Navigating Schools for Special Needs Children

1. Navigating Schools forSpecial Needs Children Public School and Home Schooling Your Newly Adopted ChildShelley Bedford and Meredith Cornish

2. Shelley Bedford

3. The Special Education Process Be an active member of your child’s team!

4. The Basics • Special education is a SERVICE not a place. • Federal law states that every child is entitled to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE) with appropriate supplemental aides and services. • The IEP team should ALWAYS consider the LRE first and then work their way down to most restrictive if & only if the child’s needs can not be met in the LRE.

5. Take the word “best” out of your vocabulary. You never request what is “best” for your child, you request what is “appropriate” and back it up with facts, data & research. • You must learn to use the correct language that correlates with the law: appropriate, not best; LRE not general ed setting, etc

6. Who should be at the IEP • Parent • Special education teacher/case manager • General education teacher (even if the child is not in the general ed classroom) • Any support staff (aides, speech, OT, etc) • LEA: someone from the district who can make decisions about spending money

7. Before the IEP • Review current IEP goals & IEP progress reports. Has your child mastered the goals listed? If not, does the progress reports indicate why? • What skills/academic tasks do you want your child to master in the coming year? • If current goals were not mastered, do you want your child to continue to work on the same goal? Is there a different approach to meeting that goal that you believe could be implemented?

8. What concerns do you have? (academic, social and functional) • What questions do you have about the next grade/placement? • What is your long term goal for your child? • For annual reviews: You should request a DRAFT of the IEP to be sent to you at least 48 hours before the scheduled IEP meeting.

9. Things to consider • If you are going to an IEP meeting that is not an annual review, but is to discuss a concern and/or ongoing problem, make sure you have clear notes about your concerns & observations. You may want to take a recording device to the meeting. Know your state laws on this issue. Some states require notifying the district in advance before bringing a recording device to a meeting, while others do not. Some states allow you to secretly record meetings and they are still admissible in court (should you ever need it to be).

10. If you are meeting to discuss an ongoing issue or going to an annual review in which you are going to ask for something that you feel may meet opposition, you may want to take someone with you. Sometimes, having an “outside observer” who does not have an emotional attachment to your child can observe the meeting & think of questions that you don’t “see”/think of in the heat of the moment. You are within your rights to invite someone to your child’s IEP meeting. This can be a formal advocate or just a trusted friend/parent who knows/understands the special education process.

11. During the meeting • Everyone present should be introduced. If you don’t know someone/what their role is, ASK. • The special ed case manager may come to the meeting with a DRAFT of the IEP to help guide the meeting. They can NOT come to the meeting with a completed IEP that expect to review with you and have you sign. You are a member of the IEP team and your input, is required. You can ask for anything to be changed, reworded, taken out, etc.

12. Things that MUST be in the IEP • Strengths of the student • Parental concerns (academic, social & functional) • Recent evaluations (formal and informal) • Academic, developmental and functional needs (HOW does the child learn, students interests, what supports are needed for learning, etc. Specific examples should be provided) • PLOP (present level of performance)

13. MEASURABLE goals • Special education services: what, where, how long, services provided by who • Supplementary aides and services: assistive technology, paraprofessionals, daily communication log, daily behavior chart, etc • Accomodations and modifications- know the difference!! • Related services: speech, OT, PT • Participation in standardized testing • Age 14 and over: transition goals • ESY: extended school year services

14. Non academic participation w/ general ed peers, special transportation, etc • How the child’s disability impacts inclusion in the general edsetting • LRE (least restrictive environment)- Is the child educated with non disabled peers? For how many hours of the school day? If not all day, WHY NOT (this should be a detailed explanation)?

15. Therapy services at school • You can request evaluations for speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy. • The IEP should review the evaluation results and determine the frequency of therapy. It should also be determined if this is “push in” or “pull out” services & if it’s 1:1 or small group therapy sessions. • School based therapy is focused on educationally relevant therapy.

16. Pull out vs Push in Services • Push in services means that services are provided in the child’s classroom (typically the general ed classroom) • Pull out means the child leaves the classroom and goes to a 1:1 or small group setting in a different room. This may be a “resource” room, speech therapist’s office, etc.

17. If your child is receiving pull out academic services, the child should still be working on a curriculum. This may be simply providing assistance with the general education curriculum or it may be a separate curriculum at the child’s academic level, but it should be a scope and sequenced curriculum.

18. Things to remember • You are an ACTIVE member of the IEP team. It is NOT “them” telling you what they are going to do. • FAPE and LRE are on YOUR side. • “One size fits all” service models are not your only option. The I in IEP is the most important part! • When they say “we can not”/ ”we do not”, ask them to show you that in the LAW (have a copy) • Never be afraid to ask a lot of questions and have them clarify everything. • You should be provided with copies of all evaluations (including speech, OT, PT, etc) and the IEP.

19. Signing the IEP • You need to know your state law in regards to what your signature means. In some states, your signature just means that you were there. In other states, it means that you are agreeing with what is written. You can STOP an IEP meeting at any time. You simply “table the meeting”. You do not simply refuse to sign the document. You MUST take action to stop the proposed IEP from being implemented. The laws in each state on how to do this may differ. You should put your request in writing. If the team is trying to make a decision that warrants a placement change, you need to indicate that you plan to exercise your due process rights, which institutes a “stay put” for your child while you seek legal counsel/determine your rights/file a due process motion.

20. Document. Document. Document. • Get EVERYTHING from the district in writing – all communications, all “promises”, all requests….EVERYTHING. • Make all your requests in writing too: requests for meetings, questions about what’s being taught, questions about behavior, etc. • Keep scans or photos of all school to home and home to school communications (yes, even daily notes)-hand held scanner with a memory card is perfect for this • Email is your friend. Use it. • Emotions to Advocacy book is your BFF

21. Meredith Cornish

22. HomeSchooling Your Adopted child with Special Needs

23. Laws about Homeschooling • http://www.hslda.org/laws/

24. Things states MAY require: • Supervising instructor to have teaching certificate • Registration and supervision with an umbrella school (report attendance) • Registering student with school district as a homeschooling student • Annual testing or evaluations • Multiple years of portfolio

25. Methods of Homeschooling • Home-School • School-at-home • Unschooling

26. Building Home Education Goals • Use life goals to build your ‘school’ goals • Think FAR, then back up to where you are today • Education goals don’t have to be “educationally relevant” at home! • Writing goals for the future include learning to hold a crayon which backs up to playing with playdough for hand strength.