What recourse do I have (not receiving speech services)

andreas4dogs · March 2011

Generally, we live in a district that we are satisfied with

HOWEVER, I recently received word through Gabe's teacher (I think she thought we had already been notified, as she is always on top of things) that he has not been receiving speech (nor are other children) for several weeks. This is due to the speech teacher having a family emergency (which I understand). What I DO NOT understand is why none of the parents were contacted regarding the fact our children were not receiving speech services. My very good friend in the same district had no idea that her son was not receiving speech until *I* brought it up to her.

Isn't the director of Special Education supposed to call and inform us in a situation like this? ESPECIALLY with children such as Gabe who is supposed to be receiving speech services several times a week (as stated in his IEP). I left a message for the director of special education at the school, but what recourse do I have?

Apparently they are in the midst of trying to get a substitute, but I am incredibly angry I was not notified regarding Gabe's lack of speech services. It is absolutely imperative he receives such services because of the fact he has speech apraxia and is also on the autism spectrum.

I am now waiting for a call back from the Director of Special Education.

What to do in this circumstance? Thank you.

meghans30 · March 2011

I think this is an excellent start, but just don't drop your concerns. Auntie would be a great one to page on this issue. She is a great resource. The school is breaking the law. They may have to pay for private services and make up the sessions that your child has missed. How long has this been going on for?

andreas4dogs · March 2011

Apparently I just got word that this Director (WHO I DO NOT LIKE, another story) actually didn't want to tell the parents because 'she didn't want to create a panic' and was trying to blame the TEACHERS for not contacting us.

I am still waiting for this Director to call me back.

OSULori · March 2011

andreas4dogs:

Apparently I just got word that this Director (WHO I DO NOT LIKE, another story) actually didn't want to tell the parents because 'she didn't want to create a panic' and was trying to blame the TEACHERS for not contacting us.

I am still waiting for this Director to call me back.

It sucks that the director is trying to put the blame on the teachers but regardless the proberbial ball was definitely dropped-the parents most certainly should have been notified that the SLP was out indefinitely due to a family emergency, that all efforts were being made to find a substitute, and that any missed time as stated on each student's IEP would be made up before the end of the school year. I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago but as the SLP who started the school year 2 months late (long story, I was contracted through the facility I used to work for) and the SpEd directors (there were two) were definitely the ones communicating what was going on to the families.

If you can, I'd get something in writing stating that any missed speech time as stated on Gabe's IEP will be made up and start tracking (if you haven't yet) exactly how many minutes of speech have been missed thus far and continue to track until speech starts back up again. This way, you'll know exactly how much speech was missed and when the districts finds another SLP to fill in you can find out what's going to be done to make up the lost time.

GinandTonic · March 2011

Long story, short, something like this happened to me last year. DS was in speech once a week at the public school (he went to private preK, so it was an after school thing for us). We got a phone call one week that it was canceled and then the next week, we showed up (and woke the baby up to get there) and it was also canceled. I was raving mad - mostly because I woke the baby up and took them out in the rain to get to nowhere.

Turns out that she had a medical emergency and had to take a leave of absence. The special ed people thought the school called. They didn't. If I hadn't shown up to nothing and had just gotten a phone call that they were looking for a replacement or whatever, I would not have been half as mad - emergencies happen.

He ended up missing 3 weeks in a row and I raised holy hell with the special needs people and got an apology from them and from the principal of the school. He got transferred to another SLP at a different school, with whom he clicked with so much better and he made SUCH progress with her, it worked out better in the end. But I hated the inconsistency of it all - 4-year-olds need the consistency.

The funny thing is, once the old SLP was better, she called me wanting to transfer him back and I refused her. I know it wasn't her fault, but I was all rude and like "The new one's better than you anyway."

So, my point is - keep pushing and pushing. And have it all in writing. They're violating your IEP.

Oh - and they promised me that they would make up the weeks missed. By the end of the year, he was doing so well, that was fine with him not going and didn't push that issue (I wasn't mad anymore, obviously), but the new SLP would have done it.

andreas4dogs · March 2011

Thanks ladies. I have been on the phone all morning. Luckily, I have some good friends who have been in a similar situation and are great and incredibly knowledgeable in this respect.

Because this was done underhanded (as I knew from the beginning) by NOT informing parents (again, it is not that I am mad that the speech teacher had an emergency, $hit happens) it is the fact it was being hidden from the parents...almost like the director did this so she wouldn't have to make up the speech sessions (I have every reason to believe this is true, especially situations in the past with this director).

So, while I am still waiting a call back from the director, I called the superintendent and left a message about my concern of the non-compliance of the IEP, and that I want to know when & how his speech sessions will be made up SPECIFICALLY.

The director's contract is up in a couple of months so she will do whatever underhanded thing she can to appease the parents and put the blame elseware.

bugmommy · March 2011

I didn't have this problem, but I had an SLP that kept having a bunch of little problems. Her DD was sick, she was sick, her babysitter was sick, etc. Then I found out they hadn't done testing (that should have already have been done) so they spent 2-3 sessions doing that. I called a meeting and we worked out a makeup plan for all of the sessions that he missed. I was very nice about the whole thing but explained that I felt he had missed out on these sessions that he obviously needed. Everyone agreed and no drama. Not perfect, but the best we could do.

I find the communication around this sort of thing to generally be pretty poor. I understand your anger and would also find it frustrating, but other than the obvious improvement in future communication and immediate resumption of speech therapy, what would be your preferred outcome? I ask because this strikes me as a situation where if you aren't specific about what you want, they will just say "yes, sorry for the problem its all fixed now." I have a very fast checklist that either a teacher or therapist fills out almost every day and periodically ask for their session notes (stored in a database for their purposes - they just print them off for me). This allows me to know almost immediately if he is missing sessions and find out what's going on.

mommyof4boys · March 2011

Legally you Gabe is entitled to those sessions made up by the end of his current IEP. I'd remind the supervisor that you know this and ask what her plan is to make sure Gabe gets these make up sessions.

andreas4dogs · March 2011

Got a call back from the director where she just made excuses (as happened in the past). She kept making excuses until I kept poking...she can't tell me when or how these sessions are to be made up. Again, the main thing I am angry about is the fact we were NOT notified, so I had absolutely no idea my son was not receiving speech services. Had I know this, I could have made alternative arrangements (and then she had the gall to tell me making alternative arrangements would not be beneficial for Gabe...as to which I said that is MY decision to make).

OSULori · March 2011

andreas4dogs:
Got a call back from the director where she just made excuses (as happened in the past). She kept making excuses until I kept poking...she can't tell me when or how these sessions are to be made up. Again, the main thing I am angry about is the fact we were NOT notified, so I had absolutely no idea my son was not receiving speech services. Had I know this, I could have made alternative arrangements (and then she had the gall to tell me making alternative arrangements would not be beneficial for Gabe...as to which I said that is MY decision to make).

Yikes. I know in the case of the experience I had as the "new" SLP that had time to make up with kids that hadn't been recieving speech, the district had no idea how we were going to make up the sessions until I got there-so the director miiiiiight not be just stalling there (though its possible that she could be). I ended up being able to add some extra sessions or add some length to existing sessions, but still ended up having a couple of kids that I saw for a handful of sessions for the first month or so of summer break. Hopefully they're able to find a substitute soon-like Auntie said, qualified SLPs dont grow on trees...especially at this point in the school year, finding short term subs can be difficult. In the meantime, keep tracking just how many sessions/minutes of speech that Gabe has missed since the original SLP has been out, so that if/when they DO find a sub you guys are able to work something out.

andreas4dogs · April 2011

-auntie-:
OSULori:

Yikes. I know in the case of the experience I had as the "new" SLP that had time to make up with kids that hadn't been recieving speech, the district had no idea how we were going to make up the sessions until I got there-so the director miiiiiight not be just stalling there (though its possible that she could be). I ended up being able to add some extra sessions or add some length to existing sessions, but still ended up having a couple of kids that I saw for a handful of sessions for the first month or so of summer break. Hopefully they're able to find a substitute soon-like Auntie said, qualified SLPs dont grow on trees...especially at this point in the school year, finding short term subs can be difficult. In the meantime, keep tracking just how many sessions/minutes of speech that Gabe has missed since the original SLP has been out, so that if/when they DO find a sub you guys are able to work something out.

It's hard. DS had an amazing SLP through elementary school, but middle school was iffy. The two years prior to our arrival the middle school went through 6 SLPs. One didn't come back from maternity, another transfered in and then retired with 30 days, one took the position and never showed up for work, one transfered back to elementary, the retired one came back part time for a year while the bulk of the services were delivered by a rotating roster of SLPs pulled out of other schools for a day here and there to maintain a semblence of compliance.

The year DS turned up they hired an SLP looking for a job with hours similar to her son's. She had a terrific background in stroke rehab but was totally out of her depth around pragmatics. I asked her during a team conference what sort of social skills work she was doing with DS as he had done really well with Michelle Garcia Winner and Jed Baker to some degree, but that Carol Gray's Social Stories were not his thing. She looked at me and said "oh, a little of this and a little of that". And then she looked at her watch and excused herself. I was not happy. Ugh.

She called me a month later and said she realized after talking to me that she didn't know what she was doing around ASD kids and asked me if I thought a MGW seminar was worth her time. She attended sometime around Thanksgiving and turned out to be one of the best SLPs DS ever had.

We've had less luck at the high school level, the SLP there has a baby every two years and spends more time at home than in school. The IU brought in an "expert" from a local residential autism school who thought she knew a lot more about Aspergers than she actually did. She was awful; in the space of a single conversation I discovered she paired DS with another train freak for sessions that consisted of parallel monologuing during which she violated the confidentiality of his IEP and that of my apraxic scout buddy. She also referred to DS's lunch table as the "aspie transportation and disaster table". The middle school SLP had actually suggested DS and this other kid not be paired as they had a history of doing this.

Holy $hit auntie, I am speechless...and I thought I was burnt out from having my ear glued to the phone for phone conferences the past two days.

What recourse do I have (not receiving speech services)

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