A Blog in Three Acts: Act III

You may wonder why I have titled this and the previous to posts as I have. Well, to be perfectly honest, I had three specific things I wanted / needed to blog about. Collectively it was too much to be posted at one sitting, so I broke it up in the cleverest way I could. (Sad, because it really isn't that clever is it?)

Scene I of the third act comes to us care of our friends at Baltimore County. As you all know, Jackson's IEP is scheduled for next week. During our preparations we've been reviewing his evaluations and other paperwork which makes up the mountain sitting on our family room bookshelf. Our review of his PT assessment put me right over the edge of angry.

In her assessment of Jackson, the therapist states that Jack consistently meets the skill set of a 19 month old, with scattered skills up to a 32 month level. But during her summary she ranks his overall skill level at 32-35 months. In order for Jackson to qualify for services he has to have a delay of 25% or more. An assessment of 32-35 months is an impossible statement. And so I emailed her (and our service coordinator) to find out how she came to this conclusion. Her response? "Oops". Really. Six other county employees have seen this report - no one else has even commented. How in the world can an organization function like that? Particularly when the level of assessment determines eligibility for services. Does anyone really READ the assessments? (The answer seems a bit obvious doesn't it?)

Scene II opens with yet another email to our county friends, a gentle reminder that the IEP has been changed from 1:00pm to 9:00am. (I can't assume anything when it comes to county communication skills.) I was floored when the responses rolled in. "I didn't know it had changed - I can't be there at that time". "I'm on vacation". "I had no idea it changed. I hope the visual coordinator can still come".

Now lets keep in mind that I've made no secret of the fact that I expect this to be an unpleasant experience. Our service coordinator has told me repeatedly that there is nothing to worry about, "it isn't as bad as the stories you've heard". Forgive me if I'm not trusting of that statement. Their track record thus far is less than convincing.....