Thanks dg, DeeDee and mon. To be clear I am not opposed to medication if it is needed - I am just really, REALLY uncomfortable with the idea that someone would be talking about medicating a 7 year old without even meeting her. She is not psychotic, she does not hear voices, she is not a behavior problem - she is a happy, cheerful, outgoing little girl who reacts to stimuli that remind her of a really terrible school situation. The kid I am living with now is the same one I had before she ever stepped foot in that AIM. The same kid we had for the first few months at the public before the substitute yelled and threatened and reminded her of AIM. When she does get triggered she responds by withdrawing, getting quiet and developing physical symptoms. I have been told in no uncertain terms that if she threw chairs and broke windows the school would be more than willing to provide the kind of environment needed to make her comfortable. She only got pushed to "meltdown level' a couple of times last year. Each one in response to AIM stimuli, and one leading to the IEP violation letter.
We have not yet hired the attorney - the idea was to try to get the year started relatively amicably and move to legal action only if needed. The assumption was that the superintendent would never be able to justify to the board of education spending the money to go to mediation over a color chart when the alternative is free. I assume the district is cueing up in case we pull the trigger on due process. We were going to wait to actually hire the lawyer until we saw what they do or do not agree to do with the classroom placement.
Yes we are on a cancellation list for the neuropsych but not holding out much hope. THAT one I would like to do during the summer - much more likely to get an accurate read on her when her anxiety isn't already triggered. It's a psych eval during the summer that concerns me. My current thought - and PLEASE weigh in - is to tell them that we will not submit to a psychiatric evaluation unless/until recommended by the DPsy I am comfortable with or the neuropsych. While I would love to have DD start with the DPsy now we have already spent many, many thousands of dollars on all of this - spending more on her services before insurance approves her is hard to justify. We will wait until she is approved unless the district wants to pay for her to start during the summer. If she recommends a psychiatrist no problem - we'll go. And we'll submit it through our insurance so there is no added cost to the district. If neither DPsy nor neuropsych think psychiatrist is needed then we won't put DD through it. Does this sound reasonable?
Yes Dee Dee, the IEP violation is in writing from former DSS. I think my plan to not insist, force, bribe, cajole her to be in school if she feels unsafe is probably what you are talking about MON. I will make a concerted effort to let the folk at school handle what happens in school. I was forced to be involved last year (i.e. when I saw they were doing NO differentiation) but will try my best to resist this year. For example if the homework they send home is not appropriate, or DD is reluctant - I will not force the issue. They will need to find the level, presentation style, amount, etc that works with her LD's. They have already made sure we know that enrichment is on us. They can do the rest.
