Post by Captain Serious on May 17, 2013 15:35:48 GMT -5
Before we enrolled J in school last year, we had the district evaluate him for learning issues because he has NF, which is linked to learning difficulties, and a severe speech delay. We made it clear that the tests would have to be done in Spanish. The person giving the psychological, one of the largest portions of the exam (basically an IQ test), decided to take an English test, translate it into Spanish himself, and administer it. The district let him get away with this because "he didn't have any Spanish tests" and then invalidated all the results and denied us any services, pending a re-evaluation in 6 months.
So in February, we asked for the reevaluation. The district is considering it an initial, because that gives them 90 days, rather than 30, to do the evaluations, and they won't have to make any changes this year. But of course, we had to discover that bit of trickery ourselves.
I just got a call from the person who will be doing the educational evaluation. She found out that her colleague will be administering the psychological portion at our home on Saturday morning, and she requested to come and give her educational evaluation right after. I know J's limits, and know that after 2 hours on a beautiful weekend day, he will not want to sit for another 2 hour evaluation, and he will not perform well. I told her I thought it was a bit much, and that I'd rather look for another day.
She began arguing with me! She began, "The psychological is not.... He won't have to read or write or...."
I cut her off, and used my sternest voice to tell her, "I'm telling you that I do not want my son to have to take two evaluations in one day. We need to find another day that will work."
Absolute RAGE! First they f up the entire evaluation, causing him to be denied services for a full school year, and now they are playing games and she has the audacity to argue with me about when my son ought to be available for her to come into my home and evaluate him!?!
Post by mrsjuleshs on May 17, 2013 16:07:45 GMT -5
UGH! It is really sad how much the schools can screw things up and then get away with. Good for you for sticking up for him.
We are getting ready to have DD tested for dyslexia (which we know she has) and some other stuff because she is REALLY struggling no matter what she does or how much she studies. I have been expressing my concerns all freaking year and nothing has changed. Sadly, I think we will be cancelling our summer trip and she will be taking summer school. If she was failing they REALLY should have taken her out of freaking AP! I am sooooo glad that we will be done with that school after this year.
Post by Captain Serious on May 17, 2013 16:11:17 GMT -5
2mrsjuleshs I get it completely. It took us 3 years to get a good placement and IEP for M. Just when I think I know all the rules and things they can do to delay or deny services, they pull out a new trick.
I even joined the special education parent advisory committee to show how involved I am and to learn all I can about the process, but they never cease to amaze me in all the new ways they can come up with to provide as little as they can get away with.
J was adopted from Peru in March 2012. He is in ESL, a bilingual classroom, in fact, but that's not considered part of an IEP.
Oh ok, I hope I didn't come across as snarky I was just curious. I wonder why ESL isn't a part of an IEP. Those 2 tea working together would be able to accomplish a lot more.
You can have ESL without an IEP, if you do not otherwise qualify for an IEP. If you have an IEP, they are combined. Because they invalidated all of the testing, J didn't qualify for an IEP, even though he literally scored in the bottom percent in almost all the categories.
ETA: And no, you did not come across as snarky. I just assume everyone knows our story, since I've been posting forever, but I sometimes forget that it wasn't always on ML (NEY/AFB/SB/AFG transplant).
I work in public schools, and this stuff is so frustrating. Imagine the kids who don't have an advocate like you in their corner. I've struggled with red tape for several kids whose parents either didn't care or didn't have the tools to fight for their kid to get tested, etc. I'm sorry.
Post by Captain Serious on May 18, 2013 12:01:10 GMT -5
I now feel like crying, I'm so defeated.
The psychologist just told me that the two-hour evaluation she just gave J was"informally translated." After the distracted used that to invalidate the evaluation last time, we were very, repetitiously clear that the assessments this time had to be written in Spanish and NORMED for Spanish-speakers. The district agreed, and then failed to tell the contractor. I didn't find out until she was done with her evaluation.
This is exactly what they used to invalidate the results last time.
I'm sorry you are going through this and I agree it is unacceptable. But as someone who works in the realm of special ed I want to say this is not the norm. My coworkers and I bust our butts everyday to give our students what they need. We fight for their accommodations, modifications, and assisted technology. We stress and worry over complicated cases and feel defeated often, knowing that everything we've done still isn't enough.
I don't mean to unload on you, but this is the 3rd post I've seen this weekend where people are saying that schools don't care about kids and we're all slyly trying to screw students over. That is never the case in my experience.
ETA: I realize my post wasn't very helpful so I'll add some advice. You should request that the district pay for a private eval and cite the fact that they botched 2 evals as your reason for the request. Your state dept. of ed. website should tell you how to do this.
The psychologist just told me that the two-hour evaluation she just gave J was"informally translated." After the distracted used that to invalidate the evaluation last time, we were very, repetitiously clear that the assessments this time had to be written in Spanish and NORMED for Spanish-speakers. The district agreed, and then failed to tell the contractor. I didn't find out until she was done with her evaluation.
This is exactly what they used to invalidate the results last time.
I am livid for you. Definitely get a lawyer. Things tend to start magically getting done when a letter is sent by a lawyer in a situation like this.