{"id":7231,"date":"2012-07-12T10:00:07","date_gmt":"2012-07-12T14:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=7231"},"modified":"2012-07-12T15:00:45","modified_gmt":"2012-07-12T19:00:45","slug":"the-school-was-supposed-to-test-my-gifted-daughter-with-ld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/the-school-was-supposed-to-test-my-gifted-daughter-with-ld\/","title":{"rendered":"The School was Supposed to Test my Daughter for LD"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"The%20School%20was%20Supposed%20to%20Test%20my%20Daughter%20for%20LD\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><blockquote><p>The school district was supposed to test my daughter for giftedness and\/or learning disabilities when we moved two years ago.\u00a0 I just found out they never did.<\/p>\n<p>She is experiencing problems in the classroom. I wrote and asked the principal to test her, but he refused. He said he didn&#8217;t even understand why I was asking him to test her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>You say, &#8220;The school was supposed to test her&#8221;?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Did you discuss this with a special education team or with an individual? Exactly what did the team or individual agree to do? \u00a0Do you have a letter or paperwork that describes what the school was supposed to do?<\/p>\n<p>Did you request that your child be evaluated in writing?<\/p>\n<p>It is unfortunate two years have passed without follow-up on the evaluation that never happened.<\/p>\n<p><em>You say the principal &#8220;refused to evaluate your daughter&#8221;?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><\/em>The principal does not have the authority to refuse to evaluate a student. Under IDEA, the school is required to fully evaluate your child &#8220;in all areas related to the suspected disability, including,&#8230;<!--more--> if appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communicative status, and motor abilities.&#8221; (34 CFR Sec. 300.304)<\/p>\n<p>You need to learn what the law says.\u00a0 Read the IDEA 2004 statute about &#8220;Evaluations, Eligibility, IEPs, and Placements&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/selaw2.html\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition<\/span><\/a> , pages 92-107), including Pete\u2019s extensive commentary.<\/p>\n<p>To get the help your daughter needs, you need to have an independent expert evaluate her. Choose an evaluator who is willing and available to follow through on her recommendations.<\/p>\n<p><em>You say that you wrote to the principal to request an evaluation?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I hope this means you have been documenting everything in writing.<\/p>\n<p>Have you made your requests in writing? Expressed your concerns about your daughter in writing? Do you have copies of your notes or letters and documents from the school?<\/p>\n<p><em>You say you asked the principal to test her but he refused and said something to the effect\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do you have the principal&#8217;s refusal in writing?<\/li>\n<li>If you don&#8217;t, you need to send a follow-up letter that describes your understanding of what the principal said.<\/li>\n<li>In your follow-up letter, ask if your understanding is correct.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>You say you will keep reading articles and hopefully the school will respond.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The school has had two years to respond to your request for an evaluation. Don&#8217;t hope the school will suddenly change. You need to make a request that the school evaluate your daughter in writing, and include a time frame in which you expect a response &#8212; 10 days is reasonable.<\/p>\n<p>If the school does not respond to your request, write a follow-up letter and attach your first letter.<\/p>\n<p>You will find lots of helpful information about writing letters, and why you need to document and create a paper trail here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/ltrs.index.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/ltrs.index.htm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">No Evaluation? Other Data Sources<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Test data is important, but you may have other helpful information.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Grades are too subjective to be used like data from tests, but report cards may reflect your daughter&#8217;s progress or lack of progress.<\/li>\n<li>Has the school used progress monitoring with your daughter? Do you have information about her progress?<\/li>\n<li>Do you have samples of her work?<\/li>\n<li>Do you have documentation about the problems is experiencing in the classroom? Written communications with her teachers?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Any information\/data that you do have should be part of the file you are keeping.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Have you begun to organize an educational file for your daughter?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>If you need to create, or update, your daughter&#8217;s file, you will want to catch up on <span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Summer School 2012:<\/strong><\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/nltr\/12\/ss.organize.file.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The Power of Getting Organized.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/nltr\/12\/ss.organize.file.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/nltr\/12\/ss.organize.file.htm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You will find additional information and resources on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/2e.index.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"> Twice-Exceptional (2e)<\/span><\/a> page: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/2e.index.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/2e.index.htm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On this page you&#8217;ll find articles that describe what happens when gifted kids with disabilities are not identified promptly. You may want to send a copy for the principal to read too.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The timing of an evaluation can mean the difference between a student being identified as gifted or disabled, &#8230; because while giftedness can mask a disability early on, over time, the disability can hide a student&#8217;s strengths.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.edweek.org\/ew\/articles\/2012\/05\/08\/30gifted.h31.html?tkn=PVWFDRZv62bLKAdNRPRfGOfkavzwUOCHZ0Zw&amp;cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Studies Shed Light on &#8216;Twice Exceptional&#8217; Students<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Experts say better, earlier identification needed for twice exceptional children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The school district was supposed to test my daughter for giftedness and\/or learning disabilities when we moved two years ago.\u00a0 I just found out they never did. She is experiencing <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/the-school-was-supposed-to-test-my-gifted-daughter-with-ld\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,150,529,136,1367],"tags":[481,1316,1303,1301,975,976,651,560,482],"class_list":["post-7231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy","category-eligibility","category-letters","category-parent-rights-responsibilities","category-strategies","category-assessments-tests","tag-2e","tag-child-find","tag-documentation","tag-eligibility","tag-evaluate","tag-evaluation","tag-ld","tag-letter-writing","tag-twice-exceptional"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7231"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7796,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7231\/revisions\/7796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}