Karen: Our child had comprehensive evaluation, which did not include ADHD. We disagreed. In our Independent Educational Evaluation he was diagnosed with ADHD. The school did not look at this when they accepted his IEE and told us he was not eligible because more RTI data was needed. Can we request a new comprehensive evaluation within a year. I attended your Alabama seminar and read you books but I don’t see clarification as to the time line when it starts and ends.
Not that I don’t support the assignment Wrightslaw gave you, but —
Yes, you can come back to the table a year after your previous attempt. It is illegal for them to use RTI to delay classification.
That said — I would suggest that you imagine that they have just notified you that they’re ready to write an IEP and that there will be a meeting on one week’s time to brainstorm supports together. Write down all the supports you think would help your child.
Now, try to get as many of these tried through RTI as you can.
This is a trick for getting your child needed supports, which sometimes works.
The school evaluated your child but did not assess him for ADHD and did not find him eligible. You got an IEE. That evaluator found that he has ADHD. The school refused to accept the evaluator’s findings that he has ADHD. Will asking the school to evaluate him again lead to a different outcome?
Change the facts. You hired a roofer to put a new roof on your house. After the new roof was in, your roof started leaking like crazy. Many treasured possessions were damaged. Would you ask the same roofer to repair your (now) leaking roof?
To be an effective advocate for your child, you need to learn how to find answers to your questions and how to negotiate with school staff on your child’s behalf. Begin with RTI. Go to the RTI page on Wrightslaw. https://www.wrightslaw.com/info/rti.index.htm
Watch the YouTube video about RTI. Read a few articles about RTI – like “Stuck in RTI Purgatory, Part 1” https://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/stuck-in-rti-purgatory/
and “Stuck in RTI, Part 2” https://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/stuck-in-rti-purgatory-part-2/
After you finish this assignment, come back to the blog and give us a progress report.