Perhaps you have been noticing that your child has not been thriving in school like other children, or that he complains of certain aspects of his class and is getting in trouble, or maybe she just isn’t getting the material. Then you get an envelope with a form in it saying your child has been referred to Special Education. Now what do you do?
The process does differ state by state, but the standards are fairly consistent. First, you need to know, that there can’t be any testing done without your permission. You are part of the committee. The rest of the committee will consist of some or all of the following: your child’s teacher(s), special education specialist(s), an administrator, and other teachers who have worked with your child. You can also bring in anyone you wish, such as a special education advocate, family member or friend to help you in the process.
Your child’s committee (or team) will begin to evaluate his performance depending on the reason for the referral. The first that thing that needs to be done after you have given consent for evaluation is a vision and hearing test. This is done usually by a Speech Language Pathologist in the school, though you do have the right to have it done by an outside source (you will have to pay the cost if you choose to do this). Often times, problems arise when your child is having hearing or vision problems and then you can treat that appropriately to see if the other academic or social/behavioral problems persist.
If the vision and hearing comes back fine, the teachers will do other tests, including academic and intelligence measures, classroom observations and social/behavioral measures. Again, you can choose to have an outside source conduct some of these evaluations, but the cost will be yours.
After the necessary testing is done, the school will set up a meeting to decide the best placement for your child, if he or she qualifies for services. They MUST send notification in advance of the meeting and if you wish to attend but can’t, they must reschedule. You are an important player on this team and have responsibility.
When you meet, as a team you will decide the best placement for your child. Depending on the severity of his needs, different options will be discussed and the team will recommend what it thinks is best. If you are not comfortable with the recommendation, discuss others. There cannot be a placement without your agreement.
Remember, though, you want what is best for your child, and a special needs educator can often provide what a regular classroom teacher cannot.
An Individual Education Plan (IEP) will be created specific for your child’s needs with goals and objectives. Again, you can add or remove anything you feel is or isn’t appropriate. While your child is in the program, he will be annually reevaluated to make sure his goals are being met. You can also request placement changes or IEP changes if you feel there is a need.
You will get copies of everything, including your parental rights. Though it may be difficult, remember the ultimate goal is to provide the optimum education setting for your child.
Heather Legg - Heather has been writing for years, as a journalist, blogger and experimenting with fiction as well, loving all aspects of the written ...
