Luv Bunnies
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2006
Hi Everyone,
I haven't posted on this thread in awhile because I wanted to wait until we had some kind of resolution. We ended up hiring a special ed. attorney back in October. She was surprised that the district had so blatently dishonored our son's IEP. It turned out that she had worked with our district before and knew our special ed. director well from working on other cases. She called him the day after our meeting and discussed some options with him. In the meantime, we checked out a private school in our city that caters solely to kids with Asperger's. We loved the program and thought our son would do well there.
The special ed. director wanted to set up a "diagnostic program" for our son rather than send him directly to another school. He wanted to make sure the district had exhausted its available resources first. We agreed to do this, thinking we should give the district a chance to make the program work. Our attorney did the negotiations and we agreed on a full-time aide who is fully trained and experienced in working with ASD kids. We also agreed on training for the regular ed teachers on ASD and a list of modifications. He would have reduced homework and alternate assignments in some instances. We also agreed on a Behavior Support Plan that was much more positive than the one they had originally written (the first one was all about punishment but not about preventing or recognizing the root of his behaviors). We were willing to give the program a try but were still skeptical that it would work. Our son's anxiety about school was so high that we felt the district had missed its opportunity. These are all of the things that we asked for before school started this year and we were denied. It's too bad that we had to pay a small fortune for an attorney to get what we were entitled to! If this 30-day diagnostic period didn't yield better academic and behaviorial performance, the district would consider other placements but the private school would probably be the last place they'd choose because of the cost. The director was set on looking for placements in other districts or with the county programs first. We felt like we were in for a long fight to get our son into a place where we thought he would do well.
Fast forward to the day before the diagnostic period was supposed to begin (last week). The director called our attorney. He said the program was ready to start. They had the aide in place. She was going to be trained the following day and start with our son the day after that. He was working on memos to the teachers outlining what they needed to do. But, he was considering the cost of the resources he was commiting to this program. He was thinking that the district might put forth all this effort and have it fail. Then, out of the blue, he asked our attorney if we would still like placement at the private school! She called me right away and said the director was offering to scrap the diagnostic and send our son straight to the private Asperger's school. Yes! We took it! They even included transportation to and from school and the district's expense! Can you believe it?
I don't know the real story. Did the director really weigh the cost of the diagnostic vs. the private school? Did someone from higher up in the district tell him to give our son the placement? Did the district realize it had seriously screwed up and fear a lawsuit? (I'm thinking this is the case).
Whatever the reason, our son will be starting at the private school after Thanksgiving. He is so relieved to be going to another school (and so are we!). We told him he couldn't use the excuse anymore that no one at school understands him. All the students at the new school have Asperger's and the entire staff understands and wants to work with these kids. We told him he was going to be challenged, but that it would be better!
So, there's the ending to our saga. We feel like a huge weight has been lifted. We still have a ways to go with our son, but we think he will really benefit from the new program. Thanks to everyone who commented on my thread and gave such great information!
I haven't posted on this thread in awhile because I wanted to wait until we had some kind of resolution. We ended up hiring a special ed. attorney back in October. She was surprised that the district had so blatently dishonored our son's IEP. It turned out that she had worked with our district before and knew our special ed. director well from working on other cases. She called him the day after our meeting and discussed some options with him. In the meantime, we checked out a private school in our city that caters solely to kids with Asperger's. We loved the program and thought our son would do well there.
The special ed. director wanted to set up a "diagnostic program" for our son rather than send him directly to another school. He wanted to make sure the district had exhausted its available resources first. We agreed to do this, thinking we should give the district a chance to make the program work. Our attorney did the negotiations and we agreed on a full-time aide who is fully trained and experienced in working with ASD kids. We also agreed on training for the regular ed teachers on ASD and a list of modifications. He would have reduced homework and alternate assignments in some instances. We also agreed on a Behavior Support Plan that was much more positive than the one they had originally written (the first one was all about punishment but not about preventing or recognizing the root of his behaviors). We were willing to give the program a try but were still skeptical that it would work. Our son's anxiety about school was so high that we felt the district had missed its opportunity. These are all of the things that we asked for before school started this year and we were denied. It's too bad that we had to pay a small fortune for an attorney to get what we were entitled to! If this 30-day diagnostic period didn't yield better academic and behaviorial performance, the district would consider other placements but the private school would probably be the last place they'd choose because of the cost. The director was set on looking for placements in other districts or with the county programs first. We felt like we were in for a long fight to get our son into a place where we thought he would do well.
Fast forward to the day before the diagnostic period was supposed to begin (last week). The director called our attorney. He said the program was ready to start. They had the aide in place. She was going to be trained the following day and start with our son the day after that. He was working on memos to the teachers outlining what they needed to do. But, he was considering the cost of the resources he was commiting to this program. He was thinking that the district might put forth all this effort and have it fail. Then, out of the blue, he asked our attorney if we would still like placement at the private school! She called me right away and said the director was offering to scrap the diagnostic and send our son straight to the private Asperger's school. Yes! We took it! They even included transportation to and from school and the district's expense! Can you believe it?
I don't know the real story. Did the director really weigh the cost of the diagnostic vs. the private school? Did someone from higher up in the district tell him to give our son the placement? Did the district realize it had seriously screwed up and fear a lawsuit? (I'm thinking this is the case).
Whatever the reason, our son will be starting at the private school after Thanksgiving. He is so relieved to be going to another school (and so are we!). We told him he couldn't use the excuse anymore that no one at school understands him. All the students at the new school have Asperger's and the entire staff understands and wants to work with these kids. We told him he was going to be challenged, but that it would be better!
So, there's the ending to our saga. We feel like a huge weight has been lifted. We still have a ways to go with our son, but we think he will really benefit from the new program. Thanks to everyone who commented on my thread and gave such great information!
PLease come back and let us know how the new school is. I'm very curious to know how they approach learning, discipline, testing, etc. I hope your son makes lots of new friends too.
