Something to Hide

Posted by Dad Enough

Tomorrow is yet another IEP meeting, to discuss the fact that we think there are additional adjustments that need to be made to the Monster’s IEP for the 2014-2015 school year.

In the current IEP, the Monster is being transitioned back to his home school – Mount Washington – and put into a mainstreamed first grade class with some push-in and pull-out services specified. There’s a nice list of the supports he needs for success in class… but one that’s not included in the document is an aide. Continue reading →

IEP-Go-Round

Posted by Dad Enough

Today was the IEP meeting to discuss our concerns about the newly-crafted IEP from February.

A few weeks ago, when we’d called Ms. R to schedule the meeting, she asked us if we wanted Early Learning involved. We said no – we’d had a horrible experience with the woman from Early Learning (the one who ripped out the Monster’s ESY) – because we didn’t know what they could possibly contribute to the meeting. So this morning, it was us, our advocate, the IEP chair, the SLP, his special-ed teacher Ms. A, the general educator he sees in the mornings, and the school social worker. Continue reading →

Looking Ahead

Posted by Dad Enough

Last night, while we were prepping for today’s (now postponed) IEP meeting, we started looking at the website for the school that the Monster will be attending next year.

It’s weird, to consider the differences between two elementary schools in the same district. And while we had already known that the Mount Washington School is a far better school than Garrett Heights… it’s shocking. Continue reading →

Fixing Things

Posted by Dad Enough

Today was the first day of school since Spring Break. The Monster got onto his bus without any fuss this morning, and we’re grateful for that. (We’ll see how grateful his teachers are.)

Today’s also the day that his regular IEP chair, Ms. R, returned, and so bright and early, I fired off a request to her for a team meeting to discuss the massively screwed-up Individualized Education Plan (MSIEP). Continue reading →

Towards Deeper Water

Posted by Dad Enough

The assessment meeting finally took place this morning.

Now, setting aside that the rep from Early Learning included a FAPE meeting as part of the discussion on the “miss” of the 90 day rule, the meeting was essentially what we had expected – a discussion of the assessments that were ordered in December, coupled with placement discussions for next year and the decision on ESY services for this summer. Continue reading →

Harder Than It Should Be

Posted by Dad Enough

This morning, our official state complaint dropped into the mail.

I’ll admit that I’ve been dragging my feet about getting it done – despite how my getting angry gets results, filling out the form is not really a time for my being angry. Instead, it was a time for me to write it the right way, and that meant doing my research and quantifying what the school is doing wrong, and therefore, why we’re complaining. Continue reading →

Where Are You Going?

Posted by Dad Enough

On Thursday night, during the Autism Society of Baltimore/Chesapeake meeting, there was an interesting discussion about what a school is actually required to provide.

The conversation started with a parent discussing that her child – who is four – is showing an interest in writing, but the school system is asserting that they’re not required to provide OT to teach the child a proper tripod grip because that’s a “kindergarten” skill. The basic thrust, as the members of the panel asserted, is that the school is not required to pursue ‘advanced skills’, but to provide a ‘free and appropriate public education’ as they define it. Continue reading →

The Right Way

Posted by Dad Enough

Last night, after all the hullabaloo about the Monster’s failed IEP meeting, and more so about how I responded to it, the wife asked if getting a facilitator for the next meeting might not be a “good idea”.

Personally, I don’t see the point, if only because I’m not quite sure what a facilitator would be doing at the meeting. Continue reading →

No, F— YOU

Posted by Dad Enough

As you can tell from my title, it was not a good meeting this morning.

So Baltimore City Public Schools were delayed by two hours this morning on account of the snow and ice left over from yesterday’s not-quite-a-storm. Expecting that this might wreak havoc with the meeting schedule – we had the IEP meeting at 9:30 today – I reached out to his teacher Ms. A, who in turn reached out to the interim IEP Chair to find out if we were actually going to meet today or if there’d be a rescheduling. Continue reading →

Who They’re Messing With

Posted by Dad Enough

Today was the meeting with the IEP team to go over the triennial evaluations done on the Monster.

As I’d mentioned on Twitter, I was dreading today’s meeting. We’ve known about it for a month or so, and to be honest, we’re fairly sure also of where the evaluations are going to lead in terms of what the plans are for the future (or at least how it should guide his IEP goals for the next few years).

The problem is the evaluations themselves. Continue reading →