We might have gotten out of mediation!
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| Tue, 10-24-2006 - 12:13am |
Phew! They may have finally come to thier senses. Though I am not sure I am going to accept what they are offering I am stongly considering it.
Today we had an OT IEP meeting for Cait. Since my ed consultant was there adn the district program specialist was there, the topic of "other issues" was brought up. In specific, the program specialist said, "do we want to discuss any of this now to see if we can come to an agreement before wednesday?". I wasn't totally prepared but I was mostly prepared and the OT meeting had gone well so I figured what the heck.
I gave them a copy of the excel spreadsheet and graphs with Cait's scores. I also told them that 3 independent psychologists recomended neuro-psyche testing. He took one look at my graph and the recomendations and the jaw proceeded to drop. He asked if I may be open to having a district neuropsych retest. Now normally I would say no, and I am still considering it...but....one of my FAVORITE psychologists in the world does the neuropsych for them (or did) and she did Cait's 4th grade triennial. I said IF it was her and IF she could do beyond a screening and I could talk to her about what she would do and IF she could do it in a reasonable time, I would consider it.
This lady is now a program specialist and doesn't do evals anymore. She will do Cait's as a special circumstance. She still likes to eval and she adored Cait so she would really like to do this one.
So I am considering it. I am pissed with the district still. I have given them 3 chances and if it wasn't Rebecca I would say absolutely NO F-N WAY. But it is and I spoke to her today and I have to speak to her 1 more time. If all goes well then I may have avoided the dreaded mediation he!! day.
Renee


Renee, that sounds great. I hope this works out and you can avoid mediation. YEA!
Samantha
WHOOOHOOO! so glad you had a spread sheet and were somewhat prepared. LOL about his jaw dropping. that's quite a mental picture. I hope it all falls into place.
Betsy
Isn't it funny when they see a visual such as a graph of their own info the jaws always drop!!
Well I'm cautiously optimistic...but then, I don't trust your district any more than I do ours! (Or any other school district for that matter. LOL) Sending you lots of "anguish-free resolution" vibes!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy
ditto what Amy said.
It is good that they cracked the door. They
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Ah.
OK. It's becoming a bit clearer to me now.
One of The Lads just called.
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
I think you are being more than fair with them. As long as the person doing the testing is someone you feel comfortable with and trust go ahead but if you have any reservations stick to your guns.Good luck with everything!!
Update,
I am meeting with that pscyhologist tomorrow to go over my reports, concerns, etc. I want to see what exactly she recomends and how we are going to go from here. Then she will begin the testing next week and have a meeting likely on the 14th or 15th of November. At that time we will address some more educational issues we have for Cait to get her a real tight IEP.
Gotta plan and it sounds pretty good.
Paula, thank the Lads for me would ya? The middle school personnel just had to learn that I am not a mom to mess with I guess. It was a whole new learning curve. Hopefully now they got it.
The elementary program specialist told me recently "Renee, you always keep me on my toes and teach me new things". I told her I know I am a pain in the tush with what I ask for and she said that it is a challenge but I never ask for anything that isn't appropriate or understandable. I hope that the middle school people come to the same conclusion.
I heard a quote from the teacher the other day (I wasn't there). She said she "really likes those parents but they ask for and expect so much that she can't keep up". Thing is I am not asking that much but I think this teacher is over her head and not the "autism specialist" they claim she is. She is a nice lady and tries but she just doesn't have the skills required just yet. Perhaps I will help her get there. I am awfully pushy.
Renee
Oh Renee, I hope you've gotten out of mediation.