Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional IEP without academic delay

I'm just trying to gather information for a school meeting; I don't know if we're going to try for an IEP or not. However, I have been told before here that it's possible to get an IEP based on a functional delay (in my son's case, delayed fine motor) even without an academic delay. I've looked through Wrightslaw and found references, but can't find anything straightforward I could print and bring with me. Can anyone point me towards a reference? The special education teacher refused to even attend the meeting saying my son wasn't eligible even though he is having considerable difficulties in class right now.

Lillie-Felton.

You'll want that.

OTOH, if "accommodations" will work to enable access to the curriculum via mitigation of the barriers that the disabling condition imposes, perhaps a 504 plan is a better tool?

Thanks... We're looking at both options and a 504 is an option as well.

If you don't want to answer this question, I fully respect that. But I am wondering how is a significant fine motor delay not an academic delay? Are you referring to the academic achievement test showing no academic delay?
How is it affecting his school life? I had students with fine motor delays and we accomodated them by providing a way to type or use other technologies when their knowledge was being tested and handwriting was just a vehicle to express it. Furthermore, if they are in elementary school, this is obviously a barrier to developing writing skills.

He has has had occupational therapy before, but has weak muscles and his fine motor skills backslide without continued therapy. He has trouble keeping up when the teacher writes on the board. However, he works 2 years above grade level. As a result, the special education specialist refused to even meet with me.

He's in first grade, so there aren't large writing assignments yet.

I've been exploring the answer to this question for weeks now. What I have found is that for each person you ask, you get a different opinion-even within the same district. The state department of ed says one thing and a school psychologist working in the system says the opposite.

I feel a significant resistance in my district to help my HG son. I feel that they resent his talent and reject his need. I'm starting to sense that maybe they just don't know HOW to help him. I wish they would just say that instead of stonewalling.

I guess I share this because I was spending a lot of time on this and getting nowhere. I'm not suggesting you give up your pursuit, but don't feel crazy if this remains murky. That's what I've been feeling

I'm also going to change the conversation with my school. They've told me repeatedly what they CAN'T do. I'm going to start asking what they CAN do and fill in the gaps on my own. I can try and force them to see the law and DS's need, but that is a long battle. All the while, there is a child who needs help NOW.

Just two cents from a newbie

Start him learning typing now.

I'd highly recommend getting testing by a specialist OT. You can go to a children's hospital clinic and get specific hand strength measurements and other very technical testing that is essentially irrefutable.

Has the school completed a thorough educational eval? If not, you should request one in writing, naming all the tasks that he struggles with. You can also request an AT evaluation, to look at whether being allowed to use AT helps him function better.

In addition to Lillie-Felton, you should type "functional" into the search box at Wrightslaw. They are required to provide help not only for academic but also for functional skills that impede progress in the educational environment. This certainly includes handwriting, as well as things like buttoning pants or other issues that hinder him in his school day. This is something most schools don't know about, so you need to be able to cite chapter and verse.

The district we were in last year said the same thing, performing at grade level meant no possibility of IEP. We have switched districts and are finding the people much more accessible and interested seeming, but also no process towards a formal plan, either 504 or IEP, has been started.

DS is still having meltdowns once in a while in the middle of writing assignments at school (which takes his attention away from the tasks for 10 minutes here and there), and his teacher has reduced the writing requirement for him (which I believe is the same as changing the curriculum expectation). Both of those things put together make it appear to me that he is not completing grade level expectations, and I don't see how that is different from academic delay.

Is that a valid argument for IEP? That if the teacher has already altered the expectations (let him write 2 sentences not 4, use capital letters if you like while the rest of the class is expected to use lower case, let him draw a picture instead of writing about something, etc) they effectively consider him to have academic difficulty?

Or is that only evidence that an informal teacher intervention has been effective enough on it's own, if it's all going better now, and that no formal plan is needed?

apm221 has your child's teacher informally altered expectations also?

Some of the interventions the teacher has implemented would be considered accommodations, such as would be appropriate to a 504 (reduced work load, alternate avenues for demonstrating content acquisition), and others might be modifications, depending on the context (drawing a picture instead of writing a sentence is 504-type accommodation only if the instructional goal is demonstrating science content acquisition, but a curricular modification if the instructional goal is writing sentences).

I would consider this documentation of 504 accommodations being relevant, but not necessarily IEP-type academic delay.

The school suggested having a behavior specialist observe him (one issue is that he has trouble staying in his seat when he gets bored after he finishes his work; another issue is that he has difficulty asking for help). I looked into that today to get more information, but they require an IEP and confirm that he wouldn't be eligible without an academic delay.

His teacher last year informally altered expectations by allowing him to work on 2nd grade assignments on the computer without having to complete all of the kindergarten assignments; that was very helpful.