I have gone to the archives to make some sense out of this in regards to Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). We have sent our letter requesting our IEE today. Well today(teacher has no idea we sent it) she called and told my husband difficult child doesn't have a disability due to the results of our last meeting(she ended by saying she thought it was behavioral while the others says its a result of her Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)) So first day back to school the teacher "sees" that my daughter is not going to have a good day by difficult child "eyes" no kidding. So she gave her something "fun" to do, the calendar, which takes some time and let her friend help her(the one she gets in trouble with and did before the break when they were unsupervised in the classroom during recess where they must miss recess until they earn their funny money back(supposed to be a reward for doing good, my difficult child lost her money and was in the hole because she was unable to complete her assignments in class)so the teacher says they carried on and talked during this activity she gave my daughter for "fun" to make her happy to be in school for 20-40 minutes and disturbed the class. Now I have no idea why she would let 2 children disturb the class for this long, however she is documenting it all in her my difficult child's book she is keeping on her. (before the break she documented everything my difficult child did or said or the need to be redirected on 15 to 30 minute intervals)The teacher calls my husband to tell him all of this. She also then discusses with the class about the rules of the school and now difficult child and her friend have been seperated to oppositite sides of the room but she said they were "talking" through this lecture, husband asked that they were actually talking across the room, well no the teacher said they were talking with their "EYES"!!! All I can say is @#$@$#@. Come one now. I see what is happening. The minute my difficult child was found not disabled (with her Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) diagnosis) the teacher lowered her 2 social studies reports by one letter grade each for being late, meantime difficult child had her funny money took away and was in the hole for not completing her social studies reports in class and ALSO was being kept in from recess for over 2 weeks for not completing her social studies report in class on time. We were told that she should work on writing assignments(she has problems with some written expression usually her opinions and thoughts) with her therapist she sees once or twice a month at night. So much for FAPE. They see no educational impact since she is still learning and lower grades do not mean she is not learning. She scores high all on testing and her standardized tests. So how do we prove she needs an IEP??? We are requesting for the IEE. Doesn't being removed from class(office a couple of times) her anxiety, her being kept in from recess, her inability to complete some written work at school count???? The teacher is not retaliating and yes this will cause behavior problems with difficult child on how she is approached. Now difficult child hates school, told her uncle she was going to puke today and not have to go to school, before the holidays she came home one day for throwing up(did she or did she just say it to come home?) she used to love to read but now hates it. I moved her from a more disciplined Catholic school and she wasn't happy. She is more happy here but its going down the tubes fast. husband is keeping this all in writing. I'm thinking he responds to the teacher in writing and cc's the principal. The principal is actually up and up but appears to be letting the teacher run the show. We need this IEP so something can be done to help my difficult child. The teacher asked husband for suggestions. The day before we requested the full evaluation she also asked me for suggestions. There is a care team, they mentioned they could meet but of course over the last few months they have not met, there are no suggestions. Now their behavior team is meeting in 2 weeks about my difficult child so now she is a behavior problem as she didn't meet their eligitability for an IEP. HELP!!!
Adverse educational impact
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I can't help but ask one more question for clarificatino of the situation.
Do you have a written diagnosis from psychiatrist and have you given that to them? Seems to me they can't say it doesn't exist if they're not psychiatrists when a psychiatrist says it exists. The issue then is is the behavior the result of the illness or something else? I've been down that road in a manifestation hearing. But you can't get that because she's not being suspended and she doesn't have an IEP.
How much does this teacher know about Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)? For sure you should demand, or bring yourself, a qualified medical person who can discuss Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) in the meeting.
You're also saying that she needs a FBA and BIP. The one that the teacher has done unilaterally isn't working. But the teacher doesn't see that. But I think you need an IEP before you can demand the FBA.
Have you taken a look at the ways in which a child qualifies for an IEP under the new IDEA? What educational impact is the illness having?
Guess I'm saying that rather than focus on today's crisis take a broader look at what qualifies her for an IEP. Set up the facts so that she qualifies. Then demand a FBA and BIP to be done by a quaified therapist, not by a teacher who is not qualified to do one anyway. Hope that makes sense.
Do you have a written diagnosis from psychiatrist and have you given that to them? Seems to me they can't say it doesn't exist if they're not psychiatrists when a psychiatrist says it exists. The issue then is is the behavior the result of the illness or something else? I've been down that road in a manifestation hearing. But you can't get that because she's not being suspended and she doesn't have an IEP.
How much does this teacher know about Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)? For sure you should demand, or bring yourself, a qualified medical person who can discuss Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) in the meeting.
You're also saying that she needs a FBA and BIP. The one that the teacher has done unilaterally isn't working. But the teacher doesn't see that. But I think you need an IEP before you can demand the FBA.
Have you taken a look at the ways in which a child qualifies for an IEP under the new IDEA? What educational impact is the illness having?
Guess I'm saying that rather than focus on today's crisis take a broader look at what qualifies her for an IEP. Set up the facts so that she qualifies. Then demand a FBA and BIP to be done by a quaified therapist, not by a teacher who is not qualified to do one anyway. Hope that makes sense.
This is a tough one because of how your SD is playing it.
TEST scores are not the whole school story and neither are grades (which can easily be manipulated as your account shows.) The teacher probably will not fail her bec. that would show negative ed. impact. When I finally requested a full case study for ex-difficult child, his grades improved a lot and the complaining about his behavior(which was passive aggressive--he never DID anything specific except be super annoying, so they couldn't figure out how to punish him)diminished because they wanted to make sure there WAS no negative educational impact.
However, ex-difficult child took care of this exactly 7 years ago this next Monday by absolutely refusing to return to school after winter break because of anxiety. He threw a 12 hour melt-down on the kitchen floor. He would not go---THAT is negative impact (this was backed up by his psychiatrist who they had been ignoring regarding how ex-difficult child was feeling about school in general and bullying in particular.) I am not saying that you should get your child to refuse school, but you are in the same sort of situation I was and that is what finally did it. I didn't coach him to have a week-long panic attack but I also didn't hospitalize him. I called the school hourly to tell them I could not get him out of the house and asked for their advice. I wrote letters about the negative impact of an isolated, depressed child refusing to leave the house to go to school dueto anxiety about what would happen to him there. I sent each letter certified and in each I asked for help and cited the law regarding social emotional development being part of "education."
He qualified as SED about 2 weeks later. With accommodations (none of which were academic), he returned to school. He mangaed to remain in public school for 2.5 more years which in my opinion were crucial to his development, i.e., he could live at home before residential placement became absolutely necessary. If I had let the school ignore me, ex-difficult child could not have lived at home and I think residential placement at 12 would have been a disaster for him and at 14.5, it was helpful. However, the point is, you need to figure out how to force your SD to realize that emotional functioning is part of education and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) interferes with educational functioning in many ways.
Martie
TEST scores are not the whole school story and neither are grades (which can easily be manipulated as your account shows.) The teacher probably will not fail her bec. that would show negative ed. impact. When I finally requested a full case study for ex-difficult child, his grades improved a lot and the complaining about his behavior(which was passive aggressive--he never DID anything specific except be super annoying, so they couldn't figure out how to punish him)diminished because they wanted to make sure there WAS no negative educational impact.
However, ex-difficult child took care of this exactly 7 years ago this next Monday by absolutely refusing to return to school after winter break because of anxiety. He threw a 12 hour melt-down on the kitchen floor. He would not go---THAT is negative impact (this was backed up by his psychiatrist who they had been ignoring regarding how ex-difficult child was feeling about school in general and bullying in particular.) I am not saying that you should get your child to refuse school, but you are in the same sort of situation I was and that is what finally did it. I didn't coach him to have a week-long panic attack but I also didn't hospitalize him. I called the school hourly to tell them I could not get him out of the house and asked for their advice. I wrote letters about the negative impact of an isolated, depressed child refusing to leave the house to go to school dueto anxiety about what would happen to him there. I sent each letter certified and in each I asked for help and cited the law regarding social emotional development being part of "education."
He qualified as SED about 2 weeks later. With accommodations (none of which were academic), he returned to school. He mangaed to remain in public school for 2.5 more years which in my opinion were crucial to his development, i.e., he could live at home before residential placement became absolutely necessary. If I had let the school ignore me, ex-difficult child could not have lived at home and I think residential placement at 12 would have been a disaster for him and at 14.5, it was helpful. However, the point is, you need to figure out how to force your SD to realize that emotional functioning is part of education and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) interferes with educational functioning in many ways.
Martie
Yes they have the diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) from her psychiatrist and acknowledge she has Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) but it doesn't affect her learning enough for an IEP. However as soon as the teacher found out she doesn't qualify for an IEP the you know what hit the fan in the class. The teacher was working with her while she was being evaluated and now is treating her like a behavorial problem. She is putting her in situations that make her upset. My difficult child's self esteem is going down the tubes. I need to know how to PROVE that her Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is affecting her enough for an IEP. Whats hurting her is that she is very bright. We have requested for an IEE and will be ready to present our case if we get the IEE. We were unprepared when they denied her.
That is good info to know. She has gone home from school before because she threw up(I think she made it up) she told her Uncle she would not be going to school and would throw up after the break. She ended up going anyway. She sees her therapist next week I will have her discuss this so we can document it. She likes being with her new friends, last school she didn't have as many friends.
The teacher called my husband to ask what to do. The teacher is keeping a daily log of my difficult child's day and what she does. I happened to come upon this after school when I was picking up one of her books. What is this teacher trying to do or prove?
The teacher called my husband to ask what to do. The teacher is keeping a daily log of my difficult child's day and what she does. I happened to come upon this after school when I was picking up one of her books. What is this teacher trying to do or prove?
Sue,
It can go either way--if they are trying to make a case to remove a child to a more secure setting, then looking at some one crooked will be documented as a "threat." If the opposite case is being made, (no negative educational impact), then difficult child's wonderfulness will be documented.
What I was trying to convey above was that I experienced both teacher behaviors within a 2 month period with the same child. Before winter break in 1999, ex-difficult child was a really big passive-aggressive problem for them (true, but he was very different--not the typical acter-out but he was a time eater for the teachers none-the-less. One of his 'specialties' was subtly distracting ADHD boys in his class, who were then blamed for their own distractions. These boys were often bullying ex-difficult child, so this was his revenge.)
AFTER his refusal to return to school, and the case study evaluation was initiated (ex-difficult child DID go back after a week somewhat sporadically), then a more wonderful, bright and talented child could not be found anywhere--thus no negative educational impact. However, we had a very good psychiatrist who was supportive that difficult child was headed for big trouble (depression & suicidality) and needed accommodation of his emotional needs.
So long answer to a short concept: teachers can try to have it both ways with the same kid!!!
Martie
It can go either way--if they are trying to make a case to remove a child to a more secure setting, then looking at some one crooked will be documented as a "threat." If the opposite case is being made, (no negative educational impact), then difficult child's wonderfulness will be documented.
What I was trying to convey above was that I experienced both teacher behaviors within a 2 month period with the same child. Before winter break in 1999, ex-difficult child was a really big passive-aggressive problem for them (true, but he was very different--not the typical acter-out but he was a time eater for the teachers none-the-less. One of his 'specialties' was subtly distracting ADHD boys in his class, who were then blamed for their own distractions. These boys were often bullying ex-difficult child, so this was his revenge.)
AFTER his refusal to return to school, and the case study evaluation was initiated (ex-difficult child DID go back after a week somewhat sporadically), then a more wonderful, bright and talented child could not be found anywhere--thus no negative educational impact. However, we had a very good psychiatrist who was supportive that difficult child was headed for big trouble (depression & suicidality) and needed accommodation of his emotional needs.
So long answer to a short concept: teachers can try to have it both ways with the same kid!!!
Martie
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Guest
I have no idea what teacher is trying to accomplish but maybe there's an element of covering her rear? So she's documenting everything including coversations with parents just as we would recommend to parents?
We have the go ahead for the IEE. However we do not have the report from their evalaution yet. Next is requesting this in writing if we do not get it now. We can get evaluations in the areas that they tested and have got the list of approved qualifications, limits on spending, and list of testers who have been approved, however we can go outside of this spectrum as long as we keep it in their cost frame. I will post what these are later to see if they are reasonable. We are also limited to our greater area of our city which is fine, we are a larger city and have alot of places we can go, I wasn't planning on going to another city. I would prefer to do all the testing at one location so will check with local people who know this in our city.
Sheila
Moderator
Good news about the IEE!!! :warrior:
The school district is required by law to provide you a list of evaluators, HOWEVER, you do not have to use them. Actually, if you want a true IEE, don't use them unless you check them out VERY THOROUGHLY -- qualifications, percentage of their business derived from school districts, references, reputation, etc. You don't want evaluators who derive their income primarily from school districts performing the evaluations.
I was given the same info you were given by our sd. It conflicts with State and Federal regs and these are policies -- not law. That doesn't mean you can hop on a plane and take your child out-of-state for the evaluations. Your State Education Agency is required to have personnel on staff to answer Special Education questions. I recommend you call them or your OSEP regional office.
The school district is required by law to provide you a list of evaluators, HOWEVER, you do not have to use them. Actually, if you want a true IEE, don't use them unless you check them out VERY THOROUGHLY -- qualifications, percentage of their business derived from school districts, references, reputation, etc. You don't want evaluators who derive their income primarily from school districts performing the evaluations.
I was given the same info you were given by our sd. It conflicts with State and Federal regs and these are policies -- not law. That doesn't mean you can hop on a plane and take your child out-of-state for the evaluations. Your State Education Agency is required to have personnel on staff to answer Special Education questions. I recommend you call them or your OSEP regional office.
