Dyslexia & Bipolar Type2;totally slow IEP

[veropapi]

My son is 8yo in second grade should be in third but retained in first grade. At his first school which became Title 1 while he was attending things went south.During the first 2wks of school he wasn't doing well in reading & not on task. I asked for him to be evaluated.They lead me to believe he was till I asked for paperwork and found out it was never done.I emailed all over the place for help meantime my son was place in non verbal autistic classroom to help with his behavior.Someone from school district called me & he spoke with school to slap them on the hand for total mess up.They did his evaluation towards the end of the school year but wouldn't have results till school started again is what I was told.So needless to say my son was retained.Following school year the results are he has a high IQ and doesn't qualify for IEP.I bring up the fact that his reading/comprehension scores are very low but no help offered.He went thru 1st grade a second time but still with low scores in reading.Florida can't retain more than once in 1st grade so he was passed.1st and 2nd grade to pass has to pass reading standardized testing.Since school Title I we had school choice so I transferred him to another school with an "A" grade.During summer break paid a University to evaluate our son to confirm Dyslexia.It was confirmed but now Bipolar Type 2 was discovered.In August when school started gave copies of evaluation & long sad story of interaction with previous school.This new school offered to help us and seemed promising till now.Mind you we are now in March and about a couple of weeks back I get the forms for IEP evaluation to start.I am told what I provided is not taken into account because not one of their evaluation people rather its considered private.Would have loved to know that back in August.My son has received 2 report cards & teacher's conference indicates will be retained again.I am running out of energy to fight this system.All I know my son will be crushed if retained because he and his younger brother will be in same grade.He excels in all except reading.
I NEED ALOT OF HELP TO FIGURE OUT THIS PUZZLED CALLED IEP OR JUST HELP FOR HIM. Thanks for listening.

 

[keista]

Welcome!

I'm guessing you don't have an advocate yet. That's what you need. I"m sending you a pm right now.

 

[keista]

OK, not letting me send you a private message. I just wanted to know what county you are in. Maybe I can help you locate your advocate (the ones funded through State dept of Ed are not exactly easy to find)

 

[keista]

K. I'm meeting on Thursday with mine and I'll see if I can get info for you. You can edit that out of your post if you want to for privacy purposes.

 

[veropapi]

I really appreciate your help.

 

[buddy]

One court held:
"[T]he failure to receive and consider parental information, including evaluations they may obtain, directly denies parents the pivotal role they should enjoy in the development of their child's placement. This role includes not only providing evaluations or other information, but discussing such information. Consideration of such outside information also ensures that a program is individualized and provides a check on the judgments being made by school officials regarding the child." Community Consolidated Sch. Dist. No. 180, 27 IDELR 1004, 1005-06.
Federal regulations require that parents and school personnel act as equal participants in the development of a child's IEP and that the parents' participation in the IEP process must be meaningful. In many cases, independent evaluations provide support for the parents' opinions and requests. When a school district refuses to consider an independent evaluation, it not only denies equal and meaningful input from the parents, but it also prevents important information from the evaluation from being considered by the IEP team that develops the IEP.
Parents are not the only ones to find IEEs valuable. Sometimes, school districts request IEEs when they lack the personnel or expertise to conduct a particular type of evaluation. In other instances, a school district may seek an IEE to assuage parental concerns about the fairness or accuracy of an evaluation.

What is Required of School Districts?
The federal regulations direct school districts to inform parents of their right to obtain an IEE, 34 C.F.R. §300.502(a), where they may obtain an IEE, id., and conditions for obtaining an IEE at public expense. 34 C.F.R §300.502(b).
Several sections of the federal regulations direct local school systems to ensure that such information provided by parents is properly considered. See 34 C.F.R. §§300.343(c)(2)(iii), 300.503(c), 300.533(a)(1)(i). The federal regulations even envision instances where the independent evaluation may be given greater weight than the school system's evaluation. 34 C.F.R. §300.502(b).
Consideration of parentally obtained evaluations by the IEP team is not discretionary, it is mandatory. 34 C.F.R. 300.503(c) ("If the parent obtains an independent educational evaluation at private expense, the results of the evaluation (1) Must be considered by the public agency in any decision made with respect to the provision of a [free appropriate public education] to the child."). (Emphasis added).
When a parent presents an independent evaluation to the school district, the IEP team is requiredto consider the evaluation. This does not mean that the school district must accept the findings or recommendations in the IEE. It does means that the IEP team must review the IEE, and discuss it as appropriate. In this regard, the requirements placed on school districts are fairly minimal.
However, a United States District Court in Maryland ruled that an IEP team's failure to consider the private evaluations submitted by the parents was such a serious violation of the IDEA that this alone constituted a denial of a free appropriate public education. DiBuo v. Bd. Of Educ. of Worcester County, slip no. S-01-1311 (Nov. 14, 2001).

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/test.iee.steedman.htm

I am not even surprised. I am disgusted with the system that I have worked in for years and loved. I am sorry for your pain and the suffering your child is going through. I hope this helps a little bit.....

 

[keista]

Bad news, good news. Bad news is that not every county has the same type of advocates I have here. Apparently it's done by grant and our advocacy group applies for the grant every year.

The good news is that you should still be able to find out if you have such advocates in your area by calling Early Steps. Look them up for your area and call and ask for any and all special education support material they can give you. Websites, pamphlets, whatever. If you can't find a free advocate, you may have to hire someone to at least get you started.

he has a high IQ and doesn't qualify for IEP.

This is simply not true. The big problem is that the second they placed him in that autistic class, they should have written an IEP. The fact that he does have a high IQ but is being threatened to be retained for the third time (which I really don't think they can do) is at proof positive that there is something wrong and he most certainly needs an IEP.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

 

[InsaneCdn]

he has a high IQ and doesn't qualify for IEP.

One of the triggers for help is often "a significant gap between IQ and performance"... which trips up some of our kids around here because they don't test well on IQ tests, so their performance "matches their IQ"....

High IQ does not mean anything on its own. His performance relative to IQ indicates significant problems, and yes you need detailed testing and an IEP to start correcting this.

 

[buddy]

IQ is only considered for some criteria for some educational categories. Specific learning disabilities used to be almost solely identified by the gap in learning/progress and IQ. (now there are other indicators if this is not the case) Autism/Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) educational category does not include IQ. For example some kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have a genius level-high IQ and some have a lower IQ. It is all based very specific criteria and on need for services. Kids who receive IEP's for emotional and behavioral services do not have IQ as a qualification. Just a mental health/behavioral challenge that interferes with school development (in any area, even just social...but your son has academic issues). OF course for Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) (developmentally/cogntively delayed) programs... IQ is obviously significant. So, if they told you no IEP based only on IQ.... well, that I can confidently say is not true.

Retention is not an evidence based practice and is not ever ever going to improve a special need. The only evidence based intervention is special education services. I am so glad Keista has ideas for advocacy. Sounds like your child is really being denied FAPE and you are being shoved around.

 

[veropapi]

I have an IEP meeting the 23rd. The school psychologist is sure he will qualify for an IEP. She keeps insisting that he shows signs of ADHD. I know ADHD and Bipolar Type 2 have similar signs but my son has nothing hyper about him. The combination of Dyslexia can make him get distracted trying to figure out how hard it is to read.


Does anyone have any pointers as to what to say at the meeting? I am going alone and meeting with about 4 of them. I don't want to break down nor blow my top. I want what is fair for my son and for them not to insist on the ADHD. I am familiar with the the signs based on having a nephew and brother in law with ADHD. My son's moods are completely different.


Any help is appreciated. Again thanks for this site.

 

[TeDo]

If a DOCTOR has diagnosed Bipolar, he's bipolar as far as the school is concerned. THEY cannot diagnose but simply give their impressions. The school psychiatric can insist ADHD all he/she wants. When any of them says "ADHD", interrupt and remind them repeatedly if you have to that "he does not have that diagnosis". I would highly suggest you make a list of school tasks you KNOW are hard for him and put some possible solutions next to each one. For example, my son struggles with reading (mispronounces many words so doesn't know the meaning of the wrong ones) so one of the ideas I came up with was having someone else read, or get books on audio, or work on word pronunciation. Get the idea? That would be a great way to have input into the meeting. Don't limit the possible solutions you can come up with but also be open to any they might have. You never know what might work. If they say something doesn't seem to be an issue and you know it is, argue with them by giving them examples of when you've witnessed it or heard it from him. You are his best advocate and you know him better than any of them are ever going to.

Good luck and keeping my fingers crossed for both of you!! Thanks for the update.