Timeline Q

[Deleted]

DS already has an IEP.  I e-mailed his teacher on Thursday to inquire about OT.  She said she would contact OT and get back to me.  His teacher also said she noticed the same things.

Is the e-mail formal enough or do I need to write another letter?  Does she have 60 days to get back to me like the regular IEP initial testing timeline?  How do I re-open the IEP and ask that OT testing happen formally? 

I couldn't find anything with a cursory glance on Wrightslaw's website. 

I imagine she will get back to me, just wondering when and what happens if it does fall through the cracks or the teacher forgets.  I only contacted her first because I was wondering if she had noticed the same thing as me. 

[holliberry28]

I know in NYC, you can contact your committee for preschool education administrator and request a reconvene to add OT to your sons IEP. It is possible that after they conduct an OT evaluation, they can do an amendment to his IEP that wouldn't require a completely new document, but that depends on your administrator. I know the 60 days is for an initial evaluation, I would have to look into it for a reevaluation.

Is your son preschool or school aged?

Depending on when his annual is due, his teacher may want to wait until then to make the request for OT. However, if it is a while away, they can reopen the case sooner, write a rational for an OT eval, and get the process rolling sooner.

I hope this helps and he gets those services within a reasonable time frame. @clarypax

Eta: add tag

[Deleted]

Annual review would be September. I could see waiting until then since it's borderline. Both teachers say he writes really fast like in a hurry to get done so that is part of the problem. One teacher is spending extra time with him already on scissors. So I don't know. I was at an 11 thinking dyspraxia/ developmental coordination disorder. But his only non hearing loss issues are fine and gross motor skills. So now I am thinking its ear related. When I asked the ENT she brushed it off but she does that a lot. And we switched ENTs so now I am wondering if I should ask the new ENT at his next appointment which would be 5 months out. Even if he brushes it off I wonder if he could at least write me a diagnosis That I could show the school. I need to make DD's appointment for her yearly check up, so I suppose I could add DS and have his yearly done too. He just saw the pedi in September to establish care so it's not really needed...

[mrsbuttinski]

I'm not sure of the timeline for adding an eval to determine if additional services are required.

If there is an issue or even potential issue, I wouldn't wait until he's up for his new IEP unless it's a triennial and it's scheduled very soon. You can ask for a eval anytime there seems to be an additional/new issue that concerns him educationally. Sometimes, with things like fine motor, it's not that he can't do something but that the expectations have increased and the gap between him and the expected skill based on what peers can do is bigger.

I have asked for additional evals a couple of times; the school tended to get them completed within a month.

An IEP can be amended pretty quickly and often without the entire team meeting if it's just something like adding OT.

Good luck.

[Deleted]

I'll follow up with the teacher. I'm volunteering in a week so I can ask her face to face then.

[mrsbuttinski]

@clarypax,

YMMV, but most of my teacher people would prefer a parent send them an email or leave a phone message rather than ask while she's "on duty" with her class.

[Deleted]

You are right- I wouldn't interrupt her. She has to stop her class anyway and give me instructions. She will most likely mention it to me because she seems like that kind of person, but I definitely won't press her. Especially since I am not sure how hard to push for this since both teachers say it's because he is just trying to get done super fast. So I'm in that in not pushing too hard stage because I don't really have it clear yet what is going on.

[mrsbuttinski]

Feb 13, 2017 14:17:33 GMT -5 @clarypax said:

Especially since I am not sure how hard to push for this since both teachers say it's because he is just trying to get done super fast. So I'm in that in not pushing too hard stage because I don't really have it clear yet what is going on.

Great.

But I do think it's worth getting an OT to evaluate- an OT might be able to figure out if the haste in fine motor skills is related to trying to get done with a task that is harder for him or if it's just kid impatience.