How to get my daughter help????

Question

my daughter is adhd / ocd/ odd/ bipolar and at her previous school she had a IEP done and was considered 504 and had a special mentor in class with her well she started doing home base therapy and was improving so we agreed to take her off the 504 in school, well we moved here 2 years ago and she doesn't have home base therapy and with the move(out of state)/ and her father dying, she was haveing a hard time coping. i have repedetly for 2 years asked the principal to do another IEP on her ,and one excuse after another he has not done it.. she is struggling and always in something at school, she spends more time out of school than in school.you can say she failed this year. what are my daughters rights?

Answer 1

Put your request for a comprehensive evaluation in writing, be sure to date and sign the letter. State that your child has had an IEP in the past, unless it was just a 504 plan. They are two different things; just state one of them. List her medical diagnoses. Send a copy of the letter to the school principal and another to the exceptional needs director in the school system. They have 90 consecutive days by law to produce some results. You will have to provide them with medical information. They will give you the forms they need. If they do not, ASK for them.

You do not say why she has had therapy, but do not expect the school system to provide much in that area. School counselors are not there to provide intensive one-on-one therapy.

With changes in IDEA, now referred to as IDEiA, the school will say they have to do interventions first, you ask for interventions concurrent with the evaluation because you have been trying to get help at the school level for two years.

The school should do an observation (or two), vision & hearing screening, an IQ test, and achievement tests in reading, writing, and math. The results will be presented in standard scores that can be compared. If there is at least a fifteen point discrepancy between IQ and the achievement scores in each area, then that indicates a problem area which can be addressed by an IEP. (Some states may have different criteria, but ours is 15 or more.)

Or, if there is a great difference in verbal and performance IQ scores (like 20 points), then an alternative discrepancy can sometimes be done instead. That is when the school uses the higher IQ score (rather than full scale), and subtracts the achievement scores from the higher IQ score.

Regardless of all this ongoing evaluation, remember that the school is looking for negative impact on academics and nothing else.

Answer 2

Talk directly with the superintendent of the district.  He will let you know what can be done.  If he cannot help, contact your local school board representative.  If that does not work, look at moving.  Talk to school officials for your destination and see if they can help.

Answer 3

Pull out your old IEP and there is a phone number on it to call for help.  That number is to advocate for your child and will get you the help you need.  Plus make sure the school she is now attending has a copy of the forwarded IEP from the old school.  Usually when a new student starts a new school the new school sets up a meeting to make sure they understand what the IEP is asking that the old school was able to accomadate.  Get a hold of the Special Education Dept of your school and talk to the head person asap so your daughter can get the help she needs.  They'll be busting their butts when they figure out they aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing.  It's illegal what they're doing now and could be written up for it and that's not the cool way to go for the school.

Answer 4

Your daughter needs to "qualify" for Special Services, which is determined by testing. Talk to the school psychologist about having her tested for services. Your question above, indicates that she may not qualify for special services (that is, the need for specially designed instruction) but does have special needs, which is why a 504 plan may have been used in the past. If that is the case, you need to talk to your daughter's school counselor or the school psychologist about her previous supports, how they helped her, and how her education is suffering without the 504 plan supports in place. Decisions about education are supposed to be made based on data, so if you can provide data that supports are needed, the school should respond by providing those supports. FYI- the principal does not create the IEP- it is a process that typically starts with the school psychologist. Usually teachers or parents make a referral for a student to be tested for Special Services. I recommend you schedule a meeting with the school psych in your daughter's school. Have them explain their "processes" so you can understand how the educational system works in your new area. Good Luck to you.

Answer 5

I'd agree with the person who said talk to the Superintendent.  Public schools are required by law to provide services and your daughter should have had a new IEP done when she changed schools.  My son used to have an IEP and it was revised annually so your daughter's is way overdue.  Your school should be giving you a document of your legal parental rights every time you go in.  Obviously  the principal isn't doing their job so it's time to go over his head.

Answer 6

If your daughter has been tested and been legally defined with what you said she has been then the public school system is suppose to cater to her needs.

Answer 7

If you want something done.. do it in writing and send others copies of it. Write a letter to the principal asking for a full evaluation for special education services on your daughter.  State that you have documentation that she received services two years ago for the conditions listed.  Note at the bottom that you are sending it to the director of special education and the superintendent, too, if you'd like.  By FEDERAL law, they have 90 days to complete the evaluation.  Being that summer is quickly approaching do it now for best results.     This year is probably done with at this point.  Go for a full IEP in effect next year.

As far as the counseling goes, I'd pursue this through the department of mental health for your state/county.  Schools are not required to provide in-depth medical counseling.  Some states have partnerships with the medical/ in-depth counseling and the schools but these are rare.  Some argue that they stigmitize students, so it may not be the best arrangement anyways.

Students either have a 504 or an IEP.  It's one or the other, but not both.  If she had a mentor  through the school system, then she had an IEP.