IEP and outside evaluation

[sosotired]

I'll be requesting an IEP for my DS in the next few weeks. I had an outside evaluation done over the summer that diagnosed Aspergers. Do I provide the full evaluation or only the list of tests that were performed when requesting the evaluation be done?

Does the following sound appropriate?

Dear <school social worker, district sped, principal>:

<sons name>, <birthdate>, attends <school name> School. I believe that he might have unidentified disabilities not previously addressed as part of his current 504 plan. The following difficulties support my concern:

• <son> continues to have unusual responses to sensory input such as the impact to concentration when the class environment is noisy
• <son> continues to require manipulatives in class
• <son> continues to have difficulty with staying organized
• <son> continues to have difficulty with penmanship, writing assignments and failed to meet grade level on recent state testing
• <son> continues to have difficulty interacting with peers, especially during group assignments

This letter is to formally request an IEP evaluation for <son> under the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). Please consider this my consent to evaluate <son>for special education needs and services. I request copies of all written evaluations be forwarded to me at least five school days before an IEP Team meeting.

Thank you for giving <son's> evaluation your immediate attention. I look forward to working with you to address and achieve <son's> educational goals.

 

[tictoc]

Hi,
You should provide everything, including the diagnosis from your outside evaluator. The SD is legally obligated to consider all outside evaluations and diagnosis's, so it is in your best interest to provide all info. The SD will do its own evaluation, though it might not be as extensive as your outside evaluation.

If the SD disagrees with the outside evaluator about the diagnosis or the scope of services needed, you might want to bring the outside evaluator (neuropsychologist?) with you to the IEP meeting to explain his findings. We did this for my difficult child--because we wanted more services than the SD was planning to offer--and it was very helpful (expensive, though).

Hopefully, the SD will be inclined to accept the outside evaluator's diagnosis and the SD will do only a cursory evaluation. The SD definitely needs to know what testing your son already has undergone because some of these tests should not be repeated within a certain time frame because the results from the second time might not be reliable.

Good luck.

 

[tictoc]

Forgot...See if you can find a copy of "Nolo's IEP Guide." I think it is available from Amazon. It is an excellent guide for how to approach the IEP process.

 

[svengandhi]

I would list the tests your doctor did and ask that they be done (some like IQ tests can't be given too close in time so ask your doctor about this) and only disclose your report afterwards. That approach has worked for me.