As a parent of a child with special needs, I suspect that some of my parental involvement may have been considered bothersome by the school district. However, it seems to me that most of the time, it is the district that is the real source of trouble. So in the quest for fairness, I’ve come up with some criteria (a la Jeff Foxworthy) that I hope will be helpful in identifying the real culprit. So use it wisely and feel confident in knowing that your school district may be a pain in the neck IF…
they think No Child Left Behind means taking a final head count on a field trip.
your child’s one-to-one can’t add one to one.
the Special Ed Director thinks hippotherapy means riding on the back of a hippo.
they think AAC is what keeps you cool in the summer.
there are notches on the school district’s side of the conference table.
the school’s special education attorney has a permanent office in the district office building.
the school nurse sends your child home because the teacher has a headache.
the superintendent can’t come to your child’s IEP because of the restraining order.
they pat you down before the IEP meeting.
the school district’s brand new conference room chairs already need to have the cushions replaced.
when you go to an IEP meeting, the team brings a change of clothes.
they consider an inclusive placement standing between two regular ed kids in the lunch line.
they consider outdoor recess a least restrictive environment.
your child’s inclusive classroom has only one chair in it.
they think that mainstreaming got its name from throwing a child in, sink or swim.
when you go to an IEP meeting, the Special Education Director gives you decaf and tells you it’s caffeinated just to get you off your game.
you carry a prescription for Godiva in your purse or pocket.
your school’s idea of a behavioral intervention plan exclusively
consists of hand clapping and a sugar cookie.
the seventh grade summer school school-supply list only asks for pipe cleaners, cotton balls and glue.
you have your special education attorney’s phone number on speed dial.
(This is all true!!)
1.When you make a written request for initial eval and the sped director has you to sign consent form for an SST assesment instead, and he knows that SST assesment can't be used to determine sped eligibility. And you don't know the difference in the two consent forms.
2.When school doesn't tell you about IDEA laws, makes you think the SST assesment IS the initial eval for sped eligibility, so you won't find out there IS an initial eval for sped eligibility.
3.When you request for an initial eval for sped eligibility and sped director tells you your child has to 'already' be in special ed to have this done.
4.When you request to have initial eval for sped eligibility, and the person says they don't decide if this should be done. Then you call state and ask them, and state tells you SST coordinator makes the decision. Then you find out SST coordinator is the same person who told you they don't make the decision. Plus, the state doesn't tell you that YOU can request an initial eval for sped eligibility yourself.
5.When you file a state complaint cause school didn't respond to your request for IEE, and state tells you that you can't request IEE because the testing the school did wasn't initial eval for sped eligibility, it was only an SST assesment.
6.School never tells you that SST assesment is NOT the same as initial eval for sped, and they make you think it is.
7.When you file state complaints with 8 IDEA violations, send state 64 documents proving all the things school did wrong, and state still says school is 'in compliance'
8.When you ask state to send you copies of all documents the school sent to state for your complaint, and state sends you mostly BLANK documents!
9.When sped director says he'll think about your IEE request when you give him a 'good enough reason' for requesting it.
10.When school tells you the child HAS to go thru the SST process first, and never tells parents they can request initial eval for sped eligiblity themselves WITHOUT having to go thru the SST process at all.
**THESE SAME THINGS ARE HAPPENING ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND THERE IS NO ONE ENFORCING THE IDEA LAWS!!!**
Posted by: Sherry Hollis | February 04, 2006 at 09:54 PM
Your school district might be a pain if they employ one special ed teacher for every four to five hundred students. Or if they identify approximately seven percent of the students as having learning disabilities. Or if they tell a parent whose child is two to three years behind in reading levels in elementary school that their child is doing just fine.
Posted by: Dennis McCarron | February 05, 2006 at 11:19 AM
you are so not even close to funny.
i mean really, not even close. this is the worst attempt at funny i have ever seen.
i know you will not post this, because this is not a true 'blog'
But i have to tell you... this is the worst, rather watch pant dry website i have ever seen...
also, you have not a clue what you are talking about.
Posted by: Clueless | April 25, 2007 at 06:44 PM