Summer programming

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Permalink Reply by Tracy Saunders on March 18, 2011 at 11:11pm

Hi - It seems that the school should have had an IEP meeting to discuss extended year programming.  At the end of the meeting they would give you a Written Prior Notice and the Parent's Response to a Special Education Proposal.  On that parent response page there is a place to check "I do not agree," or I do not agree with certain exceptions.  So if you agree to one part of the program but not another you can write that in.  I would check "I request a due process hearing."  Most parents are afraid of due process because the belief is that they need an attorney and that it will cost lots of money.  This is false. You can and should take issues such as this to due process.  If they see you are a parent willing to agressively advocate for their child, they are less likely to offer you no programming.  However, with tight budgets, sometimes they fight anyway.  If you need help feel free to contact me (603) 490-6835.  Almost ALL children with autism need year round programming, unless they are very high functioning Asperger's.  Academic regression is more than math and reading.  "Academics" as defined by the Department of Education for children with autism especially, includes social skills, self help skills, etc.  Autism isn't about math and reading, it is about learning social skills and language pragmatics.  It is like telling a child who cannot walk without crutches, that they don't need crutches because they sing!  One is not related to the other.  Fortunately, federal law is on your side.  See this website for a good explaination of the summer programing issue: http://comeunity.com/disability/advocacy-extended-school-year.html also see (scroll to the bottom) regarding extended year programming:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/autism.index.htm

wrightslaw site is a great resource.  Notice in the explaination of autism on the previous link, math and reading skills are not mentioned.

If you don't already have one, get a private evaluation from a reputable neuropsychologist that can make specific recommendations about what you child needs.  The neuropsychologists at ICCD in Canton, Mass are well known for having neuropsychologists who write thorough evaluations that will stand up to hearings.  Dr. Janseiwicz and Dr. Castro are both amazing, but the other doctors at that office are also outstanding.  If you have this you should be all set to get the serivces your child needs.  You may need to take them to a hearing, but your child is only young once.  They only get one shot at appropriate services as young children.  As we all know, these early years matter the most.  I've been through the same struggle.  My little one was offered only one month last summer of EYP.  Nashua's only explaination was that other districts have done the same thing.  This is not taking your child's needs into consideration, as required by law.  Hang in there, Tracy

 

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Permalink Reply by Rachel T. on March 22, 2011 at 5:57pm

Hi,

I was glad to see this reply and am going to see if I can push the issue with the school for my situation.

My son also will be going into kindergarten in the fall and was not recommened for summer school because his current preschool teacher feels that he needs to be with "typical" kids in order to improve his social and communication skills.  For this reason, we started looking into summer camps.  I found one that I think would work best for him as the counselors are trained teachers as opposed to your usual summer camp counselor.  When I asked if there were funds available for camp I was told no and the reason given was that he wasn't recommended for summer school.  To me this seems like one big circle.  The summer school doesn't meet his needs but since he wasn't recommended for it, he doesn't qualify for funds to go elsewhere.  Overall I have been very happy with the Nashua preschool he has attended for the last 3 years but I'm starting to think I haven't pushed hard enough to get him what he needs.  I'm meeting with his teacher tomorrow and will discuss this further.

Thanks for listening. 

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Permalink Reply by Melanie Butler on March 25, 2011 at 7:12am

Thanks for these replies. I will be meeting with the school on Tuesday and I am taking him to Ladders on Monday to gather as much information possible for why he needs summer programming.

 

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