Mothers support parents of special-needs children

The challenge to parents of children with disabilities is found everywhere.

The disregard to the Federal law IDEA is rampant.

Keeping the majority of everyone within the public education ignorant of the true intent of IDEA is rampant and by design.

There is an almost a universal reaction by all educators when they are presented the actual words of IDEA and the actual context of the Procedural Safeguards and what "rights to a free and appropriate education (FAPE)" that the federal law is supposed to provide for special education students.

Obtaining what these "rights" are is a difficult task.

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Mothers support parents of special-needs children
By Paulette Lash Ritchie, Times Correspondent
In print: Thursday, August 28, 2008



When Kaitlyn Pierce was 8 years old, she was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia. Her mother, Nikki Pierce, didn't know what to do.

She researched federal and Florida laws pertaining to special-needs students so she could learn what her child's rights were and how to ask for them.

Kaitlyn is now 9 and in fourth grade at Chocachatti Elementary School. She uses technology to help her with her writing, which is affected by dysgraphia. Pierce said it wasn't until she educated herself to learn how to ask that her daughter was able to get what she needed.

Stacy Walsh is a parent with a son, Gavin, 9, who has Asperger's syndrome, a mild type of autism. He's a fourth-grader at Challenger K8.

She was organizing an autism awareness walk and contacted Pierce. "After that we just kind of clicked. Stacy and I got involved together at the end of the last school year," Pierce said.

Both women now coordinate the Special Students of Hernando Support Group. She and Walsh work with the Hernando County School Board as a community partner with the exceptional student education department.

"Our goal is to educate parents on the proper procedures to get what is appropriate for them," Pierce said.

Nikki Pierce lives in Spring Hill with her husband, Todd, a firefighter; Kaitlyn; and Kyle, an 8-year-old Chocachatti third-grader.

Stacy Walsh lives in Brooksville with her husband, Harry, who works in communications; Gavin; and Savanna, 11, a sixth-grader at Challenger K8.

When she started, Pierce formed the Dyslexia and Related Learning Differences Support Group. She realized, though, that parents of children with all kinds of special needs had to deal with the same issues, so the group was changed to Special Students of Hernando Support Group.

Pierce and Welsh have a Web site with contact information, related links, event notices and other information.

"We are here to help support and educate parents on their student's (child's) rights in the educational system. We are not attorneys — we are parents helping parents. We are all at various stages in our children's educational career and are willing to help other parents who may feel 'lost in the system,' " Pierce and Walsh say on their site, www.specialstudentsofhernando.com.

Nikki Pierce can be reached at nikki@specialstudentsofhernando.com and at (352) 584-5512. Stacy Walsh is at stacy@specialstudentsofhernando.com and (352) 232-1239.

They said they are happy to help any parent, caregiver or educator with questions. Both are volunteers.

"The primary focus of Special Students of Hernando is education of the Federal Special Education laws (IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504: Civil Rights Law, and similar). We want to help parents form a productive relationship with their child's school while understanding the correct process and procedures under the law. We want to see children obtain the most appropriate education, regardless of their disabilities or learning differences," the women state on their site.

The women are advertising a January conference sponsored by Special Students of Hernando and the Hernando County School Board Exceptional Student Education Department.



>>Fast facts

Weightslaw Special Education Law & Advocacy

A two-day conference for parents, educators, advocates, attorneys and professionals

9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 16-17, 2009, GlenLakes Country Club, Weeki Wachee.

For information, go to www.specialstudentsofhernando.com.

Professional Ugly Duckling Identifiers

We all know the story. A little animal faces adversity from it's peers. The little animal is shunned, mocked and ridiculed. Then one day, the little animal figures out that it can identify with others and suddenly the adversity disappears. At least in the story.


Thanks to the Gradebook, we have the link to this story: Teacher lets Morningside students vote out classmate, 5


... "After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.

By a 14 to 2 margin, the students voted Alex — who is in the process of being diagnosed with autism — out of the class."

...."Steele said the teacher confirmed the incident took place"


....."Barton said her son is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism. Alex began the testing process in February at the suggestion of Morningside Principal Marcia Cully."

....."Children diagnosed with Asperger's often exhibit social isolation and eccentric behavior."

...."Melissa Barton filed a complaint with Morningside's school resource officer, who investigated the matter, Port St. Lucie Department spokeswoman Michelle Steele said. But the state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed, Steele said."

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I guess Alex Barton is what some school administrators refer to as the one's who ruin the "public school salad":


.....It is to be hoped that Principal Annette Grasty of Lakewood Elementary School in Sunnyvale, California is wilting with remorse for this thoroughly rotten analogy. Surely she did not intend to be insulting or hurtful.Her comments came about in reference to the penalty that schools face under the No Child Left Behind Act if they fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in standardized testing conducted each spring. If even one subgroup of students (such as special education) does not meet the AYP goal, the entire school is labeled low-performing. Like many educators, Principal Grasty believes it is unfair to flunk an entire school for the low performance of a single subgroup.As reported in the San Jose Mercury News [Download wilted and rotten.doc] , she thinks education should follow a business model: "If I were running a business, I'd try to control the product coming in," she said. For instance, she said, a chef wouldn't prepare a gourmet salad with wilted lettuce or rotten tomatoes. In a public school, she said, "I can't control who walks in that door. I take kids with learning disabilities, I take everyone. They come in at different levels and with different ways of learning."

....


Once again the arrogance and ignorance of a professional educator leads by example. Spare me the "isolated incident" rationalization... this is 2008 and I have heard that excuse since 1990.

After The Graduation Party is Over

There is a lot of angst amongst the HCDS people about something called Springboard. In today's Tribune, there is an article that leads one to believe that this Springboard gimmick may be more about how some people can make money disguised as an effort to increase accountability in education.

Maybe image is everything. After all, schools are supposed to educate students, and what better way to say that one is educated than to go off to college. The fact that someone makes money off of this may be just pure coincidence.

I see that at least one board member, April Griffin, is looking out for "all" of the students and recognizes that at least a few of them are not on fast or slow track to college. In fact, there may be a few of them that want to get on with their life outside of a formal education. I hear a few stories about how there are a lot of rich people who did not get a college education. What we don't hear about is how many people lead happy, productive lives without a college education. I think Marxist's are the one's who measure success by how much money or material possessions one has. There are other ways to measure success, especially by those who see themselves as successful. Not that I dabble in politics much, according to one of those guys running to be POTUS, if one owns a gun and goes to church, they ain't successful.

But what about the kids that ride the short bus with the little blue emblem on the side. BTW, it is my understanding of IDEA that kids in special education could ride the regular bus right along with their peers just like they can be in a classroom with their peers. For some reason, it seems to be wrongly entrenched in school systems that "special education" automatically means separate classroom and separate bus. It seems to me that sending two busses to the same bus stop would cost more money than to send just one with an aide on it, but I'm just a parent. Maybe it is harder to find aides than it is bus drivers is all I can think.

And then there is "Transition, Transition Services, Transition Planning". Wrightslaw can explain it better than me.

Some may wonder what the big deal is that I would write about this. It has to do with arrogance and ignorance. I will highlight some points that we should all know:

".....The phrase "further education" and the emphasis on effective transition services is new in IDEA 2004. Section 1400(c)(14) describes the need to provide "effective transition services to promote successful post-school employment and/or education. (See "Findings and Purposes" in Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition, pages 45-48)


"(34) Transition Services - The term `transition services' means a coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that-

(A) is designed to be a results-oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child's movement from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation;

(B) is based on the individual child’s needs, taking into account the child's strengths, preferences, and interests;

(C) includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation. (See "Definitions" in
Section 1401, Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition, page 56)"

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A hint to all - this can not happen in the last one or two years of high school, and hit and miss approach. It has to start from day one with professional oversight.

Just like those regular ed kids.

And there may be where the problem lies.

Big Fat Money

A little Van Halen to jump start the day:

"Some say money is bad for the soul
Bad for the rock, bad for the roll
Bad for the heart , bad for the brain
Bad for the damn near everything oh yeah
It must be good for something"

I have reason to remind the readers of this event from the recent past:

Old news is still bad news

Go to the link and read finding of fact by the State. Not just a complaining parent.

IEP's are contracts for service. A Matrix of Service is filled out based on what was written in the IEP, submitted to the State, and the State sends money to the District based on the funding number.

If the services that are written in the IEP are not provided to the student, there is a multitude of problems. Ethics would be one of them. Destruction of trust from the parents may be one of them. Fraud may be one of them. An appropriate education for the student is so far down the list, it is lost in the fog of war when the parent finally demands some accountability.

Recent dialog on this blog and posts by this blogger on other blogs has dealt with parents and teachers needing to work together.

Some parents want to audiotape their IEP meetings. How many of you get to a point in your life where you want to go the hassle of taping a meeting? One would reasonably assume that the need to tape something is because one has become wary of false assurances, parsing of words, repeated delays, repeated "misunderstandings" and "clarifications" that are far from what was previously stated or written.

Under the current culture, the burden of proof of compliance is left to the parent to somehow prove that not only did a host of people who say they are educators hear what was said and see what is written, but they are not honoring what they said and wrote.

I have been in many, many IEP meetings. I know the game. If an elephant came into the IEP meeting, dropped a load right in the middle of the table, no one could ever prove it if it wasn't written in the IEP form or the conference notes. Even when there are teachers, ESE specialists, related service personnel, principals, directors and parents that see the elephant, moved their papers out of the way of the big dump, and smelled the aroma that stunk up the whole room. If it wasn't written, it didn't happen.

If the system continues to leave it to the parents to enforce compliance, I will continue to mock those who hide behind this strategy. And I am counting the days. To steal a concept from Goader - tick, tick, tick.

Specialized Instruction is a service, not a place.

It is certainly an interesting world we live in.

I just spent from 8:00 to 5:30, yesterday and today, as a volunteer with six others, in an adjacent county with 22 parents who want to be involved in their child's education. They want to share with the teachers of their children the knowledge they have for what works for their child to learn behavioral, academic, social and emotional goals. They want answers to how to effectively communicate with the school personnel to bring about effective education for their child. They want to learn about the rights afforded to them under IDEA.

They want to teach their children as much as possible to be as independent as possible. These parents know that when the parent dies, the best advocate these children have will die. These parents know that when the parent dies that at best their child will be able to maintain the quality of life that child has, no matter what the age.

They face barriers. I have experienced these barriers. Throughout the two day intensive presentation of the actual meaning and intent of IDEA, Section 504, FERPA and suggested strategies on how to deal with "the system", there were the anecdotal stories that were shared amongst the group from each one there. I have heard these stories for 11 years or more. I have experienced most of them.

These are parents who are trying. They want to be involved, but are pushed away. Educating children with disabilities takes people who understand how the specific disability effects each and every part of the student's behavioral, academic, social and emotional (BASE) needs. Understanding how to educate children with disabilities is more than just an evaluation that identifies a label. True educators need to know more than just a label such as SLD or TMH or Autism Spectrum to name a few. To think that every kid that has the same eligibility label is the same, learns the same, behaves the same, has the same emotional framework and the same social abilities is ignorant at best. True educators need to know what the actually disability is within the label. That is a hard concept for some people to get, even to those who are supposed to know by virtue of their title and have the authority and power that goes with their title.

The thinking that special education is separate from regular education is wrong in many ways. All special education kids are within the realm of regular education. But all regular education kids are not within the realm of special education.

Special education is a service, not a place.

The purpose of special education parallels the purpose of elementary and secondary education as a whole: to prepare children to lead productive lives as citizens and members of the community. Students who have disabilities often need special education services to develop skills for participating in the community as productive and contributing citizens and taxpayers.


I was surfing the web and found the below information about the state of Florida.

If one were to go to each school in Hillsborough County, I wonder what the real answers are to this checklist, for all kids:

CHECKLIST FOR IMPROVING PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
1. There is a place in the building for parents to gather informally.
2. The office has a friendly, informal atmosphere.
3. Parents are viewed by school staff as an asset.
4. Efforts are made to involve culturally diverse parents.
5. Communication between teachers and parents is effective.
6. The atmosphere in the school is not bureaucratic.
7. There are clearly defined policies regarding parental involvement
in this school.
8. There is a schoolwide homework policy in place.
9. There is an inservice program for staff that addresses parental
involvement.
10. School staff are aware of cultural and language barriers.
11. Training programs for parents are available.
12. Parents are truly empowered to make decisions in this school.
13. Families are a priority in this school.
14. The businesses in the community are involved in the school.
15. Community involvement is evident in this school.
16. Parents are asked about their children’s thinking and behavior.
17. Parents routinely work in classrooms with children on learning
activities.
18. Parents in this community advocate for children’s rights.
19. Parents are promptly notified about problems with their children.




Click here:



For more information contact the Florida Department
of Education, Office of School Improvement:
(850) 487-1023, SC 277-1023 or
http://www.firn.edu/doe/doehome.htm

"We are the Experts" equals "We are the ones in Control"

There is a cost to arrogance that is boistered by ignorance.


My son's first three years in the HCDS were great. The problems started when we switched schools in 1990. As the year progressed, I experienced a few of the below, I just didn't know it. As the months went by, and meeting after meeting (increasing in both number of attendees and distance from my house) brought no results, we brought in a real expert on my kid's disability from Florida State University. This real expert spent two days observing my kid at school. This real expert then wrote a very comprehensive report. She included many anecdotal incidents to explain what should be changed. We were so excited because here was a professional saying what we had been trying to say, but we were never "understood".

As the people at FSU were not used to the culture of HCDS, they sent us a copy of the report also. (It is a common practice for schools to influence independent evaluations and control what information parents receive.) I did not know then what I know now, but the HCDS people were quite surprised when they gave us their copy of the report and we told them we already had a copy. Had I known then what I know now, I would have compared the two reports to see if anything had been changed. As the IEP team go through the report, I kept seeing that the "team" is not incorporating the recommendations of the report into the IEP. At some point I finally confront this. The answer was "well these are just recommendations, we don't have to do them.".

The last time I looked, the same person who said that is still in the same position now as she was then.

How many times do we hear in an IEP meeting :"well, that is the recommendation of the District's evaluation and it is a consensus of the IEP team that we......." while the parent is still trying to argue the information. It is interesting how the phrase "consensus of the IEP team" has so much more power than "The IEP Team, of which the parent is an integral member, is responsible for determining the services that are necessary for the child to receive FAPE." Spare me the interpretation that the District is ultimately responsible for the decision of FAPE. While I understand that premise under the law, if that is the mindset of the "district IEP Team", then why not say it out loud in the meeting and say "we (the District) recognize that you (the parent) are an integral member of the IEP team, but we are exercising our right to enforce FAPE, so it really doesn't matter what you or your independent evaluations say."


Mistakes People Make - School Districts by Robert K. Crabtree, Esq. Print this page Anything a school system does that undermines parents' trust creates a climate that is costly in dollars, time, peace of mind, and the quality and success of services given to the child. Here are the most significant school system mistakes, according to persons at every level of the system: 1. Refusing to let parents or parents' experts see programs, either within or outside of the school system. When school systems tightly restrict the parents' access to their own programs, the parents wonder what they are hiding and assume the worst; when they refuse to clear the way for parents to see an outside program, the parents will assume that the grass is greener over there; 2. Failing or refusing to communicate and actively coordinate with outside experts working with the child, such as the child's therapist or a tutor; 3. Ignoring reports from independent evaluators; failing to speak to those evaluators to clarify ambiguous information or recommendations; failing to add the evaluator's recommendations to the IEP when reasonable; 4. Failing to respond to parents in writing or at a meeting when a problem arises; 5. Taking a patronizing and/or antagonistic and/or insulting attitude toward parents; personalizing issues between school and parents; attempting to blame parents for their children's educational failures rather than looking for solutions (school system professionals need to treat parents with respect even if those parents are insulting and belligerent themselves); 6. Sweating the small stuff (e.g., spending twenty minutes at a team meeting arguing about whether the meeting can be tape-recorded); 7. Failing to observe procedural timelines and notice requirements (e.g., scheduling timely meetings, getting evaluations to the parents before the team meeting, notifying the parents who will attend the meeting, providing clear written explanations of parent rights); 8. Writing careless and sloppy IEPs. Parents, evaluators, and hearing officers all look first at the extent to which the written IEP reflects a thorough and logically coherent view of the child, the goals and objectives for that child's program, and a clear and understandable description of what will be provided, how, by whom, and when; and how the child's program will be evaluated; 9. Failing to implement an IEP and, worse, trying to cover up that failure; 10. Failing to modify an IEP that is not working and waiting, instead, for the program - and the child - to collapse; 11. Failing to provide additional or different services as a way to avoid having to make more restrictive (and expensive) outside placements; 12. Failing to call in expert consultants from outside the school system with good reputations among both school and parent communities who can help develop or monitor a program for a child with unusual needs; 13. Losing contact with families who have placed their child unilaterally. Some school systems forget or ignore their continuing responsibility to evaluate, review, and propose IEPs for children when they are attending outside placements at their parents' expense; 14. Botching the required procedures around suspension or expulsion of students with identified or suspected special education needs (e.g., failing to convene the team, failing to make a manifestation determination, failing to re-examine the IEP to see if services are appropriate and have actually been provided, failure to provide FAPE to suspended or expelled students with special education needs; 15. Failing to ensure that non-special education administrators - particularly building principals - are fully informed about and are following the required special education policies and procedures. http://www.fetaweb.com/02/mistakes.school.crabtree.htm

Low Expectations vs Presumption of Entitlement

Click here: YouTube - Patrick Henry Hughes - Inspirational Story

This is a short video about a kid who is doing things because his parents and teachers did not accept what seemed so real to every one else. Pay attention to the infant picture and ask yourself what are your expectations.

It is not just me that talks about low expectations. It is written by congress in the IDEA re-authorizations and has been referred to as the "soft bigotry" towards people with a disability.

"Avoid Methodology Disputes
From Pete: Excellent strategy! If the parent insists that the school use a specific method, this insures that the school will NEVER use this method, come hell or high water. If a particular method needs to be used, I have the outside expert make this recommendation, not the parent.
From Pam: This is the power of "school culture." Many school personnel believe that because parents are emotionally attached to their children, they cannot be knowledgeable about the educational services their children need. According to a study of 5,000 school psychological evaluations, most school personnel believe that children's learning and behavior problems are due to family and child factors, and have absolutely nothing to do with inadequately trained teachers, improper curriculum, and over-crowded classrooms. Read article"

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/ieps.tactics.session.htm