Hadda: I have a first grader with an ED. he gets mainstreamed only one hour. How many hours they suppose to give him by law? he is very good in general education so I want to ask for more hours for him !! I have an IEP coming up.
LRE: MAINSTREAMING 1ST GRADER WITH MILD AUTISM
HELP! My son has Autism mixed with ADHD and was mainstreamed last year for first grade. However, I just received a letter from the school stating that they will no longer be doing inclusion for special needs students. They have found that it does not work despite what the law says. My son will be going to a self contained room. I do not want this for him. i want him to be around non-disabled peers. School is not budging on this and the superintendent just does not care. Special education director has not gotten back to my email yet. I need some serious HELP!
Document & date what the school has told you about this. Decisions are to be based on the individual student & their needs. It sounds like they are not doing this and making a blanket decision. Every state has a federally funded parent training & information center, & Disability Rights organization. One or both of these can discuss your options regarding this situation. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/Find-your-Center
I just had the most horrible meeting with my daughters teacher, and IEP team. First none of my concerns were taken into consideration. My goals that I proposed were not taken into consideration either. Before the IEP meeting the Principle and IEP team all stated that I should not even think of having my daughter mainstreamed next year. My daughter needs to be around her non-disabled peers because she can learn a lot from them. However, the teacher next year does not want my daughter and they will not put her in the other 2nd grade class. They want her to stay in the self contained classroom. She has autism. What needs to be my next step?
You have a number of options. I suggest you contact your state parent training and information center. They can help you learn about your options. Putting students in the least restrictive environment is an important part of the federal special ed law. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/Find-your-Center
Placement decisions are made by your daughter’s IEP team – and that includes YOU! Note below that the FIRST consideration must be the gen-ed class.
From: https://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/changing-placement-helpful-legal-references/
…”How does the team decide on a child’s placement?
The first option the team must consider is placement in the general education classroom at the school your child would attend if not disabled.[iii] The team needs to answer these questions:
Can this child be educated satisfactorily in the general education classroom?
What supplementary aids, services, and supports does the child need to be educated in the general education classroom?[iv]”…
I have found that letters from professionals on their letterhead goes far with requests from the school for services or mainstreaming, etc. You may need to pay the professionals but it is worth it. Also it is allowable for professionals to be on the phone via a conference line to attend and IEP meeting. YOu can request this. You can also record the meetings as long as you let the rest of the group know. Anytime a school says “No” to any reasonable request they must put this in writing on a Prior Written Notice. This way you have something in writing if you need to pursue legal action.
They are to give him the amount that he “needs” & can handle. Your state parent training & information center can inform you of the concept of inclusion & your state rules on this. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center