Does school have to pay for behavior analyst?

Question

If child has behavior problems at school and is receiving services under idea can I request that the school pay for a behavior analyst to come in to help deterine reason for problem behavior and solutions? Our recommendatins have been unsuccessful. he has had a funcitonal behavior assessment done but didn't do much good. they are still unable to answer questions such a swhy he is doing it, what he gains from it, etc.

Answer 1

typically not - school services have to be provided by school personel - there are data privacy issues with the  other students in the school and liability issues as well.  May not be what you want to hear but it is unfortunate that in this society all public entities need to have a care on outside folks providing services inside the school.

That said - ask for a team meeting where you can say - well this FBA appears not to work, what's the next step.  Typically what schools provide (or can provide) have a heirarchy.  Need to do A before B - there may be next steps.  There is nothing that prevents you from consulting with outside organzations or therapists yourself to share with schools.  That might lead to some changes.  There is however a caution here - 1 - some outside therapist groups and/or individuals don't make money if they don't get you to come and get services from them.  Over 20+ years I have many times seen such groups as pronouncing a student far more impaired than they actually are for purposes of selling products.  2 - The school is responsible for behavior in the education setting - many times parents want or expect that schools will fix problems at home as well.  Now it is important for both groups to work together to find strategies that will work for the student accross settings the school's primary responsibilities are at school.  3 - The parents also have a responsibility to ensure that the proper outside testing has been done by medical professionals so the school is able to provide services under the correct catagory.  Schools are not medical professionals and many services need an outside MD diagnosis.

Answer 2

go to the state spec ed dept and findout at www.nichcy.org see your state and for the real fed idea laws go to

http://www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/e...

AND

http://idea.ed.gov/

Answer 3

Hmm, I am not sure if they are suppose to pay for an outside person to do this eval when there's was not good.

Call your state dept of education special ed dept and they can tell you.

Answer 4

If no improvements have been made, yes. If they cannot figure it out, I'd write a letter stating that as of x date, the IEP team has been willing to work with the data provided by Formal Name, behavior analyst for y Public Schools. As his behavior is still distracting from his ability to learn, I am formally requesting a functional behavior analysis by an unbiased trained professional to be done by the end of March. Here are the names of  two therapists who are available and willing. Thanks for working with me and the IEP team to provide an appropriate public education for my son, Formal Name.

Answer 5

Parents are entitled to an independent educational assessment if they disagree with the district's evaluation.  The evaluation that you are referring to likely would be called a functional behavioral assessment.  These can be done by different licensed professionals and may include data gathering from others working with the child, including the parent.  

Yes, you can request an independent IEE at District expense.  If the District refuses, they will have to implement a hearing against you to prove the appropriateness of their evaluation.  Otherwise, they must authorize you to obtain this at District expense.

Hope this helps.

Andy Cuddy

Answer 6

I would call a team meeting and discuss options.  I am guessing your child has an IEP?  My suggestion is to take your child to an independant and have him evaluated and go from there.  One reason a child with behavior issues has these issues is lack of consistency and follow through.  Are the plans being followed by EVERYONE from school to home??  Are the responses to particular behaviors consistent?  And, you should focus on one or two (no more than that) behaviors at a time to work on.  

Sometimes there are no clear indications why a child will do the things or behave in the manner they are.  Try redirecting him/her to something else.

Answer 7

The school should have a behavior specialist it works with and that will come in observe the child and give suggestions on why the behavior is occuring and possible solutions.  Also, the social workers or psychologist in the school should be doing observations of the child in various setting throughout the day to see what is causeing the behavior.