Low Expectations Overcome With A $1 Pledge.

Dollar's Worth Stretched By Teen's Triumphs, Achievements

I like Mr. Otto although I have never met him.

I want to thank him for this article.

Read the reader comments. There is nothing more true that low expecations within our special education system is one of our society's most moral shortcomings.

And that't not just me talking. Just talk to parents of kids with disabilities that understand what they are up against and what it takes to overcome the system.

Are ESE Personnel, including teachers, being made Patsies?

No place else in our society that I know of places scrutiny on the English language to the degree that is found in the language of the law. When Congress reauthorizes IDEA every four years, if one reads the commentary found in the Federal Code of Regulations 34 CFR Parts 300 and 301, one will see how much time and effort one word can be parsed. The commentary adds meaning to the intent of the law and provides a sense of interpretation. The commentary is considered a part of the law.

Follow the links on HCPS ESE website to their compliance paper. Find where it says that a student must be found "eligible" for occupational therapy (look at the chart columns and it says "Program / Eligibility Requirements")

I question the usage of the word "eligibility" in the context that a student already found eligible for special education and related services (these two words go together when you read the law) must then be found "eligible" for a "related service".

Everyone should question it.

Please, someone give me the legal reference that demonstrates that there is a double elgibility criteria.


TITLE 20 > CHAPTER 33 > SUBCHAPTER I > § 1401 Definitions

Title 20 of the US Code as currently published by the US Government reflects the laws passed by Congress as of Jan. 2, 2006.


(3) Child with a disability
(A) In general
The term “child with a disability” means a child—
(i) with mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this chapter as “emotional disturbance”), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities; and
(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.
(B) Child aged 3 through 9
The term “child with a disability” for a child aged 3 through 9 (or any subset of that age range, including ages 3 through 5), may, at the discretion of the State and the local educational agency, include a child—
(i) experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in 1 or more of the following areas: physical development; cognitive development; communication development; social or emotional development; or adaptive development; and
(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

Nothing in there says anything about Occupational Therapy.

Next we would look here TITLE 20 > CHAPTER 33 > SUBCHAPTER II > § 1414. Evaluations, eligibility determinations, individualized education programs, and educational placements - and find:

(4) Determination of eligibility (my emphasis) and educational need
Upon completion of the administration of assessments and other evaluation measures—
(A) the determination of whether the child is a child with a disability as defined in section 1401 (3) of this title and the educational needs of the child shall be made by a team of qualified professionals and the parent of the child in accordance with paragraph (5); and (make sure you read the rest, but for the purpose of this discussion about "eligibility", I left it off.)

If we pay attention, the 1414 (4)(A) references the above 1401(3) and specifically uses the words "determination of eligibility".

Nowhere in this discussion do we see anything about Occupational Therapy (or Physical Therapy or a lot of other related services).

Following along with our quest for information we look at Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 156 / Monday, August 14, 2006 / Rules and Regulations page 46782

and we finally find the use of "Occupational Therapy" under definition of Related services:
§ 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.
(b) Exception; services that apply to
children with surgically implanted
devices, including cochlear implants.
(1) Related services do not include a
medical device that is surgically
implanted, the optimization of that
device’s functioning (e.g., mapping),
maintenance of that device, or the
replacement of that device.
(2) Nothing in paragraph (b)(1) of this
section—
(i) Limits the right of a child with a
surgically implanted device (e.g.,
cochlear implant) to receive related
services (as listed in paragraph (a) of
this section) that are determined by the
IEP Team to be necessary for the child
to receive FAPE.
(ii) Limits the responsibility of a
public agency to appropriately monitor
and maintain medical devices that are
needed to maintain the health and
safety of the child, including breathing,
nutrition, or operation of other bodily
functions, while the child is transported
to and from school or is at school; or
(iii) Prevents the routine checking of
an external component of a surgically
implanted device to make sure it is
functioning properly, as required in
§ 300.113(b).
(c) Individual related services terms
defined. The terms used in this
definition are defined as follows:
(1) Audiology includes—
(i) Identification of children with
hearing loss;
(ii) Determination of the range, nature,
and degree of hearing loss, including
referral for medical or other professional
attention for the habilitation of hearing;
(iii) Provision of habilitative
activities, such as language habilitation,
auditory training, speech reading (lipreading),
hearing evaluation, and speech
conservation;
(iv) Creation and administration of
programs for prevention of hearing loss;
(v) Counseling and guidance of
children, parents, and teachers
regarding hearing loss; and
(vi) Determination of children’s needs
for group and individual amplification,
selecting and fitting an appropriate aid,
and evaluating the effectiveness of
amplification.
(2) Counseling services means services
provided by qualified social workers,
psychologists, guidance counselors, or
other qualified personnel.
(3) Early identification and
assessment of disabilities in children
means the implementation of a formal
plan for identifying a disability as early
as possible in a child’s life.
(4) Interpreting services includes—
(i) The following, when used with
respect to children who are deaf or hard
of hearing: Oral transliteration services,
cued language transliteration services,
sign language transliteration and
interpreting services, and transcription
services, such as communication access
real-time translation (CART), C-Print,
and TypeWell; and
(ii) Special interpreting services for
children who are deaf-blind.
(5) Medical services means services
provided by a licensed physician to
determine a child’s medically related
disability that results in the child’s need
for special education and related
services.
(6) Occupational therapy—
(i) Means services provided by a
qualified occupational therapist; and
(ii) Includes—
(A) Improving, developing, or
restoring functions impaired or lost
through illness, injury, or deprivation;
(B) Improving ability to perform tasks
for independent functioning if functions
are impaired or lost; and
(C) Preventing, through early
intervention, initial or further
impairment or loss of function.

How an ESE student becomes "eligible" for Occupational Therapy (?)

Trying to make sense of words, because they are important.

I really need some help on this one.

How does a student become "eligible" for occupational therapy under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)?

All answers appreciated. Take nothing for granted.

I have just read something that may interrupt my enjoyment of the Buc's game and the PPV Ultimate Fight.

I need some validation quick before my head explodes.

Broad Brushes are Like Bad Apples - It Only Takes One To Spoil The Rest

Frequent readers of my blogs would recognize that I have been accused in the past by the then top administrators of making "broad brush attacks" against the HCPS.

I thought I was simply speaking the truth. And I still think so.

One of the issues that I have faced as the parent of a disabled student within the HCPS system was teachers of the disabled that were less than professional. Couple that situation with the fact that my wife is an excellent educator, and it doesn't take long for issues to arise.

I was perusing another blog today and found this one at "From The Trenches of Public Education".

This paragraph got my attention: "One thing that I think very few non-teachers understand is that there is great incentive in teaching to perform well because of the very nature of the job. There are few things more humiliating than to stand up in front of twenty-five to thirty adolescents and know you are bombing. That audience is not very forgiving. There are very few occupations I can think of that would be worse to be bad at than teaching. Maybe professional boxing."

Bingo.

Standing in front of a group of kids who have limited communication skills to go home and tell Mommy and Daddy what the teacher did, or more importantly didn't do, is not conducive to being humiliated. Along with that, trying to prove anything a limited communicating "child" tries to say is essentially impossible.

Add to that a system that has arrogant and cavalier authority that looks at all teachers as professionals and students and parents as liars and troublemakers and what you have left is an insulated system that is unchecked.

Limited communicators can't go home and tell Mommy and Daddy that the O.T. didn't come to school today.

Limited communicators can't go home and tell Mommy and Daddy that the teacher showed a full length movie to the deaf class today. BTW, it makes it even more egregious when the kid is deaf and legally blind. Therefore the seat in the back of the room for a deaf kid with colobomas and 20/400 "distorted" vision is not really the appropriate educational setting for that kid. But who the hell am I. I am not a professional teacher. I am just the parent.

What real professional educators should know about kids who have "limited communication skills" is that their parents (most of them) have learned what the kid is "communicating" by "reading" their behavior. It is a real phenomenon. I have plenty of these types of scenarios that I could share where my son was "telling everyone" things were not well. Self mutilation and clothing destruction were two of the signs.

Over a period of time, the signs get louder. Even if the kid can't talk.

Fall of 1996.

Isolated Incidents become Federal Fodder

I have scanned the Press Release regarding the settlement of May 2, 2000, Whitehead vs. HCSD. The contact information at the bottom of the press release has changed. The link can be found on my side bar "May 2008 - How much money will the District spend this time?"
There are many issues regarding this case. If nothing else, the word "Ethics" should be of grave concern to anyone associated with HCPS. What is bad for students and parents is also bad for teachers and administrators.

Frequent readers of my blogs know that I mock the use of the phrase "isolated incident" because I know how it is used by the system as a blanket dismissal of issues.

While there are many, many details of this case that should be examined by all concerned, I find it interesting that U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins uses that same phrase as follows:

"These violations of the procedural rights of the Whiteheads cannot be dismissed as either technical or minor. They were not inadvertent or isolated instances of a violation of parent's procedural rights under Section 504."

Is it possible that parents and teachers and some administrators are crying out for ethical oversight?

(click on page to enlarge)

Tee Are You Ess Tee

The response by Suzie Creamcheese on my previous post contains the word "trust" in this context:

"......We work so darn hard with the kids, try to make parents trust us and another teacher and her administrator cut us off at the knees!!! ".

I have written about the word "trust" and have used it as a Blog post label. Back in the day, when I had frequent contact with school personnel in many different settings across the HCPS District and other districts, I used to speak of the importance of "trust" as needed for a successful individualized education plan.

Perhaps this space can be used as a teachable moment. Suzie's first comment was that she "did not believe" the story. For parents such as me and hundreds I have been in contact with over the last twelve years, these stories are very real.

I have written many times using the words "arrogance with ignorance" when describing wrong-minded educators.

I write with frequent sarcasm and bash the public school system as a cathartic effort. For those who would like more insight and may want to share this insight with others, I will provide a relevant link that better frames the issue than I can. One should read the whole article, but I will highlight a few of the many important concepts.


Please note that while the following report is based on the role of school psychologist, to understand the significance of this issue, one can substitute any of the myriad of related service personnel, (OT, PT, Assistive Technology, etc) and "gatekeepers" that have a supervisory or directorship position.

From: "The Blame Game!
Are School Problems the Kids' Fault?
by
Pamela Darr Wright, M.A., M.S.W.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker

"...."Parents of special ed kids often say that they are intimidated, patronized and made to feel guilty and inadequate by staff at their children’s school. These parents feel helpless, frustrated, and defensive."


"....The primary role of the school psychologist is to evaluate children to determine the reasons for learning and behavior problems. According to Dr. Alessi, when a child has trouble learning or behaving in school, the source of the child's problem can usually be traced to one or more of five causes.

First, the child may be misplaced in the curriculum, or the curriculum may include faulty teaching routines.

Second, the teacher may not be implementing effective teaching and/or behavioral management practices.

Third, the principal and/or other school administrators may not be implementing effective school management practices.

Fourth, the parents may not be providing the home-based support necessary for effective learning.

Fifth, the child may have physical and/or psychological problems that contribute to learning problems.

School psychologists from different areas of the country were interviewed and asked to complete an informal survey. The school psychologists were asked if they agreed that the five factors listed above play a "primary role in a given school learning or behavior problem." (Page 148) The school psychologists agreed that these factors, alone or together, played a significant role in children’s learning problems.

The school psychologists were surveyed about the number of children they evaluated during the past year for learning problems. The average number was about 120 cases (or kids). These numbers were rounded to 100 cases for each of the 50 psychologists for a total of 5,000 cases.

Alessi asked these psychologists how many reports they wrote in which they concluded that the child’s learning problem was mainly due to curriculum factors. "The answer was usually none. All cases out of the 5,000 examined confirmed that their schools somehow had been fortunate enough to have adopted only the most effective basal curricula." (Page 148)

Next, he asked how many reports concluded that the referring problem was due primarily to inappropriate teaching practices. "The answer also was none. All cases out of the 5,000 examined proved that their districts had been fortunate enough to have hired only the most skilled, dedicated, and best prepared teachers in the land." (Page 149)

Then, he asked the psychologists how many of their reports found that the problem was due mainly to faulty school administrative factors. "The answer again was none. All cases out of 5,000 examined demonstrated that their districts had hired and retained only the nation’s very best and brightest school administrators." (Page 149)

When asked how many reports concluded that parent and home factors were primarily responsible, the answer ranged from 500 to 1,000 (10% to 20%). These positive findings indicated that we were finally getting close to the source of educational problems in schools. Some children just don't have parents who are smart, competent, or properly motivated to help their children do well in school.

Finally, I asked how many reports concluded that child factors were primarily responsible for the referred problem. The answer was 100%. These 5,000 positive findings uncovered the true weak link in the educational process in these districts: the children themselves.


If only these districts had better functioning children with a few more supportive parents, there would be no educational difficulties. (Page 149) "


--
"...Alessi expressed serious concerns about his findings. If school psychologists define children’s learning problems as existing solely within the child, "it is equally unclear how school psychologists can help resolve this kind of problem. School psychologists seem to define school problems in ways that cannot be resolved."

When Dr. Alessi shared these findings with the school psychologists, many protested that "all five factors are indeed responsible for school problems in the cases they studied, but that informal school policy (or ‘school culture’) dictates that conclusions be limited to child and family factors. "

----

And for those who are interested in the business aspect of education:

"..."Ethical Burdens" on Psychologists

Dr. Alessi discussed the "ethical burdens" on school psychologists:

As this body of research grows, school psychologists will increasingly face the burden of deciding whether they work for the schools or for the children, in cases where the interests clash. (Page 150) 'We end with a discussion of the ethical burdens on school psychologists to be forthright and honest when reporting their findings.'

-----

He posed some questions: (Page 150)

Are we really helping children by concluding that children alone are responsible for their educational problems?

Are we helping the school system at the expense of the children?

How do we balance the rights of those who pay for our services against those who receive our services, when interests clash?

Is the role of the school psychologist to label children to help schools avoid improving faulty educational practices, or to help schools improve faulty educational practices to avoid labeling children?"


----
"...Implications

As the parents of a child with special educational needs, what does this study tell you?

If you believe the staff at your child’s school are not willing to look at what they need to do differently to help your child learn, you may be right.

If you believe that you and/or your child are being blamed for your child’s learning problems, you may be right.

And if you believe that school factors (i.e., an inappropriate curriculum, faulty teaching, ineffective school administration and management practices) are contributing to your child’s problems, you may be right."

-------

Suzie, I must also tell you that there are more people than you realize, right here in HCPS, that "cut your knees". I have spoken about this in many different venues for many years, and I usually say it this way: "A lot of good, hard work done by many is undone by a few".

But, I am just a malcontent, isolated incident of a parent attacking with a broad brush who is not an educational expert - so I have been told.