OK, I did some research and came up with this information regarding IDEA requirements for evaluations for special ed eligibility. It’s a lot of information and there is a chance the kid can qualify for services but the mom has to fight and the mom has to WANT it.
First of all, this kid definitely needs an IEP. With all the states enacting exit exam requirements for graduation, this kid will likely make increasingly slower progress, and start to fail. Students with unmet needs are more likely to drop out of school due to frustration. I hope this SLP can help the mother understand this – the mother needs to be thinking ahead to high school. Students usually do better in elementary school and then take a nosedive in high school because the environment is radically different. It is far better to get services NOW than continue to wait till the situation reaches the crisis point.
The SLP and the family has a basis for requesting a full evaluation. I know the SLP already did one test but here is the information that the SLP and the family needs:
The evaluation must be a full evaluation. This is the section of the IDEA that applies:
1. Comprehensive Evaluation.
The evaluation procedures in §300.532 have been amended to provide that each child's evaluation must be sufficiently comprehensive to identify all of the child's special education and related services needs, including any needs the child has that are commonly linked to a disability other than the disability in which the child has been classified. (See §300.532(h).)
Now, what happened is the SLP gave him an evaluation but it may not be good enough because of the following section:
1. Assessments Under Non-standard Conditions.
A new §300.532(c)(2) has been added to provide that "If an assessment is not conducted under standard conditions, a description of the extent to which it varied from standard conditions (e.g., the qualifications of the person administering the test or the method of test administration) must be included in the evaluation report.
(this is from
http://www.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/idea/brief14.html )
The SLP gave the student the evaluation in a quiet, one-on-one environment, and the kid nearly failed. “Quiet and one-on-one” is nonstandard, and it does not describe a regular classroom. There should be an evaluation done in what approximates normal classroom conditions to see how well the child performs without additional accommodations.
Now, there IS a problem. The law says that a student doesn’t have to be failing all his classes in order to be considered eligible for special education services. In other words, the student can be getting all Ds and still not be considered. Below is an explanation of eligibility, from
http://clerccenter2.gallaudet.edu/KidsWorldDeafNet/e-docs/IDEA/section-3.html#referral
Discussion of eligibility
The initial evaluation determines whether the student has a disability that would make him or her eligible for special education, and if so, the educational needs of that child. It is not sufficient that the student has a disability. The disability must have an adverse educational impact in order for the child to be eligible under IDEA. Section 300.125 defines a child with a disability as:
. . . a child evaluated in accordance with §300.530-300.536 as having mental retardation, a hearing impairment including deafness, a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment including blindness, serious emotional disturbance (hereafter referred to as emotional disturbance), an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services. [Emphasis added.]
This part further defines deafness as "a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, [and] that adversely affects a child's educational performance." It also states, "Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section."
Neither the Act nor its Implementing Regulations define a minimum decibel loss as the threshold for eligibility, though some state rules may establish minimum thresholds. The critical principle is that the hearing loss adversely affects a child's educational performance, and thus the child requires special educational services. It is left to the states to determine what kinds of evaluations are necessary, but not before consulting the parents and considering independent evaluations; the evaluation report that must be included in the decision.
There is nothing in the law that says there’s a specific requirement for granting eligibility. The mom has to insist that the student’s drop in grades indicates that the student IS affected negatively, that there IS a severe impact of his hearing loss on his education. This part needs to be proved, and the drop in grades is good enough.
The SLP can help Mom understand all of this but can’t force her to do anything about it.
