I inquired about having DD evaluated and was told by multiple people that they will not evaluate until several interventions are attempted. Last year with DS, I was told the same thing and the "interventions" involved having him use a pencil grip for months with no objective data or assessment information collected. Of course the pencil grip made everything better (not) and it appeared to be a stalling/stonewalling technique to avoid an eval and dismiss my concerns, or at the very least make them pat themselves on the back and tell themselves they were doing the correct thing.

Here's the thing though. I called the State to inquire about this and the very snotty woman that I talked to there said that schools are REQUIRED to try interventions before assessing a child unless a situation is "urgent", and that is their own discretion/ determination. I asked her if she missed this memo. http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/osep11-07rtimemo.pdf She said that I must referring to a "state memo" and I said, actually, no, this is from the US Department of Education. I read the title to her. She asked me why I'm arguing with her and said she's a lawyer. I asked if it would help if I email her the memo because what she is saying is at odds with the memo. I told her that I'm trying very hard to understand what she is saying. She said, very snottily, "No, it would not."

What is going on here? Am I missing something? When I've talked to the State before, people have generally been helpful. And what are parents supposed to do if the State is directing school districts to engage in unethical or illegal practices regarding conducting evaluations?

First do everything in writing and see if you get the same response. Quote it, give them a copy, tell them the implications-- in writing. If the special ed people stonewall, go to the superintendent of schools. Stonewalled there, back to the state. But always in writing, and citing chapter and verse of this document (the one you linked to).

If it's verbal, it "didn't happen."

I sent the memo to the principal and he seemed alarmed and asked if I'm accusing them of delaying an evaluation. He said that of course they would evaluate. So I think that it's Ok, in terms of us, at least. Not in terms of everyone else in the district. Or, probably, the entire State. I guess I'm just horrified that this has been going on and wondering if anything can be done.

Isn't that a reason to argue with her?

The woman was a total piece of work---just unbelievable. Unfortunately I didn't get her name. She told me, but I didn't write it down. Otherwise I would figure out who to report her to. But if they all think that way, what difference would it make.

That's a great memo to have found!

I hope you'll be able to use it to get things done at your school. Sounds like it's already lit a fire under the principal. Good job!

When I was a Special Education Teacher, I felt as if my hands were tied by such individuals, I would internally beg the parents to continue their advocacy. I applaud you for continuing to inform yourself. Districts feel squeezed so they outright ignore some needs and use RTI as an excuse. That person is unprofessional and rude and unfortunately likely a puppet to keep funds where admins want them to go. I hope you find someone more receptive.

turns out there is actually a state statute staying that 2 interventions need to be tried before a child is referred to special ed, but the interventions can be waived at the discretion of the school, and can't be used to deny an evaluation (doesn't say anything about "delay"). This seems to be completely contrary to the US Dept of Ed memo, which says that interventions cannot delay an evaluation. The school had no specific plan about interventions, and no talk about any plan. so I was left wondering if they were going to plan anything or not, or if 6 months from now I would inquire about these "interventions" and either get blank stares, or they would say that the teacher used a graphic organizer 2 times and it seemed to help (with no real, objective data or progress monitoring)--kind of like what happened with DS and the "pencil grip".

This discussion has been really interesting blackcap - like your state statute, our school district requires RTI before an evaluation. I was told 6 weeks of RTI back when our ds was in 4th grade, but that's been quite a few years ago. The way we "got around" it was his teacher tried interventions while we were waiting for his initial team meeting to be scheduled and actually take place - sad but true!

I think that one thing you could do if your school insists upon interventions is to simply make a list of all interventions that have already been tried over however many years and put that forward as reason enough to say "we've tried interventions".

Best wishes,

polarbear

Yeah, like the long-term sub she had last year who claimed she tried graphic organizers (at my request) and they didn't help at all. I don't understand what interventions they think would even be helpful. She writes really slow and has no idea what to write if she has to write more than a couple sentences. And who would do these interventions if the teacher already thinks she is fine. DD says she doesn't do any writing in language arts (other than basic grammar stuff) so no wonder the teacher doesn't see a problem. Anyway, I told the school that they are free to try interventions but there has to be a specific plan and there need to be measureable progress and objectives, which are then communicated with us in some way. Otherwise I want to go straight to an eval.

It's really important to keep the interventions conversations focused… be sure that if they are stating they want to try an intervention, it's appropriate. You're the best judge on that at this point, you understand the diagnosis and you know your dd's history. If they were to suggest an intervention that's either already been tried or is inappropriate, stand firm, point out why it's not reasonable, and proceed with your request for an evaluation.

Have you turned in a written request for an eval? I think it's best at this point to be sure to summarize all conversations in writing (email is ok) and send back to the people involved to "clarify" (i.e., you know what they said, but what they said may not be legally correct, so if you write it down as a summary, send it back to them and politely ask - this is what I heard, is this correct? - then they will only answer in writing with what is legally ok to say/do. That's the easiest way I found to plow through this type of situation and move forward.

Best wishes,

polarbear

One concern of mine is the competence of the school pscyh, who we have past (not so good) experience with and I know of other parents who have said the same. I hate it that parents have no choice. If you go to a private OT or psychologist and don't think they are competent, you can go somewhere else. Not so in a school system.

Actually, I have worked in systems where a request for a specific psych was honored. If you can identify a particular person you want, and why (preferably without blatantly insulting the existing one), you may be able to get someone else. But I think your chances are higher if you have a name.

There's only one and I already told the principal (briefly) what our experiences have been in the past and that I'm going to have difficulty trusting her. Since she's new to the school, he probably doesn't have much experience with her. I don't think there's anything that can be done.

I actually meant someone else in the district. I was thinking you could say you wanted a fresh look, without carryover from the previous setting.

Hmmm, didn't know that was a possibility.