IEP copies and accommodations for NVLD?

Question

My 8 year old son is coming to live with me next month. He has a "Nonverbal Learning Disability'. He has had and IEP for this since first grade, but his father and stepmother have always looked after this. Am I allowed to request a copy of his IEP for my own personal interest? And if he has a 'Nonverbal Learning Disability' what kind of accommodations and special services should he be receiving, and what should he be receiving as he gets older?

Answer 1

As a legal parent, you have a right to a copy of the IEP.  Actually you have a right to view his complete academic file.  There is an abundance of information on the web regarding learning disabilities.  You can go to the Department of Education of your state and follow the links to special education to gather most all information you are looking for.  There are also numerous web sites that are parent advocates.  Just key in special education parent advocate and check them out.  Also do a search on nonverbal learning disability to find answers to your questions.

Answer 2

If he is legally coming into your custody, then you have every right to have all of his documents. You must have them in hand to register him at the school district. Try to take the following things with you:

Current IEP

Psychological Testing report

This way you can have him temporarily assigned to special ed services while the school examines the material.

The school will call or send you a notice to attend an IEP meeting. Various school district have different ways of doing this. Generally, if the psych report is recent enough, they will not retest him. If he is coming from out of state, he probably will be tested and will receive a temporary assignment. If he coming from in state, he will receive a permanent assignment if you have that paperwork with you.

Children with non-verbal learning disability often have at least some of the following deficits.

(1) motoric (lack of coordination, severe balance problems and/or difficulties with fine graphomotor skills), (2) visual-spatial-organizational (lack of image, poor visual recall, faulty spatial perceptions, and/or difficulties with spatial relations), and (3) social (lack of ability to comprehend nonverbal communication, difficulties adjusting to transitions and novel situations, and/or significant deficits in social judgment and social interaction.

NVLD kids are often quite intelligent and are good at reading and rote learning.

Some of the accommodations that are helpful are as follows:

*Desk copies of all information presented on the board or overhead.

*The child should not have to copy long paragraphs or answer in complete sentences.

*When given a test with a separate answer sheet, the student needs to be able to write on the test booklet.

*More time to complete assignments and tests.

*Shorten assignments.

*Graphic organizers should be used for writing tasks.

*Predictable schedule

*Use verbal teaching methods

* Behavior intervention plan if needed

Some other things that need to be done are:

1. Direct instruction of social behaviors.

2. Direct instruction of self-management skills and coping strategies.

Even if you get these written into the IEP, you are going to have to monitor if they are being done. Kids often act up when they can't do the work, so if there are behavior problems, you need to ask for proof that accommodations are being made and skills are being taught.

Go to the Wright's Law website to find out more legal information in case you don't agree with the IEP. Also, there in a lot of information on this disability, so do some more reading. Also, visit Dr. Mac's Amazing Behavior Management website if you have behavior issues.

Try to understand that your son does not take in social cues like a regular kid. He has to be taught most social behaviors.

Answer 3

its not just for your personal interest that you need the iep, but so that you can share it, and your child's most recent evaluation data with your school district.  Children with nonverbal ld's have a wide range of needs, so you'd really have to look at his evaluation data to know what kind of skills he has, and at his IEP to know what accommodations the previous team felt were needed.  As far as what he needs when he gets older, this will be something you discover with your child and his educators.  There may come a time where he no longer benefits from special education.  

Also, be aware if you are changing states, there may be different criteria set forth for determining whether or not a child has a disability.  Some might call NVLD a 'processing deficit' or something like that (my state doesn't recognize NVLD, even though I personally do, but I don't make the rules!).  Don't be surprised if the label changes or if they want to reevaluate your child to see if he qualifies in that state.  Check your state's department of education to see if that's an issue.  You can also look there for your procedural safeguards as a parent of a child with a disability.  It should explain the special ed process to you in detail- you'd be looking for information on transistioning.

Answer 4

Yes you should have a copy of his IEP plan. Since he's going to be living wiht you, YOU will now be an 'equal member' of his IEP team.

Schools don't want parents to think this, but by law you are.

When you get the IEP plan, see what it states for the services he is getting.

He might need more.

go to www.schwablearning.org

parent message board to ask for what he should need for NVLD

Answer 5

I would really suggest going to www.wrightslaw.com. It is the best place online for a non-biased interpretation of federal education laws.

Once you start reading there, you'll be able to understand the law enough to apply it to your own situation, and not depend on others for their interpretation (more specifically schools and teachers, who often don't understand the full responsibility and implications of law)

You should get a copy of the IEP now, so that you can start preparing. All of his accommodations and services should be directly related to his specific needs, which may vary from other people with NVLD. For my son, it meant help with organizing, turning in work, decreasing handwriting (allowing him to type out school work), utilizing graph paper for math (to help line up equations better). It also meant social skills training, because often pragmatics and conversation skills are lost in kids with NVLD.

Good luck, check out wrightslaw (which often has free seminars) and feel free to ask his dad for help.

Answer 6

If you still have parental/ educational rights for your child (which I assume since he is coming to live with you) You can request a copy of all of his files if you want, but of course can request a copy of his most recent IEP. Is he changing schools or just houses? If he is going to a different school district make sure you get a copy of the IEP to his new district ASAP. Accommodations and services vary greatly for children with NVLD. When you get a copy of the IEP it should have all of his services, accommodations etc. clearly listed. If you are not use to reading them they can be confusing. Ask his current teacher or school psychologist to review it with you to make sure you understand it and can identify all the parts. I would focus on the current goals as well as accommodations and go from there. A great resource is www.wrightslaw.com