<p>I thought it was usual for some kids with disabilities to have aides. My best friend’s son, who has autism, had an aide that accompanied him in class.</p>
<p>Are there differences according to state?
Here in NJ, “one on one” aides are common.
Our D is in a fulltime special ed school (paid by our district) since there was no ‘appropriate’ education for her indistrict. Initially, we were not pleased to have here removed from ‘typical’ peers. Turns out that she has gained so much in this setting that the negatives have been overshadowed. There are even extracurricular clubs that are composed of local HS students mentoring our ‘special’ kids.
Even in D’s special school, there are several students with personal aids. Our D doesn’t need one but their presence does make the whole class run smoother.</p>
<p>The OP’s son obviously has much milder special needs than my D. But in NJ, he would be entitled to necessary accomodations in the general public school setting.
Unfortunately, it often does fall to the parents to advocate for their student and it’s not an easy job.</p>
<p>"Shrinkrap: “Yesterday a 16 year old girl, shared she recently qualified for an IEP, based on “emotional disability”. Next year she will be taking both an English “resource” class, and an AP English class!”</p>
<p>IEP’s are not just for students with limited intellectual capacity."</p>
<p>I get that. As I noted in my post, the girl I referred to qualifies via ED (emotional disturbance) and is apparently quite bright, but hasn’t attended school much for years. I was just noting what I thought was in interesting juxtaposition of classes, and a complex situation. The Kids, and expectations in those classes are sure to be very different. She is in a public school. In MY kids school, you have to have passed English with a B or so, to get into AP English. This girl did not have to even pass English this year, and will be in resource to make it up. I’m not sure how I feel about that 1but it will be great if she attends school next year.Several kids I have treated have one on one aids, but usually it’s because they have proven to be a danger to themselves or others.</p>
<p>I used to go to this website</p>
<p>[Recent</a> Activity - GreatSchools Parent Community](<a href=“http://community.greatschools.net/activity/?tab=groups&page=1#browseActivity]Recent”>http://community.greatschools.net/activity/?tab=groups&page=1#browseActivity)</p>
<p>It used to be be sponsored by Charles Schwab who is dyslexic but the powers that be decided to not sponsor that website any more and greatschools took over. I have never been to the new website but if the old timers are still active they are a tremendous resource. Some of them can help interpret test scores and knows the ins and outs of rights and advocacy. </p>
<p>I think some neuropsychologists, education advocates used to post there as well and give opinions.</p>
<p>Jonathan is able to read fluently but has trouble comprehending what he has read. He’s doing better at that now. In the beginning of the year after reading a paragraph to him, he would be able to answer 0 to 1 question about that paragraph with repeating it. Now he can answer 5 questions most of the time without repeating the paragraph, so he is moving forward rather than regressing. At the beginning of the year, too, he could follow 2-step instructions but with 3 or more would get confused and not remember any of them. Now he can follow 3- and 4-step directions without too much trouble. </p>
<p>Blossom, in answer to your question, Jonathan’s last physical was almost 2 years ago so definitely time for another one. He hasn’t mentioned any problems with seeing the board or having problems hearing but will ask to get that checked out during the physical.</p>
<p>Jonathan and I have talked about a back-up plan in case teaching isn’t in his future. He likes kids, and he loves to sing and is pretty good at drawing as well as acting in plays. He loves to swim–and is actually pretty good at it–as well as shooting hoops with his brothers once in awhile. When I mentioned maybe seeing if he could help out at a summer camp, such as Camp Sunshine, which is a special needs camp, he seemed pretty interested in that, so that might be something we’ll pursue this summer. </p>
<p>Thanks once again for all the wonderful advice and resources as well as your support.</p>
<p>She may or may not have been referring to a stuffed vs live animal. The school I work in has ED classes and one year a family fought long and hard for a special service dog for their emotionally disturbed daughter. Although the girl, once they got the dog, didn’t pay any attention to the poor thing and the mother ended up giving it back.</p>
<p>But back to the OP…I work in special ed and have a special needs son so probably know more than I need about this. My now 24 year old who has a seizure disorder (will never be able to drive) and major learning challenges, just got his AA from the community college after 6 years of hard work and many classes he had to drop/retake. He did get extra time/tutoring through this disabilities dept. but rarely used it (he should have). He is working in a day-care center with 3 year olds, has medical insurance (yay!) and is pretty independent. I am soooo proud of him!</p>
<p>Community colleges sometimes offer remedial classes at very beginning levels. At the community college I go to, there are remedial math classes down to the level of arithmetic operations with numbers (addition, subtraction, fractions, percents, elementary stuff like that). There are remedial English classes too. The OP’s son might be able to take some classes at community college.</p>
<p>Just read the original post only. My first thought was Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.</p>
<p>[Nurse</a> Ratched - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurse_Ratched]Nurse”>Nurse Ratched - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I’ll have to read on so as not to repeat advice, but what you describe is miseducation and emotional abuse.</p>
<p>Bec, congratulations to your son! That’s wonderful that he stuck with it and has done so well. You have every right to be proud of him. Cardinal Fang, I plan on checking out the community college here. They have some adaptives that he might benefit from.</p>
<p>
Then I must have misunderstood, because you wrote:
What is a “document”? I was taking it to mean each separate component of an IEP. I think what has been noted is that all states do **not **require that the disability be stated on each IEP document (or even the front page of any IEP document). That is not a federal mandate. I believe that the disability needs to be on the original eligibility determination document and (possibly?) the document where the disability was confirmed/re-established through the years. But most certainly not on every document. </p>
<p>Confidentiality is a federal law, but in reality it sometimes does not exist in the teachers’ lounge. Some disability categories are “loaded,” if you know what I mean, and people are labeled and compartmentalized according to those categories. It shouldn’t happen, and I’m sure it doesn’t happen everywhere, but I don’t think things have changed as much as they should have over the last decade or so. </p>
<p>The OP should have known their son’s disability category, but many schools have a way of mumbo-jumbo’ing the sped paperwork. It’s certainly quite common for parents to not understand the special education process. It’s usually easier for the school when they don’t understand.</p>
<p>Here, the “IEP DOCUMENT” is a 13 page (but often longer since page 7 is goals/objectives and is always more than one page in length) document. Included in that document for initial placement are a verification of disability form and an consent for special education placement. On OUR IEP (can’t speak to others) the disability is in only two places…a check in a box on one page, and on the verification of disability. The document has umpteen pages…but the disability is NOT written at the top (or middle or bottom) of EACH of those pages.</p>
<p>Regardless…the OP was unclear (until yesterday when she found out from the school staff what it was) about her child’s disability. In ALL the pages and pages (and there are PAGES AND PAGES) of papers received since KINDERGARTEN, there would be a requirement to verify the child’s disability and include it in the documentation. I urged the parent to read carefully to find out the disability. It’s important for parents to have ALL of this information and understand it. This OP’s child has been (presumably…from this thread) receiving special education services for 11 years…surely the disability is in the paperwork somewhere.</p>
<p>I have been on both sides of the IEP table, as many of us have work work in special ed and have a child with a disability. Yes it is common for parents not to understand SPED process but I totally disagree that it is easier for schools if parents do not. Believe me, there are times I don’t understand the process and i have been working in it for years. But I also work very hard to help parents understand the process, as do most of the special educators I know.</p>
<p>db–</p>
<p>How did your meeting go yesterday? Did you get answers to your questions?</p>
<p>I read your post #145. You say that his IEP describes his reading ability. On an IEP, that’s known as PLAAFP or “present level of academic and functional performance.” It’s also sometimes called PLOP or “present level of performance.”</p>
<p>PLAAFP is very important. It helps you see what your child has accomplished and what areas of weakness persist. From that, the IEP team writes the IEP goals for that student and determines ways to reach those goals. But PLAFFP is not the same as an eligibility category.</p>
<p>I think it’s wonderful that you and your son are talking about options such as being a camp counselor. As others have noted, every IEP for a child over the age of 14 should include a Transition Plan. The Transition Plan describes what the student intends to do after high school, and what will be done during the high school years to ensure the student has the necessary skills after he/she leaves high school. The Transition Plan is written by the IEP team, which includes the parents and the student.</p>
<p>For some kids with limited cognitive and life skills , the Transition Plan focuses on extremely basic abilities such as hygiene and simple meal preparation. For college-bound kids who have reading disabilities or ADHD or epilepsy, the IEP Transition Plan might list meeting with the college’s Disabilities Services coordinator to craft a class schedule that best meets their needs.</p>
<p>The Transition Plan should be updated every year If your son wants to go to community college, the IEP team should be discussing that now. If the team agrees that community college is the right path, the IEP should list all of the steps to get your son to community college. That includes 1) what the school will do, 2) what you as the parent will do and 3) what your son will do.</p>
<p>I’m glad your son already knows what he enjoys and is looking for ways to use his gifts. That’s great! A well-written, well-supported IEP can help him accomplish his goals.</p>
<p>
Why wouldn’t it be easier if parents came to meetings and simply signed without questions? Why wouldn’t that be the ideal scenario? It is difficult if parents don’t come to the meetings, as that requires some work to document the efforts to reach them. </p>
<p>Question – as a speducator, did you tell parents that they were entitled to ask for a private evaluation at school system expense when they disagreed with the school evaluation? Did you tell them to request this additional evaluation in writing? (And the only two responses are that the school system grants the private evaluation or takes the parent to court to show that the school system evaluation was appropriate.) I have yet to find a parent who was told this by the school system. I don’t mean buried in the handouts; I mean told to a parent directly. </p>
<p>I think that schools do not want parents to understand many parts of the process.</p>
<p>Some more questions to the OP…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Ohio has graduation exams, yes? Is your son going to be taking these? If he doesn’t pass them, then what happens?</p></li>
<li><p>Does Ohio have different types of diplomas? In many states there are different kinds of diplomas, and some kinds entitle the student to services beyond senior year. (These would be non-regular or standard diplomas. Your son may fall in this category, if he has a modified curriculum and isn’t mastering the same concepts as the regular education students. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I was looking at the transition form on Ohio’s sped documents. I noticed that post-secondary education is not listed as one of the choices. It should be. Also, your son should have had a transition plan developed by at least age 16. Has this been done?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m not sure I can agree with that statement. From our experience, we know that the school has a limited number of spots they can fill with IEPs. We know that they will go out of their way with families that are engaged with the school and with their child. We know that the school is most focused on progression and positive reportable results. I wouldn’t think anything different. But if all this occurs at a young age, most definitely the parents need to be involved through the years. I could see a case of a kid falling off the radar screen with no parental involvement. But there is an intrinsic difference between involvement and demanding that the school take the lead.</p>
<p>
A quota for IEPs? Is this a public or private school (sped plans are actually called by a different acronym when it involves private schools)?</p>
<p>I have been at many IEP meetings where the parents just show up and sign without any questions…no this NOT the ideal scenario nor does it make it easier for us in the long run when parent’s don’t care or question the system.
The us vs them mentality just does not serve the kids well …my opinion. And yes I have had to push for things for my son but I never felt it was the schools secret agenda to keep me in the dark.</p>
<p>We each look at things from our own point of reference. Even if your son has/had special needs, as someone in the system, your experience isn’t really the same as someone outside the system. </p>
<p>The us vs them mentality of course isn’t ideal, but sometime things happen. Perhaps you can’t understand why it might happen. I can.</p>
<p>I’d go back to the suggestion that the OP seriously consider finding a special education advocate who can help identify options in transition planning that the school may not be familiar with suggesting. If her son’s high school is like ours, the vast majority of kids served by special education have learning disabilities. Another group have physical disabilities (vision, hearing, mobility) but often no other issues. A third group are children with multiple severe disabilities where the predominant focus is on attaining simple life skills like feeding or dressing, and another group with autism spectrum disorders. While we have about 140 kids receiving special ed services, I’d estimate that only a small handful fall into the mildly developmentally disabled category. </p>
<p>As with anything, something you don’t do very often isn’t likely to be something you’re really good at. If neither the parent nor the school has extensive experience in transition planning for students with this particular subset of needs, I’m a little wary of whether the child will be well served. Some schools push to get kids graduated and off the school rolls even when the student might well benefit from the extended time allowed in K-12 education with all its supports and accommodations, while others may simply be unaware of some of the options in your area, or unaware of how well those options have worked in the past for students with a similar level of needs. (The old sometimes things look better on paper than they do in person thing.) Social and affective needs of the child and planning for some degree of independence from the parent(s) are also an important part of the planning process. </p>
<p>There is a very good article discussing the challenges high school graduation poses for mildly developmentally delayed teens (for which you have to pay to receive more than the first page unless you have access to a university library, unfortunately):
Graduation: Transitional Crisis for Mildly Developmentally Disabled Adolescents and Their Families
Judy T. Konanc and Nancy J. Warren
Family Relations, Vol. 33, No. 1, The Family with Handicapped Members (Jan., 1984), pp. 135-142
(article consists of 8 pages)
Published by: National Council on Family Relations
Stable URL: <a href=“http://www.jstor.org/stable/584598[/url]”>http://www.jstor.org/stable/584598</a></p>