should i get her tested?....

[mom23gsfg]

ok well boo has missed alot of school due to her asthma ...shes been in the hospital 3 times and missed variuos days also because of her lungs getting inflamed and infected......she had to repeat kindergarten and is now in the 1st grade...where she is soo behind they wanted to evaluate her for an iep ...well yesterday the teacher called and said she qualified...and i have to go in tomorrow for the discussion and to sign papers...i was thinking should i get her tested also? since her bro and sis have problems? bubba is diagnosed with adhd .and has a learning problem .
or could it just be where she has missed so much school?

 

[slsh]

Hmmm... did they say on what basis she qualified for an IEP? Is it due to her asthma and absences or something else?

This is a tough question. I would say to follow your gut. It's hard when we have a difficult child or 2 to not see gfgness in our pcs sometimes, but on the other hand you don't want to miss something.

Do you think she's behind because she's struggling with the concepts, or is it because she hasn't been there when the concepts were taught and reinforced? Was she held back because of the absences?

Gosh... I'm really hemming and hawing here - sorry! I guess, bottom line, you probably have the best take on if she may be struggling because of something more than the absences. A thought would be to see what they say at the IEP and then make a decision about a private evaluation.

 

[smallworld]

When the school evaluated her for the IEP, was there any testing done (I assume so . . .)? If so, can you arrange for an outside professional (like a psychologist or educational advocate) to take a look at her scores and see if a learning disability exists? The professional might also suggest specific additional tests might help pinpoint exactly what's going on with her.

 

[Marguerite]

If she is struggling and needs help, does it really matter why? Surely all that matters is that the school wants to help her. if the problems are just due to her long absences from school (plus the possibility of more) and she improves to the point where the IEP is no longer needed, that is OK too?

I'd be saying, "Thanks for the help," and maybe also accepting any chance to assess further.

If there is something more wrong than just her absences due to asthma, then looking for something should find it. If there is nothing further wrong, there is still no harm in assessment.

She is what she is. And who she is. If there is something more wrong, it already IS wrong. Assessing her won't suddenly cause more problems to spring into being, it will only make you more aware of problems preferably before they become a major battle.

A lot of difficult child 3's classmates at his correspondence school are there because of long-term physical illness. It's an alternative to an IEP, for a kid who can't always cope in a classroom. Other kids are there because their parents travel and they're always on the road. More kids are in correspondence because they are actors or dancers who work every day at their craft, with a tutor supervising the correspondence lessons.

This IEP offered sounds like a similar situation - "she needs help to catch up, let's help her."

Marg

 

[smallworld]

I think it does matter why she's struggling. If it's simply a matter of catching up because she missed school from asthma, that's a time-limited problem and relatively easy solution (although she might require tutoring over the summer to catch up). If she has a learning disability, that requires targeted remediation with more specialized and long-term help from the school.

 

[mom23gsfg]

I think it does matter why she's struggling. If it's simply a matter of catching up because she missed school from asthma, that's a time-limited problem and relatively easy solution (although she might require tutoring over the summer to catch up). If she has a learning disability, that requires targeted remediation with more specialized and long-term help from the school.

thats what i was trying to say thanks....i just want to know what the problems are ...and meet them head on this time so i can be aware of the problems so she can get the appropriate help....because with bubba when he was younger noone even hinted at the fact he had a learning problem or that they thought he needed all the help he gets now...they (teachers just said they believed he was being stubborn and ect....) it took me alot of years to finally get him an iep and ect....i just want to be ahead of the game this time around....however i really think it is alot to do with her missing school

 

[nvts]

Keep in mind, that you can always "reopen" the IEP with concerns later on.

If you think that it's directly related to the absences (asthma stinks!), then have the IEP set up in that direction. If you start to suspect that it's more than that, send a certified letter officially re-opening the IEP and spell out your concerns in the letter as well as what you want her tested for.

Don't drive yourself crazy, that's our kids job!

Beth