Expert: Tim Runner - 2/11/2011

Question
Dear Mr. Runner,

My son, Scott is 13 years old and has autism. He is in 7th grade in a special needs classroom in middle school. He is verbal (yet conversation skills are poor) and has good behavior. His attention span is poor in group environment (about 4 minutes) vs. about 20 minutes in a one on one environment where more visuals can be used.

My son loves school, and his teachers. He is unhappy when he misses school!

My problem is he has not met any IEP goals for the last two years. The first year the teacher wrote the IEP and included a few suggestions from me. He did not meet any goals. The teacher insisted that he was making progress. However, all improvements that he was suggesting were very general, and nothing specific.

Knowing that he did not meet any goals the first year, I made a lot of suggestions for specific IEP goals the second year and he included every one of them.

Long story short, the year is more than half through, and I know he will not be meeting any of these goals either. He hasn't even worked on some goals that specifically stated "will work on twice a week". Another goal (with four separate objectives as stated in the IEP) have been worked on "a couple of times" as said by the teacher, but this particular goal was going to be harder for him, and I know repetition would be key for success.

In the early years, Scott made great gains in an in home ABA program. This program worked well for him because of his attention/focus problem. I had my doubts before Scott attended this classroom that it would meet his needs. I knew that the focus would be "group learning" not one on one, but was told that this would be an appropriate placement for him.  It however has been a nice surprise that he loves school!

Now that I'm pretty sure that no IEP goals have been met (and barely worked on) for a second year, what can I do now to get more one on one support for him?

I have asked for testing to measure progress, and they basically said that testing is done at his triannual review, and that is not until November, 2011.

I know that generalization is hard for autistic children, so I did not expect all the goals to be "completely mastered" by the end of the year, but I did expect some system of showing improvement.  It seems like the improvements the teacher is seeing is a "feeling that he has" instead of taking data, or test taking.  

What can I do?  Isn't it the law if it's written in the IEP that they at least attempt to work on it?  How can I make a change that will actually be implemented for the new IEP?  

Thanks very much.

Sincerely,

Missy Roy


Answer
Missy Roy,

Goals are a key ingredient of every IEP. First the IEP Team determines the unique needs of the student (usually using the results of standardized assessments). Then goals are drafted to focus the efforts of the teacher and direct service providers (i.e. Speech therapist, OT, APE) on enabling the student to meet the goals. Once the goals are determined, the IEP Team decides what direct services and classroom placement are needed to enable the student to meet the goals. At each IEP Team meeting the past goals are reviewed to determine the progress of the student.

Based on what you have stated, the goals are being ignored resulting in little or nor progress. This is no way to run a special education program. The school is legally out of compliance with the IEP and doing a great disservice to your son. I encourage you to do the following. Write a letter to the head of special education in your district stating what is not happening and pointing out that the district is out of compliance with the law. Include the information stated in your question to me. Tell them you want a log kept of the times being spent working on each goal along with what was being done during the time reported. Also ask for work samples to support what is being reported. Finally, request your son be given all the tri-annual assessments right away to determine what progress, if any, he has made in two years. This letter should close by you asking for an IEP right away to address these issues and to sign an Assessment Plan.

The law does not say that schools only have to assess special education students every three years, instead it says this must be done at least every three years. If the district does not take appropriate action, you may have hire an advocate and file for Due Process. You might consider attaching a copy of your question and my answer to this letter.

I wish you and your son the best,
Tim Runner, Advocate
Advocates for Kids
Email: timrunner@cox.net
Phone: (949) 582-3601
You can learn more at my web site:
www.special-education-answers.com