Teacher does not agree with- IEP

[shellyd67]

husband and I met with difficult child's Teacher this morning.

He received a copy of my IEP request and started out the meeting by saying he does not feel difficult child will qualify for an IEP.

Really? Why is that Mr. So and So?

difficult child is so bright. He really is articulate. His state testing is way above average for math and at or above average for reading.

He went on to say, difficult child just "checked out". he is done with schoolwork, he gives very little effort, etc...

This by the way, all just happened within the last 3 wks.

I inform him that difficult child has brought home 70's all year on Reading tests. ALL YEAR DUDE !

I remind him that difficult child qualified for the afterschool Reading program, remember ?

husband and I say alot of this is frustration. He looks at ALL the work he has to complete and just can't handle it. So he "checks out"

He said difficult child CAN do the work, he is a great writer and an incredibly fluent reader.

difficult child is not a great writer. I have seen his work for the last few years. His writing makes no sense, he is encouraged to be creative, it is so hard for him to be creative in writing even when husband and I guide him along. It is like torture to the kid.

He is a creative and clever kid but NOT in writing.

Wow, somehow I think he has mixed up my kid for someone else ???

husband and I inform him that difficult child has always struggled with comprehension, if we can get this under control and give him the help he needs and deserves, maybe everything will fall into place a little better for him.

He said socially he is fine and kids really like him. Although he is currently in a group of kids who he does not gel well with and gets upset if they don't do things his way. Teacher said he actually moved his desk away from theirs and turned his back on them.

Still waiting to hear from SpecEd director ...

Has anyone else ever had a Teacher say their kid just "checked out" ???

I am more confused now ....

 

[AnnieO]

I did have a teacher once jump all over us because Jett wasn't on medication. He felt Jett needed the medication. I looked him in the eye and asked if he had a doctorate in something that would allow him, as a representative of the school district, to say such a thing, because I was going to need proof of that when I took the district to court.

Funny - BM put Jett on medications, they made things worse. He's much better now.

That teacher needs THEIR head examined. Checked out, my lily-white (pincushion) rear end!

 

[InsaneCdn]

Have you seen this:
http://raisingtroubledkids.wordpres...and-stigma-–-judging-and-blaming-of-families/

We deal with this - all day - every day. "he's not disabled enough to justify taking resources away from other students" - "he could if he would just try" - etc. etc. etc. etc.

THEN you try to get specialists to back you - and no matter what you do, NONE cover all the bases, so some of the recommendations conflict with other needs - and then the school takes and implements the BAD recommendations and not the good ones.

Take it up the chain of command - as far and as fast as you have to. Get an advocate if you can (we don't have them here). But YOU know there is a problem AND that the problem is at school AND school is not taking this into account...

 

[shellyd67]

I couldn't open your link but I will keep trying. We do have an Advocate. A highschool principal who is a friend of ours and has been handling IEP's for over 8 years. He knows all the ins and outs. We couldn't have gotten luckier there.

Honestly, I felt as though he was taking the easy road and trying to talk us out of the IEP.

Believe me when I say I will "fight the good fight"

Thanks for your support and advice as always !!! Shelly

 

[Jena]

honestly i've had every teacher say this to me. they dont' get it alot of the time some of them. some teachers truly do. it isn't up to the teacher to decide whether or not he needs an iep. maybe they'll give you a 504 to start thats what i did with my difficult child. now we're onto iep

do you have any testing for your difficult child that you can present to the school or did you already? I don't know how your school is yet mine was like listen if we test and it's all good than you dont' get squat. they did that they shut me up with a 504 than the kid got really sick.

id' pile up all my diagnosis, peds letter, letter from any provider you have for your upcoming mtg. whenever they get back to you.

meanwhile id' probably say to the teacher that's great i'm really happy you think so highly of my son. yet regardless we have to look at the facts and what he is or is not accomplishing right now. we need to come up with a plan and some small provisions for now so he can finish the year to help him achieve his true academic potential.

its a slippery slope in one way you want the accomodations and you want your child to do well. yet the crazy part is if you implement stuff with teacher and it goes very well itll weaken your ability to get a 504 or an iep. make sense? at least that's how it was in my school district.

 

[InsaneCdn]

if you implement stuff with teacher and it goes very well itll weaken your ability to get a 504 or an iep. make sense?

Expand that... if you implement ANY intervention, and it makes a difference, then the original problem actually did not exist... and you end up with all sorts of professionals (not just teachers) saying its all in your head.
So, we delayed Occupational Therapist (OT) support - and now they want to roast us for not getting Occupational Therapist (OT) support sooner.
Ya just can't win!

 

[shellyd67]

Insanecdn, I was able to open the link. Wow, that was an amazing article. I am going to print it out and refer to it while getting my paperwork together for difficult child's IEP meeting.

Thank you so much !

 

[Jena]

hi i was thinking of you as difficult child and i were heading back from the library. I was trying to think of what i did in the very beginning when i began my 504/iep battle

i can only suggest from what i've learned and tripped over........ i would just get a book to communicate with-the teacher each day now with. so he can write in what difficult child did or didnt' do during day and than you have some type of record to move forward with.

as far as the teacher goes i'd just try to do what your doing present you and husband care greatly for difficult child and want what's best you two have implemented things at home that have helped a bit, and thats it. i wouldn't do any provisions now with-teacher because like we were both saying it's crazy yet it'll hinder your ability possibly to get accommodations for him. it really isn't up to the teacher whether or not he thinks you should get it. yet he will be part of the process to some extent and will just be asked to report his thoughts or facts on what difficult child has completed, where his areas of weakness are etc.

i had a huge fight for my difficult child's 504. i had to get nurses records of visits she'd made to show levels of anxiety. i had each provider write a letter about difficult child, diagnosis etc.

maybe your school will be different. yet i have found that so many districts and schools do not want to pay for the services for kids.

i will def. let you know how my thing goes.

 

[jennd23]

its a slippery slope in one way you want the accomodations and you want your child to do well. yet the crazy part is if you implement stuff with teacher and it goes very well itll weaken your ability to get a 504 or an iep. make sense? at least that's how it was in my school district.

I just wanted to second/third this! Be very cautious! We are SO lucky this year because the things my son's teacher has done for him have been wonderful, he's still not where he needs to be but since he's "making progress" with the accomodations she's made (on her own, not IEP/504 suggested) they say he doesn't need additional support. Luckily she's on our side and agrees that what she's done isn't enough (though it is better than nothing).

 

[JJJ]

The teacher is not required to agree with the IEP. He is required to implement it. If he is not doing what the IEP says he has to do, see if you can get "proof", either having him admit it over e-mail or by your son's clearly-unmodified work.

Most teachers who "don't believe" in the IEP are LAZY teachers who don't want to do the extra work. Much easier to blame the child.

 

[keista]

Has anyone else ever had a Teacher say their kid just "checked out" ???

I wish I did. My son started to "check out" at the very beginning of middle school. they all just assumed it was his normal AS state. In reality he was going deep into depression which ultimately resulted in him getting commited for 48 hours by the SCHOOL resource officer. When I got with them to try and explain the fine line between his usual AS "shutdowns" and depression, they looked at me like I was from another planet - imagine, teachers and administrators of a middle schol having no concept or clue of depression or what signs to look for.

Anyway, teachers and administrators do not care about the why - only the what - he's not trying any more. You need to show that the Why is causing the What and if the Why is addressed, the What will get better. In your signature you state that he always needs to be in charge. Hmmm that sounds like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) to me which will manifest itself through feelings of getting overwhelmed because if he can't get it done in X amount of time to a Y degree of perfection, he'll shut down and just not do it. Get creative and be a PITA.

It boggles my mind that educators are willing to allow bright students just to coast by and not reach their full potential. You see, 70's are passing grades. Why should they put any effort into a kids who is getting passing grades? UHG. I have a 504 meeting for my gifted child who's been bringing home Bs and Cs is this Friday.

Hi, yes, I'm new here and will post an introduction ASAP between everything else going on this week. Have to say this is a beautiful community of very supportive ppl living in most nightmarish circumstances. I've read several threads, and have cried with your stories, and felt elation at your victories.

 

[keista]

I'm sorry, let me clarify. If a teacher or staff member actually used the words "checked out", it would imply that they believe your child is in some sort of altered state - on drugs, having a seizure, overwhelmed, depressed etc. I spent an hour today trying to get any IEP team member to use ANY type of IEP appropriate phrase regarding my son "checking out". I offered up a variety of phrases including avoidance technique, depression, frustration, meltdown, shutdown, checked out, distracted, overwhelmed, poor transition, cognitive malfunction, cognitive anomoly, but they all insisted that he just wasn't "trying hard enough", and if he only "tried harder" he could pass math. I bit my tongue so many times, I think I need a transplant. Good news is that this was just a meeting to evaluate if he needed more evaluations.

I am no where close to being an IEP pro, but do believe if I (you, we) can figure out how to get them to worry about the WHY, we'd all have better IEPs.

Really? No lightbulb smiley?
Maybe next time they ask my kid to try harder to keep himself focused on his work, I'll ask them to try harder to figure out how to help him stay focused on his work.

 

[shellyd67]

Oh gosh Keista, I couldn't agree more. husband and I both kept insisting our son was just not getting it. He is at the point where he is so darn frustrated he doesn't care anymore.

School is clearly aware he has reading comprehension problems but NEVER EVER to touch on the subject. They avoid it like the plague.

We do have a great advocate so we will fight the good fight and hope for the best.

Thanks for your input I really do appreciate it.

 

[shellyd67]

I received all call from the school pyschologist yesterday and she did inform me that all testing requests have a cut off date and difficult child will not be evaluated until September.

She is meeting with difficult child's Teacher, Reading Specialist and Principal this morning to discuss implementing a 504 plan immediately until IEP is scheduled.

She also reiterated what Teacher kept saying, " Well, his State testing scores are so high, I just don't think he will qualify"

I told her these test mean NOTHING to me. It is his everyday workload that concerns me.

I tried to remove as much emotion I could from the conversation and insist that difficult child receive Reading help. This is crucial.

We shall see what her meeting produces .... SIGH

 

[keista]

Testing scores and IQ should NEVER disqualify a child from 504 or IEP. The golden standard, as I understand it, is if the 'disability' causes your child to function (class grades) below ability (standardized tests), then the child qualifies for IEP.

 

[JJJ]

Testing scores and IQ should NEVER disqualify a child from 504 or IEP. The golden standard, as I understand it, is if the 'disability' causes your child to function (class grades) below ability (standardized tests), then the child qualifies for IEP.

Class grades should NEVER be used as any measurement for the purposes of an IEP. They are Way too easy for a teacher to manipulate. Insist on cognitive (IQ) and achievement testing.

 

[keista]

JJJ that doesn't work for me.

My kids have high IQs and do exceptionally well on achievement tests. If class grades fall below those standards there is a problem. This appears to be the same problem for shelly.

Last year I was told my daughter wouldn't qualify for a 504 - She had all A's. Problem was, due to her anxiety, she didn't behave "normally" in class resulting in unsatisfactory markings in behavior which resulted in her not making honor roll - way to motivate a kid! Anyway, this year she qualified because she got a D in the second term for Science - she had an anxiety attack over the science fair project, and if you don't do the project you get a D for the term - no ifs, ands, or buts! (schoolwide rule) It also didn't hurt that the day a field trip got canceled, they decided to administer a benchmark test. She scored a 67 Her norm is in the 90s

Today I signed her 504. I got it because they realized the teachers were already accommodating her, and her gifted ed teacher said that she was showing sings of actively curbing poor behavior while she was visibly distressed. That's where she presented with the most consistency. The guidance counselor said I got lucky because "they" like to see Ds and Fs for these things. I reminded her exactly what she told me last year. To qualify the student must be performing below their ability (IQ).

A little "Yay me!" - I got them to change the wording in teacher's notes (was needed because she scored to well on the classroom observation - well, duh! Teachers were already accommodating her) Original phrasing was "refuses to do work" changed it to "unable to do work" Small victory, but they might finally be "getting her"