Signed papers for school testing yesterday

Nikki88

New Member
FINALLY. Because it's only the end of the school year basically! So this will be great and fine to have in place for next year. I'm really frustrated, and I feel like the school has been trying to "help" with this for almost 2 full school years now, and she should have been referred to testing last year. Hopefully we will at least start getting some answers.
Things are still going okay with the medications, we had to adjust doses a little bit- as difficult child was melting down halfway through the day. But all in all things seem to be looking up. We are still on a 3 month wait for nero appointment. And the behavior spec at school (who I am not a fan of) thinks that this appointment is not needed. Yesterday I nicely let him know that his thoughts were not needed on the subject. Now if difficult child principal said that she didn't think she needed the appointment, I would problem listen and take her input. But the behavior spec is nothing short of just a pain in my ***. He see's difficult child maybe once every other week, and thinks he's the know all end all.
Needless to say I'm not impressed...lol
 

buddy

New Member
Behavior specialist has no business saying if you should or should not seek any kind of medical professional. How unprofessional. Should be encouraging all input you can get. I remember an evaluation meeting one time, we were telling the parent that her child qualified under Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and she asked if she should take him to the doctor etc. I was SHOCKED that the psychologist said NO, there is no medical intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) so no real need.... (I understood what she was saying in terms of there is not a cure but honestly, she has NO CLUE why a child might have symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and there are many genetic and neurological and medical conditions that cause those symptoms, she could have caused someone to miss out on a serious issue, schools are NOT to get involved in medical decisions, uggg). My son nearly died because people just looked at his behavior as emotional and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). It is always good to get neuro, neuropsychologist, pediatrician, etc... input to rule out or rule in any other ideas.

Good for you for sticking to your guns and telling him what is up. Even if the principal says anything... stick to your plan. You never want to look back and wonder what IF you got that evaluation. It is good to have for a baseline in any case.
 
T

TeDo

Guest
I agree with Buddy. No matter what anyone (especially ANY school staff) says, stick to your plan. It's not gong to hurt and it will probably help. The school looks out for the school....Period. Our neuropsychologist appointment was definitely worth the wait. It was sooooo helpful.

I am glad things seem to be looking up. As far as the SpEd testing, late is better than not at all. Be cautious, however, about THEIR results. As I said before, they will look out for themselves and their testing is usually superficial and limited. Trust your gut. We are given them for a reason.
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Very unprofessional for the school behavior specialist to say. I'd be steaming! I'm glad they will get the testing done before the end of the school year. I teach and it seems to take forever to get children identified. I understand to a point not wanting to rush in, on the other hand, sometimes it takes too long for the child to get the help they need.
 

svengandhi

Well-Known Member
I agree that you should proceed with the testing. The more data you can gather, the more puzzle pieces you can put together. Different specialties have different perspectives that can affect the diagnoses and outcomes. If you feel that the behavior specialist is acting inappropriately, you should talk to pupil personnel services.
 
B

Bunny

Guest
FINALLY. Because it's only the end of the school year basically! So this will be great and fine to have in place for next year. I'm really frustrated, and I feel like the school has been trying to "help" with this for almost 2 full school years now, and she should have been referred to testing last year. Hopefully we will at least start getting some answers.


I might be wrong about this, but I know there here the school will not test a child for anything unless there is a written request from the parent. The teacher isn't even allowed to say to the parent, "I think Jane needs to be tested for..." whatever the teacher thinks in the problem. And don't hold yor breaqth waiting for the testing the begin. I sent a letter to the sd in February asking for testing and it has yet to begin. Seriously, by the time I get any answers it's going to be June and the kids will be out for summer vacation!

Don't listen to the behavior spec. Most of the time they haven't got a clue. I am not impressed by the team that our school has in place, either,
 
T

TeDo

Guest
I sent a letter to the sd in February asking for testing and it has yet to begin.

Bunny, watch the Federal and State timelines (some state have more strict timelines). They have a SET timeframe to complete everything and report to the IEP team.
 

buddy

New Member
Oh wow Bunny, was it at the beginning or end of Feb? Check out your state guidelines ... you should have had a response as to whether or not testing would be undertaken so that you can follow due process to appeal if they say no etc... or so that you can sign off on a plan and gitter done. You must be so frustrated. My advocate just helped my sister and told her to write the letter and say that you expect to hear of the assessment plan by (and date it fourteen days from when you send the letter) so that she would at least know if she had to fight or could get the deal moving along.

Who said that a teacher can't tell a parent to request testing? They should (in a perfect world) actually be doing it together. How sad to hear that, must make you crazy. Child find (the federal rules) say that anyone can make a referral and most of our referrals when I was teaching came from teachers (at the elementary and older level that is). Most gen ed teachers in fact wanted these harder to teach kids taken off their hands (oh how frustrating for them when that was not in the cards.... but some thought that way)... That seems really shady.
 
B

Bunny

Guest
A friend of mine is a retired teacher and I was asking her for information. First I send the letter to the school asking for the testing to be done. Then they do the social history. All of the information then gets sent to OSS (Office of Student Services) and they send me a letter that I have to sign and date giving permission for the school to test him. They have 60 school days from the day that I sign that letter to do the testing.

Unfortunately, the wheel turn V E R Y slowly.
 

buddy

New Member
Right, that is the catch, the time from when you write the letter requesting assessment to when you sign the approval/permission to assess. THAT (the sig. on permission to assess form...) is where the federal time line starts. BUT they are supposed to respond to your request within a certain amount of time too... and they are on two months for you already right??? just for the decision to assess or not to assess (and THEN the assessment) ... that is why the advocate said to put the fourteen day deadline request for acknowledgement. It just does not take that long to get that together. Such a scam, your poor kid's year is nearly done.
 

Nikki88

New Member
Here where I am, they have 90 days- counting weekends and any school breaks- so they have to be completed and all reports back to team 6/6/12- super funny, as we get out of school for the year on 6/1 :/
 
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