notnutty
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 Posted: Aug 22nd, 2008 at 03:54 pm
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Please share your experiences, advice, resources on how a parent would show how learning is affected by LTFA.
I think some members have been able to obtain IEP's also based upon the argument that learning is affected because a child cannot attend school if the environment is not safe in the first place. Not at school equals unable to learn.
That is the very simple version of the argument.
I think others have said that the medication the child is on to control allergies affects the way they learn.
Another argument is that the student has missed lots of school because of allergies.
Please share what you know or link other discussions that are relevant.
THANKS for helping build a great resource section for our members.
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“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” Scott Peck
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ajasfolks2
Moderator1 Member is offline Pointing toward TRUTH
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Posted: Aug 22nd, 2008 at 04:12 pm
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INcluding this here as it applies to Virginia/Fairfax Co so far as qualifying for IEP (which requires that learning be affected). Will come back to add to post with examples under each bulleted item & I welcome any input.
CRITERIA. A student with other health impairment who requires special education will meet ALL of
the following criteria. For each criterion the committee must indicate “Yes” or “No” and provide additional
information as appropriate.
• The student has a documented chronic or acute health problem. The committee must describe specify
this.
• Due to the health problem, the student has limited strength, vitality, or alertness, (including a heightened
alertness to environmental stimuli) that result in limited alertness with respect to the educational
environment. The committee must describe this.
• The limited strength, vitality or alertness results in an adverse effect on educational performance. Functional
academic performance is signifi cantly impacted (e.g. performance on group and/or individually
administered standardized tests, daily classroom performance, functional impact of medical condition
on day to day performance). The committee must specify evidence of the adverse effect(s).
• The student requires specialized instruction and accommodations that cannot reasonably be provided
solely through regular education. The committee must specify the instruction required and why it
cannot be provided by regular education.
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notnutty
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Posted: Aug 22nd, 2008 at 04:56 pm
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I keep stumbling on the #3...
The limited strength, vitality or alertness results in an adverse effect on educational performance. Functional
academic performance is significantly impacted (e.g. performance on group and/or individually
administered standardized tests, daily classroom performance, functional impact of medical condition
on day to day performance) (bold mine)
I can't not prove to the school's satisfaction that my DS's LTFA significantly impact his performance. Most days it does not (thankfully).
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“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” Scott Peck
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[deleted]
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Posted: Aug 23rd, 2008 at 08:33 am
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Posted: Aug 23rd, 2008 at 09:42 am
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Aug 22nd, 2008 at 04:56 pm, notnutty wrote:
I keep stumbling on the #3...
The limited strength, vitality or alertness results in an adverse effect on educational performance. Functional
academic performance is significantly impacted (e.g. performance on group and/or individually
administered standardized tests, daily classroom performance, functional impact of medical condition
on day to day performance) (bold mine)
I can't not prove to the school's satisfaction that my DS's LTFA significantly impact his performance. Most days it does not (thankfully).
I thought the same thing until we found the right psych to test our ds. They found some learning gaps that were probable to be explained by anxiety and inability to concentrate on learning environment.
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ajasfolks2
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Posted: Aug 25th, 2008 at 04:51 am
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Random thoughts as I work through this . . .
When food is being used in the classroom (or by the PTA/staff say with "Book It" and Pizza Hut coupons) as a reward for students, it in fact can be like a punishment for the LTFA child as that child cannot have that food . . . each and every time.
If the "prize" for reading is a food item that the child cannot have -- no matter how much he reads -- that negative incentive can affect the child's willingness to learn (read, in this instance).
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ajasfolks2
Aug 25th, 2008 at 04:53 am »
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McCobbre
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Posted: Aug 25th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
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I'm seconding that. BTDT last year. <sigh>
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"Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are potent forms of enchantment, rich with the power to hurt or heal."~Albus Dumbledore
Me: shellfish, chamomile, sesame and a few odds & ends
DS: peanuts
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ajasfolks2
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Posted: Aug 29th, 2008 at 08:41 am
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Has anyone with child who has top/high grades and excellent test scores (though NOT maxed on either account and NOT to the child's fullest potential) been able to quantify or prove that there is a measurable effect on that child's learning in school.
Not sure if what I'm asking is clear.
Our child was NOT performing to the best of his abilities and we believe that the #1 reason was due to LTFA and the atmosphere in that classroom regarding how he was mistreated for being so different. . . . He would sometimes NOT do his best work so to be "more like the others" and not be singled out for being the best in a subject. . . .
Is this making sense, and how do we word this so that it fits the "pharseology" of the world of educators.
~end
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ajasfolks2
Sep 27th, 2008 at 03:19 pm »
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[deleted]
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Posted: Aug 29th, 2008 at 08:54 am
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Gail
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Posted: Aug 31st, 2008 at 08:21 am
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Aug 29th, 2008 at 08:41 am, ajasfolks2 wrote:
Has anyone with child who has top/high grades and excellent test scores (though NOT maxed on either account and NOT to the child's fullest potential) been able to quantify or prove that there is a measurable effect on that child's learning in school.
Not us. I think you've arrived at the core of the IDEA vs. 504 issue re: learning affected. To complicate the matter, I think each state has their own criteria to define this.
For example, our state (Missouri) includes a "performance gap" criteria to show a child's learning is affected, and Mariah qualifed under IDEA using that 'gap' criteria. If we lived in a state that did not use the 'performance gap' as a criteria, she may not have qualified under IDEA. But in Missouri, a child may qualify under IDEA if their performance is certain number of standard deviations (one?) from the child's WISC scores. Mariah's 'average' classroom grades as well as her performance on standardized reading tests showed a 'performance gap' (i.e. those tests compared to her high WISC scores) that qualified her under IDEA. So once she was fully evaluated, she came out with an IEP for her LD, placement in the district's 'gifted program', and a 504 for LTFAs/asthma.
Ideally, all those issues (LD, LTFA/asthma, giftedness) would be bundled under her IEP. There are articles stating that a child cannot have both an IEP and a 504 plan. But it would have been (yet another in a long series of ) battles. For us, the SD asserted that there was no 'data' to show that Mariah's learning issues were related to her LTFAs. The school district maintained that her 'performance gap' was due to a learning disability, not LTFAs. We could have attempted argue that logic by bringing in our own 'data' from/by having Mariah evaluated by psychologist. . . asserting that the LTFA did affect learning (e.g. anxiety). But we didn't do that for a variety of reasons. <shrug> Maybe that was a mistake. We've been satisfied with having both a 504 (LTFAs/asthma) and an IEP for academic issues.
Crazy, isn't it? Hang in there ajasfolks2. 
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Gail
Aug 31st, 2008 at 08:37 am »
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ajasfolks2
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Posted: Aug 31st, 2008 at 11:56 am
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Thank you, GAIL!
This gives me the clarity I needed so to better understand!
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ajasfolks2
Sep 27th, 2008 at 03:17 pm »
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Gail
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Posted: Sep 1st, 2008 at 10:14 am
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To clarify a little further. . .
Since Mariah was provided with an IEP some 5 years ago to help her with a reading "LD", she has had "top/high grades and excellent test scores" (straight As and 99% in standardized tests.  ) It didn't happen over night of course, but the turnaround was pretty dramatic. Her accommodations in her IEP have been conisistently reduced over time. That's appropriate with some LDs. I'm anticipating that the issue facing us soon will be that they will "reevaluate" her LD under IDEA and remove her IDEA designation. And that she will maintain her 504 for LTFAs/asthma and placement in the gifted program.
Had her LTFAs/asthma been bundled under IDEA in her IEP, I think the SD would have maintained those accommodations under Section 504, not under IDEA.
So I guess what I'm tryng to say is that IF the LTFAs/asthma would have piggy-backed her LD, that once the LD designation was lifted, so would the IDEA designation. She would have ended up with a 504 for LTFAs in the end anyway. <shrug>
You're working so hard ajsfolks2. 
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[deleted]
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Posted: Sep 1st, 2008 at 10:00 pm
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Part of what I question is how did other chronic health conditions find their way to automatically qualifying.
It is common knowledge, well backed in research, that any chronic health condition affects learning. LTFA has a lot of specific research already done towards showing how learning can be affected.
Are we missing the boat because we haven't just addressed adding LTFA to be automatically one of the disabilities that are covered?
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ajasfolks2
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Posted: Sep 1st, 2008 at 10:08 pm
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LTFA should automatically qualify. There should be a "child find" type scenario. The moment the school is informed of the child's condition of LTFA/Anaphylaxis, there should be eligibility for 504 meeting (a formality -- just dot the i's and cross the t's) and then move straight to 504 Accommodations Planning meeting.
AUTOMATIC.
We'll get there, one FAS member at a time!
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ajasfolks2
Sep 27th, 2008 at 03:17 pm »
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[deleted]
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Posted: Sep 1st, 2008 at 10:26 pm
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I couldn't agree more...and instead of 504....how about an IEP!
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504- How Learning is Affected - (Read 3,274 Times)