Health and Psychology

When a child attends school they undergo a series of evaluations.  They are evaluated primarily by their teacher.  If the teacher suspects the child may be having a problem with learning, they will suggest the child be evaluated to see if they require an individual educational program or IEP be developed for them.  This is the start of a special education process.  

Individual education programs are regulated under Federal Education law.  The programs are supposed to be fair, and to provide the services required to allow the child to fully participate in a free and public education.  To assist in this process the school may have the child evaluated by a school psychologist, a speech therapist, an occupational therapist or other specialists contracted for by the schools to assist in the evaluation of the needs of the student and development of a plan.  Following the evaluation, a meeting is conveyed and the parent of the student is invited to participate so they are aware of and can approve the plan the school has set in place.  When the IEP focuses on the child's behavior, a behavior plan, also known as a 504 plan can be created.

I evaluate students and review IEP plans all the time.  Many plans that have been approved by the parents are not addressing issues the child is presenting with adequately.  This is especially true when services appear to still be needed and the child is evaluated and deemed not to require those services.  Often parents feel the child needs the services but feel pressured to accept the plan the school has drawn up for the child, and do not realize that they can object to the plan.

Some parents feel the only way they can object is to hire an attorney and don't know how to go about that process or fear it will result in their child being mistreted.  Another option is to hire an outside consultant to evaluate the child independently and put forth an alternative plan to submit to the school.  In some cases, the parent really doesn't understand the evaluation process and needs someone to sit with them and review the tests that were performed, the scores that were obtained and explain the results in English.  They may also need the "now what" questions answered that the school may not have had the time to address.  That's were we come in.

We are able to independently evaluate a child, explain the results of any evaluations the child may have already had, or discuss treatment or accommodation options.   We can also assist in evaluating 504 plans or creating behavior plans for use at home and at school.  The goal of an individualized educational program is to assist the child in functioning to the best of their ability and to help them to function at grade level in regular classes if at all possible.

If your child would benefit from an evaluation, or if you just want to understand the test results or what the IEP says about the plan for your child, we can review that with you, and help you to advocate on behalf of your child.  Feel free to contact us.