Persistance Pays Off!

Today was my grandson's, X, CSE. After two years and a half dozen meetings, it finally happened. X was deemed eligible for special education services. We had visited this before, but my son kept leaving the meetings with nothing and refused to teleconference me in. In dealing with adult special needs children, a lot of the same methods work. You need to know what you want, articulate it clearly, be persistent, and not take your eye off your ultimate goal. You also need to recognize when you have leverage and be willing to use it.

Shortly after Christmas, my son started talking about us visiting Michigan for Easter. I told him it was possible, but I needed to see my grandson classified for special ed and I needed to monitor the process to satisfy myself that everything was in order. Every time he asked, that was the response he got. When his wife asked about Easter, that was the response she got. Two weeks ago X's CSE was scheduled for today. Last weekend, I received a copy of the evaluations to be used for this meeting. Last night, I received a copy of the proposed IEP. This morning, at 7 am, I was teleconferenced in.

I only stuck my two cents in twice. On the Connor Scale (a frequently used, norm-referenced, behavior  checklist), Aggression was very elevated. Yet on the IEP, where they list areas taken into consideration for this IEP, Behavioral Interventions wasn't checked. I asked for an explanation. They told me that X was not a behavior problem. I did not bother pointing out all the physical things he had done, such as kicking the teacher and pinching little girl's butts, but rather asked how he scored so high in aggression on the Connor's scale. They had no answer. I insisted that it be put in his IEP that any behavioral problems will automatically invoke a Behavior Assessment Plan.

The district ended up offering 8 30 minute periods of resource support a week to X. This isn't going to cut it,  but they have a benchmark in place for the end of the year. They say X will have mastered 60 of the 110 sight words required by the end of first grade. When that doesn't happen, the committee can be reconvened to examine why this benchmark wasn't met.

I told the kids to sign it. At least he is classified. We can get it on the right services later.

So I will be in Michigan for Easter!