I am hoping to get a one on one aide added from my son. I have been told by 1 staff member the district rarely, if ever, writes a 1 on 1 into an ARD (iep in Texas) but the support is provided. I would rather have it written into the ARD because I am just not that trusting..... I have been reading articles and feel like a) probably I am going to be told no and b) it should have occurred to me sooner to get doctor's and psychiatrist's documentation. I doubt I can get that together before Tuesday… read more
Been there.
Since it's unlikely that you can get everything necessary before Tuesday, I'd say that you just plead your case on Tuesday and then set up appointments for your child to be evaluated.
Make sure that you tell the school that in the near future that you want a second meeting concerning the matter.
Thanks for the help. It was written in one of his Functional Behavior Assessments he cannot be alone so maybe that will help some. I will see how it goes. I am mostly comfortable with the smaller class he is in now, but it's not a permanent placement......
Before my son started middle school, I met with his new teacher and I told her that he would need an aide for the bathroom and P.E. It worked out because she told me that one of the paras would be with him. The same thing happened when he was going to start high school. I had a Zoom meeting with his teacher and explained his history of eloping and twice during PE class.
The para attends the general education (elective classes) with him. It’s not written in his IEP, but was documented in reports during his preschool
to elementary school years. What is written in the IEP is he needs extra time, sensory breaks, additional supports for the standardized tests.
I really don’t want to discourage you, but even after providing letters from both his Pediatrician & Neurologist which stated exactly why he needed a one on one Aide, they denied it. The school put in writing that he would have an Aide during recess, bathroom visits, & lunch. I honestly don’t think he did, particularly for recess since they previously promised me he would always be within arms reach & then there was an incident where he was climbing at recess & fell and banged his head on the blacktop. Maybe you have more compassionate people in control of deciding his need for a one on one, but it typically comes down to the public school system is not willing to pay the salary for individual Aides. I don’t blame you at all for not trusting their word, because legally they have no obligation to provide an individual Aide if it’s not written in his IEP. I almost went through the mediation process, but realized they could care less if my son got the extra support he needed so keeping him at such a school was just not a safe environment & they lacked the staff to truly educate him. I wish there was a law that made it mandatory for ASD kids with higher support needs with documentation would be given a one on one. We shouldn’t have to fight for our kids safety & ability to learn with proper support.
I’m not sure how it will work across different states, I’m in IL. My son’s speech therapist at the school told me that the school never recommends a one-on-one aide but parents can be successful in advocating for one. I think the key will be what kind of supporting documentation you have to show the need for one. If you don’t have any documentation from a doctor, do you have anything in his therapy reports or previous reports from the school that you could use to support your claim? I’ve come to expect the bare minimum from public school and if I want anything extra I’ll need to fight for it or go to a private school and pay for it