Having a child with learning disabilities can be a challenge. Finding appropriate services for that child can be an even bigger challenge.
Melody S. homeschooled her daughter, Anna, but looked to her local school's special education department for additional support. Anna was diagnosed with Nonverbal Learning Disorder and has visual and auditory processing problems which drastically affects her learning potential and working memory.
Initially, the school district said they couldn't help Anna because she was homeschooled. Frustrated, Melody called About Special Kids (ASK) and spoke with a parent liaison. ASK helps families of children with special needs navigate complex systems to access what they need to better care for their child.
The ASK parent liaison was also the parent of a child with special needs and understood Melody's frustration. She told Melody, "I'll look into it." The parent liaison called the State Department of Education and found out the ruling for services to homeschooled students under Article 7, Special Education Law.
Melody said, "She told me that under Article 7, a homeschool is considered the same as a private school and both public and private school students are eligible for services. I called the school and quoted Article 7 and they quickly set up a meeting with me to discuss providing services for Anna."
Amazed at the fast response to her call, Melody said, "Everything started happening rather quickly. ASK gave me information I would need for the IEP/Service Plan meeting and briefed me on questions that might be asked. I went in to the meeting prepared and the school took me seriously. It went very, very well."
Within a short time, Anna started receiving services that provided her with extra help and provided a break for Melody. "These services have been a great help to all of us. Overall my daughter is happier. It's not necessarily the school making her happier, but now she realizes that all kids need to learn this stuff. She's having success instead of constant day to day frustration. She's now achieving more in her academics."
Things are also going more smoothly both at home and at school. "In general, we all have less stress from frustration. Anna thought we were being unfair, but now she understands… she has a much better understanding of what's expected of her. There is less stress for me too as I used to think I must not be teaching her the right way. It's great having this extra support to help my child."
Melody said she'd like other parents to know about ASK. "I know that I wouldn't have pursued help from the school… I would have accepted their response of ‘No, we don't offer services for homeschooled students.' There's information out there that you might not be aware of… ASK can help."
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