Special education questions

[chldrnrspcl]

What is the name of your state? Oregon
I received this letter hand delivered by my childs teacher on 5/16/06, it was dated 5/11/06.
It states that those who have worked with him in the past feel that there have been some changes in his ability to handle food and that he is not eating as safely as he did. There was one major choking episode last year which resulted in his hospitalization however this did not occur during feeding; it was after that, however, that we began to notice changes. The following conditions have been noted when he is eating: decreased control of saliva and/or excessive oral secretions, wet and gurgly sounds when eating and afterwards, ineffective chewing, difficulty forming a bolus and maneuvering it in his mouth, significant coughing with some gagging, food or food colored secretion coming from his trach, questionable effectiveness of swallow with residual food in his mouth; pocketing, fatigue and occasional agitation.

I was also given a sheet for protocols and one of the protocols is: Suctioning Pre/Post eating: Currently at nurses discretion; only 3 times this year.

My son has not been hospitalized since 2001 and if he is having this much difficulty when eating then why is he not being suctioned more frequently? I contacted his teacher and asked him, he stated he has not seen most of what is in that letter and he would not know if my son needs to be suctioned. I then contacted the nurse in charge of the nurses and asked her. I was then contacted by the feeding team nurse and she stated that she went to school and observed my son eating and he was wet and gurgly while eating his lunch, no food was observed coming from his trach and that he was suctioned. I received the documentation from his assigned school nurse and it stated that he was wet and gurgly at lunchtime, but she did not suction him until right before he came home from school at 3:30, lunch was at 11:30. I spoke with the person in charge of the LEEP program and he stated that he is not familiar with any of the nursing duties so he does not know if someone is doing something they should not be. I need some advice at this point, I am worried about sending my son to school at this point.What is the name of your state?

 

[GaAtty]

It is really hard to help when you don't even tell what his disability is, nor how old he is. Because you don't explain why his disability is, it is impossible to tell what his needs are that you feel are not being met. If you feel there is a problem, then call an IEP.

 

[chldrnrspcl]

His disabilities are:

Developmentally delayed (he has the development of a 1 year old), hearing impaired, tracheotomy due to sleep & central apnea, obstructive apnea, he requires total care, incontinence and he is in a wheelchair. He is 13 years old. His disorder is a muscle disease similar to duchenne's muscular dystrophy.

 

[GaAtty]

With such problems, it is impossible that a lay person would know whether or not his needs are being met. I suggest that you get a professional, in this case a physician, to state what he needs. Usually if he writes a letter to you that you can present to the school it will be enough. The schools usually don't require that the doctor come to the school. If what the doctor says he needs is different from what is happening, then try giving the letter first to his caretaker at the school. If that doesn't change anything, then call an IEP. You shouldn't call an IEP just because you are worried, however, you need something concrete. Now is the end of the school year. Usually there are end-of-year IEP's happening anyway--he should be having a routine one. Get your doctor letter ready.