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I can request an Assistive Technology Evaluation for my child, right? Any tips or advice on how to go about that? I was thinking of sending the following email to the IEP team to request it:

Dear Team,
DH and I would like to formally request that the IEP team refer DS for an evaluation by an assistive technology specialist. We would like to the evaluation to be documented in DS's IEP during our March ___ meeting, including the expected date to start and finish the evaluation.

Thank you.

Is that sufficient?

I would take the "would like to" out of the letter and just request it I also might replace "refer for" with "provide" an evaluation.

I'd also ask your advocate (I think you have an advocate contact?) how an AT eval is requested and conducted in your district just to be sure you have your bases covered.

Our advocate also always advised us to include a date by which we expected a response to our request, something like "Please let us know by (date ten business days after sending in the note) if an assistive technology evaluation will be conducted.

I'll also warn you that when we were finally granted an AT evaluation, it wasn't all that great and in our ds' case, was more problematic than if we'd never asked for one because it came with a lot of lock-step requirements of proof of need, rather than an admission that ds qualified for AT due to dysgraphia. For example, we wanted the district to provide word prediction, and we knew that Co:Writer was the software that was used in our district (there was already another student in ds' class using it). The AT specialist agreed that ds could "test" using Co:Writer in the classroom, but first they wanted to try non-tech (can't remember the actual term) solutions, such as slanted board, pencil grips, etc - all things that were used with handwriting, even though we had an updated neuropsych report which clearly stated ds would *never* be able to use handwriting for academics. The district argued back that was standard AT eval approach; we successfully argued that didn't need to occur for ds (that was the easy part). Then the district AT specialist refused to allow introduction of more than one type of AT at a time, and each thing had to be tested and meet a certain performance bar to be continued. For example, they wanted keyboarding eval to come before Co:Writer, and ds would have to be able to show that he could meet some predetermined performance requirement (total number of paragraphs written) using keyboarding vs handwriting. DS was also struggling with an expressive language disorder, so no matter how well keyboarding replaced handwriting for him, we were very concerned he would not be able to meet the performance expectations due to his expressive language challenges (which were a possibly-related yet separate issue). We successfully argued past that but then faced the same requirement for testing Co:Writer. Hopefully your school district will not put up the same type of road blocks, but be prepared for them.

We ultimately chose not to go through our school district AT eval and chose to provide ds with a laptop and software from home, and have the AT that we were providing written into his accommodations.

polarbear

Oh gee... maybe I shouldn't request it? Not sure what to do now. I guess I should contact my lawyer? I wasn't going to contact her if I can some free guidance here.... But maybe she will know if this could actually turn out to cause more problems rather than less.


Yikes.

I want to make things better for DS not worse!

But I wonder if having the addition of a physical disability - the EDS ... will help. Point out to them it's not just a brain/neurological problem, he has a physical condition too (and the physician sent a letter to the school saying keyboarding was medically necessary)

Hmmm. Maybe like any other evaluation... I should get a private one done instead and present that to the school ... I mean, I requested an eval last year for DS for dysgraphia and dyslexia and it was completely fruitless... Had to get a private eval anyway.

First, don't get scared off by my experience - I'm not in your school district! But if you can find an *advocate* who works with families going through IEP eligibility etc they might have some good insight into what you'll get through a local AT eval. We have a local parents' advocates group that is totally free of charge (funded through a federal grant) - we found them at wrightslaw on the yellow pages. If there is anything like that in your area, giving them a quick call might yield a lot of info on what you can expect at your specific school.

And I wouldn't *not* request the eval, even if you ultimately find it's not going to be useful or might cause issues. You can always *stop* it once it's in progress - that's what we did. It's a lot easier to put a stop to something like this than it is to get it started in the first place.

polarbear

You have what you need to get the keyboarding accommodation - you shouldn't need anything more at all than the physician's letter. If they try to argue that, they are simply trying to intimidate you - don't be intimidated. Keyboarding is a *very* common accommodation. It's not one you should have to fight for (no matter what your school tells you).

Using specialized software gets more complicated. If you had something written up by a private professional, it might help, or it might not. We paid for a private AT report, and it was helpful for *me* because it gave me a ton of ideas of things I could try for ds - but the school scoffed at it. Note - the actual AT specialist didn't scoff at it - she was really interested in what was recommended - but the IEP team etc didn't put any credence into it because it was done outside of the school, and any AT provided by the school needed to be evaluated through the school district AT eval process.

I know I keep mentioning free resources but... fwiw... another resource I found in our community (also found through wrightslaw) is a group that provides technology evaluations for people with disabilities. They generally don't work with students simply because they are Federally funded and there are other Federal funds directed at AT in school - but .. they were wiling to answer questions for us, give us advice, and let ds try out software etc at their office because we were not being helped by the school. We still ultimately had to purchase what we wanted for ds, but being able to go in and try out different software packages and apps etc was really helpful.

polarbear

Ahhh, okay. Good thoughts. But, hey, I hear you, though... Like I said, last year I requested an evaluation for dyslexia and dysgraphia and not only did the eval yield nothing fruitful really... It actually caused a lot of problems.

Okay, I put a call into the local advocate I used last year (before having to get an attorney), left her a message to see what her experience/knowledge is... I am playing around with spending some money talking to my attorney about it, too. See what she knows about AT in this district.

In the meantime, I am going to go ahead and request and see if I can't get it in the works. Like you said, if I decide to go the private route ... I can just say that I decided to hire a private AT evaluator and stop their eval. Or if I don't like their results I can hire a subsequent private eval.

We have been lucky in that we have not even had to ask for an AT assessment (a formal one, anyway). The former VP at DD's school was an AT guru and her masters work centred around LDs and AT. When DD transferred to the school, they had multiple aid ready for her to try out. When she exceeded the cowriter's abilities, they asked the school board to fund Ginger software for her classroom laptop (we suggested it, as we use it at home). Now that it has been approved, it will be available to her in all of her classrooms for as long as needed. This year, she has an iPad for her own personal use. We paid for the iPad, all the apps (we wanted to try out different ones than could be provided) and a wireless printer (for home use). We did not approach them for this technology as we knew that they were already providing good AT in the classroom. We wanted DD to have the iPad so that she could get used to it before middle school next year.

It can be a positive experience. We had a much tougher fight to get her ADHD adaptations at her old school. This school is fantastic. The principal checks in with her a few times each month and they are often the ones to make suggestions. We rarely have to ask for anything.

Kathleen's mum, I am so jealous - sounds like a nice school!

Okay, so AT eval is on. the principal said he thought it would be a good idea. I am trying not to get my hopes up but do feel hopeful. Principal said that for years and years never got a request for an AT eval... and, now, this winter he has gotten three requests! So, apparently, it will take some time to get done. I just hope and pray it's a decent eval, that it is in fact helpful and does not cause problems.

It sounds good Irena! Keep us posted with how it works out

polarbear

Thanks Polarbear I will!

By the way , someone finally figured out panther math paper DS. Sothat's good . They had him do his last math test with it, too. He was disgruntled a bit by that though because he says it takes him longer to finish his test b/c he "transfers from math paper to his test?" I like that he is using but concerned about the extra time it is taking to go back and forth... Hopefully the AT eval will be helpful with things like that.

Otherwise I think his getting accustomed to using math paper is great and really beneficial!

Yay - that's great that they worked with him to figure out the Panther paper. Do you think the "transfer" issue is that he has to copy problems, or the time it takes him to look from one piece of paper to another? I can see the second thing being annoying to a young child, particularly at first when he's getting used to using Panther. If he's having to copy problems though - I'd request that stop! Just let him write what he needs to for the answer. No way should he have to copy a problem over. That would drive my ds nuts!

polarbear

It sounds like the problem is laid out on the test like this for example:

135
-167

with boxes for carrying and answer.

DS has to retype the problem on panther to then solve it obviously. Not sure there is a way around tha - you do the same on scrap paper, right? But then he writes the answer on the test. which I think is odd. Can't he just leave it on math paper and send it to teacher when done. I have hopes that the AT evaluator will help with sort of thing - this streamlining the process a little better.

Let us know how the AT eval and the panther math paper go. That's good that they are at least trying to make it work. DS's first grade teacher (who is actually giving correct level work) is sending home problems like 720 minutes =__________hours with graph paper attached for him to show his work. She doesn't like how he does everything in his head because he makes too many errors. But he is unable to line up numbers. I'm not sure what she was expecting him to write on the graph paper though. Long division? It was completely obvious to DS that the answer would be 12 because 12X6 is 72. I emailed her and asked if she wants me to teach him long division on graph paper, because he knows how to do it but I taught him to do it in his head and just note remainders in the original problem. I know they are trying really hard to teach him to write. Maybe a compromise would be that he does 3 long division problems on the graph paper and then does the rest on the ipad. I mentioned it to her--just said that it's an option if writing doesn't work out.

I agree with the advice provided, and would like to add (and have repeated a few that are VERY important)

1. Request the written ATS evaluation, request a response within 10 days
2. If the school's ATS evaluation is not realistic, then "disagree" in writing, and request an Independent Education Evaluation at public expense. The school will pay for an outside evaluation. Don't provide reasons why you disagree - so they can't work around it.
3. Identify your son's needs - you know him better than anyone - and write it out. Bring the list (typed/signed/dated) to the IEP (if not mailed earlier) that identifies his needs.
4. Let the school explain why he DOES NOT NEED IT (you are putting them in a different position. Rather than you having to prove it to them, they have to prove why it is not.) They will have to explain in a PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE the reasons why they will not do it. In many cases, they will not want that in writing.
5. When making your list, identify some needs that are specific to his needs (and yours - as you are helping him at home).

For example, for our son w/ ADD/ADHD and an extremely bad case of executive function dysfunction (OMgoodness), we wrote that he NEEDED something that would synchronize with the home computer (Mac). We were able to get a non-profit to "sponsor" an iPad and we bought the $4.99 AudioNote App because it synchronizes the audio with the notes (typed, handwritten via stylus, or photo of bulletin board or ppt), in addition to synchronizing the iPad notes with the home computer --- in case he "FORGOT" it at school!

We are also asking for behavioral support to establish a reward system at school to "check and reward" his device & it's location, so he doesn't leave it somewhere.

6. It hasn't been easy - but find the rules & regulations for your school district - so you know what the requirements are to do XYZ. Then, make it hard for them to say no.

Good luck and best wishes - MissyC