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It's Summer--What Can I do Now if I think My Child may Need Special Education Services in the Fall?

Summer is a wonderful time for family vacations, lazy days at the pool, and enjoying extra time with your children. It can also be a time of anxiety for parents of kids with special needs because they may worry that their children are falling behind in the summer, or wondering what they can do to set their kids up for success come fall. Often, parents wonder, but don't know for sure if their kid needs help and this lack of clarity can be its own stressor. You may have more time in the summer to observe your kid and wonder if their differences are "normal," or a cause for concern.


There are a few proactive steps you can take now to ease some of this worry. Keep reading for suggestions and strategies:


1) Read Up: While boning up on possible learning differences your child may be facing is not the most pleasurable pool-side reading, educating ourselves about what our kids need can be one of the most important things we do as parents. There are lots of great books out there, depending on your concern. However, a great place to start for a free overview is the internet. Understood.org and Undivided.io are two trusted resources with loads of great information if you're just starting out. If you suspect dyslexia or reading difficulties, I also recommend the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity.


2) Work with Your Kid: While reading up, you may come across different strategies for helping your kid progress. Summer is a great time to emphasize the fun aspects of learning and I have always made a point of taking my kids to the library, reading together, and even working on cursive handwriting and number sense part of our summer routine. Keep the emphasis on FUN, multi-sensory activities that will intrigue your child. For instance, you can work together on counting out how much money is needed to buy a treat from the ice cream truck, help your children create a lemonade stand, or participate in a summer reading challenge at your library.


3) Enlist a Second Set of Eyes: As parents, we don't know what we don't know and we all want what's best for our children. Trying to suss out if there's an issue with your child's learning can be especially challenging if the child in question is your first child or your one and only because you don't have a point of comparison! If you are able to enroll your child with a skilled tutor, they can be very helpful in determining whether your worries are something to pursue further. One note--because your child will only see the tutor periodically, it can take some time before the tutor sees what you see, so make sure you stick with it long enough for the tutor to understand your child's strengths and weaknesses. Often kids with learning challenges are very skilled at masking their differences and it can take a while to discern how their brain works.


4) Get on a Private Psychologist's Calendar for Evaluation (optional): Skilled psycho-ed evaluations are in high demand and it can often take six months or more to get an appointment for your child. If you suspect something is wrong, there are lots of reasons to consult a private psychologist and it's a good idea to get on the list early, even if you don't know exactly what you need or want yet. If your child attends public school, they have an obligation to evaluate a child with a suspected disability, but their caseloads are also exceptionally high post-COVID. Coming into a discussion with the school about your child's learning needs with independent data can often be very helpful.


5) Organize Your Child's Records: When school is not in session, it's a good time to review their past report cards, test scores, grades, disciplinary sheets, and medical records for areas of concern. Scan these documents and create an electronic file for your child that you can easily access and share with school staff, tutors, and psychologists. Creating a written timeline document of major events in your child's life can also be very helpful in understanding how your child's needs have progressed. In this file, you should include any written information--even emails or notes home from teachers--that are relevant or which touch upon or describe your child's situation.


6) Alert District Staff: If you are at the point that you are clear that your child needs more help, you can take the calmer days of summer to compose an email to District staff to let them know that you'd like to meet about your child during the District's pre-work days or as soon as possible after school starts. In many districts, teachers do not teach during the summer, but district-level staff such as Section 504 district coordinators or assistant superintendents for special education usually do. Figuring out who this person is and writing to them during the summer are great ways to start advocating for your child. It may also result in a quicker meeting or a more tailored teacher assignment for your child.


7) Learn How to Effectively Advocate for your Child: Painter Legal offers parent-coaching sessions that are customized to the needs of your family. Each session is two hours in length, scheduled at a time that is convenient for you, and can be held in-person or virtually, at your preference. Prior to each session, we will review your child's educational and medical records to understand your child's needs and create a customized plan with action items and suggested verbiage for written correspondence. We have limited openings for July and August--book now!

 
 
 

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