Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy When to let it go...

Did they ever actually complete an educational evaluation? You wrote:

I recall that you have a private dx of dysgraphia, right?

You can certainly leverage the fact that they've opened an RtI conversation to request a complete formal eval. They are required to evaluate in all areas of suspected disability.

You can give them the private dysgraphia info to include in their eval. (They are not required to believe it, but they would be silly not to.)

Working around dysgraphia is a little unpredictable, HK-- it is reasonable to figure that there will be trial and error to see which workarounds the child can actually use. (Speech recognition software vs. typing; what kind of technology on which to type, and in what application; some kids can't learn to type either; etc.) An AT evalution is very helpful in this case.

There may also need to be services, not just accommodations; teaching AT, teaching typing, these are services. Speech is a service, so you're looking at an IEP anyhow.

But getting them to acknowledge the reality of the disability is step 1, IMO. Make the need understood; then set about determining accommodations/services.

Yes, I have a private dx for dysgraphia.

For dysgraphia, the school told us that technically he is at tier 1. However, the teacher completed a rubric showing him to be meeting or exceeding the second grade standards for writing. The psychologist (special ed rep) in our meeting also made it clear that his WJ scores indicated grade-level performance so nothing further is needed. Given this, they have never completed any educational evaluation. They don't see a need. I also haven't requested it because I don't understand what difference it will make if their standard of measurement is the state grade-level standards. He will likely not fall below any grade-level standards.

For speech, she is sending home a form to sign to approve tier 2 interventions. She made it clear that this was a formality. She "only needs two data points from the teacher" to get him to tier 3 and under her care. That is her goal. She said that the teachers don't have time for tier 2 speech interventions and my impression was that she just wanted to check that off the list and keep moving.

Since the speech therapist seemed eager to help, I was wondering how to piggyback the writing into the equation here.

That's not the legal standard. You might look at wrightslaw.com.


The full educational eval is your best bet.

For my DD the connection came because her articulation problems WERE affecting her writing. And her use of AT.

Voice recognition software was having trouble understanding her and she was writing/typing words as she pronounces them. She routinely mixes up "R" and "W", hard "TH" and "D", soft "TH" and "S", etc. Her college level vocabulary was tested only as "high average" by the literacy specialist because of things like reading "eager" as "eagle". She has been identified with just about every possible LD so her situation is more complex but it points to the need for a thorough evaluation.

If I understand correctly you now have a private psych report that should qualify him for a 504 to address dysgraphia and in school SLP saying he can qualify for an IEP for speech. This tells me you don't have the complete picture yet. As DeeDee said a full evaluation and an AT eval are probably a good idea. He is still little - the full extent of his difficulties may appear gradually. I think it's a good idea to get out in front of it.

DS initially had a speech IEP written in preschool since he was scoring so low for articulation. I was always told that since it was a speech IEP he did not qualify for OT or other special ed services. Ultimately, they took his developmental coordination disorder diagnosis and wrote a "physically impaired" IEP and were able to add all kinds of things to his IEP. They dropped the speech IEP and added speech to his "physically impaired" IEP. He also gets OT, a special ed teacher works on him with writing, he gets adapted phy ed, a social skills group, etc. Honestly, i'm a bit mystified by the whole thing and what each category can get a child, but the speech IEP was pretty much useless except for speech. Dysgraphia would be considered "Disorder of Written Expression" but they would have to show inadequate school performance in writing. In our state there is a "discrepancy model" where if there is a large enough gap between ability and achievement, a kid can still qualify even if their performance is at grade level. He should still be able to qualify for a 504, though. I think I posted this before but here it is again...I found it helpful.
http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/3/3/2158244013505855

I would agree.

However, I would also proceed with the speech IEP. There is no legal difference between a speech IEP and an LD IEP, it's just a question of what qualifying disability is on the document. The main functional difference is that the standard for communication disability has not had as much litigation or regulatory interference (kind of goes together), so the decision to identify a child as having a communication disability is much more up to the judgement of the clinician. Once on an IEP, it doesn't matter what your classification is, only what your needs are. And that's something the team can discuss. Only the speech teacher can kick a kid off a communication disability IEP (as the qualified evaluator), so as long as you have buy-in from the SLP, you can use this as an avenue for addressing other needs.

RTII can be used to service children through general ed, diagnostically, and as evidence-gathering for a special ed eval. Quite a number of my colleagues nation-wide use RTII as the main source of data for eligibility. For NT/LD and low-cognitive kiddos, this actually works pretty well (actually, slightly on the generous side). Not quite as well for high-cognitives.

In general, I also view the prereferral process (which was the process that filled this niche before RTI--still exists in modified form) as an opportunity to identify additional accommodations that may be effective. That's why I ask teachers what strategies they've tried, and what the outcomes were.

Absolutely.

Thanks everyone. Looks like we'll be working on this from a new angle. I'm bewildered to say the least.

I did speak with the state department of education today. She clarified some things and suggested I take it up to the district level. It is clear this process has not followed protocol.

Great recommendation. I would be ready to show them the documentation (the private dx and any evidence you've collected that writing is a serious problem).

The school should never have stonewalled you in the first place. It's time to set it right.

I'm really glad that you phoned the state. Hopefully things will start moving in the right direction now.