School for the Deaf denies deaf child with Down Syndrome placement

[jillio]

So you believe that a one hour observation of a student who was not feeling well that day would be a thorough or "lengthy" observation?

How do you know that student was not feeling well? If it is reported that a student is not feeling well, then that is incorporated into the findings of the observational period.

The experts that know what they are looking for can obtain the answers they need in an hour. Does your doctor have to spend more than an hour with you to make a diagnosis for something that is straight forward and based on symptomology?

I'm sure with that one hour observation, they also reviewed testing results and other records that provided additional information to the observed behavior. To even be eleigible for special placement or an IEP, she would have had to be assessed and findings made available to her home school. Evaluations are then done every three years. It is the law.

But, you failed to answer my questions.

 

[CSign]

Csign, you said the school did a lengthy observation? Maybe they did other observations besides the one hour observation that you know of? Are there children with mental retardation currently enrolled in the advil?

In the denial letter it stated, "after a lengthy observation..." There were no other observations conducted on the student. There are students who have secondary disabilities. Exactly how many, I'm not sure but they do have at least one to two SDC classes on site.

 

[CSign]

How do you know that student was not feeling well? If it is reported that a student is not feeling well, then that is incorporated into the findings of the observational period.

The experts that know what they are looking for can obtain the answers they need in an hour.

The parent told me she wasn't feeling well that day, and I do not believe it was considered as a factor. I need to ask the childs mother if she told them. Either way, one hour is not sufficient to give a clear picture of the students abilities and interactions.

 

[jillio]

In the denial letter it stated, "after a lengthy observation..." There were no other observations conducted on the student. There are students who have secondary disabilities. Exactly how many, I'm not sure but they do have at least one to two SDC classes on site.

What type of secondary disabilities? Also, an hour is considered to be a lengthy observation, when it is an expert in education and child development doing the observing.

 

[jillio]

The parent told me she wasn't feeling well that day, and I do not believe it was considered as a factor. I need to ask the childs mother if she told them. Either way, one hour is not sufficient to give a clear picture of the students abilities and interactions.

You don't believe, but you don't really know.

As I said, one hour is sufficient when it is an expert doing the observation, and when it is combined with the other assessments that the child legally had to have available to both the home school district and the deaf school.

I understand your frustration, but you are really making a decision without any consideration for many, many variables that go into making placement decisions and without knowlege of the assessment process. You are simply assuming that one thing went into the decision when you have no understanding of the fact that many factors are considered. Just because a one hour observation was done, does not mean that is the only factor considered in denial for placement.

 

[shel90]

In the denial letter it stated, "after a lengthy observation..." There were no other observations conducted on the student. There are students who have secondary disabilities. Exactly how many, I'm not sure but they do have at least one to two SDC classes on site.

Sdc?

Well if the mother isn't satisfied, she can appeal. I know if a school doesn't have the resources nor the trained staff whether it is a deaf our a public school, the child's neda won't get met. Since I don't know much about this sol, I can't form an opinion about this situation.

 

[deafdyke]

They denied based on the fact that according to her functional levels they did not have the resources or the program in place to accommodate her. They referred back to the home district, who is legally responsible for that accommodation. They have followed protocol. They did not automatically deny based on her DS, as was claimed originally.

Damn I checked California School for the Blind's site and it does not have a deafblind program. Schools for the Blind, except for a handful, now have very strong mutihandicapped programs. I think a good idea would be to turn most of them into multihandicapped schools. (meaning multihandicapped of ALL stripes not just blindness)
CSign, suggest that the parent appeal.......or if the potential student is a bit more severely handicapped, look into Perkins School for the Blind. They accept deaf kids with more severe handicaps in their deaf blind program.
This is a tricky sitution, BUT the California Schools are very experianced with deaf kids of all stripes. Csign, I do support kids with mild issues being sent to Deaf School....but kids who are more severely handicapped are a lot trickier. They tend to need severely handicapped programs. Again we don't know the specifics...but that could be one reason why she was rejected from the deaf school.

 

[sallylou]

CSign, are these friends of yours? You have an ax to grind and your posts are not impartial. If your friend is unhappy with the decision, she should get an attorney to explore her options.

 

[CSign]

CSign, are these friends of yours? You have an ax to grind and your posts are not impartial. If your friend is unhappy with the decision, she should get an attorney to explore her options.

All options and avenues are being explored. I have no ax to grind. I just want this child to be be given a fighting chance. She is profoundly deaf and does benefit from the ability to access communication and language. Place her in an environment without signing peers and community her progress will halt.

 

[sallylou]

All options and avenues are being explored.

That's vague and non-responsive. She needs an attorney. Contact the advocacy group. Appeals aren't effective if you don't have good legal counsel.

 

[CSign]

That's vague and non-responsive. She needs an attorney. Contact the advocacy group. Appeals aren't effective if you don't have good legal counsel.

I would beg to differ, as I did respond to your post. My statement that all options are being explored is an accurate description of the situation. It is not my MO to pursue one avenue. We are pursuing a few different avenues right now. And yes, an attorney is looking at the case.

 

[DURAY]

Maryland SD placed deaf kids with other disabilities in their Columbia campus. Normal deaf go to Frederick. Janoski (sp?) who was the MSSD principal refused to place her severely child at MSD but to FL which was odd. I remembered at Gallaudet in the 1980s a big debate in the admissions office about accepting deaf with other visible disabilities v. deaf with invisible disabilities (LD, etc).

 

[shel90]

Maryland SD placed deaf kids with other disabilities in their Columbia campus. Normal deaf go to Frederick. Janoski (sp?) who was the MSSD principal refused to place her severely child at MSD but to FL which was odd. I remembered at Gallaudet in the 1980s a big debate in the admissions office about accepting deaf with other visible disabilities v. deaf with invisible disabilities (LD, etc).

From what people have told me, that is incorrect. It used to be that way in the old days but that has changed.

 

[shel90]

All options and avenues are being explored. I have no ax to grind. I just want this child to be be given a fighting chance. She is profoundly deaf and does benefit from the ability to access communication and language. Place her in an environment without signing peers and community her progress will halt.

Ok, then if you believe that this deaf school does have the resources and the programs designed to meet this child's cognitive needs, then appeal.

 

[deafdyke]

I remembered at Gallaudet in the 1980s a big debate in the admissions office about accepting deaf with other visible disabilities v. deaf with invisible disabilities (LD, etc)

. At GALLY? Yeah, but are we talking about different things? I mean I know that there are deaf peopel with mild secondary disabilties ...but did it ever seriously consider admitting kids with severe secondary disabilties? (the kind where deafness is just one of many many different probelms)

 

[Oceanbreeze]

Ok, then if you believe that this deaf school does have the resources and the programs designed to meet this child's cognitive needs, then appeal.

I was going to say the same thing. If the parent truly thinks that the child was denied the right placement for her, then that parent needs to appeal the decision. Our "Kangaroo Court" here isn't going to do anything to help this child. All this really has done is allow for opinions to come into play where little facts are really known about this child and her situation.

 

[CSign]

So a little update. I filed a compliance complaint on behalf of the parents/student. A very well respected law firm has taken the case, and we are just waiting to see the schools next move. Hopefully we will be able to get the situation resolved without going to Due Process; but if we can't, I feel good about the fact that the family has the expert support of one of the best firms available.
Compliance complaints typically take about 60 days to come to a resolution so we just have to be patient. If it does end up going to DP, I'll post the information because at that point it will be a matter of public record. I just hope and pray we can come to a positive resolution before that happens.

 

[CSign]

Agreed. And no doubt St. Rita, or any other school that had the resources, would not have denied placement. However, we don't even know what school denied placement for this girl. It could have been a very small charter school with only 15-25 students total that is barely able to cover the costs of the programs they have.

It's a state school, required by law to follow the Education Codes that bind them. Also cannot discriminate based on a disability which is exactly what happened. A situation similiar to this occurred at the school about 6 years ago, so this systemic level of discrimination is ever present and must be addressed.

 

[deafdyke]

That's good. Again maybe it was a misinterpretation on the part of the people doing the testing.
If she IS mild/moderate, and the Deaf School has a program for her that would be awesome. And overall, mild/moderate MR kids can fit into a deaf school setting very well. 25 plus years ago, a lot of kids at Deaf schools were mild MR (due to the push of mainstreaming) However, a kid who has a lower functioning level, (say beginning at the lower end of moderate MR) tends to require more specialized education (meaning a Severely Handicapped classroom) This is true, even for Blind Schools. Developmental disabilty is a lot more complex then slow learner" And it's very possible that she is smarter then she's been tested on and if she gets exposed to ASL, that could mean a HUGE leap in functioning.

 

[deafdyke]

Also cannot discriminate based on a disability which is exactly what happened.

But the thing you're missing is that it was not a clear cut case. We all acknowledge that mild/ higher end of moderate MR kids can be served well at a Deaf School, especially one with a special needs program. (and I think the gross majority of them do) But kids who are on the more severe end of the MR spectrum (if they are deaf) have deafness as a secondary disabilty. It's really hard to serve severe multihandicapped secondary disabilty kids, especially b/c Deaf Schools are ACADEMIC.
It's exactly like how a typical Resource Room/Sped program can serve kids with mild issues (eg LD, ADD minimal accomondation dhh and blind/low vision kids) but they're generally not equipted to educate kids with more complex issues. Even kids with more severe LDs may fall through the cracks.