starting the process-need some advice

jodyp

New Member
I'm new here and I'm hoping for some advice. I started the process with the sd, and my 4 yo has been going through evaluations by the CST. Should be concluded next week, and they want to meet with us by the end of the month. I have done a lot of reading on this message board so I was a little prepared. I guess I just want to be prepared for the next meeting. If he qualifys for placement with the Special Education pre-school in town, can I insist on transportation? And when do I start making my demands? Fast background-difficult child is a fun, happy loving child with some issues. Received early intervention for developmental delays from 2-3 years old. Spoke with my pd when difficult child was 3 1/2 about "quirky" issues. Wears only white t-shirts, afraid of sounds and wind, hard time transitioning, food, etc...Got him evaluation by Occupational Therapist (OT), and has been receiving Occupational Therapist (OT) 1x a week(privatley). Occupational Therapist (OT) suggested dev evaluation. Did that(privatley) and dev pediatrician diog AHAD-CT and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified and fine motor problems. All referred to sd, and that is where we are now. difficult child has attended daycare/preschool since he was 6 months old. The sp.ed pre-school is only 2 1/2 hours a day. What am I supposed to do with-him? Bounce him around with different people picking him up and dropping him off. Not very structured for him. Ideally, transportation to and from daycare would be the best. The sd says that they only provide transportation if you live 2 miles from the school. My whole town is 1 mile. Nice. Any suggestions when and how I should start this battle?
Sorry its long winded, but I think the background history is important
 

SRL

Active Member
Welcome.

I believe that transportation should be automatically included if he qualifies for Special Education preschool. Post your concern on the special education board and they will give you some guidance.

I would encourage you to go into this without the mindset of making your demands and battle. Sometimes it will come to that in the end, but if you start out coming across as a very informed, prepared parent you can often get what your child needs with a more positive relationship than starting off demanding. When you calmly walk in with the section of federal law in writing stating they have to provide XYZ then they have no choice but to take you seriously.

Having recommendations from private professionals will be a very helpful starting point.

This should be a helpful:
http://www.wrightslaw.com/
 

jodyp

New Member
Thanks for your response. I did post this on the Special Education. board as you suggested. Please understand, I just want to prepared. Reading this board has made me very cautious. So far my sd has been great. Really moving everything along in a fast pace. I have asked them in passing about transportation, and they said they don't provide it. It's just tough, my husband and I work full time, I have 2 children in daycare($$$) and one entering 1st grade. No family around to help. I can't stop worrying.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
They SHOULD provide it. It's not even their choice. If the child has an IEP (and I recommend one for a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified chld, like my son) they HAVE to bus your child. In fact, my son had a van take him door-to-door. It simply isn't their decision.
 

SRL

Active Member
IDEA has gone through several revisions even in the few years since my difficult child has gone off to school so it's best to get your advice on this from the Special Education board as they keep current. I got caught early on because of this: I was told by everyone that the district had to provide full speech therapy to my preschooler who was attending private preschool. So when they denied the full number of hours he needed, I started to put up a stink only to find the law had changed 2 months earlier.

I think we all worry but I don't know that our forum is representative of the general population. Not only do people seek us out for difficult children issues, but they also come looking for help with getting services for them. Parents whose districts are cooperating usually won't have reason to post it here.

I went into this thinking I would have to fight for everything and to my delight have found that for the most part the district was willing to provide what was needed. There have also been times when they have gone way above and beyond what most schools would have. For instance, the social worker suggested implementing a social skills training program into my son's IEP but taught it to the entire class so he'd have peers to practice with. And for the last two years they have continued to give him speech therapy specifically for social skills practice. There wasn't a test in the world that would have qualified him for speech these past two years but as they saw the benefit to him, they continued it.

Obviously not every district will be like mine, but I think a good place to start is to be very informed. In the end you may need to pull out the punches...but that's not necessarily the place you need to start.
 

Sheila

Moderator
I responded to your thread in the Sp Ed forum, but need to add that transportation is not automatic for students that have qualified for an IEP.

Transportation is a "related service" under IDEA -- no different than other related services such as occupational therapy, speech language therapy, etc. As such, if it's not written into the IEP, the school district does not have to provide it.
 

SRL

Active Member
Sheila, what would that "need" be based on that gets it written into the IEP? Does the fact that the child has no way to get to sped preschool because the parents both work count as a need?
 

jodyp

New Member
I guess I will mention it at the IEP meeting again. I received a call from the sd today saying that they set the IEP for 8/3. If they refuse again, I guess I need to ask them how to file a grievence. It's a shame that you have to fight for everything. This should be interesting.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Call your state Dept. of Public Education and tell them that you're not getting the services from your SD. You should easily qualify for transportation. in my opinion it's best to deal outside the SD than expect people in the SD to take a stand against their own people. At any rate, we never got any results until we called the State Dept. of Public Ed. That is usually located in the Capital, and ask for the Special Needs Advocate. Once we did that, our SD couldn't cater enough to us!!!
 

blb

New Member
Jody,

read this link click here
This should provide you the info you need to go into the IEP aware of the answers before you ask the questions.

That website in general has a plethora of info tailored to Special Education needs.

If he qualifies for the Special Education daycare, they have to provide transportation for it. My oldest initially qualified as Special Education under speech, I had her evaluated and she then qualified under anxiety, speech, and physical therapy for the half day program. She was diagnosed Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified to start with, with the triad of speech articulation problems, gross motor delays, and social skills delays.
 
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