Posts Tagged by FAPE
IEP Help – Part 5
| January 17, 2012 | Posted by Laura under Diagnosis, IEPs, Special Education, Treatment |
In order to get appropriate services for your child through the school district, it is very important that you get the school district to accept the diagnosis of CAS. If the district SLP disagrees with your private SLP, ask for an IEE. If the district SLP continues to disagree with the IEE assessor, don’t be afraid to ask very specific questions comparing their experience and qualifications. How many children with CAS have you treated? How many children with CAS have you diagnosed? What specific training do you have in treating and/or diagnosing CAS? You have the right to ask these quesions and know these answers.
It is important that everyone on the IEP team agree with the diagnosis of CAS (or suspected CAS or possible CAS) so that you can move towards the next step: asking for services that incorporate research-based best practices. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 drastically changed public education. Districts are required to utilize evidence-based instruction strategies; that is, teach utilizing methods and programs that have been researched and reviewed by peers and proven to work. These methods and programs are termed “best practices.” They apply to every aspect of public education: reading, writing, math, and even speech pathology.
There is not enough research on CAS but there is a growing body of peer-reviewed research that all points to need for individual speech therapy three to five times a week for 30 minute sessions. ASHA’s Technical Report on CAS demonstrates and summarizes this growing research. If you have an accepted diagnosis of CAS, ask the IEP team members why they are not providing your child services consistent with “evidence-based best practices.” Use these exact words. Put it in writing. In your letter, you can cite every study conducted relating to CAS prior to 2007, simply by looking at the bibliography of ASHA’s Technical Report. Read the CASANA’s Apraxia-Kids site for more recent studies as well.
The district may not give you a written answer but at least you have put this letter into your child’s cumulative file. Follow this letter up with another one, specifically requesting individual speech therapy three to five times a week for thirty minute sessions. State that this in line with the amount and type of therapy recommended by your private speech therapist, your IEE assessor, and ASHA and is consistent with evidence-based best practices. Specifically ask the district for Prior Written Notice if they choose to refuse your proposal.
If the district chooses to refuse your proposal, it will then be required by IDEA to explain in writing the school’s rationale and each evaluation procedure, assessment, record, or report used as the basis of this refusal. The school district will have a VERY difficult time doing this if you have been actively building your case.
Financial Matters
| June 24, 2011 | Posted by Laura under Prompt, Special Education, Treatment |
We got the bill from our Advocate today. I think I almost had a heart attack. 2.75 hour IEP, mileage, and prep work before hand at $125 an hour ain’t cheap. Plus, the original bill hadn’t yet creditd our $300 retainer. Thank God for wonderful grandparents who are financially stable and willing to help!
Our daughter’s private speech therapy (not covered by medical insurance) costs $110 an hour. That’s a deal because our private therapist comes to our house and does not have an office so she has little overhead. The usual cost for an hour of speech therapy around here is $125 an hour. We can’t just use any old speech therapist because we need one trained in Prompt and experienced with treating children with CAS. In addition, we need the right fit - someone who our daughter likes, trusts, and gets along with.
I get so frustrated with the expensive hoops we have to jump through to get appropriate therapy for our daughter. What about the parents who don’t have the financial means to jump through these hoops? What about the parents who don’t know about the hoops that need to be jumped through in the first place? What happens to these kids?
In the end, I feel like I’m not only fighting the good fight for E but for all the other children out there need someone knowledgeable in their corner. I hope that this website informs and encourages other parents and in the end helps their kids with CAS too. There is a lot of information on CAS out there and a lot of people going through the same thing. You just have to know where to look.
