Finally

(This is a follow up on Sh.awn's IEP meeting.)

At the end of October, we had the boys' initial IEP meeting. (You remember, the one with SEVENTEEN people sitting around talking about my boys.)

For months now, I've been going back and forth with the school district. My sticking points were that they arrived at a very low result for Sh.awn's IQ. I also disagreed with some of the verbiage they used to describe some of Sh.awn's behaviors. When I signed the paperwork to allow testing, I knew there might possibly be a lower result than what I'd suspect his true IQ would be. I based that assumption on my gut feeling he has an expressive language disability. So, I thought of be prepared if it actually happened. Unfortunately, the number they produced for my boy was so far skewed that there is NO WAY it is a valid indication of his mental ability. (Actually, it was nothing short of insulting.) The psych, herself, even stated that she felt it underrepresented his ability.

While it was at least (a small) something that she added that statement, I could not allow something like this become part of his permanent record. My gut just knew there would be nothing to stop future educational settings from going back to that one number and using it to make judgments about Sh.awn's ability and/or his future educational path. That possibility was definitely not something I could ever be comfortable with. Plus, for him to qualify for other services in the future, there must be a discrepancy between his ability and his potential. With a number like this, there would never be a discrepancy. They'd expect nothing from him.

My boy who is working at grade level right now.

My boy who is sounding out words and attacking reading. Look at this!

My boy who has had every single person who works with him say he is a pretty bright kid.

My boy who already has to fight for everything. He should not have to fight for an appropriate shot at learning.

So, I refused to sign the IEP.

They got all huffy about how he wasn't receiving the services he needs! The services that will help him! What I was asking was unethical! Blah, blah, blah.

I countered with the fact that we started this process LAST JANUARY. It has been a year of dealing with this because of how they initially responded to my request to test him. Waiting a few more weeks until my concerns were adequately addressed was not going to hurt him any more. And look! He's on grade level academically ANYWAY.

Today we met with all of the district special ed big wigs. They moved the meeting from the school to the district office. (Trying to intimidate much?) They tried to convince me that they can't change the report. What about retesting him? (Hell no.) What about signing it and noting what we disagree with on the IEP? (Hello? How does that prevent any of my concerns?)

I stayed firm and refused.

They went back to the report to review. I explained my concern that this IQ score was calculated even though he failed to even attempt approximately half of the test and his behavior was such that he made it clear he was over answering the her questions relatively quickly. There is no way you can have an accurate result in that kind of situation?

I didn't back down, but eventually they did. They pulled all of the testing results that I refuted from his IEP. (I strongly believe they should never have included the results in their current form anyway.) They removed all of the areas in the report that I asked to have removed.

I feel better. His forms are now officially signed.

And Is.aac said I missed my calling as a lawyer. He swears he saw sweat appear on the lip of one of their "directors." LOL