The Child Study/IEP process

Today we began the process of going through our local public school system to get a Child Study for Caroline in order to obtain an IEP (Individual Educational Plan) and possible city/state services for Caroline at home.  During her last hospitalization we were strongly urged to seek help from the Community Services Board so that so much of the burden isn't on us everyday.  We might be able to get someone to come to our home several days a week to help tutor her, mediate, provide respite care, or even get free occupational therapy, or free tuition to a special needs school if the state cannot provide what she needs.  

 Students who are enrolled in public school and have either learning difficulties or emotional/behavioral issues are referred to a team in the school including a psychologist, social worker, special ed. teachers, etc, who determine if the child needs an IEP.  Then a home study is done where the child is interviewed and given a battery of tests.  If it is found that the child would benefit from an IEP, then she would be referred to another team to determine the exact services needed.  The team today told us they could not write an IEP because she is not enrolled in public school, but the Community Service Board says they are supposed to do this. We are not sure what to do next, but I guess we will do some digging and find out.  The team today were very impressed with Caroline's achievement testing, but we did emphasize that her daily performance is a struggle, and that this year's academics have been particularly inconsistent.

Right now we are also dealing with my father-in-law being deathly ill with pneumonia, so we are dealing with a lot this week.  I have hired a maid service and I wish I had done this years ago.  When your family is in constant crisis, it is very hard to keep up with the daily grind, even with the girls doing chores.  The house is so much cleaner now and everyone is happier.  Now if I could just conquer the laundry.