New to IEP process, question about ESY

[sste]

Babybunny, what a lot to deal with! I know it is overwhelming right now and it does not sound like school has behaved impressively in the past. BTW, do they have an anti-bullying policy? What you describe is just heartbreaking.

I would also feel heart sick about the idea of taking away camp that a child is days from and has been anticipating for a long time. I think it comes down to how much money you can comfortably throw at this problem. In your shoes, to replace the summer school, I would want to hire a Wilson or Orton-Gillingham trained tutor three times per week with me providing an additional session 1-2X per week.

If the reading specialist is giving up then it sounds to me like her method is not working. Is the trained in Wilson? I think Wilson/Orton Gillingham are very effective for many dyslexic children - - I certainly know of kids who "failed" at other reading interventions who succeeded with Wilson.

On the IEP, in the special needs forum, we have been discussing the pros/cons of bringing an advocate to your meeting. I would look up any non-profit resources or parent groups that can advise you. I am not nearly as expert as some of the posters in Special Needs but I didn't sign our IEP until 1) all evaluations that I had requested had been completed - - I needed to advocate for an OT eval; and 2) the goals listed were quantifiable and testable.

HTH.

[sste]

Also a poster here rec'd this book to me and it is good -- common sense advice that is easy to forget in the parenting mix and some nice ways to implement it.http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Resili.../dp/0809297655

I thought of you because it addresses specifically when a child struggles in school or, I know this is not your situation, but doesn't meet a parent's expectations. It focuses a lot on ways to provide outlets for and praise whatever it is that a child enjoys or has a knack for.

[babybunny]

The tutor is Orton Gillingham trained. The reading specialist does not have any special programs listed next to her info so I am unsure of her certifications.
I have advice from friends that have advocated for their kids in other districts, and I have done a lot of reading on the subject. I plan to suggest changes I have in mind based on their input and send them off to the case manager before school ends. I expect the IEP to need revision after the private testing. The psychologist will come to the next IEP meeting with me.
I am unsure of what the official IEP will look like if I submit the proposed changes tomorrow or Friday, and the school can't arrange a meeting to address it before the summer vacation. They made it sound like it had to be signed by Friday even though I normally would get 30 days to respond

[sste]

Well don't be rushed, just tell them you are reviewing it carefully and your understanding is you have 30 days.

You might also ask about the training of the summer school teacher. Two or three sessions per week with an OG tutor may be more valuable than summer school with a teacher using a less effective method. However, I think that one issue is that if you start OG you are going to want to continue OG regardless of what they are doing for him in the school. Some other posters here with dyslexic kids can probably speak to this. I just wanted to flag the issue that it may be a longer term commitment to paying privately for tutoring if you spend the summer in OG tutoring.

[inmypjs]

I have a dyslexic child, husband and father. I am very active in my state's Decoding Dyslexia group. If you are not familiar with Decoding Dyslexia, please check here to see if your state has a group. The parents and educators in it can be really helpful in connecting you with resources and advising you on the best way to help your child. http://www.decodingdyslexia.net/ is the national web site. My state's group was successful in getting our first dyslexia law passed this last year. It establishes a defiition of dyslexia in our state's education code. This may not sound like much, but with all of the variety of teachers we encounter, most of us have been told that dyslexia does not exist, it is over diagnosed, our kids can't have it because they don't see backwards, it's too early too tell, it is an old fashioned diagnosis - you name it, we've heard it.

I do not mean any offense by this to educators, but the majority of teachers receive little to no training on dyslexia. In my state, you can get a master's degree in reading and barely have it mentioned. According to the National Institutes of Health, 1 in 5 kids has some degree of dyslexia, and 80% of kids who receive special education in reading have dyslexia. Most people have a hard time swallowing those stats, but if you don't know what to look for, you don't see these kids as dyslexic. Schools do also not routinely provide Orton Gillingham instruction which is what experts recommend.

My advice to you would be to work through the school process, but do NOT rely on that to remediate your child's difficulties. Dyslexia, depending on severity, can affect reading, spelling, writing and math. Put your resources into a good evaluation, and a good experienced tutor. You won't be sorry. I've talked to too many parents who have trusted their school to handle things until 4th, 5th, 6th grade, etc. and by then things get much worse. Get your child help privately now, and work collaboratively with your school as much as possible.

Good luck. It does sound like you are on the right track.

[babybunny]

You might also ask about the training of the summer school teacher. Two or three sessions per week with an OG tutor may be more valuable than summer school with a teacher using a less effective method. However, I think that one issue is that if you start OG you are going to want to continue OG regardless of what they are doing for him in the school. Some other posters here with dyslexic kids can probably speak to this. I just wanted to flag the issue that it may be a longer term commitment to paying privately for tutoring if you spend the summer in OG tutoring.

Thank you for this suggestion. I did ask and the summer school teacher is OG trained.

Can I put that info regarding the certification on the IEP, in the
ESY section ?

If they have OG trained special ed teachers during the school year, wouldn't it make sense that he would be better served with an OG trained special ed teacher as in class support in the Language Arts and Reading or just in Reading?

[inmypjs]

You can try to get an OG methodology written into the IEP, but at least around here, the schools fight it. Here is an article from Wrightslaw that might help you:
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/iep.methodology.htm

[OKKiddo]

The tutor is Orton Gillingham trained. The reading specialist does not have any special programs listed next to her info so I am unsure of her certifications.
I have advice from friends that have advocated for their kids in other districts, and I have done a lot of reading on the subject. I plan to suggest changes I have in mind based on their input and send them off to the case manager before school ends. I expect the IEP to need revision after the private testing. The psychologist will come to the next IEP meeting with me.
I am unsure of what the official IEP will look like if I submit the proposed changes tomorrow or Friday, and the school can't arrange a meeting to address it before the summer vacation. They made it sound like it had to be signed by Friday even though I normally would get 30 days to respond

Please give your son lots of hugs and help him focus on his strengths this summer. Those are the big confidence builders. Maybe it's that he can visualize things in 3D better and build/engineer things or maybe it's math that he's great at or some fun kitchen science. He's a unique and special individual with his own skill sets and there IS a place in this world for him and he IS making it better by being here. I can't believe how quickly an adult would give up on child and just say they're unteachable--when in fact it's more like the adult was the one that was unteachable.

[Sweetum]

My child doesn't have dyslexia (at least not anything we see now), but we have been through the IEP process and here's a few things I would think about:
- is the diagnosis critical to his getting services? If the same set of services would be offered with or without the diagnosis, then it is moot, at least at this time. If you are looking for a specific service that you think your child would benefit from but the school seems to be withholding it, then I believe you may be able to ask for and independent evaluation. I say this from my experience but you will need to verify this. Often time educational advocates will consult with you for free for the first 1/2 hour and can provide you some guidance there, even with what is within your right. So, if you feel that there is major discrepancy in identifying the disability and the services that it drives, I would highly recommend you do an initial consult with an advocate.
- I see that you mention the goals were not well written in terms of having good targets. This is a discussion that you can sit down and have with them, seek clarifications after doing your own research and based on your understanding of your child's needs.
- To address the part where you ask if they would pay for the private tutor: this is very difficult to get. Usually you would need a lawyer to help you through the process and there is also usually some time limit. and you will need to cite reasons why you think that what they are offering is not appropriate and why you think your private services would better suit your child's needs. And even after that, it is a fight, a legal fight.
- other than convenience, are there other reasons that you think he would benefit from a private tutor? Will the tutor be working on different or more aggressive goals? Or does the tutor have the the credentials that the school's teacher does not have and you think that those credentials matter.

Hope this helps your thinking process.
Good luck!

[babybunny]

My child doesn't have dyslexia (at least not anything we see now), but we have been through the IEP process and here's a few things I would think about:
- is the diagnosis critical to his getting services? If the same set of services would be offered with or without the diagnosis, then it is moot, at least at this time. If you are looking for a specific service that you think your child would benefit from but the school seems to be withholding it, then I believe you may be able to ask for and independent evaluation. I say this from my experience but you will need to verify this. Often time educational advocates will consult with you for free for the first 1/2 hour and can provide you some guidance there, even with what is within your right. So, if you feel that there is major discrepancy in identifying the disability and the services that it drives, I would highly recommend you do an initial consult with an advocate.
- I see that you mention the goals were not well written in terms of having good targets. This is a discussion that you can sit down and have with them, seek clarifications after doing your own research and based on your understanding of your child's needs.
- To address the part where you ask if they would pay for the private tutor: this is very difficult to get. Usually you would need a lawyer to help you through the process and there is also usually some time limit. and you will need to cite reasons why you think that what they are offering is not appropriate and why you think your private services would better suit your child's needs. And even after that, it is a fight, a legal fight.
- other than convenience, are there other reasons that you think he would benefit from a private tutor? Will the tutor be working on different or more aggressive goals? Or does the tutor have the the credentials that the school's teacher does not have and you think that those credentials matter.

Hope this helps your thinking process.
Good luck!

Thank you for all of this. In my gut I know my kid and know he is working so hard at this. I did do a fair amount of research before I submitted my request for changes in the proposed IEP. I feel with a diagnosis on the outside I will get more services if I need them. It is my understanding that this psychologist will come to the school and advocate for my son. It will be worth it as I have lost so much sleep in the past two weeks that I am not much good. It may be that the hardest round of the IEP development is the hardest, but I can't go through this alone again without an advocate. It would be a lot easier if I weren't so emotionally invested in the outcome.

I think my plan will be to see what the school proposes in response. My son will go through an evaluation by this special ed teacher of my choice and then by the psychologist for a diagnosis. I feel confident that this teacher can help my son. She gets it. I think he will see the value in it too. I decided to focus on how to optimize the help for my son this summer. I know that if we deny him what he loves and excels in, it will break his spirit and then we have lost him.