NOAH AOC

We recently moved to a new county in NC and are having a difficult time getting everything we need for our son's IEP.  His VI teacher is not coming as she should, she has missed at least 11 our of 18 visits this year so far.  He is supposed to have a large monitor, and does not have one after 5 months of school.  The school or VI teacher forgot to order large print tests for standardized tests this week.  We worked that out, but I wonder if anyone has any suggestions on what to do to get his services implemented.  We have contacted the principal, case manager and the superintendent of EC children.  My biggest concern now is that he will not have the large print curriculum he needs for third grade.  Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks@!

 

Sounds like you need to go to the next step - write a letter to the superintendent (you need to put this in writing). Tell him / her that you are concerned because specific accomodations in your son's IEP are not being implemented and you feel the school is out of compliance with FAPE (free and appropriate public education - a provision of the IDEA).  Spell out the provisions that are not being followed.  Tell him/her that if you do not see immediate action on the part of the school, you will be in contact with the NC department of education - give a specific date, like maybe 2 weeks from now.  (If you really want to make them squirm, I would also suggest saying that in addition to contacting the state, you will also be engaging the services of an attorney who is familiar with enforcing the provisions of the IDEA - then follow through and get some contact information. I am not suggesting hiring an attorney at this point, just find the name of one to have in the back of your mind should you need it).

I have found that putting things in writing creates more urgency, since letters can be forwarded or copied to others.  When I've had issues with the schools (for example when they stopped services for my son and didn't tell me - but his TVI let me know on the sly), I've always written letters.  I tend to quote parts of the IDEA or items from the "state parental rights" booklet to show them that I am not some meek and mild parent who can be pushed around.  You have to establish yourself as being knowledgeable about your son's rights under the law.  Unfortunately, sometimes I find that school districts will try to get away with minimal services because it is inconvenient for them, or too much effort. As a parent, you need to actively advocate for your son and not let up on the pressure to get the services that they already agreed to provide by signing off on the IEP.  I have kept the name and address of a disability rights lawyer in my son's file, just in case things get to the point where I feel I need to go that route. So far (my son's a junior in high school now), I have not, but it's been a comfort to me to know that I have that little piece of paper to fall back on. . .

As far as getting materials for next year, you should still be ok - we always tried to get things firmed up and in place by March for the next school year. They should still have time to order materials - many of these come from the state library for the blind, so they aren't that difficult to get, it's just a matter of ordering them.

Hope that helps. . . 

Jeannine,

Many years ago you helped us tremendously when we first learned of our sons diagnosis.  Thanks again for the post.  We have contacted in writing the superintendent of EC children in writing.  He is "working on it"  In the mean time Art is still not being served by a VI teacher.  I am trying to get them to hire one contractually, do you have any thoughts on that?  I will meet with them this week to push for something new to be done.  We have also contacted the NC board of Education contact person for VI children.  Still waiting.

THe school is now offering to do one on one testing with Art through the WISC test.  They could not tell me whether or not the test would need modifications and said the VI teacher would know.  I once again reminded them that she is missing in action.  She is the only VI teacher in our county, which is a large county with a decent tax base.  Are you familiar with the WISC?  So many questions I know!  We had a wonderful VI teacher in Hickory last year and never once had a problem getting any of his services.

Thanks for any help!

Hi Arts mom,

I am a vision teacher and also has a daughter with albinism who is in college now (3.50 GPA without any help from the disabled students office), and she did not have a vision teacher, just accommodations. There is a shortage of vision teachers, mostly because it is a difficult job and the pay is not equal to the level of expertise needed, its much easier to be a classroom or subject teacher, so the shortage persists and they may never find a vision teacher for your son, so you need to be ready to get Art what he needs to succeed.  I would say to focus on getting Art the accommodations he needs, he is entitled to them under section 504 of the IDEA.  You and Art can figure out what accommodations are appropriate and call for a meeting with special ed to have them implemented. 

First, are you sure he needs large print or a CCTV (I assume this is what you meant by a large monitor)?  Not all visually impaired students benefit from large print, the books are large and heavy, the print takes longer to scan across thus slowing reading time, kids hate to be seen with them and they don't fit in backpacks.  CCTV's are not readily portable and are difficult to use in middle and high school when students are constantly switching classes.  Can he read regular size print?  Have you tried glasses with high magnification?  My daughter has used magnification glasses since third grade and can read newsprint with them.  They are +14.00 and are pricey, especially with the featherweight lenses from Lens Crafters, but they are invaluable.

Can Art see the blackboard well enough to take notes, if not ask for an accommodation that states "print copy of all overheads and notes on blackboard".  Does he have trouble with maps?  Ask for "all maps enlarged".  Get a copy of a scan-tron (the answer sheet they use for state tests  where you fill in the bubbles for the correct answer) and see if Art can use it correctly.  Sit with him and say #1 is D, #2 is A etc and see if he can use it accurately, if not ask for a testing modification of "no scan-trons, all answers written directly in testing booklet".  Look at the PE curriculum and ask Art if he has difficulty with any of the activities, areas to look at are small ball sports and running speed requirements. 

The WISC is an IQ test and it is generally given one-to-one.  He does not need to take this and you can refuse to let him take it.  It cannot be enlarged or the results will not be considered accurate compared to the norms. If you want him to take it, the verbal part only is used for visually impaired students, not the performance part, and the results will not be "full scale".

Hope this isn't too much info and that something I said will be of help to you.

Carol 

You have gotten some excellent advice thus far!  I agree with the previous posters. It is a pretty serious offense if what your son's IEP states is not upheld. I'm surprised the superintendant etc. is not all over this. Thankfully my youngest was in preschool at the time, but his VI rarely showed up for scheduled visits and even lied about it, fudging a log of visit times etc. The person in charge of Special Education almost begged me not to take recourse. She led me to believe that I could've sued. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to hurt the school district as a whole. Anyway -

At this point if your son does not have access to a VI as much as he should, I would jump in as much as possible. I did that anyway even though we had one - a very good one- accessible to us. I offered to enlarge materials etc for the classrooms. The teachers really didn't want me to have to do that, so one of the aides would help them out. I checked in with the classroom teachers regularly and reminded them (nicely) when they tried to give handouts on red paper with black ink.

Is your son having difficulty in school at all? Thankfully in 2nd grade the print is still fairly large. My son's both had access to a CCTV and really used it rarely. I understand your frustration, your son has certain rights. Until you can get it straightened out I would work directly with the teacher to make sure that his day to day education isn't being compromised. How is your son's teacher(s)? Are they helpful?

Don't give up!

 Art's Mom,

Most people don't know that being a Teacher of the Visually Impaired is even an option because these  teachers work with students with low incidence disabilities. Unfortunately, that's the way it's going to be for this career path because with the older professionals in the field retiring there is not enough younger people going into the field. Keep in mind to if you live in a small town he may only get to see the TVI once a week. Because the nature of their jobs is mostly that they travel around and not stay in one place for more then a few hours out of the school day. I grew up in Utah for ten years. The first five years I lived in Park CIty and I only got to work with a TVI for once a week from the time I was in sixth to tenth grades. Then I moved  to Salt Lake in August of 1997 and lived there for the last five years I was in Utah which included my last two years of high school where I worked with a TVI  either two or three times a week. The last high school I attended was on a block schedule.. I didn't have any problems with the standardized testing what happend with me was my high school counselor at the second high school I attended was the one that made sure that I got the accomendations for both the SAT and ACT.