What should I expect?

[hersheyb79]

So our son is in Kindergarten, he has an official diagnosis of DBD-not otherwise specified. He has spent more time on suspension & in the principals office since school started than actually in class.

Last week he was taken out of class again and husband had to pick him up. When he picked him up the school psychologist set a meeting for next week to discuss the BIP he came into kindergarten with.

I got a voice mail from the psychologist today confirming the meeting on Thursday and in it she referred to starting the testing for Special Education.

So what kind of testing would they be doing? What kinds of testing do they have available to them?

 

[keista]

Ask. I mean ask them at the meeting. Ask what test and what it's for. If you don't think you can take sufficient notes, bring a recording device and ask if you can record the meeting.

Have they given you any indication of what they think is going on?

 

[buddy]

That is exactly what they should be presenting you with. They should be explaining exactly what they want to look at, define the behaviors of concern and then say how and who will be assessing. You do not have to sign the plan at that time, you can say I just want to take it home to review it and I will let you know in a few days. If you are comfortable, then you can sign of course. Here is a guide to an FBA and how it must be used to lead to the POSITIVE behavior plan which should not include constant punishmets like suspensions, especially for a young child like yours. Sounds like they realize that is not the answer so hopefully this will turn it around.

From what you are saying, you may arrive to find they want to do a complete evaluation (which sounds like you might have had already but maybe additional info needs to be included???) I would expect (if it is a good team) them to cover all the bases, when I have been on teams and kids like yours were brought in, we did the works, just to make sure we are not missing anything that could help them get along, speech/language (usually language if it is reported their speech/artic is fine) and that would include looking at use (expressive they may say) and understanding (they will say comprehension) of language. They may do gross and fine motor testing. Fine motor testing is done by the Occupational Therapist (OT) who also checks sensory issues and motor planning--even visual motor issues. The psychiatric and sp. ed. folks generally do ability and achievement. They will do behavior inventories and checklists all which will roll into the FBA (functional behavior analysis)
The functional behavior analysis should define the problem behaviors and then look at the behaviors from observations, checklists, standardized testing, interviews with you , any medical information you can share, etc. IF they are not doing a full re-evaluation. and if you think they are not getting the big picture you can ask for additional testing....or a new complete evaluation. (dont let them say it has not been three years yet, they can do it earlier, some specific tests have to wait but there are always alternatives) If ability testing was already done you may want to still ask for NON-Verbal IQ testing if you think he has trouble following verbal directions or anything like that. It is not over an IQ concern, it is just that sometimes you can see strengths and weaknesses that help develop teaching strategies to use in the IEP. If they are thinking of a specific disabiity area then they will likely use a Special Education. person from that licensing area like EBD (emotional behavioral disorders) or SLD (specific learning disability) or Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (autism) etc. Sometimes kids come to and from K and are still under a more general early childhood category so since I dont know you that is why I am giving all this extra info....but just skip it if it is not applicable.

too much information? sorry, use the link and that is written for parents an I have used it. If you google FBA there are quite a few good resources to keep them on their toes. Some folks are not well trained in doing FBA but they know the term and they must do it so they do it. It is good to know about it ahead of time to make sure what they say goes with standard good practice.

 

[Liahona]

What is usual is an IQ test and some academic tests. You could also get the psychologist to do a FUBA. This is where she will observe and find what happens right before the behavior and right after the behavior. Trying to find what is triggering it and if its getting re-enforced by the environment after wards. If he has a BIP already does he have an IEP?

I'm not sure if the IQ tests and academic tests are done on kindergartners. I used to know. I think so. They are looking for learning disabilities.

You might want to also request they do a hearing, Occupational Therapist (OT), and Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) testing.


They are looking for things that would legally qualify him for an IEP. This is not diagnostic testing and while it is helpful to know you should probably still get him evaluated by a neuropsychologist.

 

[buddy]

I was in a huge rush to check on difficult child earlier...just to clarify.....IF you already have an IEP....and even if you already have a BIP it seems the BIP is not effective....so they are asking for a new plan. To write a new plan you need a new FBA which is a functional behavior assessment. That link I posted talks about the important aspects of an FBA as well as a positive behavior intervention plan (pbip) which is a mandated kind of behavior plan. Once the problem behaviors are defined, the goal is to identify what triggers behaviors, what prolongs them and what skills a child might be missing that is making it so they can't do the appropriate behavior. (all aspects should be considered....physical, environmental, disability issues -like kids who can't read facial expressions etc.-, general ability etc...). A new FBA doesn't mean you need a full new assessment. BUT if there are things that are missing in the original, it can be done too.

The behavior plan then directly uses the information to develop the new plan (change the environment, reduce transitions, no noisy music in the background, teach skills to help with organization, use a visual schedule so child knows what the schedule is during the day...on and...and on...) they are to use positive methods to work on increasing appropriate behavior rather than focusing on reducing negative behaviors. of course some kids are going to still have some negative behaviors and for some there has to be a written and agreed upon way to deal with handling those behaviors....take a break from class, go to a private area, use headphones and swing in a sensory room, whatever. For mine only once in 2 years he has had to be escorted out of an area by several staff to go to a safe room. If your difficult child gets so aggressive that the other things dont work (they have to try them first) or if it is an emergency, then write specifically what they can do and cant do in terms of hands on or just surrounding difficult child to help guide somewhere, etc. Sometimes taking the other kids out of the room works better than having difficult child leave the room. There are lots of options and I bet there are tons of ideas once you know the issues they want to address, so check back and we can help you brainstorm. Your input is important on the team so dont let them forget it.

 

[JJJ]

At the meeting, all of the major domains should be discussed and then the school and you (jointly) will determine which areas need testing (or additional testing), then the specialist in the area will choose which tests to administer.

1. Gross motor
2. Fine motor/sensory
3. Speech/language
4. Social/emotional/behavioral
5. Health
6. Academic (cognitive and achievement)
7. Independent Functioning/Self-Help

While his behavior may be the primary issue that is causing problems, an undiagnosed learning or sensory or language issue could be at the root of it.

 

[buddy]

At the meeting, all of the major domains should be discussed and then the school and you (jointly) will determine which areas need testing (or additional testing), then the specialist in the area will choose which tests to administer.

1. Gross motor
2. Fine motor/sensory
3. Speech/language
4. Social/emotional/behavioral
5. Health
6. Academic (cognitive and achievement)
7. Independent Functioning/Self-Help

While his behavior may be the primary issue that is causing problems, an undiagnosed learning or sensory or language issue could be at the root of it.

Absolutely....this is the most important info to gather in the first place. (I'm sorry, you haven't said if an assessment or IEP is already done or not...you just said he has a diagnosis and came to the school with a behavior plan, right?) so if this all sounds confusing it is because I dont think we know exactly where you are in the process. If he has a behavior concern that is interfering with his and/or other's learning then an FBA is an important addition to that testing, and it has to consider all of the above testing. And even if you have a full assessment or even an FBA done in another setting--you might need updates because things are not going well and the environment is different. FBA's can be done at any time and in fact should be done each time a new behavior concern comes up that can not be handled just through the knowledge you have from his past assessment results, diagnosis, and typical school/sp. ed. methods. Otherwise they may stick to the same old ineffective (and at times destructive) stuff that doesn't address the underlying issues/causes.