1. U.S. Elementary Education : What Parents Need to Know
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School Support

Discussion in 'General Discussions - USA & Canada' started by lazygirl, May 24, 2022.

  1. lazygirl

    lazygirl New IL'ite

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    Hi All,

    I am moving to US soon from India and will be coming with my family consisting of my son and husband. My son is 5 years old and has been diagnosed with ADHD. He is planning to join year 1 in elementary school there. I would like to know if anyone is aware of the school support provided for this ? Do all public schools provide this support or is it limited to private schools only?

    Thanks
     
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  2. MalStrom

    MalStrom IL Hall of Fame

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    Actually in the US it is the public schools that are mandated to provide accommodations for children with special needs. Private schools have no such requirement unless they are specifically designed for special needs children.
    Bring all your child’s medical paperwork with you: diagnosis, reports and so on.
    If you know where you will be staying in the US then you can start looking up the school districts in that area. Each county’s school system will have an office for early child services. In my places it is called Child Find or Strong Start, so it will be called something similar. You should contact that office and then they will tell you how to proceed.
     
  3. chanchitra

    chanchitra Platinum IL'ite

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    Contact child find in your area. They will guide you. Also call the special Education department of the school district that you will be moving to.
    Your son will have an IEP where his needs will be documented and supports will be provided accordingly.
    Archived: Guide to the Individualized Education Program.
     
  4. lazygirl

    lazygirl New IL'ite

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  5. Laks09

    Laks09 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @lazygirl - A lot depends on the state and specific school district you are moving to.
    Some home work you can do before hand is collate all the data with respect to your son and his needs. Does he need one on one aide at all times. How many redirections in an hour does he typically need? Is he easily redirected.
    What generally should happen is you are supposed to enroll him in public school in the kinder class. The school has 30 days to observe him and organize an ARD meeting. It’s a legal requirement. You are a part of the ARD committee so know your rights. Some districts are better than others in providing the least restrictive environment for the child. Since he’s entering kinder, you are in a good place to start. If the district doesn’t work out, parents move to better adapting districts all the time.
    I hope you are in a good state for SPED. Funding matters.

    Btw, there are a lot of local parent support groups all over the country. They are a wealth of information for parents beginning this journey. They will have contacts of local parent advocates(who are not lawyers but know the ARD Process well). It’s a very good idea to get together with one of them for an hour and find out exactly what your district is like, how much of work you have to do and what sort of support you will receive. I love my local advocate. She’s a sped mom herself and knows the process in and out. An hour with her gives me so much of data points.

    Hope this helps.
     
  6. lazygirl

    lazygirl New IL'ite

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    @Laks09 Thanks for the detailed information. Is there a way to find out the good states for SPED? I am not sure which state i will be going to at the moment depending on my husband's project location, but knowing it before hand will help. Thanks.
     

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