CERT - No It's Not One Mint of Two

I decided to copy-n-paste my comment on my previous post. Maybe more people will get to read it. Because we all know the road to improvement is based on exposure.

Tell your friends.


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Considerations for Educationally Relevant Therapy

"CERT".


I have written several times about "parsing" of words. I have been in many, many IEP teams where services are denied because "it" wasn't "educationally relevant".

Next time you are around an ESE specialist or related service person, ask them to define "educationally relevant". Then ask them for their source.

It is my understanding that an IEP is to be developed to meet the individualized needs of the student with a disability. If the IEP team agrees that a student needs a related service, and we know by our formalized IDEA training that related services means,and is not limited to:

"§ 300.34 Related services.
(a) General. Related services means
transportation and such developmental,
corrective, and other supportive services
as are required to assist a child with a
disability to benefit from special
education, and includes speechlanguage
pathology and audiology
services, interpreting services,
psychological services, physical and
occupational therapy, recreation,
including therapeutic recreation, early
identification and assessment of
disabilities in children, counseling
services, including rehabilitation
counseling, orientation and mobility
services, and medical services for
diagnostic or evaluation purposes.
Related services also include school
health services and school nurse
services, social work services in schools,
and parent counseling and training.", the student receives it.


You state: "Usually, I don't get a kid assigned to my Caseload until they are eligible". I will try to clarify my previous post. Once a student has been found eligible for specialized instruction under the IDEA, it is my understanding that they do not have to then be "declared eligible" for any related services. This would be one of those areas where the parsing of words and meaning of intent comes in to play. Such as, if the District person, after presenting the CERT, says it (the CERT) is the recommendation of the IEP team, a knowlegeable person could argue that the CERT is simply another source of information, but that the CERT is not an IEP Team recommendation.

However, I have witnessed that (the District person saying that the CERT is the IEP team's recommendation) happening on more than one occasion, in fact numerous times. In one IEP meeting where I pointed out that the OT evaluation and the PT evaluation had the exact same language, I was told I wasn't properly educated to understand how OT and PT evaluations were done.

It has been my experience, and my opinion that the above mentioned CERT is treated by some District personnel as a secondary "finding of eligibility" for a specific related service, especially in the area of OT and PT.

Regarding your question about hiring outside services, it is my understanding that a Local Education Agency (LEA), which in our case is HCPS, is responsible for providing any and all related services that are specified in an IEP. It is also my understanding that how that is done is left to the LEA, but the services must be provided as outlined in IDEA. So, if the District has to hire outside agencies, then so be it.

I assume you read my post “Old News Is Still Bad News” about the OT/PT state investigation in Hillsborough County
HCPS OT/PT State Complaint
I never have heard what happened to the money .And just think about the negative image the District has from the people who heard what happened. Of course, we all realize that statistically, few know, but it sure meant a lot to the students and parents who were involved in not receiving the services.