By ED I mean Emotional Disturbance and not the one they advertise a little blue pill for on late night commercials. (Or as my daughter asked "Daddy What's Reptile Disfunction"?)

I have been attending a lot of ARD's lately which are IEP meetings elsewhere.

I have noticed two disturbing trends that we all need to be hyper aware of. The first is that districts will go to ANY lengths to avoid finding a child eligible for special education under the Autism eligiblity. Instead they are choosing ED. Why is this so important? The autism supplement!! Districts do not want to be responsible for any services under the Autism Supplement as mandated by IDEA 2004. Also there are proven research based strategies that work on our kids. These strategies require trained professionals. These strategies are expensive to employ.

Another disturbing trend is to refer kids to RTI. Response to Intervention. This is being done to AVOID Special Education evaluations and placement. Districts have many different names for this like STAR. They will lead parents to beleive they don't need special education or that they will get everything they need by this plan. This is not true and is a complete misrepresentation of the real purpose of RTI. Some districts will even tell you that it is the gateway to Special Education. In reality it is being used as a way to deny access to Special Ed. and to keep parents on the "Merry go Round" of meetings, discussions and new plans but never getting any closer to special education services.

I know the frustration of multiple school meetings and nothing ever changing for your child.

I hope your district is being forthright with you and that your child's needs are being addressed but if they are not than get the knowledge you need to advocate for your child. The TEA website is a wealth of information and has links to all the special education laws in the TEC and IDEA as well as the TAC.

Just thought I would share some of what I have learned and where you can get informed.

It is an uphill battle that we all fight for our children.