Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Need some help advocacy where/when to start legal

Hi,

I'll try to be concise. My rising fourth grader was denied access to the math gifted program. His NWEA scores are at the 99% for kids three grades older than he. He does struggle with reading comprehension and as such this affects his ability to do math word problems. He is on the spectrum.

I've gotten a ton of push back from the school district including refusal to put him on an IEP though he has a disability covered under IDEA.

With this recent development I have had it. I have a referral meeting next week. I am considering having legal representation.

I know I am in a gray area with regards to the law. They don't have to maximize his education but my claim is that his disability prevents him from receiving the appropriate instruction/education.

I guess I'm just looking for some words of advice or other experiences.

Thank you in advance for any advice or wisdom!

bump

While I have a 2e child, I do not have a child on the spectrum so my experience here is limited. I am wondering, though, what the requirements for admission to the GT math program are. Is it based solely on NWEA MAPs scores or is there a second measure such as a group ability test or something else and did he meet the requirements across the board? If he meets all requirements and they are denying him access to the program solely because of his disability, I'd think that you'd have a good case.

Also, what have you tried thus far in terms of trying to get them to reconsider?

First, I'm very sorry you're having this problem. I totally agree your kid should be able to get what they need from school.

However, you seem to be somewhat informed about this issue, so I am wondering whether you have considered the alternative approach (or whether it is practical for you) of homeschooling/ afterschooling, etc. This has worked so far for our family and our DD9, with patched-together school attendance (meaning she was kicked out of two schools so far), and she is also accelerated in math (doing EPGY algebra for the past year, which is not too fast ) and IMO on the spectrum somewhere but on the very edge of being 'normal' at least by past standards--so has social issues but IMO not much else; we're still trying to figure that out but are pretty sure. Anyway, from mostly lurking on this site (which has been amazingly helpful), it seems like you can sometimes get a reluctant school to do what it should, but if you have the resources (mostly time and money) to DIY that seems more likely to have the desired results for your kid. We are going to have to re-integrate into the school system soon because I don't feel at all qualified to teach all the various high school subjects and plus both DH and I have outside jobs, but I am really wondering how that is going to work out. But in the meantime we have been working with afterschool programs (EPGY, IMACS) and so far it has been good.

So again, sorry you're having this trouble and I hope the school comes through for you, but I just wanted to mention these other possibilities in case you haven't considered them. Best of luck!

JenTris, have you tried seeking out advice from a local group, either a parent advocate group or a disability law group? I was able to find both types of groups in my area by looking through the yellow pages link on the wrightslaw homepage - if you haven't already looked there and need help finding it let us know. I found that the local groups advice was really key in advocating, because they had direct knowledge of the schools and staff personalities we wild be dealing with, as well as being able to give me a reasonable opinion re the likelihood of success and tips on advocating.

Have you tried bringing an advocate to an IEP meeting yet? That might be a good place to start.

My other piece of advice - if you ultimately aren't successful now in fourth grade, don't give up. My 2e ds was also denied math acceleration in elementary school due to us disability, but we after-schooled in math throu 4th and 5th grade, and when he went to middle school we were able to get him placed at his true level by having documentation of his after-school achievements as well as his ability testing.

Best wishes,

polarbear

The disability itself isn't what's covered. Rather, there has to be an assessment of needs, completed by the school district, that specifies the educational problems caused by the disability. If a person has autism but it doesn't appear to affect his education, he doesn't need an IEP. (However, I think this is going to be rare in the early grades.) If a person has autism, the right thing to do is ask how the autism affects his ability to "do school," in all its aspects, and then remediate the missing skills via an IEP.

Did the school refuse to evaluate him for an IEP, or did they evaluate and refuse to identify him? That makes a difference in how to proceed. The book From Emotions to Advocacy is helpful in understanding this process. If they refused to evaluate him, did you make the request in writing? They are not obligated to honor an oral request (although not doing so raises red flags for me in that it means they're not trying to help you).

The reading comprehension issue should be remediated; do you have data about how far behind he is? The needs assessment is a data-driven process, and you can bring your private eval in as part of that assessment


I'm not sure what a referral meeting is-- we don't have anything called that here. What is the meeting agenda?

I would encourage you to start by trying to find an educational advocate rather than a lawyer. Here, if you bring a lawyer, they bring theirs, and it escalates from there. We have found that an educational advocate can sometimes keep things from getting too oppositional.


Don't ever make the claim of "maximal" or "best"-- cling to the word "appropriate." A "free appropriate public education" (FAPE) is what's mandated by law. But that does include appropriate math instruction, as well as remediation for the issues resulting from the autism spectrum disorder. This includes "functional" as well as academic skills-- including social skills, language, participation skills, self-control, anything that affects his ability to function in a classroom.

HTH,
DeeDee

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and advice. I am getting ready for the meeting tomorrow.

I hope I answer all of your questions!

He is not on a 504 though does attend social skills group. He has been in and out of reading support with a para but I think he needs more specialized instruction by a certified teacher(one of my points for this meeting) because they've been instructing him not in comprehension but decoding and vocabulary which are his strong points. (He was hyper-lexic and taught himself to read at age 3.)
I should point out that he now hates to read and cries about reading because he is smart enough to know that he does not understand what he is reading.

The school has been hiding behind the testing stating that 25% is "average" (barely 4th stanine). I kid you not. Not in our high socioeconomic district. It is also discrepant in that all the rest of his testing puts him far above average including reading fluency and vocabulary. His math is way off the charts.

What I want is pretty simple.

I want them to pay for an unbiased full and comprehensive evaluation by a LD/autism specialist (mutually agreed upon) as they seem unable/unwilling to evaluate him and don't know how to educate him.

I also want them to come up with a plan how they are going to educate him. I am very amenable to one of the at home programs if they pay for it.

At this point I do not want him in the special math program. A big part of this is the witch of the teacher. She is biased towards cute, little, quiet girls. She knows it would be more work for her to accept my son into the program. She has said some mean comments to me in the past and I know that if they decide to put him in he would have issues with her next year. In truth, it may be a blessing in disguise that all of this is happening.

If there is additional testing that kept him out of the program that furthers my case because I would bet everything I own that it is the word problems he got wrong, once again proving my point that his reading disability is interfering with his math education. If he is able to complete 8th grade level math but the reading is an issue than he is entitled to accommodations to ensure that he can still access the curriculum.

I tried calling the local advocate who seemed so flighty that I did not at all feel comfortable with her.

Unfortunately I cannot homes school as I am a single parent. Besides we'd probably kill each other in the process. LOL

My plan for tomorrow is to be kind but firm. My objectives are clear, reasonable and achievable.

Thank you all!

Have you given the a written request for those specific evaluations? They have to respond, by law. Writeslaw.com has more info on how to write the letter.

Honestly, though, your best best is probably going to be to have him evaluated by a private doctor (developmental pediatrician or neuropsychologist) and then bring the results to the school. That's what we did. The school also did their own assessment, but knowing we had a full report from a neuropsych I think helped them just accept that they couldn't really fight us on his diagnosis (PDD-NOS), and in our state (TX) a diagnosis on the spectrum pretty much equals an automatic IEP, regardless of grades.