10/02/04 Gary Mayerson presenting his new book:
How to Compromise with Your School District Without Compromising Your Child
As a friend of mine who was at the conference expressed:
Book copies were available to purchase (thank you to Julie from www.difflearn.com!) which was great because we could all follow along chapter by chapter. What makes this book different and complimentary to other excellent legal resources like Wrightslaw, is it focus’ not so much on statutes, but understanding the dynamics of what is taking place at an IEP meeting and gives strategies on how to help neutralize the “us vs. them” tone, with the ultimate goal of avoiding legal action. These strategies, paired with some other excellent practical approaches Gary recommended, will be very helpful in securing an appropriate education for your child.
Here’s some general notes/highlights touched on at the conference:
Why is there often so much conflict at IEP meetings? (Chapter 1)
Things to keep in mind:
Language of Intimidation (Chapter 2)
(Often, I’ve considered this since my husband can’t come, this way he can hear what happened instead
of what I say happened)
(my-Jennica- note: Along with details about IE’s, Chapter 8 “The IEP Meeting and Development of the IEP” is a must read, excellent suggestions and letter examples; actually, letter examples are throughout the book.)
Gary Mayerson also noted a couple of significant recent cases of which info can be found on the Mayerslaw website:
www.mayerslaw.com One federal ruling will be posted soon regarding the 10th circuit courts decision that home program and supports are necessary to support the child’s success in the Least Restrictive Environment.
Thank you again for this full day presentation! Becoming more educated on how to effectively be your child’s best advocate puts anxiety to rest, and replaces concern with confidence.
Gary was generous with information, and very very funny which it’s always a bonus to enjoy while you are learning! We all learned some very important tips and insight that makes the title of the book that much more significant!
Take care,
Jennica
Hey guys!!
“ I walked in there feeling a little uneasy, and walked out to the beat of empowerment!”
It was an intimate (about 30), intense, assertive group of attendees.
Man, did we all take advantage by asking tons of questions, personal and general!! Thank you Gary for taking the time to answer them all (and thank you Deb for keeping us on task :0)
~parents have become extremely educated on their caseload of 1, remember, administrators have dozens and dozens of cases and may not be well versed in nature of the disorder
~while even the most caring of administrators want to do what is right for the child, what the child needs can loose focus from limitations: budgetary concerns, excessive caseloads, pressure from the school board, teacher’s union guidelines
Beware of language of intimidation, do not be pressured into any decisions you feel uncomfortable with.
Do not rush; do not feel you have to sign/agree right then and there. Take your IEP document home, tell the administrators you would like to have a day to think it over. Remove yourself, take a break, think about it after the meeting. And, if you do fold under pressure and sign then regret, know that you can withdraw consent at any time. But also know, that if you don’t object within 14 business day, the IEP is presumed accurate.
How to neutralize/protect your child’s education:
*Keep the focus on what your child needs, not what you want; “Johnny needs” not “I want Johnny to have”
*look at teachers unions guidelines to understand limitations
*assess child across settings (home, school, community)
*get independent evaluations early on
*buy a composition book, keep an accurate record of all correspondence, times/dates of phone calls, letters received, calls you’ve made, faxes sent, meeting schedules- what happened..(Chapter 5, The Importance of Making and Preserving “The Record”)
*Check your child’s educational records 1x per year to make sure the records are accurate, if something is missing that should be there, send it to them with a letter
*Never leave a letter from district unanswered.
*fax letters, correspondence; faxing is a better record then certified mail, print out your fax report.
*STAY BEHAVIORAL, and STAY BEHAVIORAL!- be overtly pleasant, be relentless, don’t be psycho relentless (I think I’ve walked a fine line there many a time!) Gary pointed out “equitable circumstance provision”, any sort of inappropriate behavior, cursing, yelling, blocking, throwing, can put you at risk Keep this in mind, there are a few who may try to set you off just to get a record of your inequitable conduct…don’t let it happen. (Chapter 7)
*Disagree without being disagreeable
*When necessary, let them know you will be tape recording at your meeting to help keep an accurate record
*10 day notice: if you expect any possible reimbursement, you have to tell them what you intend to do and what you expect them to reimburse you for within 10 business days. (details and letter examples are in Chapter 7)
*anything during a meeting that sounds like policy (ex. we don’t offer extended day) write it down, what was said, who said it… your child’s education is not about administrative limitations
*independent evaluations: be sure to ask for district evaluations before the IEP meeting so you can get your independent evaluation if you don’t agree with theirs. Any provider on a district given list is not independent. Know that if you are refused for an independent evaluation, your district is supposed to take you to due process (it would cost the district much more for the legal action they have to take as opposed for reimbursing/paying for the independent evaluation)
*Extended Services (chapter 10) : an IEP with many social and communication goals can be helpful to support the need for district to provide a 1:1 aide at summer camp~ Video taping 15 minutes every couple of weeks of your child in unstructured time can be influential proof about child’s need for structured support~ Take good data, data can show that long breaks can cause significant regression that the child can’t easily recoup.~ Baseline if you can, on your own dime, then show data/info to district to support need for service
