they'll just stamp your letter and give you your copy right away.