Outside the Box IEP

[JJJ]

Tigger suffers from extreme school anxiety. Of the 170 days of school this year, he has missed 26 completely and was late (anywhere from 5 minutes to several hours) on 35 others. That doesn't count the days I dragged him there on time and they had to restrain him to keep him at school. Other days he goes willing to school and has fun, does his work, etc.

I'm thinking of asking for the following placement. I can't think of any reason that this wouldn't be legal. What do you think?

Dual-placement in specialized instruction program and homebound. Full set of books will be kept at home and home will have a fax machine. On days that he is unable to get to school, the teacher will fax the lesson plan for the day to our house and Tigger will do all of the work at home. This way he is still learning every day, the work is consistent regardless of where he is.

The issues I see the school pushing back on are all financial

(1) he has a 1:1 aide -- how does that work when some days he is there and others he is not

(2) he gets short-bus transportation -- we'd need the bus to come each day

(3) if they only get funding for the days he actually attends the school building then they are not getting reimbursed for the very expensive related services in (1) and (2) (not my problem, but they will argue that it is irresponsible of them to use the limited Special Education funds to have the services in place for a child who will miss 40-50% of the days

I think if we let Tigger have control, his anxiety will be lessened. When not consumed by anxiety, he does enjoy school, has friends and likes his teachers.

Anyone ever try this before????

 

[Martie]

JJJ,

Not exactly the same, but as you may know, MrNo attended school half days in 7th and 8th grades for some of the same reasons you list. His school phobia wasn't quite as severe but getting him there was a trial. His deal, however, was he would work hard for half a day but wouldn't go (or do anything) if full day attendance was forced.

I think your plan is a good out of the box idea. Perhaps the aide can be 1:2 so that if Tigger isn't there, the aide will have another child to work with. What are the chances Tigger could get along with an aide and another child?

Does the short bus travel a long way to get to you? If not, then whether or not it comes to you isn't a big deal. Would you play each day by ear or have planned days at home? I could not have done the former but with pressure reduced, MrNo was able to make it for nearly every half day.

Give it a try--it can't hurt to ask.

Martie

 

[flutterbee]

Please let us know how the school responds. I've been thinking for several days now how to approach something similar with our SD. My difficult child's school phobia is severe (as of the end of January she had missed 33 days of school) and something needs to change.

 

[--Eleanor--]

We actually had an interim set-up with the school that was similar. difficult child went half days with 1:1 aide, got regular ed curriculum at home. The home part needed to be carried out by a certified tutor, though, in order to count as regular ed hours. The aide wasn't a problem--they can hire aides half-time. My guess is that schools tend to resist this type of situation simply because it gets expensive with transportation, tutor, aide, etc. But that is no reason not to ask for it!

 

[pepperidge]

Going to school half days has been a godsend for my son this year. I could get him to school (with a lot of difficulty) but he would often refuse to work. Now medications have helped too, but the half day has been key to getting him to work while he is there. School had no problem with that, since they still get their money.

Aides are paid by the hour where we are, so in principle, the school could hire a half day aide if that is what it took.

Would it be worth experimenting with your son whether he would go later in the morning for example, or would go if he could come home earlier? Do you have any sense why he will go some days and not others?

I like the idea of having a routine, if that is possible, of my child knowing when he is supposed to be at school and when not.

Could you try something drastic, like only an hour a day to start? Then increase it gradually?

I aslo told my son that he if wanted to stay more, all he had to do was get the school to call me.

good luck.

 

[lordhelpme]

seems to me it is what the iept decides and if you all as a team decide this is what is best then they have to accomodate it. go for it!

good luck. i know that with-my difficult child probably going to a ei program at a school 1/2 away next yr, transportation is going to be an big issue and they are going to have to make some big time concessions to make his trip as short as possible. he was suspended from the bus last wk and the 5 min drive to school is not so inconvient for me but a 30min there and back drive with-gas prices, no way!

 

[Martie]

If transportation is a LISTED related service, they cannot put it back on you. Next IEP make sure "transportation" is in the IEP.

Martie

 

[dreamer]

I had good luck and my dist agreed to-permit my oldest to go to school a few hours late and leave a few hours early every day, that way, the 1-1 also had a set schedule ahead of time. (Too bad it sounded great in theory, but the aide seldom arrived on time and very often left early, creating an increase in panic in my difficult child and with the teachers, who preferred to have the 1-1 be a buffer)
Maybe it worked here becuz in the ed bd classroom they also began late and left early every day.

 

[SRL]

My difficult child had severe anxiety in first and I tried to formalize an arrangement part time homeschool/part time school. They wouldn't go for it--the only arrangment would have been if I had formally withdrawn him for the part of the day that I was homeschooling.

They would agree to do part time homebound/part time attendance only if a homebound instructor were involved instead of a parent filling the role as instructor. Our district is insistent that if the child is enrolled full time then they are responsible and their staff will be fully involved in the instructional and grading aspects.

 

[SRL]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JJJ</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Dual-placement in specialized instruction program and homebound. Full set of books will be kept at home and home will have a fax machine. On days that he is unable to get to school, the teacher will fax the lesson plan for the day to our house and Tigger will do all of the work at home. This way he is still learning every day, the work is consistent regardless of where he is. </div></div>

Just one more thing for you to think through--in my district they wouldn't consider this consistent work with the classroom and I think as a teacher neither would I. A lesson done at home is not the same as a lesson done elsewhere--the child is missing discusion, demonstrations, group work, etc. Doing at home may get the worksheet done and may indeed learn the concept but it's not the same educational experience.

You might want to be prepared to address this because I know it would be coming if I were making that proposal here.