Frequently Asked Questions

Page Index - Click on a question, and it will take you to that place on the page.

It is not too early to have a speech and language evaluation and a Psychological Evaluation. The sooner you know what you are (or are not) dealing with the better. There are many issues that can be tested for at this young age. Child who receive therapy at a young age have a much higher chance of improving. Many of our members highly recommend that you have your child tested as soon as possible. Many of us who waited, wished we got help at a younger age (therapy before the age 9 offers the best results). Do it now and get them while they are young. There are a lot of other issues that can get in the way as the get older. The psychological evaluation is an intelligent test, it measure general cognitive ability. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) for children over the age of 6 and there is the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-R) for children ages 3 - 7 1/4. The speech and language evaluation can assess their mastery of early developing reading skills in young children ages 3 - 6.
For more information: See our "Which Language Test" Page

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Yes, anyone who knows the child can request a child be evaluated. State law requires school districts to proceed and conduct a special education evaluation within 30 days after a parent refers the child for testing. School districts do not have the option to refuse or delay testing for any reason (i.e. pre-referral efforts). It is recommend that you make the request in writing (see our sample letters.)

3. I just had a parent teacher conference and she suggested keeping him in kindergarten another year. My six-year-old boy is in kindergarten. He is the oldest in class because his birthday is on October 1. He doesn't recognize all of the letters yet. I think it would hurt his self confidence to stay another year. What would be my next step?

(by Peggy Gisler, Ed.S. and Marge Eberts, Ed.S. posted on LD-Online, 2000) Retention is not going to solve any serious learning problems he may have. It will just hide them for another year.
See Wrightslaw article on Promote or Retain.

Schedule another conference with his teacher immediately. Find out what skills the kindergarten children were supposed to master in the class and how many of them your son has mastered. He may have a processing problem that the classroom teacher cannot identify. Make it clear that you do not want your son retained and put in writing that you want him tested for a learning disability. Do this before the end of the school year so a plan to help him is in place for next year. Also, it will give you ideas of how you can help him this summer.

In your search for a solution to your child's learning problems, be sure to have his vision, hearing checked and schedule an appointments. This will enable you to get a medical opinion about why your son is having difficulty with certain learning skills. Your son has several months to pick up the skills he needs for first grade, and you can help him this summer.

As an advocate (and webmaster), I agree completely that a child who is academically ready shouldn't be retained. I would stress, retention is not supported by research or the National Association of School Psychologists.

4. My son will be five in August. Our kindergarten cut-off date is September. He is a very big child and is right on track with his learning skills, but is just now catching up with his social skills.

We have gone through two years of preschool and could put him into kindergarten at the age of five or wait until he is six. He is a very tall and big kid; I don't want the other kids to make fun of him. What other factors should we be taking into considering?

(by Peggy Gisler, Ed.S. and Marge Eberts, Ed.S.posted on LD-Online, 2000) Basing your decision on when to enroll your child in kindergarten on just one factor – his size. Have you considered that he will be one of the very youngest in his class? Many of the children will already be six or very close to six because their parents have delayed their entry in order for them to be able to handle today's large class sizes. Furthermore, most of the other children will also have had preschool experiences.

Your son may be ready for kindergarten and just sail through school. Readiness for kindergarten is not an exact science. It depends on the child's physical, social, intellectual, and emotional development. Nevertheless, solid research shows that chronologically older children do better in kindergarten and the primary grades and are less likely to fail a grade or be classified as learning disabled. There is no agreement on how long the effects of youngness last. Some believe it diminishes as grade level increases and disappears by third or fourth grade.

You need to think beyond the start of school when your child may be the largest student in his class. Will size or age be more important when he enters high school or even college? Will he be able to handle social situations with his older classmates.

Parents have a right to inspect and review all educational records relating to their child. This right to “inspect and review” includes the right to have copies of records and to receive explanations and interpretations from school officials. Agencies must comply with requests to inspect and review records within forty-five days, under federal law. Massachusetts Education Law (603 CMR 23.00 - Access to Student Records) used to be within 2 days and was changed in 2003, now records are to be provided within 10 days. Destruction of records violates the parents’ rights of access.

Copies of records must be provided to the parent if failure to do so would prevent the parent from exercising the right to view records. Schools may charge reasonable copying fees unless the fee would “effectively prevent” the parent or student from exercising the right to inspect and review the records. Fees may not be charged for searching and retrieving records.

The acronym IEP stands for Individualized education Program. Think of it as my legal agreement with the school. It list the services they will provide (number of hours per day, and where) and goals for your child. The Federal law states (Appendix A to Part 300) the following:

"The IEP requirements under Part B of the IDEA emphasize the importance of three core concepts:

(1) the involvement and progress of each child with a disability in the general curriculum including addressing the unique needs that arise out of the child's disability;

(2) the involvement of parents and students, together with regular and special education personnel, in making individual decisions to support each student's (child's) educational success, and

(3) the preparation of students with disabilities for employment and other post-school activities."

Is a plan designed to accommodate the individuals with a disability under the American with Disabilities Act.

A 504 provides a student with accommodations, no remediation, or specialized education programs. It is used for students whose disability is NOT interfering with their ability to progress in the general education.

Take time to review your child's IEP carefully. You have 30 days from the time you received it. (even during the summer months and vacations).

10. My Team meeting is in three days away and I don't have a copy of; the evaluations that were done.

It is highly recommended that you read and formulate questions regarding your child's testing, before you go to your child's Team meeting. By law the school must provide you with the reports at least 2 school days (48 hours) before the meeting. If they do not provide you with, we would recommend you reschedule the meeting. It is also important to ask for a summary of the test scores (that includes all three type of scoring: standard score, percentile, and grade level).

You can find these timelines in the Special Ed Regulation:
28.05: The Team Process and Development of the IEP.

11. I sent a letter giving request to test my child last month, my child did quailfy for special education, when should I get a copy of my child's new IEP?

Within 45 school days (that is school working days, the summer or vacations don't count.)

You start counting from the time of written consent was given for the initial evaluation or reevaluation. The 45 days includes: school doing the evaluation, convene the team to review evaluation, determine if the students requires special needs, and develop the IEP, if qualified.

You can find these timelines in the Special Ed Regulation:
28.05: The Team Process and Development of the IEP.

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12. Is the vision statement part of the new law? How do you write a vision statement? We
don't know where to start. The IEP team wanted us to write a '5 year vision statement' for
our son. We'll be lucky if we can come up with a one year vision statement!

There is nothing in the federal statute or regulations about "5 year plans" or vision statements. We suggest you ask your team about the purpose of the vision statement. As a parent, it is your responsibility to make long-term plans for your child - this is not the school's responsibility.

Can you imagine building a house without a blueprint?
If you don't have a blueprint, you won't know how to site the house, what types of materials to use, or when to schedule work by subcontractors. You won’t know how large your house will be, how many rooms it will have, or what it will cost to build. You won’t know about obstacles you may encounter, legal requirements, contracts, or permits. Do you think you’ll figure this out as you go along?

Can you imagine starting a business without a business plan?
You don’t know what products you’ll sell, how you’ll market your products, or how to fill orders. You don’t know what services you should offer. You haven’t done any research about your market or your competition. You don’t know what start-up expenses to anticipate, how much your business will earn, or when you can expect to break even. You don’t know about obstacles you may encounter, legal requirements, or contracts. Do you think you’ll figure this out as you go along?

Can you imagine raising a child with a disability without a master plan?
You don't know about the child’s disability, how the disability affects the child’s learning, or how the child needs to be taught. You don’t know what services the child needs. You don’t know what steps you should take to ensure that your child receives services. You don’t know if your child is making
progress. You don’t know about the obstacles you are likely to encounter, your rights and responsibilities, or how to resolve problems. Will you figure this out as you go along?

This year, millions of children with disabilities will spend hundreds of millions of hours in special education classes – with no master plans. There has to be a better way to tackle the job of educating children with disabilities. Have we sold you on the importance of a master plan? Good!

13. What is the maximum number of goals that can be in a child's IEP?
I was told that our son can only have 4 IEP goals under the new plan (he has 10 goals in his present IEP). Is this true?"

First, the person who said your child's IEP can't include more than four goals is wrong.
Many school people who dispense legal advice are wrong.
What can you do about bad advice?

YOU need to find out what the law says about your issue. Learn how to find answers to your legal questions.
We highly recommend that YOU read the special education statute and regulations, your self.

We know many parents are intimidated by the law. We've worked with thousands of parents in training sessions. Although these parents were intimidated, they learned to find answers to their questions in the statute and regulations. You can do it too!

If you don't learn how to find answers, you'll continue to be dependent on school officials for legal information and advice. Many school people don't know what the law says -- the advice they give parents is based on what they heard at a conference or read in an article. School staff need to read the law too!

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	One of our original webpages, created July, 2001, by Melody Orfei Webpage last modified on May 10, 2012 - V13 by Melody Orfei
mel3sons@gmail.com