My son Charlie was released from his RTC on June 26th. Part of the condition of his release was that he agreed to go to an alternative school for atleast the first semester. He agreed.
He has the diagnoses of PTSD, ODD, ADHD, Mood Disorder NOS, and Conduct Disorder.
Now his school is at this time refusing to send him to an alternative program, and refused mediation which in MA is voluntary in our state. We have his IEP meeting on August 25th, which is the day before school starts to discuss his placement. A new advocate I have for Charlie is trying to get a mediator from the DOE to be at this meeting along with her.
While talking to an adjustment counselor on the phone she reminded me, just as the SPED director did at a meeting we had last month that they "Need to place Charlie in the Least Restrictive Environment". I think it is unacceptable for them to expect him to come out of a residential program and into mainstreamed classes. The only options they told me about within their school were atleast half mainstreamed.
How can I get the school to see that for him the Least Restrictive Environment would for him be an alternative program, and not mainstreamed where I know they would be setting him up to fail? Isn't there another part of that law which says something about individualized needs of each child?
He has the diagnoses of PTSD, ODD, ADHD, Mood Disorder NOS, and Conduct Disorder.
Now his school is at this time refusing to send him to an alternative program, and refused mediation which in MA is voluntary in our state. We have his IEP meeting on August 25th, which is the day before school starts to discuss his placement. A new advocate I have for Charlie is trying to get a mediator from the DOE to be at this meeting along with her.
While talking to an adjustment counselor on the phone she reminded me, just as the SPED director did at a meeting we had last month that they "Need to place Charlie in the Least Restrictive Environment". I think it is unacceptable for them to expect him to come out of a residential program and into mainstreamed classes. The only options they told me about within their school were atleast half mainstreamed.
How can I get the school to see that for him the Least Restrictive Environment would for him be an alternative program, and not mainstreamed where I know they would be setting him up to fail? Isn't there another part of that law which says something about individualized needs of each child?