SST meeting moved up to tomorrow! | ADHD Information

I thought I would have another week to prepare, but the teacher tells me I need to come tomorrow because they made a change in their schedule. 

I have the papers from the dr that did the eval- she gave many recommendation including a change in his seating and a OHI/504 recommendation.  I plan to take this info to them...  any recommendations on other things to take to the school?

TIA!  SARAH

Your son will not get any of the 504/IEP recommendations from the doctor, unless he qualifies.  He must qualify, according to the federal, state, and district guidelines.  I posted "What can you ask for" in the school section, hoping to answer questions like this because there have been so many of them recently.  Check it out. 

 

When you say a school must test in all areas of "suspected disability," do you mean for example, they could conduct a health test but not an achievement test? On the form that I signed for educational testing, every single box was checked-- it showed that they were testing for everything available. So I'm not sure that this would be any different if the medical eval came first. Right?

I got the distinct impression that the school was incorporating my medical eval as a part of their process. I even signed an authorization for the school to coordinate testing with my medical doctor. The tests will not overlap.  Then the doctor said she will take these results and test in more depth in the indicated areas.

The school will incorporate the medical diagnosis, if it is required by law, as it is in Texas for ADHD.  Is the school talking about ADHD or another emotional/behavioral/medical issue when it says it will incorporate your doctor's testing?

They didn't talk actual diagnoses and seemed to intentionally stear clear of that. They simply discussed his actual behavior and noted everyone's observations. The symptoms discussed then pointed relevant educational testing, which turned out to be everything on their list. But from what I've read, symptoms we discussed covered SID, ADHD, and I brought up his heart condition/ogygen issues at birth.

So the school cannot label him with any disability they feel like labeling him with.  The only disability my son's school recognized after their testing was anxiety.  For him to receive a 504 Plan or an IEP, he would have had to get it under Emotionally/Behaviorally Disturbed, according to my state's laws!  My son had a PAGE of severe deficits, yet they only listed anxiety as causing educational impact.  No kidding!  If it had not been for the private dx, my son wouldn't have an IEP for a Disorder of Written Expression that encompasses his dyslexia.  "When push comes to shove," private dx come against school dx, and the ARD Committee must decide whether or not they are willing to go to due process against the private diagnostician.  Most decide not to.

So the issue is that if the educational testing is done before the medical evaluation, the factors impacting education are identified before the medical evaluation. And these factors determine eligibility for services.

The Comprehensive Evaluation consists of the Behavioral, Educational, and Medical evaluations. How could they identify all factors impacting education without a complete Comprehensive Evaluation? How could the medical part of the evaluation have no impact on the determination for eligibility simply because it is coming after the educational eval?

I tried to get the doctor to do the medical eval first but she said that the school always does the educational testing first in these here parts.

NoTellin,

School testing is for Special Education qualification.  That's why they want to do it.  They want the medical dx probably because your state requires it for Other Health Impaired (which is what ADHD falls under) in Special Education.  Even if the school does not find that your child qualifies for Special Education, he can still qualify for a 504 Plan with the private dx. 

And the doctor is doing things backwards!  You need a private dx, first.  This protects your child.

According to federal law, a school must test in all areas of "suspected disability", if the school tests.  A private dx gives the suspected disability.  It's a guideline for the school.  Private diagnosticians should be picked very well so that you really know what disability your child has before the school tests.  It is never a good idea to depend on school diagnosticians to find your child's disability.  They are limited in both expertise and the types of tests they can give.  For example, a neuropsychologist often has hundreds of tests to choose from; whereas, a school diagnostician may have twenty-five.  A diagnostician who specializes in testing for certain disabilities knows exactly what those disabilities look like, how they manifest, and has received special training in how to test for them; whereas, a school diagnostician may have not tested too many children with the disability and does not have any precise training in testing for that disability. 

The private dx coming after the school's will only influence the school results, if your child is found to qualify.  If the ARD Committee decides that your child does not qualify, you can sign off as "disagree" on the ARD paperwork and request an IEE, an Independent Educational Evaluation, but that's a different story  .

lillian38777.6232291667[QUOTE=NoTellin]

I brought up his heart condition/ogygen issues at birth.

[/QUOTE]

That's medical.  Schools don't have doctors on staff to diagnose--at least, no schools I have ever worked in did--so when you start talking about the school evaluating, then the school has to take the doctor's evaluation, if it is medical.  In the state of Texas, ADHD is also medical.  A school psychologist can test for ADHD in Texas, but a physician's dx has to be part of the evaluation. 

To use an extreme example, a child with CP is not going to be dxed with CP by the school.  That's medical.  How it impacts education is a decision of the ARD Committee, but the actual dx is medical.   

lillian38777.6521759259Interesting. I told them that minor brain damage should be ruled out due to lack of oxygen at birth. My psychologist specializes in neuro-psyche testing, and testing for brain damage. So then, if they must have her report to rule this out, then they must take the entire contents of the report correct? NoTellin38777.6596180556That's a great question, and when a school says it will collaborate with a doctor, then who is right in the end?  I don't know. 

[QUOTE=lillian]Your son will not get any of the 504/IEP recommendations from the doctor, unless he qualifies.  He must qualify, according to the federal, state, and district guidelines.  I posted "What can you ask for" in the school section, hoping to answer questions like this because there have been so many of them recently.  Check it out. [/QUOTE]

Ok.. I am totally confused now.  Isn't a meeting with the school a first step to see if he can qualify?

I read your other post- it tells what the different plans do for the kids... but not how to get them.  I thougth the Wright's Law info says the school puts it in place?

sarahandbabies38777.4914351852

Sorry .

A 504 Plan is given to children with disabilities.  Having the medical dx from your son's doctor makes the school aware that your son has a "suspected disability," which is all that it is, unless your state deems otherwise.  You need to check with your state education agency and see.  When a child is struggling in school and has a suspected disability, the child can qualify for a 504 Plan, which is a plan that allows accommodations to curriculum because of the child's disability.  When a kid has ADHD, like your son, having the doctor write the diagnosis and the suggested 504 accommodations is very, very helpful in getting your child a 504 Plan.  Still, the school has a 504 Committee that decides whether or not a child qualifies for the accommodations. 

If your child has a disability that requires modifications and/or specialized instruction, your child can qualify for Special Education.  Whether or not the child qualifies is decided by the ARD Committee.  If your child qualifies, he will be given an IEP, which is an Individualized Education Plan.  In order to qualify for Other Health Impaired (what ADHD falls under in Special Education), your child will have to be tested by the school.  I've know from previous posts that you don't want your son to qualify for Special Education, and you don't think he does.  Then, you just want to go for a 504 Plan. 

Usually what happens at a school, is that the child is given basic interventions first.  If the child still struggles, the child is given a 504 Plan.  If the child still struggles, the child is given Special Education qualification and an IEP.  In a lot of schools, it's a gradual process, unless the child is struggling so much that it is obvious an IEP is the only way to go, but this is decided after academic/psychological testing by the school that proves a child does have a disability.  504's can be given from private dxs of disabilities.  504's also are given when a child has been tested by the school and deemed not to have a disability that warrants an IEP, but the child does have a private dx of something medical, like ADHD.  Really, it's all very, very confusing, isn't it?

What you can ask for from the school depends on what kind of label your child has--504 or SPED.

lillian38777.5159837963

Also...

From your previous posts, it sounds like you are meeting with the Academic Intervention Committee tomorrow.  This is the Committee responsible for putting basic interventions in place, watching to assess their effectiveness, then deciding if your son's school performance needs to be evaluated by the 504 Committee.  If yes, the 504 Committee will read the doctor's dx, evaluate your son's academic performance and other issues interfering with his education, and decide whether or not he qualifies for a 504 Plan.  It's possible for the Academic Intervention Committee to meet and immediately decide to send your son's case to the 504 Committee, especially since you will have a medical dx with you, but, usually, basic interventions are done first.

Why would having the doctor's dx first protect my son?

At my school the SST, 504 team, and IEP team are all the same people. Their goal at the first meeting was to initiate educational testing and get me to obtain a medical evaluation. They want to nail down the precise problem first, although they did agree to my classroom accommodations. There was no discussion about 504 vs SE eval--just get the testing done. I get impression that 504 vs SE will be decided based on the test results. The principal seemed to want to do the testing first, and then find the best classroom accommodations based on the identified issues. Once the educational testing is done, the doctor will use this as a starting point for her testing. The doctor will include classroom accommodation recommendations.

In any case, I wouldn't worry about it too much, this meeting will just be about classroom accommodations and perhaps they will also offer to do educational testing. Just come with ideas about accommodations and your medical report. At my meeting, the observations of myself, the teacher, and the principal were documented by the school psychologist. They went over his medical history, developmental markers, behavior at home and in the classroom. No impacting decisions were made.

Well if nothing else, it makes my error less dire .

NoTellin,

I don't think it is an error, and I apologize if I made it sound that way.  Actually, I'm quite interested in the fact that a school is so willing to work with a private evaluator AND give accommodations before an official diagnosis.  Very interesting.  It's as if the school is saying, "We know it's something, but we don't know what, and we're not going to let this kid fail, while we try to decide what it is."  All of this sounds like a school that is really trying to work with your son.  Are you pleased with the school?

lillian38777.8452199074I guess every school is different. My son's teacher said that she was going to request testing at the SST. And she told me during a conference that he could be eligible for testing. Lillian--Sorry I didn't answer your earlier. I'm actually not sure if I'm happy with the school or not. I'm not convinced that they are looking out for my son, but they appear to be on the surface. There are only about 800 students in the district. I believe it is the teacher who is the driving force behind all of this. I know that she talks to the principal about my son constantly, and the school psychologist also. She scheduled the SST, she requested testing, she agreed to the classroom accommodations, she says "something is going on with him." But she also drives me crazy because I think she exaggerates, and I wonder if perhaps she just wants him out of her room for parts of the day. I think it bothers her that he passes all of the tests because it would be easier if there was an academic impact. So, yea, this is all strange that I'm being handed everything on a silver platter without any prompting, and the school is coordinating with my doctor -- all the while my son is passing everything. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop because it doesn't jive with anyone else's experience. I mean, my son is being evaluated for SE, and I'm not particularly interested in SE.

It was funny because I just happened to ask my son's teacher how I could get testing done. The teacher acted delighted that I had said that! TUrns out, she says they are not allowed to tell you that you can just request testing. I don't get that. Why can't they tell you what the laws are?? ONce you mention it it seems to break the dam and they come rushing in to help. It's wierd.

ANyway the SST meeting was long and they didnt look at the forms they asked me to fill out, which was a bummer because I had labored on them. It was good anyway because the forms got my thoughts together before the meeting. But the meeting was long and they were patient, didnt rush anything. THey seem like they really really want to help.

R