Thank you so much polar bear, EmmaL , blackcat, and spaghetti. You have all been a huge source of support and information.
I have realized that I need to look separately at the special education issue and the gifted issue. At the moment, the gifted issue is less of a priority, although I need to make some decisions about it.
Yes, I received a copy of the "procedural safeguards." There is a problem with when and how I received them. The state regulations say those safeguards should be given to parents at the time of initial referral. I did not.
I received them at the end of the school-based team ("child study") meeting. This was after the recommended course was "observation" instead of making the go/no-go decision about "evaluation."
The safeguards document I received contains "key information from IDEA"--but doesn't appear to include any information on the state legislation or procedures. It does not have any information on the timeline for initial evaluation.
I have not received any documents that educates me on the timeline. That obviously impeded my ability to advocate for my son receiving a formal evaluation at the child study meeting.
There's another concern I have that could have been alleviated by receiving the procedural safeguards. The reports from the meeting is very "light"--and contains a factual error. I am now aware that I could have audio recorded the meeting to ensure all the discussion was captured and hold the school representatives accountable.
The OT said she would observe my son in literacy and science. As I mentioned before, she said she would seek to understand whether his issues are fine motor or visual-spatial. My son says she stopped in his class one time, picked up one homework assignment, and copied it. That is all.
I sent the OT a note yesterday stating that I was concerned that it appears she has taken no meaningful action with my son. There are four instructional days until the next meeting. I'm concerned she won't be able to conduct a meaningful review in that time. I am also concerned about her only reviewing his homework--because I work closely with him on his homework (and that is noted in the report from the meeting). It's not a "pure" reflection of his writing process or issues. I asked for specific detail on what had been done to date and what remains to be done for the meeting.
I have found the complaint form on the DOE website. It does ask what has been done to resolve complaints at a local level.
I think I will call a state advocacy organization on Monday and get advice. I will probably send an email to the special ed admin (asst. principal) about how and when I am supposed to receive notification on the timeline and my concerns about the lack of action on the OT observation and the notes lacking detail and containing a factual error.
Seems odd, but I haven't found anything mandating that parents understand the timeline at the outset of the process for my state. Shouldn't we be? What has your experience been?
And thanks for all the suggestions for outside testing. I agree and did some research on it a few months ago. Time to reopen exploration of that avenue.
So many thoughts. I have ideas for how I want to approach the gifted situation too. He's exited about his "special project"--so the project idea could be a good thing. I was going to wait until the next testing window in May to have him tested for the gifted program, but he insisted.
Thanks again!
