Special Education

• The IEP is a legal document. Any services that are listed on the IEP have to be complied with or the school is "out of compliance" - if the IEP says 15 hrs/week of ABA and you get only 10 hrs, you are legally entitled to "compensatory education" ie they have to make up the remaining hrs promised by the IEP. If the district does not have the resources to give you these services, they have to provide them using an outside vendor.  

• Remember when a certain number of hrs/services are promised in the IEP, that amount of money is already set aside for that child. So if you do not get the services (or do not follow up to make sure you got it), you will essentially lose it. All the while your child is getting older and your window of opportunity is narrowing. 

• Your statue of limitations for asking for compensatory education is 2 years ie: you can ask for compensatory education for services not given only for the last 2 years. ie: if you were promised 15 hrs of ABA and were only getting 10 for several years, you can ask for make up hrs only for the last 2 years. 

• As per the special education law, the treatment/education provided to your child is supposed to be based on methods that have been researched and have proven effective. FOR AUTISM THIS IS ABA. 

• Handling emotions: Yes - you/I have a terrible tragedy in our lives with this problem. Yes - it is hard to deal with it. But if you don't do something about it, no one else cares enough for your child to do it. And this emotion also stays inside your home. You do not carry it over to school - school district personnel or other professionals. If you want to release your emotions, call another parent/relative/support group and cry on the phone.  

• Handling the district is like a business arrangement. Everytime you meet a district person, you are conducting a business meeting. You are not a parent - you are your child's manager (someone who has extensive knowledge about your child). You are arranging  resources in order to get the education he is entitled to. You are a negotiator, not a parent when you go into a meeting. 

• Everything should be in writing. If something is not on paper, it was as good as never said. What is your proof that it was ever said. Use email/mail for any communication. Don't have oral chats on important issues. If you do get into one, follow up with a email/mail, summarizing the discussion. If they do not agree with your summary, they have to respond. 

• With Autism, you are in for the long haul (literally). You will be dealing with the school district till your child turns 18. Therefore you are building up a long term relationship. No point in winning a few battles if you lose the war. Sometimes, you will have to do a little give and take. Believe me the district appreciates that. However you first have to set the tone of the relationship in order to win their respect. If you do not build up this respect, the district will walk all over you. 

• If the district talks about too much about "behaviors" ask that an ABA consultant come in and  do a "functional analysis" and an "ABC" to help resolve the issue. These are powerful buzzwords. IDEA also states that "Positive behavioral Interventions" should be tried. 

• If you did not understand something at a meeting, make a note and send a follow up with a email/mail  saying "I did not quite understand what this meant. Could you please explain this to me." - you are not any less of a person coz you asked for an explanation. However you do not want to have to ask for explanations for silly things.

Letters/Emails 

• Professional tone 

• No emotions 

• DO NOT BEG. Instead Request - DO NOT FEEL GRATEFUL. - Its good to acknowledge/appreciate any good work done by anyone of the team if you feel they have contributed. But don't do this too often - you will come across as GRATEFUL. 

• Stick to the main topic - don't add unnecessary garbage to your mail. 

• Don't complain/nag. Try to come up with solutions if possible. If there are problems, ask for a meeting to discuss possible solutions. 

• Letter should be crisp, short and to the point. 

• No grammatical or spelling errors. 

• Do not be upset or angry in the mail - If are feeling upset or angry, don't send the email that day. Its ok if you wait a few days (the world is not going to end) - modify the mail or type a fresh mail - you will really see the difference. 

• I never send an email the day I write it. I let it sit overnight or for a day, then go back and look at it, make changes if needed and then only send it. 

• Everything you send to the district is going to be on permanent file so you don't want to write something that will come back to haunt you later. 

Lawyer vs Parent Advocate
 

• A lawyer is someone who has the law degree & is certified to practice in this state.
• A parent advocate does not have a law degree. It is simply a person who is very familiar with the law, gets paperwork together, reviews your case, will accompany you to the IEP & help you secure the necessary services for your child.
• In many cases Parents of older children who have had success in dealing with districts choose to become parent advocates in order to help other parents.
• A lot of parents are able to get the services on their own from SARC/District, while others have needed the help of a parent advocate.
• A good parent advocate should be able to get you a decent amount of ABA hrs, speech & OT.
• A parent advocate is also significantly cheaper than a lawyer.
• My understanding is that you need a lawyer only if you are suing the district or going into arbitration/mediation. In which case you can directly hire a special education lawyer or the parent advocate will hire one for you.
• You need to contact a parent advocate early on. Don’t expect one to be available the day before your IEP/IFSP. They need time to review your case history, diagnosis, any evaluations, any reports etc. A number of them have long waiting lists so get them early. They should bill you only for the hrs they actually spend on your case + IEP attendence hrs etc.
• Quality of parent advocates vary & I have heard different stories from various parents about their parent advocates – from good to downright ridiculous. The general feeling I get overall is that a parent advocate is useful when trying to get funding for services like ABA, speech & OT but less useful when it comes to an appropriate classroom placements (which is usually an issue only when the child is older). However a really really good parent advocate should not have a problem with that either.
  

List of Local Parent Advocates and Lawyers 

Trainings

PHP & other support organizations in this area have trainings

www.php.com/
www.jeena.org/
www.osfamilies.org/

These would be a good place to learn more about this process of dealing with the district. Currently the whole spl ed law (called IDEA – individual with disabilities education act) is waiting for reauthorization by congress so there may be lots of changes in this.
 

Services at different Ages

Under age 3

• The county is in charge of your case
• This may involve the kid going to the "Early start center" or some such thing. If you are not comfortable with it don't send your kid
• I believe that kids are not required to go to school setting in this country till they are 5 (but please check on it). So if some other home based therapy is making a huge difference for your kid, you can’t be forced to send your kid to the county program. (Please check on this point)
  

Kids 3-5

• The Special education maze begins at the preschool level with your school district.
• Ideally you want to improve your child so much that by 5, he is out of special education.

Age 5-18

• By law the kids are required to be in school after 5. Either that or you get a home school license to keep your kids at home.
• You have to understand the school district's point of view. They have just so much resources given the budget shortfalls, shortage in staff & the huge number of kids they have to serve. Given this constraint, the services they offer are only what they are able to provide given their resources, rather than what's best for your child (of course you can never prove this). They are not intentionally being mean to you or your child. Your job as a parent is to see how to best manage what is available so that you kid is making progress. Also the district is more inclined to be favorable to your case if they see that your child is making significant progress (so you need to use other therapies to show this so that you can get a favorable environment at school) - its a catch 22 situation.
• If you feel school is totally inappropriate for your child, the min time you can negotiate to keep them there to satisfy the legal requirement is 2 hrs (check on this – I am not 100% sure). If a child is not there for even 2 hrs, the school loses funding for that child, so they are very picky about that.

At age 14

• They start the transition services  - this concentrates on preparing for his/her future. 

After age 18

• District no longer responsible for child. Back to SARC. Not sure what happens at this point.
   

Classroom Placements

• Classroom classifications
• Getting the right placement
• Classroom placement  - initial observation checklist
• Classroom placement  - ongoing observation checklist

i. Classroom classifications

They used to have these classifications before.
LD - language delayed
CH - Communication handicapped
SH - Severely handicapped
A couple of years ago, the districts started calling all CH & SH classrooms as CH so it made the parents feel happier. So you need to actually check out the classroom & not just listen to terminology.
Classrooms can be
- district classrooms
- county classrooms
- SELPA classrooms: SELPA - a couple of districts will join together to form a special education local plan area (eg: cupertino& sunnyvale, los altos & mtn view) to share resources.

ii. Getting the right placement

• When it comes to classroom placement it can be one giant mystery for the parents - you don't know what the district has available unless they show it to you or if you happen to know the parent of a child who is going to that classroom. Many times it works out ok but at other times it does not. So important to network & find out what the district has so you can ask to see it to know if it is appropriate for that classroom.
• This is what makes the process very frustrating.
   

iii. Classroom Placement  – Initial Observation
 

• Remember that most placement observations are done at the end of the year – so assume that the kids have improved during the year and this is what you will expect at the end of your child’s school year if he were placed in this classroom.
• It is not necessary that you bombard the teacher with questions while you are doing the observation – this may be very disruptive for most of the special needs kids in the classroom. Jot down your observations & questions while the class is in session. If the teacher has some time for you (eg: during recess) address the main issues. You can always call or email the teacher once the kids go home to get more answers.
• The following are just some ideas on what to look for when observing a potential classroom placement.
• If you have suggestions/ comments on what else you feel is important when making classroom observations please email AutismPages@yahoo.com
  

OBSERVATION CHECKLIST

A. General Info

1. Date & Time of Observation
2. School Name
3. Teacher’s Name
4. Name of Aides
5. Names of kids attending class: The kids names are usually up on the walls. There are chances that you can get in touch with some of their parents through local parent support groups & this is a good way of getting feedback about that classroom.
   

B. Organization of the classroom

1. Overall impression of room – neat or cluttered
2. Individual desks vs large tables for small groups
3. Room divided or lots of open spaces. (Lots of open spaces not necessarily good for hyperactive kids)
4. Are bathrooms near or far.
   

C. Kids in classroom
Ideally you want your child to be somewhere in the mid range of his peers ie: he should not be the best kid in the class as he has no role models to learn from. He also should not be the worst kid in the class as that may impact his self-esteem. Note how his potential peers are with respect to:

1. General profile of kids in the classroom
2. Are all kids at typically the same level or is there a huge range.
3. How are kids w.r.t Behavior
4. How are kids w.r.t Stimming
5. How are kids w.r.t Language
6. Do the students seem to understand what is going on in the classroom?
7. What is the “noise” level in the classroom.
8. Are students interacting with one another.
9. Does the schedule include time that allow/encourages kids to interact with each other
   

D. Teaching Content

1. What is the focus of the classroom overall – (academics, independence, movement, etc).
2. What is not a priority in the classroom w.r.t curriculum
3. What kind of teaching materials are being used. – flashcards, 3D, worksheets.
4. Do the materials seem to interest the kids.
5. Are the materials appropriate for the level of the kids.
6. Are the materials abstract or concrete.
7. Do the kids work individually or in small groups
8. Are the groups same for different activities.
   

E. How structured is their day.

1. Does teacher have a set schedule for each day
2. Does the schedule wary to incorporate different school activities.
3. Do the kids seem to understand the schedule.
4. Is there a lot of downtime or free time or is the entire day totally structured.
5. How are transistions between activities handled.

F. Interaction of teacher/aides with students

1. Does the teacher work 1:1 with students or always small/large groups
2. Does the teacher encourage/prompt students to interact with other students.
3. How do teacher/aides handle kids during free/down time ie: let them loose or direct those who need some directing.
4. How flexible is the teacher in tolerating and making adjustments for individual students.
5. How is the teacher in handling behavioral problems that may arise.
6. What is the overall attitude / impression you get of the teacher – enthusiastic, creative, too soft, too strict, dynamic.
7. How are the classroom aides. Same info that applies to teacher should apply to aides ie: how do they work with the students.
8. What is the student/adult ratio
   

G. People who visit the classroom

1. Who visits the classroom on a regular basis – psychologist, speech therapist, OT, other
2. If your child is going to get speech services through the school SLP – will they be provided in the classroom. If so where – is that area distracting/non-distracting. Will the speech be individual or small groups or large groups.
   

H. Mainstreaming

1. Philosophy of teacher w.r.t mainstreaming - does the teacher sincerely try to mainstream students amap or believes that being in the playgroup with typical kids & having lunch with typical kids comprises mainstreaming.
2. Is there a buddy system or any chance of interacting with typical kids on a regular basis
   
   

iv. Classroom Placement – Ongoing Observations
 

It is a good idea in general to make regular observations of your child’s classroom.

1. Avoids any unexpected surprises
2. Shows that you are an involved parent.
3. Lets your plan better for your child’s education, IEP, Goals & objectives etc.
   

• You should take notes every time you visit the classroom even after your child has been placed. You will not remember specific incidents after few months.
• Try to observe every part of your child’s day if you can. ie: if the duration of your visit is time constrained – do one visit during say snack time & math, another (after 1-2 months) during 2 other activities etc.
• For later observations, your observations should be more specific to your child.
   

CHECKLIST

(Under Construction - for now use the above checklist but make it more specific to your child)

v. Support Services in the Classroom

• You have to figure out what kind of support services your child needs in order to get benefit from the education. These may include things like 1:1 aide, assistive technology etc. Getting these services are not easy as they all cost the school district money. 

1:1 Aide Support in the classroom

On the www.wrightslaw.com website is an informative article on this issue. 

A link to it is below (word doc) with the relevant sections highlighted.

Alternatives to Special Ed at the Preschool Level

- Private preschools
- State/ Federal Preschool

Advantages

• Your child is with typical peers. They have a better chance of developing playskills, social skills & language as they are exposed to appropriate role models. The Lovaas program also recommends something along these lines. The idea is to do such intensive therapy coupled with a little bit of exposure to typical kids that by kindergarten, the child is fully/almost mainstreamed.
• Usually a 1:1 aide will accompany your child into the classroom, as the teacher may/may not be experienced with spl needs kids. The 1:1 should be a therapist who is also working on your home ABA program and so is familiar with your child. She/he can then use that to get your child involved in the activities other kids are doing. (There is lots of info on the me-list archives on the role of this aide). Your ABA consultant usually plays a big role in helping the aide get the max out of it).
• Typical kids are very verbal & very curious at that age. Most of them figure start imitating the 1:1 and almost become a teacher to your child – praising them for language, including them in games etc.

Disadvantages

• Typical preschools are not as structured as special education classrooms so may be too loose an environment for some of our kids. Your 1:1 needs to be good!
• Teacher may/may not be experienced dealing with special needs kids.
• You have to get a good 1:1 aide who will take advantage of the “typical” atmosphere and maximize it for your child. The 1:1 also has to work well within the framework of the classroom but use her “ABA tricks” to get the most out of your child.

a. Private (Typical) Preschools

• You need to talk with the director/teacher and come to some kind of understanding with them. Some are ok with the idea, others are not. 
• Funding: The district may or may not fund depending on how you present your case. While parent participation preschools may be cheaper, it is better for your kid to be in a school like atmosphere with just the teacher & kids & not add a whole bunch of parents into the mix.
   

b. Public (Typical) Preschools

1. Headstart – This is a federally funded preschool mainly for low-income kids. They also have a small quota for special needs kids. They have classrooms at different schools throughout the county. They usually operate 4x/wk for 2-3 hrs. There is a morning session or an afternoon session and some of them run all day. Headstart is free as it is federally funded. Though the kids may be from low-income families, kids are kids in terms of being appropriate role models for language, socialization & playskills. You can call the Santa Clara County Office of Education for info.

2. State Preschools: Same as above except funded by state (I believe their income cut off is higher).

Advantage: they are usually very accommodating of the needs of your child. Usually all of them are very flexible in terms of the hours you want to send your kid in etc eg: you can go in for just circle time if you want. 

Special Ed Preschools

• Everyone in that class is special needs. So it depends on the classroom, the teacher & the kids in the class as to what benefit your kid will get. It does however provide more structure than the typical preschool. If you are in a good classroom with a good teacher & good peers, you child can pick up a lot of skills there.

Combo: Typical + Special Ed preschool

• There is for example a State Preschool at Sedgwick School in Cupertino. You can ask that your child attend this preschool for a few hrs a week as part of your IEP (if you are in this district) along with a 1:1 aide.
• While your child is attending spl ed preschool, you can always send your child to a private one for a few hrs/wk for the typical exposure.
  

Home schooling

If school is simply not working out for your child, you can get a home schooling license & teach you child at home. Not sure of the details though.

Websites on Home Schooling

Viewpoints from parents on pros/cons of Home Schooling

• For those of us with children who are parenting, perhaps, more severely impaired children, home schooling is an educational option that must be entered into carefully, due to the degree of supportive services required, as per the degree of the child's disability. If a parent chooses to home school a special needs child, the child is no longer protected under IDEA and no longer qualifies for a FAPE; therefore, federal educational entitlements and accommodations are rendered useless. Every school district must set aside a small percentage of general revenue for those children who have been identified as 'qualifying' for supportive services, e.g. speech and OT, but whose legal guardian has instead chosen private, parochial, or home schooling. These children are only offered a bear minimum of support under a service agreement. For many of our disabled children, this is simply not enough. Further, full-inclusion is something every one of us must protect to the degree our children can receive it. All special needs children depend upon us to preserve their right in the classroom and in a society. There are options, however, in successfully navigating federal entitlements, I.e. IDEA and FAPE, while still home-schooling the special needs child. This would fall under 'least restrictive environment' and the accommodations that must be met, as prescribed by the child's legal diagnosis. ASD children have medical issues that must be documented and accommodated. For example, irritable bowel disease, OCD, Anxiety-Panic Disorder, Elopement, sensory dysfunction, or restricted diet are a few examples that would require a school district to accommodate very carefully or face due process. I believe that a dual enrollment, which includes special education direct instruction within the home in combination with carefully prepared and initiated full-inclusion classroom, offers our children a greater opportunity to succeed. To spend an entire day within a school, loaded with sensory input from every angle, coupled with the fluctuations in people and environments, is too much for many ASD children. With dual enrollment, the child's exposure to sensory overload is reduced, medical issues more easily managed, and the discretionary time for direct instruction is reduced due to less distractions. A special instructor/tutor can do the direct instruction at the student's home, under the watchful eye of a parent, who is then better equipped to continue the learning outside of school hours. An independent contractor might work 1:1 with a child 20 hours a week at home. The remaining hours would be spent within the public school. Something else to consider: A dual enrollment is a better stewardship model for school districts, as less money is spent. There are many home schoolers who are successfully teaching their special needs children. There are also a lot of home schoolers who are in denial. Anyway you examine it, it is complicated to teach any child, let alone a child with a disability. As the ASD numbers grow, we must find new and improved ways to teach our children. One size does not fit all. We must also be dedicated to the protection of their legal rights to a free and appropriate education. If this falls, what will fall next?
• My goal is for my son to be able to fit into the world in some way, shape and form. Taking him out of school and home schooling him will educate him academically, but won't teach him the skills he needs to cope with the demands of the real world. Of course, maybe that's easy for me to say because: 1) We have an excellent public school system, and he's doing exceptionally well in his K class, with minimal support 2) He's come so far since his original PDD-NOD diagnosis when we was 3-1/2 (he's almost 6 now) that I and psychologist who does floortime play therapy with him feels if he was retested he wouldn't even fall on the spectrum
• I would much rather have my son in school, IF it had a prayer of working out. He was in public school from K through 4th grade (regular classes). He did quite well through third grade. Those are the grades where the focus is more on mastering the mechanics of reading. Once they hit fourth grade, the assumption is that the kids' comprehension of language (written or spoken) is good enough so that they can read and discuss literature, history, science, etc. My son made it through fourth grade, but it was a terrible struggle. Not only that, but the other kids were less than kind to him. In fifth, I enrolled him in a small private school. It was a wonderful school, and his teacher bent over backwards for him. He didn't have to worry about nasty kids. But he was completely overwhelmed by the work. I remember the class was reading "Murder on the Orient Express". Forget it! There was no way he could get through that. His language skills are really abyssmal, although he's good at math. They were going to leave him back this year. I couldn't blame them, but I didn't want him to have that kind of stigma. So here we are. 
• I have to defend the home-schooling option as a very valuable and often successful method of educating children with and without autism. You stress that you want your son to function well socially, and that can see how academic progress might be seen in a home school situation, but infer that want your son to be able to handle the real world. These two goals are very important and I'd be the last to suggest that parents should ignore either area of their child's education. But, you may not have a good understanding of home schooling, and I'd like to stress that many children with special needs and/or their siblings are learning in a variety of settings, including socially while being educated at home. Many kids actually do more "socially" while learning at home. There are a lot of kids who struggle with anxiety, OCD and other issues and in some cases attending school can increase these issues, and in some cases create issues not previously noted in reports or observed by family. There's nothing natural about herding a whole lot of kids in one room every day to learn a set curriculum. While a lot of children manage well, and some thrive, the educational system at large is in bad straits, and special education is in big trouble. Certainly there are good teachers and good schools, but a number of teachers take their own children out of school and home school recognizing there are benefits to learning at home, and they are not just academic benefits. Many home schoolers socialize and participate in a number of activities and groups learning similar skills that you would learn in a school. Waiting in line, turn taking, sharing, learning when to be quiet, teaching personal space, greeting people, respecting property, enjoying the company of a peer or peers, and learning how to cooperate all can be learned very easily at home and in the community, and definitely are not skills that must be taught by a certified teacher in the structure of a typical class.

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