Just left my first SST meeting..

[momto2monkey]

so my first SST meeting that I have been fighting so hard to get for the last two months just ended. As I sit in my car processing it not much was that eventful just a formal paperwork meeting and said in 2-3 weeks we would bring in the school psychologist. But as I sit here a comment still seems to be out of place. I mentioned to the school counselor about Wyatt's Autism and the SST specialist (school advocate) says well you know Autism is a medical dx and has nothing to do with this. I am sitting here a little floored yes i know it is medical dx but i feel it has some to do with this as it is what is causing his learning disability. Am I wrong?

[Emmeline II]

Autism is a qualifying diagnosis for an IEP, refer to: Federal Register "300.8- Child with a disability.". Under what disability are they saying he qualifies, if not Autism?

Since they have a history of being resistant to helping you I would look for an advocate "Help! I Need Some Support at the IEP Meeting."

IEP Page (I'd read this page first).

Wrightslaw - IEP FAQ (then this one)

Parents as Experts

Special Education Law and Advocacy

Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy, 2nd Edition (book)

IDEA-- Subpart D--Evaluations, Eligibility Determinations, Individualized Education Programs, and Educational Placements

[Linda on the move]

What kinds of accommodations are you wanting the school to make? Was there anything in writing done at this meeting?

[Lollybrat]

There is a difference between having a medical diagnosis of autism and having an educational classification of autism. Most times, a child with one will qualify for the other, but it's not automatic. There are some kids who have a medical diagnosis of autism, but who do not qualify for an educational classification of autism. Likewise, a medical diagnosis is not strictly neccessary to get the educational classification (at least in theory, by law - in the real world the medical diagnosis can help a lot). 

Does he have an IEP now? What is his current educational classification? When was he last evaluated by the school district? With a new medical diagnosis, you should be able to request a new evaluation and request specificially that they evaluate him for autism. In most cases, the school will want to do their own assessment to qualify him for autism services.

It's really frustrating, but hang in there and keep fighting for your child.

The links PP posted are really good.

[melissa17s]

Originally Posted by Lollybrat 

There is a difference between having a medical diagnosis of autism and having an educational classification of autism. Most times, a child with one will qualify for the other, but it's not automatic. There are some kids who have a medical diagnosis of autism, but who do not qualify for an educational classification of autism. Likewise, a medical diagnosis is not strictly neccessary to get the educational classification (at least in theory, by law - in the real world the medical diagnosis can help a lot). 

This interesting.  My ds is not autistic, but has learning disabilities due to epilepsy.  His IEP does state that he has epilepsy, but not the cause of his learning disability.  The school wanted to identify the weaknesses and set goals related to the weakness.  He also got some accommodations to help achieve his goals.  Whether we call his problems epilepsy, dyslexia, or adhd-i (he has been dx with all), it would not change the goals or accommodations because they are individually tailored to his educational needs.  I think the classroom teacher thought about asking for a reevaluation, and may still to include behavior on the IEP.  Ds's behavior has changed depending on the med.s he is taking.  

Having the medical diagnosis, however, has helped get insurance to cover treatments and testing that is not normally covered.  

He does OT though the hospital because it is not offered through the school and it is covered.  Ds's neurologist has helped us with referrals to make sure that insurance will cover ds treatments.

OP, I hope the school helps support you through this process, so that you can get the services your need for you ds.  

[momto2monkey]

My DS does not have a IEP yet that is what we are fighting for right now. He is 6.5 and in K. They just did the KBIT test and he scored smack dab average. Floored all of us. But the problem is he can not do grade level work. He has no idea of the ABC's can't sing them , recognize them or make there sounds and can not count passed 10 with any consistence or recognize most of the numbers past 5. He also has a lot of focusing issues but that I think falls in to his social problems. He also never gets the big picture of a story being told concentrates on one or two details and has a problem following more then one direction at a time. We are hoping to have enough paperwork trail on him in the next 2-3 weeks to be able to get him to the school psychologist  so that the IEP can be written for him. It is just VERY frustrating right now as the school year is almost over and he is suffering so bad. 

[melissa17s]

Have you written a letter to the school requesting an evaluation?  I think this gives the school a set amount of time to start the process- maybe 2 weeks.  I am not totally clear on all the time frames for the IEP because the school had an intervention for ds after 4 years of lagging behind his peers.  It took about two months for us to get the evaluating completed with educational evaluator.  She met with ds multiple times at school  to test him and then we had a meeting with out him to discuss her findings.  In terms of getting goals/accommodations, your son has to have deficits that are drastically behind his peers and grade level standards.  For the 3.5 years that my ds was behind, he was not far enough behind to require the degree of help he has now.  Instead he worked with title one reading teacher and extra with classroom teacher, until he was in a situation that he could not keep up.  

I think, if you can work your way through the sites Emmerline II posted, then you find out the requirements to get an IEP, what they school needs to provide, and the time line in which it needs to be done.  

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Perhaps they mean that the diagnosis of autism does not help them make the modifiactions they need to make. As the saying goes, "if you meet one child with autism, you've met one child with autism." So basically, they need him to go through the evaluations in order to figure exactly what services your son needs. My son with autism probably needs very different services than your ds, because it presents so differently.

[momto2monkey]

I wrote a letter the day prior to this meeting. This meeting is the first steps in building the IEP for him. I talked last night to a cousin of mine who has been working special education for 35 years specializing in autism. She gave me some GREAT pointers of where to go from here. And also some legal advise of things that were or weren't being done.

[melissa17s]

I am glad you have some support IRL.  It does wonders to have someone who knows the ropes help you work through the process.