teen finishing high school going to college... learning disability & getting testing

[Masta]

ive been out of the IEP loop for several yrs. my son did have an IEP in 2006 but tested out (my opinion is even though he struggled, the high school doesnt want to help kid unless they are severely disabled). he had Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) and reading comp problems. he wore an fm unit and went to see a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) weekly for a couple of yrs.

he is a senior now.... graduating in may. wants to go to college. ACT scores were low so he had to take an accuplacer test at the University. he will have to do English 890 & 990 and math 990 before starting college classes.

i need to know what the laws are when it comes my asking his high school to test him again. we have 6 weeks before school is out. what testing should i ask for?

ive forgotten the whole process on what i have to do to get my kid the help he needs. i know by law the State has to help him till he is 21yr (my Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) sisinlaw advised me of this) the university wants a comprehensive evaluation from a school psychiatric.

i do remember something along the lines of if the child IQ and another score where more then 10 points apart that showed the child is struggling.

 

[slsh]

Masta - Special Education is available until the child turns 22 or until the child *graduates high school* - whichever comes first. I know of one very effective parent who got the school to pay for voc. ed for his son from age 18-22 (after he had technically fulfilled graduation requirements) but the child had always had an IEP and the goals of the IEP were never met (specifically the transition goals). Again, this dad was one of the most effective advocates I've ever met, and his SD was extremely cooperative. I think that is by far the exception though.

I don't mean to be pessimistic, but I don't think there's a chance you're going to get sped services put in place, much less an an evaluation, for a kid who is graduating in 6 weeks. Once he gets his diploma, your school district is done.

What services specifically are you looking for? It sounds positive that the university is offering classes to help him tune up for college level courses. It strikes me as a bit odd they want a psychiatric evaluation... but then, not a whole lot of our difficult children make it to college, so... I don't know, could be fairly routine.

 

[Masta]

i dont expect the school to put my son into a Special Education class, or to give him accommodations. what im looking for is for him to be tested on reading comp/writing, and Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) so we can see if he is eligible for accommodations when he attends University.

i emailed the Special Education dept yesterday stating this: My son took the ACT test and the University Accuplacer test and has received low scores. He struggles with reading comp and some Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) problems. I have met with the Disability Center at the University and they suggested my son get tested for Learning Disability (LD) before school is out. Im wondering if we can get started on this asap.

their reply was this: What we can do is start with some classroom observations.
We will probably do some informal assessments, and then if we see anything that warrants it, we can do further testing. I will keep you posted.

Question: Can they do this informal observation without me signing any paperwork? whos to say they will do anything? If i ask for an evaluation can she get away with only doing the "in class observations" or does she have to send home the evaluation form for me to sign to get started on the appropriate testing?

the child im asking about is the 2nd oldest. i havent updated my signiture.. he is 17.5yrs old. Suffers from anxiety, hypothyroidism & adrenal issues.

 

[singlewarrior]

Slsh,

According to what I have found out for my difficult child who is entering college in the fall, the psychiatric evaluation serves as the "appropriate documentation" to warrant accommodations. His high school told me over and over this past year that just because he had accommodations in HS doesn't mean he will get them in college. It sounds to me as if it will be basically starting over fighting the battle to get accommodations. If anyone else has experience getting accommodations for their difficult child child in college, I would love to have your thoughts and input about what kind of accommodations are likely to be agreed to by colleges. difficult child is Learning Disability (LD), MDD.

 

[JJJ]

A letter from an MD stating that he has a diagnosed disability will qualify him for protections under Section 504. It does not automatically qualify him for services. In order to get services, the disability must have a negative impact on his education. Most colleges have an office of disability services, the first step is for the student to meet with them and determine what help is available and then what needs to be done to qualify for those services.

 

[InsaneCdn]

It strikes me as a bit odd they want a psychiatric evaluation... but then, not a whole lot of our difficult children make it to college, so... I don't know, could be fairly routine.

If the most recent psychiatric or Ed psychiatric testing is more than 3 years old (or even close to that), they will want an "update"... as in, re-test.
If school can't do that for you, then non-school psychiatric testing (i.e. running same tests as school would) should be equivalent (it is here). For a minimum, you need to know what tests were done in the past, and what all of those results were - its the comparisons that will be telling in the big picture.

Here, at least, if you have "standard accommodations" in HS, you get them in college... untimed tests, scribe, note-taking service, allowance for use of technology (i.e. they won't GIVE you technology, but you can get permission for its use)... but they wouldn't provide a "home-base" for an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) student, for example (that's non-standard, i.e. not an "educational" accommodation)