Boy don't I feel silly. Actually, horribly embarrassed is more like it. You know how I have been ranting and raving about getting Mary's IEP done, well I decided to give them until yesterday before I called and started complaining. Which I did. I asked when, where, and exactly how long it was going to take, because I can't do anything without it! I can't even look into middle schools without the school knowing what her educational needs are. I was so prepared, had all my ammo ready. Then the voice on the other line said, "you have an IEP". Huh? Apparently, the last meeting we had at the school, with all those teachers, school nurse, psychologist, etc.. Well, the nice stack of papers I signed and took home with me clearly say IEP at the top. Honestly, in my defense, my husband was with me and he didn't even know. Those freakin' meetings can be so confusing! Plus, they did say that they wanted her to be evaluated by the school psychologist and update her needs and all that. Which we took to believe was what we needed for a complete IEP. Guess not, because I went ahead and faxed what I had to the charter school at UCP so I can start somewhere with the process of finding her a middle school.
I like to think my call did however, put them into action, because I did get an email this morning from the school psychologist stating all was o.k. with the hearing test, and Dr.'s note, and she will begin testing Mary tomorrow. Hooray! If that wasn't enough to make my day, the call from the placement coordinator person at school did. They are going to try to get Mary qualified for an "Alternate Assessment", which means she would not have to take the FCAT. Whoopee! This Alternate Assessment has never been done at Kaley, and is apparently very difficult to get approved. Of course, Mary would be the one. I guess someone finally realized that we we were not making up the fact that she is "intellectually disabled", or "cognitively disabled", some fancy new terms I learned. So, I'm not really sure what my lesson was here, maybe not be so hostile in my inquiries, so I don't look so stupid? But then again, if I hadn't been such a pain, would they have still been dragging their feet? Who knows? Not sure I even care, as long as what needs to be done, gets done.
2 comments:
Hey - I followed you over from my blog and wow - I can totally relate to your life as well :)
One handy tip I have is get the book "The Complete IEP Guide: How to Advocate for Your Special Ed Child" - Amazon has it. This was SUCH a huge help to us...to the point that I started rotating it through my SN moms group. IEP's are so confusing. Found this out the hard way when - after asking repeatedly to have Maura re-evaluated before starting kindergarten - the special ed director pulled a fast one and slipped a paper waiving my right to a new eval under my nose with the other IEP sign in forms.
good luck!
Well, sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and if you hadn't made the call, things might not be progressing as they are now. I think it's excellent that you are such a strong advocate for Mary, and if it means that sometimes you jump the gun a little bit, I don't think that it's all bad. Not many people would put the time and energy into their child's education and care that you do, so don't be hard on yourself. It's great that things are progressing, and I look forward to hearing about what happens in your search for the perfect school for her!
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