I’m in a lot of Facebook groups and I’m seeing some questions in there that might be helpful for you.
I’m seeing people say my child was not eligible for an IEP because they make good grades. Child Find in IDEA requires that schools look for children that have suspected disabilities. Those disabilities can be academic but theyy also can be functional and performance based as well as developmental.
This book “Special Education Law” by Pete Wright is an amazing resource. I’ve said it before in other videos, I joke that this is my Bible. It’s one of the best books I ever invested in 20 years ago to help advocate for my kids. I’ve pulled it out in IEP meetings and used it when helping other families and Attorneys. You can find it lots of places, here is a link to find it on Amazon https://amzn.to/2HoIB1x. Another great book is From Emotions to Advocacy by Pete Wright. It will teach you how the education system works, the different players involved, factors that affect IEP decisions and more. Here is a link to find it on Amazon https://amzn.to/2EPUiMW.
IDEA addresses all of the areas that must be considered for IEP eligibility in 34 CFR 300.301. You can find this starting on Page 40 of the Special Education Law book. It talks about initial evaluations to determine eligibility and re-evaluations to determine if a student remains eligible for Special Education services. Initial Evaluations have to happen within 60 days of the parents/guardian giving written consent. I have a video on giving consent on my You Tube Channel so check it out. The link is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RO-0xrw0js. You need to sign a consent form to start the evaluation clock. Otherwise, schools are notorious for letting that 60 days turn into an entire school year and nothing is done. IDEA specificially talks about the need to consider functional, academical and developmental skills, it’s not just based on grades. You can have kids that are honors students that don’t know how to interact in society. I know of a situation where a student was an honors student but they struggled in other areas, and they qualified for a post high program. There are alot of things to read in IDEA about the areas to be considered. Some key takeaways are that academic performance, while great, doesn’t mean that there’s not a disability that needs services.
I recently saw some moms post online about issues that their students have that were deemed as not impacting their education. For example, one mom said her child needs vision therapy but the school says no educational impact so no IEP needed. How in the world could a student who struggles with vision not impact their education? We communicate in so many ways through vision. We learn visually through reading and learning how to write, watching a teacher, looking at the board, observing others and our environment. The list goes on and on. I don’t know how a student that needs visual therapy would not have an impact to their education. That was just ridiculous to me. Another mom posted that her student didn’t qualify even though they have Central Auditory Processing Disorder. If you can’t process the information that’s given to you to learn, how can you learn? These are such basic concepts, you can’t just stick a kid in a room and they learn everything by osmosis. They have to use their eyes and ears. They have to be able to communicate. If you have a student that can’t talk or struggles with talking, they can’t express themselves. They can’t tell you if they’ve learned something. I fail to understand how any of this would not impact their education.
In addition, IDEA emphasizes that schools cannot use a single criterion test or standard to determine if a child is eligible or remains eligible for services. The evaluation has to be sufficiently comprehensive to determine if there is a need in all areas of suspected disability. To give an example, I have a daughter that struggled with reading, she still struggles with it. We requested Vision testing, not to determine if she can see the letters on a chart but whether the formatting of things was as it should be etc. The school system refused and I should have pushed harder but I was dealing with a serious health issue personally so I wasn’t up for the fight. Years later we paid for a private evaluation to look at this concern and sure enough she had a problem and needed intensive vision therapy. I’m sure the impact was huge on her learning and she would have benefitted from the intervention much earlier but the evaluation was not done as it should have been.
Please keep in mind that schools don’t have every type of specialist that may ever be needed. This is why we have the medical community to assist but they have to assess in all areas of suspected disability. If they can’t or wont or if you disagree with their findings or the evalaution is not sufficiently comprehensive enough then you have the right to request an Independent Evaluation at District Expense (aka IEE). You need to give them the first bite of the apple on testing but once they’ve refused or failed then you have the right to an IEE. I’ve done several videos on IEE’s. You can check those out here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy9pMHKpXa8&t and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H1IoWWqKBg&t
Please know that schools have one of two of options when you request an Independent Evaluation at Public Expense. They either have to grant your request or File Due Process to defend that their evaluation is sufficient. Considering that Due Process can cost upwards of $30k and an IEE may cost them $2000 they will probably choose to grant the IEE. They won’t be happy about it and they can set limitations on the amount they will spend (usually between $1500-$3000) but they have to grant the request or defend the denial in a hearing. If they refuse to do either then you need to file a State Complaint for procedural violations of IDEA because they are denying FAPE and meaningful participation in the IEP process. These are pretty simple complaints to file because the law is so clear about grant or deny but families tend to overcomplicate complaints and add alot of emotions in that can hurt their complaint. I am happy to step in as your advocate to remind the school system of their obligations regarding IEE requests and/or to write an effective State Complaint on your behalf that will force their hand with providing an IEE. Feel free to contact me to discuss further. I am a nationwide advocate that would love to try and help with any Special Education issues you are having. Contact me at specialeducationlawmom@gmail.com.
Here is the You Tube Video I did on the need to consider Functional, Academic and Developmental needs – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbOA_EHcw9c