special needs and schools (Houston, Pearland: appointed, neighborhood, construction)

[ourlongfamily]

A few more questions from a special-needs mom. If you currently have an IEP, then ANY school has to provide for it? Correct?

Does anyone know anything about co-taught classrooms in Katy and if they are available??

[carolineb]

ourlongfamily -- regarding your question -- our son transferred from Houston ISD to Katy ISD and Katy challenged his need to be in special ed. Katy ISD will accept the IEP for 6 weeks and re-evaluate if they think it's not appropriate. What do you mean about co-taught classrooms -- I'm not familiar with this term. Do you mean the paraprofessional is teaching your child while the classroom teacher is teaching the rest of the class?? You might want to give Family to Family a call and ask them some of these questions -- they are very familiar with Katy ISD and have parent liasons on staff.

[sweetsarah]

Could anyone private message me if they have any info about best school in Fort bend ISD for PPCD (prescool programme for children with disabilities) Thanks a lot.

[sas0204]

help for single grandmother sasing grandson with FAS Fetal (Alcohol Syndrome) i am desprate for a live in school, but want him to come home on weekends an hollidays! i jst can not handle him anymore an he needs a place that will be loving an caring hes been in spectal ed all his life hes in 5th grade but still 1st grade leavel! HELP PLEASE! anywhere in tx or la will do! he needs HELP! [mod]email address removed. Request info by Direct Message (DM)[/mod]

[ourlongfamily]

Originally Posted by carolineb

ourlongfamily -- regarding your question -- our son transferred from Houston ISD to Katy ISD and Katy challenged his need to be in special ed. Katy ISD will accept the IEP for 6 weeks and re-evaluate if they think it's not appropriate. What do you mean about co-taught classrooms -- I'm not familiar with this term. Do you mean the paraprofessional is teaching your child while the classroom teacher is teaching the rest of the class?? You might want to give Family to Family a call and ask them some of these questions -- they are very familiar with Katy ISD and have parent liasons on staff.

HELP PLEASE!!!

Who/What is Family to Family?

We have an IEP from Virginia. We were supposed to have an ARD meeting--that is almost 2 weeks overdue. They haven't been following the Virginia IEP. My son is now failing Spelling for the 2nd 6 weeks. We have extreme reading difficulty and they are wanting me to allow him to be evaluated by a psychologist for is ADD. He is medicated, and this is NOT the issue. They want to have the IEP for behavioral problems--which have never been The issue is that he is having difficulty reading. They are telling me that his cognitive ability is great....which isn't the case, because I have (and they do too) the cognitive testing that Virginia provided. So where do I go from here. I feel my problem has been with the educational diagnostician...who basically told me there were more kids who needed help more than my son...

Where do I go next? They haven't even started re-testing him, because they just want me to have him evaluated by the psychologist. I never thought that moving him to Texas would be so hard. I am extremely frustrated. He has been receiving help in Virginia for 4 years, but somehow he isn't qualifying in Texas. It has been one mis-communication after another. Any help anyone could give would be great. We are no about 10 weeks into a school year and we have gotten no where.

A co-taught classroom is one that has a regular instruction teacher and another helper (usually special education teacher) who can help in smaller groups and help administer tests. It helped him before, because this was the teacher who would read his test directions and such.

[carolineb]

our long family -- I'm sorry to take so long to reply but I just saw your post (actually I received a message from city data saying that their was a response to one of my posts -- thanks city data)

As far as I know, I can't post web sites on this message board but I just googled the following and the Family to Family (Houston) web site popped up:

family to family houston

Family to Family provides support groups, training, and other programs for families with children with disabilities. You can be added to an e-mail list and get a monthly list of special ed seminars, classes, and other activities throughout the area. Family to Family also has an office in Houston where you can talk to knowledgeable staff people and use their resource library.

Have you read the following books:

It's a New Idea -- The Manual for Parents and Students About Special Education Services in Texas.

A Guide to the Admission, Review and Dismissal Process -- this is all about your rights, preparing for the ARD meeting

Keep in mind, that you are part of the ARD committee and you can reject what the school district proposes and you can request an idenpendent evaluation if you disagree with the school district.

[ZeroTX]

Originally Posted by ourlongfamily

HELP PLEASE!!!

Who/What is Family to Family?

We have an IEP from Virginia. We were supposed to have an ARD meeting--that is almost 2 weeks overdue. They haven't been following the Virginia IEP. My son is now failing Spelling for the 2nd 6 weeks. We have extreme reading difficulty and they are wanting me to allow him to be evaluated by a psychologist for is ADD. He is medicated, and this is NOT the issue. They want to have the IEP for behavioral problems--which have never been The issue is that he is having difficulty reading. They are telling me that his cognitive ability is great....which isn't the case, because I have (and they do too) the cognitive testing that Virginia provided. So where do I go from here. I feel my problem has been with the educational diagnostician...who basically told me there were more kids who needed help more than my son...

Where do I go next? They haven't even started re-testing him, because they just want me to have him evaluated by the psychologist. I never thought that moving him to Texas would be so hard. I am extremely frustrated. He has been receiving help in Virginia for 4 years, but somehow he isn't qualifying in Texas. It has been one mis-communication after another. Any help anyone could give would be great. We are no about 10 weeks into a school year and we have gotten no where.

A co-taught classroom is one that has a regular instruction teacher and another helper (usually special education teacher) who can help in smaller groups and help administer tests. It helped him before, because this was the teacher who would read his test directions and such.

I don't know if this helps your frustration, but schools do not necessarily recognize (or trust) the evaluations from other schools. They are able to accept them legally, but most won't accept an out of district evaluation, let alone one from out of state. Also, be open to the possibility that the prior evaluation was wrong in some respect.

Also, the co-teach model is being phased in in some areas and phased out in others, due to the high cost. Having two teachers in a room of 25 students is expensive for obvious reasons. The less expensive way to do it is a self-contained room of 15 or so special education students, but there are also negatives to that, depending on the student. There are a lot of factors to consider. Work WITH the school to find the right solution for your kid's needs. If you are adversarial, it will be problematic.

Good luck,

-MD

[Chardonnae]

Originally Posted by destonee

Actually I would refer you to Fort Bend County ISD; particulalry around the Sugar Land/Sweetwater/First Colony area schools. Cy Fair is not so good anymore. Spring Branch and Katy are fair to good. Lamar Consolidated is good but you really have to know the resources that they have and know the people in the district to benefit. Ft Bend has lots of resources readily available and tons of advocacy and support groups ran by the individuals needing the support and their guardians/advocates.

I work with individuals with mental retardation and developmental/intellectual disabilities. I also am guardian to one individual, foster parent to another, and cousin to 3. I to have a disability as well as my husband.

The mainstream population at these schools is exemplary as well. I do not work in the school system so I am not marketing them. I work with several provide providerships in the entire Houston and surrounding areas and have a broad spectrum viewpoint of what goes on in the different areas and at various levels.

My regular ed student as well as my special ed student both attend Clements HS in Ft Bend ISD. I would not have them go to any other public school in the area.

If I can be of any assistance to you please let me know. I have tons of info and resources that I can share with you.

Dear Destone,
I also would like your opinion on other schools in FB specifically Greatwood area. We are considering a move there but I've been holding back due to my autistic 6 yr old. She is being mainstreamed into regular school but is speech/language delayed.

[Faten]

Hi, I will be moving to sugarland soon and I'm looking for a puplic elementery school that has good program for autistic kids. If you know specific school please let me know.
Faten

[Valiente]

Hi destonee or anyone that have helpful info:

I'm the parent of a 5 years old child with multiple impairments. I'm looking for a inclusive campus in the Stafford - Fort Bend area. My child currently goes to HISD, but I'm tired of the system and I want to try something new. Do you have any information that could help me decide between Stafford Primary (SMSD) and Dulles Elementary (FBISD)?

Thanks so much for your attention, Best regards,
a proud and desperate parent.