Last year we had our attorney file a compliance complaint when our district, Chino Valley Unified School DIstrict, and WESELPA called to cancel an IEP meeting at the last minute.  We were called 32 minutes before the meeting was to have been held in Rancho Cucamonga, it takes about that long to get there, we were in fact on the way out the door.  When we tried to stop the cancellation we couldn’t because the staff who cancelled the meeting had not yet even come into work.  It was obvious that this cancellation was some sort of funny business, and it made it so my daughter’s IEP meeting was held a month late.  As a result her goals were not updated and we incurred financial loss due to taking off of work and having scheduled a sitter that we then had to pay despite the lack of need.  Additionally, her school, a specialized non-pubic school also was negatively effected as they had hired three substitutes that theythen had to pay at least a minimum amount due to the extremely late cancellation of hte meeting.  This is a definite compliance issue and so we asked our attorney to file theis complaint on our behalf.  I have filed many of these myself but this one got a bit complex so I asked him to handle this one.  We won the complaint easily.  It was our understanding that in the event of our winning a compliance complaint against the district we would be reimbursed for our attorney expenses, these totaled $5542.16.  When the district refused to reimburse us for those expenses we allowed our attorney to file a suit against the district for the cost of those expenses.  We were not aware that the cost could be avoided by the district if the judge found that the complaint was not substantial enough in the judge’s eyes, and that is what happened, so we did not win our attorney's fees as we expected. 

In order to fight this fee of of $5542.16 the district paid the legal firm of Fagen, Friedman, and Fulfrost $15,829.39.  When the district felt they had spent enough, perhaps they reached their limit, they went to the Superintendent’s Council and convinced them to pay the remainder of the legal fight.  An additional $33,702.07 was spent by West End SELPA, for a grand total of $$49,531.46.  This much to fight $5542.16.  Nothing was gained in the fight, no precedents set, nothing but the avoidance of a $5542.16 attorney bill.  Taking away the cost saved, it put the district and WESELPA in the red for $43,989.30.

Now, if it was me, I would try to take care of the district’s money as though it were mine.  I would have started by trying to negotiate a lower fee, which we likely would have considered.  Tthe district could have probably negotiated and paid us $3500.00 to $4000.00, maybe a bit more.  No one tried to negotiate at all.  Instead the district seems to have gone along with the district's attorneys who were the only ones who would gain in this plan, and gain they did, to the tune of nearly $50,000.  I would hope the district would ask questions, and would place caps on the amount of money they are willing to spend to save a relatively small amount of money.  Certainly about 10 times the original fee is outrageous.  I can only assume that we are not the only family that the district and WESELPA has overspent on legal fees in order to beat.  Had the district lost, which is a possibility with a different judge, it could have cost even more - about another $50,000.00.  The only real winners in this entire issue are thedostrict's attorneys.  The district won nothing, the family won nothing.  I would consider who it is that is recommending I spend more money than I would save, and if it is the person or group that stands to gain I would take that into account when determining how much I would be willing to spend.    

I am hoping that given this information the Board members will look into other legal battles and see if the district can in fact, save some of the money spent on litigation in the future.  This year alone the Chino Valley Unified School District spent $620,404.34 in legal expenses, some of this cost was for special education litigation, and I don’t know how much more was covered by the WESELPA.  Wouldn’t it be better to see that the money sent to the district be used to educate our children?

Recording Your Meetings

When parents tape in CA we have to give 24 hour notice - I usually give that notice early on in my child's education and then I send a reminder - that way if I don't get the full 24 hour notice they were already notified years ago.

I have only once or twice needed the tape, but I have often listened to portions over again to remind mself as I don't always remember exactly how things went since it is a very emotional time, I am advocating for my child's life!

Also, if I record, the district records - which is great, since there have been times when I forgot to turn the recorder back on or some other foolishness and they have a record!  I can request it along with my child's educational records!

For me, my iPhone is the best recorder I have ever used.  It picks up sound better than any others I have tried.  I use the app Audio Note and I love it.  I have only recently begun to use it well, which is, to take notes of what happens so I have documented where to find what I may want to hear later.  That way I can go right to the area that includes the recoding that I need to hear again.  Other prefer other recording devices, but you have to find what works best for you.

Questions to Ask Re: Your Child's Reading Program

• If your child is having reading difficulties the district will often try to avoid doing anything tht is research based to help them your child.  By law the programs used must be research based and the shool must collect data in order to know if what they are doing is helping, if it isn't helping the district must change their methods. 

  
  

  When they offer a program we need to ask:

  1. Is this a research based program?

  2. How will it be implemented?

  3. How will data be taken?
  4. Has the research been peer reviewed?
  5. Who did or funded the research? If it was done by the manufacturer or marketer, you wnat to know if ther eis additional research.
  6. What population is the research based on? It should be based on the same group that they are planning to use the program with. IE: If research was with gen ed, may not work with Special ed, ELL won't tell you if it works with Special ed either.
  7. How large was the study group?

  
  

  If the district says they are implementing a reading program we need to ask:

  1. What is the district doing to help my child's reading improve?

  2. Are they using a research based program?

  3. How have they been implementing the program?

  4. Can we look at the data?
  
  

  5. Has the research been peer reviewed?
  6. Who did or funded the research? If it was done by the manufacturer or marketer, you wnat to know if ther eis additional research.
  7. What population is the research based on? It should be based on the same group that they are planning to use the program with. IE: If research was with gen ed, may not work with Special ed, ELL won't tell you if it works with Special ed either.
  8. How large was the study group?

  
  
  

Choosing an Expert

Things to do before signing up for an expert to do your IEE:

Check their CV.  Do they have the proper qualifications?  Do not take anyone's word that they have qualifications, even your attorney.

Find out if they are on the District's list of preferred providers - if they are, you likely don't want to use them.

Get references from other parents - you might be able to use a preferred provider, but be careful, only use them if they come reommended by other parents who have used their reports to get services for their chldren without going to court if possible.

Look at one of their reports - hopefully they have on with private information redacted or you may be able to see a friend's report.


  

Questions to Ask About a BSP - Is it Being Implemented?

• Questions to ask about BSP and implementing it.

  
  1) Ask to see the BSP (many times it can't even be found)

  
  2) Ask for the documentation that shows it was implemented.

  
  3) Ask for the ongoing data collection/progress monitoring.

  
  4) Ask how do we know this is working if we don't have the data? 

Is Your Attorney Really an Attorney?

Recently a friend of mine found herself in a difficult situation.  It seemed that her "attorney" was doing everything wrong.  She shared that he was overbilling her for IEP meeting atendance, he was asking the district for things for her son that were not justified.  He requested a Non-public school when that is not what the parents wanted and not what was recommended in the IEEs that the district had paid for.  We began to ask a question, was this guy truly an attorney?  A question that should have been asked at the beginning of the search for an attorney.  But he had led us to believe he was an attorney, when the word attorney was mentioned, he did not deny that he was an attorney, he spoke at training meetings and it was at the very least inferred that he is an attorney.  Well, it turns out he isn't an attorney.  How did we find out?  We went online to the state bar associateion website, put his name in, and you guessed it, he is not listed as an attorney with the California Bar Association.

In the future, if I have any dealings with any attorney on any issue, I will go to the website and find out if they are indeed listed as an attorney in my state.  For California that site is Calbar.org.  Every state will have their own website, but if you are paying for an attorney I would want to be sure that the person is indeed an attorney.

PWN - What, Why, and How it Can Benefit You

PWN tells you a lot.  If the district has real reasons for their denial of a service it wil be included.  If they don't have any good reasons to deny your child a service, such as budget constraints or just because they can (in their opinion), then it is your green light to go the next step - either a compliance complaint or an Alternate dispute resolution, Mediation only, or Due process request.

http://www.specialeducationadvisor.com/using-prior-written-notice-as-a-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-105321

Using Paperwork to Prove Your Case

This is a must read!  What a great way to achieve a needed outcome for your child without attorneys and advocates, without due process hearings. http://www.fetaweb.com/success/priv.placement.riley.htm

How to Be An Effective Advocate

http://ezinearticles.com/?You-Can-Fight-Back-Against-Special-Education-Denials-That-Hurt-Your-Child!&id=6366014

A great article on how to become an effective advocate adn get your child's needs met.

Q & A Should I Walk Out of an IEP Meeting?

I can't go into specifics, but I had a huge difficulty in my IEP today and I wanted to walk out early because it was going nowhere. What should I have said? Have you ever left an IEP early for that reason? After hours and hours, I ended up not signing the IEP it and rescheduling for another day.

It's pretty difficult to know how to suggest what you should have said.  Each situation is so different.  I would never suggest walking out of an IEP early, I think you did well to stay.  I always take my IEPs home, unless it is very simple, so that I don't have to worry about what is in the paperwork as I can very clearly see that the goals are what we discussed, the services are what we discussed and the notes are simple and I can take in what it says easily.  I just did that with an IEP that was to discuss an IEE and the district agreed to do exactly what we wanted, we wrote one goal, there was no change in services, and less than half a page of notes.  But that is rare.

I would write out what I wanted to see happen, maybe even send it to the head of Special ed if you think that would help.  If you need an evaluation to back up what you wanted think about that.  Was this a Triannual IEP?  If so you are entitled to an IEE in every area you think should be addressed.  They may try to say you are only entitled to them in areas that they addressed but that isn't true, they should have already addressed all areas of suspected disability and if they didn't then you have the right to an IEE in an area that you suspect now. It is best to include your suspected concerns on the Assessment Plan, but you are not responsible for all of the assessments being on there, they are.  If it wasn't a Triannual then you may need to ask them for evaluations and then get the IEEs after they present you with evaluations because their evaluation had to be within a year.  

I think it is always better to sign for the aspects of the IEP that you agree with (though usually at home), you will also look more reasonable that way should you end up in due process later.  I usually sign for goals and services except that I may disagree with the services being so few maybe in behavioral - so I would say "I agree to implementing the IEP as it is, but I do believe that there should be more behavioral therapy than is being suggested.  I will accept what is current ly being offered but do not agree that it is enough."  Or if they are suggesting reducing or removing services I would say "I do not agree with the reduction in services offered in this IEP.  I would like to request an IEE to confirm if the reduction is reasonable and in the meantime, I would like the district to continue the services as they were presented in the last IEP."  Then I would send a letter requesting the IEE and mention the stay put for services that you have requested.  The cannot legally discontinue services or reduce them now without taking you to due process to prove that they were right.  Most often the district will need to give you the IEE unless they are also prepared to insist that their evaluation was adequate - which then means you would need to get the evaluation and pay for it out of pocket and have the expert show that their evaluation was crap, but that may be a long way out and my never happen, just trying to give you advance warning. 

Attorney Advice

http://westfield.patch.com/articles/special-education-attorney-offers

The above link is to a review of what a Special Ed attorney shared with parents of students in Special Education.  There are some excellent tips about goals and red flags in the IEP meeting.  Good reading!

The Power of "No"

"No" is an incredible word, when used judiciously.  We have had occasion to say "no" to changes in our children's IEPs.  When we say "no" to changes we say "yes" to stay put.  Many district will not however, enact stay put unless the parents specifically request stay put.  I always make it a point to tell all at the IEP meeting that I am requesting that they initiate stay put until such time that we come to an agreement, sometimes this may be until we get an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation) that confirms the districts belief that my child is no longer in need of or ready for a reduction in services.  I then follow this up with a letter just to be sure that they got my message.  If I wait, thinking they are giving a service as prescribed by law, I may find out months later that they did not do as requested, so I do everything in my power to be sure that services are being provided as they must by law be given.

Following the Money

From Special Needs Advisor:

This is a well thought out view, though sadly, I have to admit, I believe there are some evil people in the world who seem to enjoy doing any trick they can think of to avoid getting services to our kids with special needs.

http://www.specialeducationadvisor.com/the-trickle-down-economics-of-never-fully-funding-special-education/

Troubled Children Grow into Troubled Adults without Intervention

Reading about the shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary just confirms part of why we have IDEA and why our schools must take a different role than they usually do, at least around here.  This was a troubled boy who grew into a troubled man.  Instead of ignoring the mom's pleas and instead of taking the stance that we must save as much money as we can, perhaps if districts take the stand that they are here to educate and help our children grow into strong and thriving citizens we will see this kind of thing stop (or at least happen less often).  When they refuse to help these kids and rebuff parents they set themselves up as the bad guys.  Good care costs money, but good care leads to good outcomes.  Which is more important?  I have often wondered when some parent will have taken all they believe they can handle and go and do some violence, now we have seen what happened to a young man who apparently believed he had taken all he could handle.  It's time to start caring for our kids instead of avoiding doing anything for children who are different.

See Aaron Sereboff's post here: https://www.facebook.com/ideabuilder

Why We Get an IEE

When someone goes to get an IEE it is for two reasons. First you are hoping to convince the school district that your child needs more services than they say your child needs. Sometimes this works, but often what happens is your IEE needs to stand up in due process because many districts would prefer to hire attorneys than give your child the services your child needs. So that IEE better be pretty good. 

You want a person who understands the particular area, who understands schools and what they cover as opposed to an evaluator who is working under a medical model and is used to writing evaluations for insurance companies. They are very different. Even if they can do an evaluation under your insurance, you want to make sure they have experience in with educational reports, and then you want to be sure that they will attend an IEP meeting and be able to defend their report or your child will not get the needed services.  You can pay for that, or ask that your district covers part of the IEE but I wouldn't tell them which part.  I have found the district is unlikely to work this sort of thing out with us though, so it may or may not work, even if the person who takes insurance, who is covered by your insurance, is good at educational evaluations.  

The best IEEs include arguments from the start that your child needs this intervention that will stand up in court, even if you don't have to go to court, which hopefully we don't have to do. I have found that most of the medical people we have used for treatment have not been able to even say if my daughter is getting appropriate services at the school, even though they know very well what to do under the medical model.  It isn't their fault, they are just not trained in the educational model.

Let Your Pediatrician Help

I just got back a from a visit to our pediatrician with our youngest.  He had a traumatic brain injury suffered at birth and has some learning and behavioral issues as a result.

He is a great kid - but when he gets into what for him are overly sensory and auditory stimulating environments he has trouble taking in information and behaving appropriately because he gets stressed out.  He doesn't listen well in that environment and he has trouble thinking.  Really, who can think when they are stressed out?  Anxiety and thinking just don't go together!  Anxiety creates an instinct response, which is going to be fight or flight, not helpful in the classroom.

So our attorney suggested that we see our son's pediatrician.  I explained our concerns to her and told her what is going on in the classroom.  She felt that we could go a couple of ways.  One is having him attend school for half days for the time being, and the other would be for him to go into Home and Hospital Instruction (HHI) for the time being.  She asked me what I thought would be best.  I have already been taking him for half days and things haven't gotten any worse, but they also aren't getting better and he is missing significant chunks of instruction.  It is difficult for him to keep up this way so I said I think to go to HHI is the best for him right now.  That way he won't get to school and be expected to take a test the others are taking when he hasn't been there to practice what he will be tested for, and other similar situations.

She immediately wrote a note for him to attend half days until HHI can be set up and she will sign that paperwork once I get it from the school.  This is so much better than continuing to fight for him to try to fit in where he can't succeed, yet it keeps the district responsible for him getting an education and services.

Advocating for a Child with Behaviors

Warning - this is a long one.  I go into details so that you can learn from my mistakes.  My husband and I have fostered and adopted kids for the last 12 years.  Our final foster child became our son officially almost five years ago but he melted our hearts just prior to his two month birthday when we brought him home from the hospital after several surgeries, more shocks to his heart than any child should have to endure, and with the love of a ton of nurses who really nursed him into health.

This little guy was born to his biological mother at her home.  She proceeded to drop him on his head, cut his umbilical cord and not clamp it off, stab him 40 times in the trunk with a pair of scissors, and then wrap him in a wet towel and leave him under an open window shortly after Christmas.  For some reason, before he was completely dead she called 9-1-1 and they came and took him to the hospital where doctors administered extraordinary medical interventions and saved his life.  He has scars all over his still small body.  His lungs both collapsed, his pericardium was cut, but luckily not his heart, there was liver damage that was life threatening, he lost so much blood that there was lack of oxygen to his brain which in turn caused seizures.  I really don't remember all that my little love went through in those first moments of life, but it was hell.  He wasn't expected to live, and once it seemed he would live he wasn't expected to do much.  The doctors didn't expect him to sit up, stand, walk, eat, speak, or be able to care for even the most basic of his own needs - ever.

Our little guy doesn't do what anyone expect him to do though!  He has above average intelligence according to the testing we have had done, he not only walks, he runs and climbs and rides his bike without training wheels.  He can swing at a ball and hit it and he can do some amazing jumps on a trampoline.  He is on track for all of his academic milestones.

There is one area that is difficult for him though.  Speech and language.  He actually speaks pretty well, his articulation is very good most of the time and he can put together a sentence that seems quite appropriate for a child in kindergarten.  He has trouble taking in what he hears though.  He likely has a condition called Auditory Processing Disorder or Central A.P.D.  In our state it can't be technically diagnosed until a child is 7, so we are left knowing he has this trouble, but not being able to get a diagnosis and get him some of the help he needs because he hasn't turned seven yet.  Kind of a ridiculous rule, law, whatever it is, but hey it's what we have to deal with.  Pretty much what happens is he doesn't hear things exactly like they were said - I might say tangerine and he might her magazine.  He also has trouble with some concepts.  Mostly these are positional concepts like over, under, between, behind, first, last.  He also has trouble answering "wh" questions, and the toughest of them naturally is "where".  These difficulties are amplified in the classroom - lots of other noise, constant change/transitions, and a bunch of kids who don't understand that he has this difficulty.

Kindergarten classes in our district have 30 kids this year.  Last year it was 20 kindergartners, this year it is 30.  We worked hard to get him into the local charter school, thinking their multiple intelligences style of teaching would benefit our little guy.  The charter school doesn't have all of the overhead of the large district, but since the district was putting 30 kindergartners in each class, they had no need to place fewer children in the kindergarten classes.  Additionally, this made more parents happy since they could put more of their children into the charters classes.  Many of us enrolled our kids in their hybrid Independent Study program which includes going to class on campus three days per week and home-schooling two days per week.  My little guy was 6th on the waiting list so we could feel very secure in the knowledge that he would be in a five day a week class in first grade and then he could spend the rest of his academic days at charter school until he completed eighth grade.  And by then it was expected that the charter might even have a High School.

Because charter schools are actually public schools they must take children with IEP's.  This particular school doesn't take students with more severe special needs, kids who need a special day class, but they do take kids who can learn in the typical environment.  this seemed like a perfect opportunity for my son.  He had been in a special ed preschool class where he had a few behavior issues, but not more than you would expect from any preschooler, three incidents in two years of preschool.  His speech had come along - when he first entered the program he spoke only 10 words, and what little he did say was difficult to understand.  After two years in preschool with speech therapy (albeit not the best speech therapy - it was the district/county program after all) and over a year of private pay speech therapy he was able to speak clearly most of the time (anxiety has effected his speech and it gets unclear at times) and he spoke in full sentences.    He seemed pretty much like any other kiddo but we knew he did need some extra help, therapy and some modifications and accommodations to benefit from his education.

We went to meetings, we got him his uniforms, we got him to school with his homework done, but after about four or five weeks we started hearing that he was behaving inappropriately in class.  He was pinching some of the other children and even spitting at them.  This was shocking, he hadn't done it before.  We were told that this wasn't all that unusual given the severity of his speech and language deficits.

We worked in an IEP meeting to prepare a behavior support plan with school staff.  He would be given positive reinforcements every half hour until he could do well with that, then the supports would move to an hour, then two times per day, then once a day, until his behaviors were acceptable.  The teacher would give him small rewards, like passing out the pencils, high fives, and being the first to do an activity.  I gave her stickers that were motivating for my son - Cars 2 stickers, and we would use a variety of rewards for bringing home good behavior reports , including milk shakes, toy cars, and DVD's.  Each of these was predicated on increasing his positive behavior reports.  the teacher had already been doing the behavior charts, but we were meeting and making it formal at an IEP meeting.

Initially I got no reports.  It was so odd, because I had been getting reports prior to the meeting and once it was part of the IEP I got nothing.  It took a few days to find out what was going on, but I was told the teacher thought that someone was making up a new behavior chart.  Why she thought this was a mystery as her chart was fine.  There had been no negative comments, no one said a new chart was needed, but what was even more unbelievable was that she felt using nothing was the strategy to use after having a meeting to discuss how vital my son's need was for support in this area.

Finally after two weeks of nothing the behavior charts were again instituted with the additional supports that were put together by the RSP teacher and the SLP.  It was working!  This was so great!  My son's behaviors were down to no more than one per day.  BUT, we had forgotten one important piece, no one had asked what happened just before my son behaved inappropriately.  We all fell lock-step into the idea that he misbehaved because of his speech issues.  I've read up on CAPD and I was ready to believe this, kids with CAPD often times have difficult behaviors as a result of not understanding fully what others want from them.  Okay, so we believed it, but apparently no one in the classroom was at all interested in what was going on that made my little guy so angry.

Shortly after we returned from the Christmas break I observed a situation in which another child was taunting my son.  This was at an award's ceremony and every child but my son got the trifecta of awards.  Perfect Attendance, Perfect Homework, and Excellent Behavior.  Really, every other child in the class was perfect?  Now, I don't think my son was perfect, but every other child was perfect?  I don't think so.  I have never seen such a situation.  I think there is something wrong with a teacher who can't see that only one child isn't perfect - it was bizarre.

After the kids got their awards one child was trying to take away my son's award. I watched as my son refused to give the child his award, apparently he had figured out the other child was planning to throw his award.  I walked away after that, thinking he was handling this so well.  I needed to check in with another mother and he was doing great.  Well, a few minutes later the teacher approached me and told me that my son had convinced another child to give him his award (a pin that was to go on the child's sweater) and he had thrown it.  She told me "It's too bad he had to ruin the whole day".  Really, he ruined the whole day?  What he did sucked and wasn't okay, but had he really ruined the whole day?  The pin was located and returned to the other child, my son apologized, and the "whole day" was "ruined".

Later that day I asked my son if there was anyone at school who was mean to him.  He immediately named the child who was trying to take his pin.  He said "______ is mean to me every day, every day."  Apparently no one had bothered to ask him what had happened, and even if they had he would have had trouble explaining his side, and even if he had the teacher had determined that he was the trouble and all the other students were perfect, never having teased or taunting my son, so there was no reason for him to share what had happened, he'd already been judged and found guilty.      
 

IEE FAQs

IEE FAQs:

An IEE is the basis for getting your child needed services through the school district.  The district does their evaluations and may find your child needs special education (or not) but then they do little to nothing to help your child actually learn and gain from their time in school.  Most children in special education have a specific need or needs that keeps them from learning in the general education classroom.  It is services that allow them to learn.  If your child has difficulty reading, then they need intensive instruction in reading.  If they have speech issues then they need speech therapy.  If your child cannot write well and has fine motor issues then occupational therapy is called for, or the OT may also help with sensory issues.  There are more servies than I will enumerate here, but the key to getting any kind of help for your child is often in the IEE.

WHAT:  IEE = Independent Educational Evaluation - should be done at public expense, the district can set up a contract with the expert so that you do not have to pay out of pocket, they will likely drag their feet though, so it might go faster if you can pay up front and have the district reimburse you, but, don't do that until you have an agreement in writing that they will reimburse you for the cost.  Districts often set limits on who they will reimburse, some of those limits are reasonable, others are not.  They cannot speicifically deny an IEE due to cost, though if your expert costs 5 times the prevailing rate they will usually not reimburse you for that IEE.  I have found the popular way to avoid the use of experts that do a good job of advocating for our kids in this areas is to set a mileage limitation on the experts one may use.  There are two ways to fight this.  1) they cannot set limits that they do not follow themselves AND 2) You may have a good reason for using these particular people for your child and you can argue why you need to use these particular experts.  All of our best experts are about 5-10 miles outside of the mileage limitations, but I have been able to use them so far by arguing that they do not adhere to their own limits, so I should not have to either.  Below is a letter I have used to make my point with the district.

As we are aware, all of these experts are outside of the mileage limitations as prescribed by the WESELPA, but that the WESELPA limitations are outside of the limits prescribed by OSEP.  See the letter copied into this e-mail below.  Because the district uses experts from outside the area set by the WESELPA, it can not set those limits for parents.  As I shared with you in an earlier conversation, Ms. Abby Rozenberg, who was offered as a provider of an IEE for another of my children, just over two months ago, is further away than these providers, so the distance criteria is not appropriate as per OSEP. The WESELPA mileage limitations are not in accordance with OSEP policy.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.  Please see the letter below, and if there is any question as to the authenticity of this being in the Dept. of Education database I am including the link to this page on their site.  The letter I refer to is the third letter down from the top on that site.  http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/letters/revpolicy/tpiee.html  I am also including contact information for all of the experts listed, below the OSEP letter in order to make setting up contracts quite easy. 

Sincerely,

Linda K Higgins

Dated February 20, 2004

Alice D. Parker, Ed.D.

Assistant Superintendent

California Department of Education

721 Capitol Mall

Sacramento, California 94244

Dear Dr. Parker:

This is a response to your letter to Larry Ringer, Associate Division Director, Monitoring and State Improvement Planning, requesting guidance from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) regarding an independent educational evaluation (IEE) under 34 CFR §300.502 of the regulations implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  Specifically, you ask whether it is permissible for a public agency to restrict a parent’s choice of an IEE to only the evaluators on a list provided the parent by the public agency and whether the public agency has the ultimate authority to choose the evaluator.

The current IDEA regulations specify that the right of a parent to obtain an IEE is triggered if the parent disagrees with an evaluation initiated by a public agency.  See §300.502(b)(1).  The regulations also require that on request for an IEE, a public agency must provide the parent information about where an IEE may be obtained, and the agency criteria applicable for IEEs. 34 CFR §§300.502(a)(2) and (e)(1).  The public agency must set criteria under which an IEE can be obtained at public expense, including the location of the evaluation and the qualifications of the examiner, which must be the same as the criteria the public agency uses when it initiates an evaluation, to the extent those criteria are consistent with the parent’s right to an IEE.  34 CFR §300.502(e)(1).  Other than establishing these criteria, a public agency may not impose conditions or timelines related to a parent obtaining an IEE at public expense.  See §300.502(e)(2).

It is not inconsistent with IDEA for a district to publish a list of the names and addresses of evaluators that meet agency criteria, including reasonable cost criteria.  This can be an effective way for agencies to inform parents of how and where they may obtain an IEE.  In order to ensure the parent’s right to an independent evaluation, it is the parent, not the district, who has the right to choose which evaluator on the list will conduct the IEE.  We recognize that it is difficult, particularly in a big district, to establish a list that includes every qualified evaluator who meets the agency’s criteria.  Therefore, when enforcing IEE criteria, the district must allow parents the opportunity to select an evaluator who is not on the list but who meets the criteria set by the public agency.  

In addition, when enforcing IEE criteria, the district must allow parents the opportunity to demonstrate that unique circumstances justify the selection of an evaluator that does not meet agency criteria.  In some instances, the only person qualified to conduct the type of evaluation needed by the child may be an evaluator who does not meet agency criteria.  For example, because children must be assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability, there may be situations in which some children may need evaluations by an evaluator who does not meet agency criteria.  In such situations, the public agency must ensure that the parent still has the right to the IEE at public expense and is informed about where the evaluation(s) may be obtained.  

Section 300.502(b)(2) of the regulations states that “If a parent requests an independent educational evaluation at public expense, the public agency must, without unnecessary delay, either (i) initiate a hearing under §300.507 to show that its evaluation is appropriate; or (ii) ensure that an independent educational evaluation is provided at public expense, unless the agency demonstrates in a hearing under §300.507 that the evaluation obtained by the parent did not meet agency criteria.”  Therefore, if a parent elects to obtain an IEE by an evaluator not on the public agency’s list of evaluators, the public agency may initiate a due process hearing to demonstrate that the evaluation obtained by the parent did not meet the public agency criteria applicable for IEEs or there is no justification for selecting an evaluator that does not meet agency criteria.  If the public agency chooses not to initiate a due process hearing, it must ensure that the parent is reimbursed for the evaluation.

At your request, we have reviewed the guidance provided by the California Department of Education (CDE).  We recommend that CDE add to the guidance after the first sentence that (1) the parent, not the district, has the right to choose which evaluator on the list will conduct the IEE; and (2) when enforcing IEE criteria, the district must allow parents the opportunity to select a qualified evaluator that meets agency criteria even if that evaluator is not on the list of potential evaluators established by the district.  In addition, the district must allow parents the opportunity to demonstrate that unique circumstances justify the selection of an evaluator that does not meet agency criteria.  We recommend revising the second sentence as follows:  if a parent elects to obtain an IEE by an evaluator not on the public agency’s list of evaluators, and the public agency believes the evaluator does not meet agency criteria or there is no justification for selecting an evaluator that does not meet agency criteria, the district may file for due process rather than pay for the IEE. 

We hope that you find this explanation helpful.  If you need further assistance, please call Dale King at (202) 260-1156.

Sincerely,

/s/ Patricia J. Guard for 

 

WHY: You disagree with the evaluation done by the district.  You can disagree with all or part of their evaluation.  Often times I find that the findings may be adequate, but that the receommendations are seriously lacking.  If you are asked what you disagree with it is generally safe to tell them that you are not comfortable with the recommendations made or the lack of recommendations as many districts do not allow the evaluators to make recommendations on their reports, thus keeping them from making recommendtion that the district would not like to pay for.  SOmetimes a distric tevaluation may not include all aspects of the area they should assess.  Our district repeatedly avoided valuating in the sensory realm, a huge area for my daughter, if the district does not evvaute in all areas of suspected disability then you deserve an IEE.

WHEN: When you disagree with the school district's evaluation in any one or several areas. Generally you might ask for an IEE in Psychoeducation, Speech, Occupational Therapy, Augmentative Communication, Assistive technology, Vision, Physical therapy, or any other area that the district may have assessed. The general rule of thumb is that the district should have performed the evaluation within about a year.

WHO: An expert in the particular field who has experience writing up reports that the district takes seriously. The evaluations they write up need to include an explanation of the tests they did, their conclusions, why they believe your child needs whatever they recommend, and goals for the district to implement.  A great IEE is one that lays out exactly why the child needs the services receommended so that the district is not as likely to go to due process to fight the need for more services, you want to win in the initial phase rather than ending up in court. It is usually not effective to use people employed at hospitals as they are experts at writing up an evaluation for funding from insurance companies for medical need, not for writing up educational need. They may be great at writing up reports but you want an expert who understands the educational system.

HOW: Get the names of great evaluators in your area from attorneys, advocates, and other parents who have been successful in getting their child's needs met. Don't use the people sugggested by the district. In most cases these people will not do an adequate job, they will often write a very poor report that does not justify any increased services and that is why the district recommends them.

Prior Written Notice or PWN

Prior Written Notice from http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/34/300.503

§ 300.503
Prior notice by the public agency; content of notice.
(a) Notice. Written notice that meets the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section must be given to the parents of a child with a disability a reasonable time before the public agency—
(1) Proposes to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the child; or
(2) Refuses to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the child.
(b) Content of notice. The notice required under paragraph (a) of this section must include—
(1) A description of the action proposed or refused by the agency;
(2) An explanation of why the agency proposes or refuses to take the action;
(3) A description of each evaluation procedure, assessment, record, or report the agency used as a basis for the proposed or refused action;
(4) A statement that the parents of a child with a disability have protection under the procedural safeguards of this part and, if this notice is not an initial referral for evaluation, the means by which a copy of a description of the procedural safeguards can be obtained;
(5) Sources for parents to contact to obtain assistance in understanding the provisions of this part;
(6) A description of other options that the IEP Team considered and the reasons why those options were rejected; and
(7) A description of other factors that are relevant to the agency's proposal or refusal.
(c) Notice in understandable language. (1) The notice required under paragraph (a) of this section must be—
(i) Written in language understandable to the general public; and
(ii) Provided in the native language of the parent or other mode of communication used by the parent, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so. 

(2) If the native language or other mode of communication of the parent is not a written language, the public agency must take steps to ensure—
(i) That the notice is translated orally or by other means to the parent in his or her native language or other mode of communication;
(ii) That the parent understands the content of the notice; and
(iii) That there is written evidence that the requirements in paragraphs (c)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section have been met.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1415(b)(3) and (4), 1415(c)(1), 1414(b)(1))

IN PLAIN ENGLISH:

This must be done if the District chooses to discontinue a service, add a service, evaluate a child, change placement, or deny a service or placement that a parent requests for their child who is in special education.

It must include:
>What they will or will not do
>Why they are doing or not doing it
>A description of what they use to make that decision - evaluations, reports or records that were used to make the decision
>A copy of the "Parent's Rights" (Procedural Safeguards)
>Places to get help understanding the rights
>What other options were considered and why they were rejected
>Anything else that they used to decide what they would do

It must be understandable and in the person's native language or that the parent can have it interpreted so that they understand it.

I have found that the district avoids saying anything relevant in the PWN's.  They don't want to give reasons - the favorite catch phrase in our district is "we respectfully decline to ....".  But it is not respectful and it is not appropriate to simply decline a parent's requests for their child's educational needs.  Fortunately we can demand more information and that information has been very helpful to me in the past, since they don't generally have any sound reasoning behind their "no", and this becomes apparent in the PWN.  Without sound reasoning they will have a hard time defending their refusals at Due Process.

iPad/iPhone/iPod Apps

• I have a few favorite iPad apps that I will list and I will tell you why!  In addition thanks to my friend Helen Robinson, I have found some other ways to access suggested apps for the iPad for kids with special needs.  You will find links to those spots below.
  
  I always use the Lite versions first to see if my kids are interested.  Sometimes what looks like a lot of fun to me will not interest my kids at all.  I have wasted a few apps, but with the lite versions when they are available I can pretest and avoid wasted money.   Luckily though most of the apps I have purchased are less than $2 so not a great waste.  Sometimes you have to take the risk! =)
  
  Pocket Phonics:  My kids love this one!  They learn letter sounds and practice making the sounds into words.  The also get to practice  making the letter with their finger.  It covers so many of the bases on letters and it's a game and it's fun.  I have accidentally purchased apps (usually only free ones though) that aren't fun - why bother?  My kids wont play with them!  They even have a free trial that you can use to see if your child will enjoy it.
  
  Tangrams:  It seems like it's just about fun, but these puzzles go from simple to complex and puzzle skills are great for building a good math brain!
  
  Any of the Kindergarten.com apps are good if they are interactive - the flash card apps were not at all entertaining but the apps that have you find the right object or person are great!  Some kids like flash cards though so if your kid likes to do flash cards those would probably be good.
  
  Different Roads to Learning has several fun apps - I have chosen different apps of theirs based on my kids' particular needs.
  
  Voice Memos is cool for your child to hear themselves.  Audio Note - Lite - might be just as good as Voice memos depending on your kid.
  
  Fun Rhyming is a lot of fun and rhyming is a skill taught in kindergarten so important to practice.  This would be a great kindergarten prep activity than can be used through at least the kindergarten year and most likely beyond.
  
  Autism Xpress - great for learning a few facial expressions - but you might find something with even more expressions once you've gone through these.
  
  Peekaboo Barn - fun for the very young -hear animal sounds and try to guess with animal it is - great for building auditory discrimination skills.
  
  Cake Doodle - great for working with your child - you can pull more language out of a reluctant speaker by having them name what they want to do - the reward is a beautifully or goofily or crazily decorated cake!
  
  The Monster at the End of This of This Book - and The Monster at the End of the Book 2 - My kids love these very interactive books - seriously this is why books on an iPad (or other fun device like this) were created!  Kids help the monsters get to the end of the book despite a certain monster's every effort from keeping them back - so fun and encourages reading!
  
  Starfall ABCs - Starfall is a premier in educational learning
  
  Alligator Apps has many entertaining and educational apps - just depends on what you child needs and likes - I would check out their selection.
  
  Bigitech Matching Games - free trial and you get six matching games for just $ .99!  This includes cars, flags, smiley faces, traffic signs, and animals.  Great for improving memory!
  FizzBrain's Eye Contact - great for kids with autism though it can be hard to get them to play so depends on your child.
  
  Dot to Dot Numbers and Letters - great for developing alphabet and counting skills - my kids love do to dot and this doesn't waste a ton of paper!  There is a free trial app you can use to see if your kids will like it - could be too hard for kids with fine motor issues on the iPhone and iPod - great on the iPad for almost anyone.
  
  Super Duper has a number of great apps - they are a bit expensive - $2.99 so pick carefully the ones your child needs.  And most of them require that you are working with your child so if you don't want to sit with them regularly don't waste your money.  If you enjoy working with them, these are worth the cost for those apps that your child needs.
  
  Speech with Milo interactive storybook - Fun and interactive - but it requires that you be able to hear the app well so some devices may need additional speakers or headphones - it is great on our iPad, but too quiet on my iPhone - it really depends on your device.
  
  Steam Draw - great for developing letter writing skills - the kids like it because it's like drawing on the shower door
  
  Below are the places you kind find apps for autism and other special needs:
  
  
   http://www.squidalicious.com/2011/01/ipad-apps-for-autism-spreadsheet-of.html
  

  
  

  Squidalicious: iPad Apps for Autism: A Spreadsheet of Reviews and Recommendations

  www.squidalicious.com
  TweetInstead of making folks ferret out multiple posts for apps info, I've put together a categorized spreadsheet of iPad apps for people with autism.
  
• http://blog.friendshipcircle.org/2011/03/02/10-websites-to-find-special-needs-apps-for-the-ipad-iphone/
  

  10 Websites to Find Special Needs Apps for the iPad & iPhone | Friendship Circle -- Special Needs Bl

  blog.friendshipcircle.org

  Looking for the special needs apps? In this post we highlight 10 Websites that give you information and reviews about Special Needs Apps for the iPad & iPhone.

  
  

  Helen has also shared some apps and Facebook pages that you might want to check out while we are on the subject of technology.

  
  LINKS
  
  http://www.freetech4teachers.com/  This is Helen's favorite site for technology!  
  
  Read, Think, Write:  http://www.freetech4teachers.com/
  
  http://cast.org/
  
  
  FACEBOOK PAGES
  
  
  

  Free Technology for Teachers.

  
  

  Technology in Special Education.

  
  

  
  

  FREE DIGITAL BOOK

  
  

  Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age.