Need more information on i.e.p. for child diagnosed with pdd-nos.?

Question

my child was diagnosed with pdd-nos. he has a iep with the title of speech delayed. with his new diagnosis we called for a iep meeting and visited with his pediatricia to discuss the new diagnosis and the up coming iep meeting. we are hoping to get at lease double the minutes per week he is recieving now and have a aid added to his support team. my question to you is have you had any experiance with asking and getting additional services from a public school? and should i be on my guard with the school during the meeting.any advice as to what to do and what not to do would be very helpful.is there anything i need to bring to the meeting that would help.our meeting is in 7 days. thanks kathy.

Answer 1

The district will probably not oppose more minutes, though you must understand that even with a disability, any added time must have educational relevance. For instance, if he is doing fine in math, no additional minutes are needed.

Plan to have the fight of your life when you ask for an aide, particularly if the aide would be for him alone. The district will not do that without a fight, particularly if they have a class that meets his needs. You can win this fight, but it will be arduous.

Some things that you will need at the meeting:

*Current IEP

*Proof that what you are asking for is educationally relevant, including the doctor's information, the report that came with the new diagnosis and any information about his doing poorly in his classes.

*Past IEP's.

*Procedural Safeguards booklet (read it before you go).

*If possible a doctor's note saying he will need additional services due to his disability.

The BEST website for this kind of thing is Wright's Law. It tells you everything you need to know about special ed law. Plan to spend some time on the site because the more you know, the more success you will have.

Answer 2

Perhaps he doesn't require an aid or double the minutes???  My suggestion is that you first meet with the IEP team and see what they are recommending.  If he has speech delays, the speech therapist will want to add the time that is appropriate for him.  You can't just "order up" minutes or "order up" aids.  There has to be justification for it.  The county and state audits special education records annually, making sure that services are appropriate according to the law.  While districts may WANT to give 10000 hours to one single child, there are laws that restrict the amount of time allowed.  Students are entitled to an appropriate education in the Least Restrictive Environment.  That means, they are entitled to be educated with their peers.  An Aid changes that and places the child in Maximum Restrictions.  You child may not be THAT disabled--so be careful what you ask for or wish for.

Answer 3

Have a written list of what you want to ask for to take to the IEP meeting. If at all possible record the IEP meeting so you won't forget anything.

Schools are to have LEGAL reasons for their decisions.

WHen you ask for something and they refuse, they have to have a LEGAL reason for refusing it.

And, the school is to give you 'prior written notice' on anythign they agree to or disagree to.  Here's a link about it -

http://idea.ed.gov/download/modelform2_P...

Most parents don't knwo that there is a legal step by step process that must be followed by them and the school concerning special ed. And schools ain't about to tell them because they will get out of helping the child all they can.

At the meeting, make sure you write down EVERYTHING they said, every answer they give you for your requests on your list.

After the meeting, write a letter to the head of the IEP meeting stating you are requesitng 'prior written notice' for the IEP teams  refusals of x*x (here, list everythign they refused)

AND state you are requesting this as specified by federal special ed law IDEA.

ALso make a copy of the link above and send it with your letter. That way they know you know the law and they can't try to get out of it.

They HAVE to have LEGAL reasons for refusing what you ask for. And if they DONT" have LEGAL reasons, they will HAVE to AGREE to what you want.

Answer 4

The most important thing for you to remember is that the purpose of IDEA is to build a program that will meet your child's unique needs not a program based on his label

Next, you need to understand that the Present Level of Academic Performance is the heart of the IEP; it will drive the services necessary for your child - if it notes the speech delay as a major deficit that should enable you to gain more services.

Don't go to the IEP alone, bring someone with you, they can at least take notes and be there to support you.  

Don't go into it that this is me vs. them, if you want to be a team that's primary purpose is to help your son, act as a team.

Do bring treats; you can't imagine what a small act of kindness can do.  You  might have to sit through one IEP but the staff you're meeting with might sit through many, many more.

Do use the wonderful resources on the web.

Answer 5

You don't say if your child is preschool or school aged.  I know he has to be under seven for the diagnosis.  The NOS part says they aren't exactly sure why he fits on the Autism Spectrum, but they will likely be able to figure it out as he gets older.  So the first step is to reopen his evaluation to see if he'd qualify as a student with an Other Health Impairment or Autism.   That's when you can talk about other services besides speech.  Poke around your state's department of education website's special education section to see if there's any information about eligibility requirements.  The disability has to negatively impact your child's academic performance before further special education services can be granted.

In terms of his current IEP, really think about what he needs-  what makes you think 2x as much speech would be beneficial- it might not be.  Speech therapy can sometimes be difficult (and tiring) and may be best given in small doses.  I don't know your child's tolerance, but he might already be at his max, I don't know, of course, but I know the age can play a big part in how much therapy a child can take.  You should be able to talk to your child's therapist and get their opinion before the meeting.  You can also speak to the director of special education (or the speech therapist's boss) to get a second opinion.  I know you've talked to the pediatrician, but also talk to the person giving your child therapy.  Doctors generally don't really understand school based services.  

And as for an aide, he can't get one with a speech IEP, that's why I mentioned earlier that another disability would have to be indicated for that to happen.  So you need to request an updated eval to take the new information into consideration.  Besides that, what is the aide for?  Does he need assistance with toileting or behavior, or is it for instruction?  Really think about that, as aides are usually granted for extreme cases (ie severe autism to keep a child from harming himself).  On the other side, he may feel very different from his peers with an adult following him everywhere he goes.  It can be stressful for some kids.

They would probably want to start with the least restrictive settng, which may be a special education teacher to assist him in areas of academic weakness, if he has any.  If teachers need to understand his behavioral needs, you can write for everyone what works best for your child in terms of making requests, getting him to comply, etc.  I went to a meeting where a parent did this, and it was great!  I agree with writing things out beforehand, it can help you to stay focused and not get swept up in emotion.

Answer 6

1. outline your child's needs, and how it relates to receiving a FAPE.

2. make a list of suggestions ( goals or accommodations) you think might help your child  in the classroom.  be specific.  have back up to support your suggestions, tell why it's needed in order for an FAPE (test scores, list inconsistencies with his/her learning)

3.  With a new dx, you might want to do a search on PDD(NOS) there is a lot of info out there!  Add difficulties that your child has, that relate to the new dx, explain how it affects his/her learning ability.

Be detailed.  The more prepared you are, the better off the meeting will be.

If you would like an example of a list, and want to know my recent success for adding goals and accommodations to my kid's iep, I will share - just send me an email via YahooAnswers!

ETA - that chick below me said "I know he has to be under seven for the diagnosis. "

that is NOT true.  

stop giving false information.