We are in Connecticut. It seems like, from the meeting - the bar is - is she at grade level? The answer for this question can only come from her teacher, I was told - because it only matters how she is doing in the classroom - not how she did on our own external testing, not how she is at home. So even though, for example, she tested as dysgraphic by our tester - the teacher sees her as "meeting or exceeding grade level expectations"
I guess it is hard to accept that "meets or exceeds grade level expectations" is going to be where the bar is set. I guess I would kind of expect a gifted kid to be performing well above grade level, unless there is a problem.
I think the first thing to do when advocating is to have a firm idea of what you want to see for your child in the classroom - yes, we all want our children to be able to work at their abilities and to be able to show their knowledge - but what does that *specifically* mean for your child in this classroom?
An IEP is provided to students who need individualized instruction outside of the norm for their grade/academic level etc. Typically this is meant to bring a child up to a certain standing with respect to grade level. I don't know about your specific state/district, but in our school district the minimum performance bars that a child typically falls under to be *obviously* in need of an IEP are very very low. The standards for what *any* child is expected to achieve in a typical classroom are not all that high either - chances are there are quite a few children in any given classroom in my particular school district who are not challenged to their full ability, even if they aren't technically intellectually gifted.
So - what you need to do is figure out - what does my child need? With 2e kids, there will be a need for challenge in their area of strength, but that advocacy usually lies outside the IEP process (at least it does in my district - some districts include gifted services in IEPs). It's fairly typical for 2e kids to need either accommodations or remediation for their "challenging" e - and that is what it sounds like you are seeking at this point. So the first question is - does she need actual instruction in anything? Do you want her to have handwriting instruction or typing instruction, or does she need individualized instruction for written expression? What did her evaluator recommend for each of those?
With dysgraphic kids, the main focus is often accommodations rather than remediation. My dysgraphic ds had limited remediation (none of it offered through his school), and that was really, imo, enough. Having him spend school time working on handwriting that was not going to ever significantly improve was not a priority for us. He went through a school-year's worth of private handwriting OT which gave him legible handwriting, good posture while writing, even pencil pressure, and (temporarily) eliminated pain while handwriting. Those were all *great* things and if you can get OT services through your school that will work toward those goals, that's great. We couldn't, and ultimately I think it was better for our ds to do the OT privately because he wasn't missing out on other classroom instruction during the day due to OT pull-outs. The downside of course, was the cost. It was just one of those situations where, no matter which way we argued it, we were not going to be able to qualify him because of an odd qualifying requirement in our school district policy which was *not* related to actual fine motor skills (or lack thereof lol). We could have argued and argued, possibly never gotten anywhere, and missed our opportunity to get the services we *were* able to successfully advocate for.
What was extremely important for our ds in school were accommodations - scribing when he was diagnosed, and keyboarding as soon as he had minimal keyboarding skills. You might want the school to provide lessons in keyboarding -- we didn't ask for that (we had him practice at home), but some people here have had success at requesting this, both through IEPs and through 504s. Oral response on fluency tests was important in early elementary (for the ever-present timed math facts quizzes), extended time on testing, and allowing him to write in the answer booklet on standardized tests rather than having to fill in bubble sheets. Copying is also problematic for many dysgraphic students, but what types of copying actually happens in early elementary is really classroom dependent - for our ds the big issue was that the students al had planners (yes, even in 1st grade!) and were required to copy each night's assignment from the board into their planner. Once ds had a laptop he used an electronic planner, but prior to that he needed to have a teacher or aide copy the assignments for him.
These are just a few examples of typical accommodations for students with dysgraphia - each student and classroom situation needs to be considered independently when making decisions about accommodations- but the key is (and this is also key for IEPs) - the decision is supposed to be a *team* decision, not a school-tells-the-parent-what's-what decision. If you feel your child needs an IEP and the school has told you that they will not evaluate due to your child's classroom performance level, then you can appeal. Before you can appeal, be sure you've actually officially requested that your child be evaluated for IEP eligibility (you should do this in writing, and give the school a timeframe in which to respond to your request - ten business days was what was always recommended to us). The school then has 10 business days to let you know whether or not they will call a team meeting to discuss whether or not they feel they should proceed with an IEP eligibility review. They could tell you they will not meet, or they could hold that meeting (which they essentially already have - but perhaps not formally), and again tell you no. Once they've told you no in writing, you can appeal. Who you need to appeal to, and how you need to go about it, are going to depend upon your local school district policy. If you are at the point of appealing, it's a good time to perhaps seek out an advocate (actually I would go ahead and find an advocate now if you can to ask the same questions to that you are asking us here). There are some states that have parent advocate groups that will provide advice for *free* to parents navigating the 504/IEP process - we found our advocate's group listed in the yellow pages link at
www.wrightslaw.orgIf you feel that what is needed are accommodations rather than individualized instruction, then you need to request a 504 hearing. This will also be a team meeting, but is usually something that you can go into with a good set of private eval reports and come out of with a 504 without a lot of arguing etc. Grade level performance is not an issue for a 504 - the issue is, does your child have a disability that impacts a life function (in your ds' case, it would be handwriting), and if so, does he/she need accommodations above and beyond what is already offered in the classroom (for most dysgraphic students this would include keyboarding etc).
I hope some of that makes sense! Good luck as you continue to advocate!
polarbear
