Advocating for Your Child's Educational Needs - Part One

July 13, 2021

Podcast Transcript:

Selina

Hello, and welcome to “On Air with Elk River Treatment Program for Teens,” the residential program at Pinnacle Behavioral Health. I'm Selina Mason, the Director of Marketing and Outreach. Today, we welcome Aletha Howie. She is the Special Education Director for Elk River Treatment Program and the other programs for Pinnacle Behavioral Health. Hello, how are you today?

Aletha
I am very good.

Selina
Okay, great! Can you give me a little background about your education and experience?

Aletha
I have been in the education business for about 36 years. Twenty-six of those years were in public education as a special education teacher. I worked in regular classrooms and in my own classroom and the kids would come in for help for all kinds of disabilities - math, especially, specific learning disabilities, emotional problems, multiple disabilities. You name it, I did it.

Selina
I know my own personal story, not to make this all about me, but I didn't just get into this business because I chose it. I mean, how did you get into special education? Did it find you, or did you find it?

Aletha
It found me. I majored in history in college and then I joined a group that made me their philanthropic chairman. Our philanthropy was mental disabilities. So I started going into Bryce (Hospital) and Partlow (W.D. Partlow Developmental Center) and some of the mental health facilities that they had in Tuscaloosa.

Selina
Alabama?

Aletha
Right. And I completely changed my major to Special Education. It's different. It's not the same thing every day. All the kids are different. You're, you know, looking into how they learn and why they learn. And you want to see success in all children.

Selina
So how did you get to Pinnacle?

Aletha
I retired and thought I probably would just get out of the education business and do something else after 26 years. And Karen Lee (Founder and CEO of Pinnacle Behavioral Health, Inc.) called me and asked me if I would come to a new adventure with an alternative education program that included mental health services along with the educational piece. And of course I said, yes, and it's been a wonderful adventure. Karen's very hard to say no to, yes. It's been a wonderful adventure. And I have learned more than I learned in my 26 years of in public education. If I had known, when I was working in public education, what I've learned now, I would have been a better teacher, a better parent.

Selina
Would you tell me why?

Aletha
Because you see the whole picture, you know, you don't just see them at school. We see them and we connect with the parents and the family. So we know where their learning issues are coming from. And when you see the light come on, when the kids have been struggling in school for their entire life, and they finally figure out that they can learn and they can be successful, when you put it all together - it's like a whole family connection.

Selina
I need to let our listeners know that Elk River is a residential program for teenagers ages 12 to 18. We also offer an accredited education program that's for grades 6 through 12, and a college prep as well. Kids with us are actually in a residential setting. It's a very safe, structured education and therapeutic setting. So what do you do when a new child comes to us and starts to enroll in school?

Aletha
When we have someone interested in coming to Elk River, they've usually not been unsuccessful at home, in school, and in most areas of their life. That's why they're considering residential. I look at their records, their IEP, if they already have an IEP.

What is an IEP?

Aletha
It’s an Individualized Education Plan that you have when you're getting special services at school, and also 504 plans. Most of the kids that come to us do not have 504 plans and IEPs, and they should have had them. Sometimes the schools fail to refer them and the parents just don't realize how serious their problems are at school, or that there is connection between their mental health issues. School is a trigger for children with trauma, ADHD, or any kind of learning problems. School is a trigger.

Selina
As I understand it, we get kids sometimes to Elk River that are a “behavioral problem,” or they have behavior problems. When in actuality, they may have a learning challenge and their way of coping with that is to maybe, you know, behave badly in school. The kid's not a bad child. I mean it, but they're behaving badly for a reason. Am I right?

Aletha
Yes. Yes. If they're frustrated, easily frustrated, and public schools go too fast for our kids. They're there, what, six hours a day? And about four hours out of the day is used for learning. And the other couple of hours is used for, you know, clubs and lunch and social. So it's a lot to put on a child that has learning problems and or behavior problems.

Selina
I want this podcast to be a service for parents who are not necessarily looking for a residential program, (although we are here, if they do need our services) but say a parent is noticing these issues, problems, behavior problems - what should they be looking for? I mean, how would they be able to identify that their child actually has a learning challenge or a learning disability? Tell me the right language to use.

Red Flags that Indicate Your Child is Struggling

Aletha
Two red flags that you want to really pay attention to if your child is struggling: The first would be that your child suddenly doesn't want to go to school, especially in elementary grades. In elementary grades I can't imagine a child not wanting to go to school. They have time with their friends, it's supposed to be a fun time, a learning time. So in elementary, if your child is not wanting to go to school, they're not bringing home their work, they're struggling. The teachers calling you with behavior problems. Those are all red flags. And it's time to start asking questions now.

Selina
Who do they ask these questions to?

Aletha
You start with the teacher. And if you don't get the answers that you're looking for with the teacher, it's best to go to a counselor and then possibly a principal. And one of the main things you want to keep in mind is to always keep your documentation of your contacts, who you talk to when you talk to them, what was said, and follow up with an email, an email or some follow-up questions, and just stay on top of it.

Selina
Tell me why that's important.

Aletha
They deal with so many different parents and students, and they are responsible for child finds and they're supposed to recognize these problems and refer so that parents don't have to do this, but it gets overlooked. And especially these times when school is not what it should be right now with COVID you just really have to stay on top of it and make sure that you follow up.

Selina
So Aletha, what would be the next step that parents should take?

Aletha
The next step after contacting teacher, talking the counselor, (talking about a school counselor) would be to make a referral. If things do not improve, if you come up with a plan and your child is still not improving and you're not seeing results, you would, in writing, make a referral to the school. Just ask for testing, and say that you think your child needs extra services. In the referral you will say, “I would like for my child to be tested for Special Education services or 504 services.”

The Differences in 504 Services and IEP

Aletha
A 504 service is covered under the Individuals with Disabilities Act, and you get accommodations in the regular classroom. The only difference in the Special Education services and the 504 services is that Special Education services get help from a Special Education teacher. Or an extra service from the school system. If they need speech and language and occupational therapy and those kinds of things, they are covered under Special Education. 504 services would just be accommodations in the regular classroom, like preferential seating, extended time on tests, more one-on-one help, etc. If it can be taken care of in the regular classroom, then it's 504. If they need more services in that, then it would be the Special Education services. When you make that referral to the school system, your timeline starts on that day and they have 30 days to respond to your email. They will require to have a meeting and pull their documentation together and meet with you and accept the child for the referral or deny them a referral.

If you have documentation that your child is already seeing a therapist, a psychiatrist, a doctor for medications, then you're already one step ahead and they should qualify for services. If you need more help, there are advocates that will help you wade through this maze of paperwork and, you know, things that you need to do after that.

Selina
If you are turned down, how would a parent find an advocate?

Aletha
Online you just type in Special Education Advocacy in your state. And I do that on the side also. There are numerous of us that do that for children. And we will go to the meetings. We will look through the paperwork and determine whether your child needs the services or not, and attend the meetings at the school with you

Selina
So is there a next step?

Aletha
If they deny, yes, there's an appeals process. And you can have more meetings after that. And if you've got the paperwork to show, and you really push that you want the services to happen, they will have to do the testing. They must do the testing. If you refer usually you will not be denied. They want to prove, you know, they're wanting to prove what they say. So they will need the testing to prove that they do not need the services. And you have documentation, even documentation that they're bringing their work home. And in math, they keep studying and doing their homework, but they're still bringing in C’s and D’s. And you just don't understand why, then there's probably a problem. So they may be determined that they have a math learning disability, or it may just be reading, learning, disability, comprehension.

It could be trauma. Trauma in a child's life in elementary school - say, a parent dies, a brother or sister dies - and if this emotional disability or this trauma affects their school life, then they will qualify for extra services. And the schools have the resources to do that. Being an advocate for your child is the most important thing, because you are the only one that's going to speak up for them and make sure that they get the services that they need.

Delayed Services Are Better Than No Services

Selina
When we get a child at Elk River, how often do you discover that these children might have a learning challenge.

Aletha
It’s often, really, and sometimes it's not until they're in the 10th grade, 10th or 11th grade, and they've been struggling for years or their entire life, and you don't even really understand how they have made it to 10th or 11th grade without the services. So someone has missed the chance to address their problems. It’s not too late at that point, but it's almost too late at that point, They don’t have much time left. You know, they're already to a point where they're struggling with reading, they're struggling with math. Usually at that point, they have just marked school off. They don't consider that they’re ever going to be successful in school. And then they come to us and we provide some structure and more one-on-one help. And they don't need an IEP with us because we do have the structure and consistency, and they know what to expect every day. The program will, if they have a problem reading, the program reads the instruction to them. There’s more hands-on help and they're not afraid to ask for help because it's a small group. So then the light comes on and they see how wonderful school could have been. And we try our best to, you know, get them to a point where they can succeed. But the earlier that you find the problems, the better it is.

Selina
So they really don't have to get to the residential setting? They should be able to get that at home.

Aletha
Yes, absolutely.

Selina
What happens when they leave a program that's, you know, secure and very structured like ours? Is it best for them to re-enter their public school or is it better for them to get the one-on-one assistance through our program or another similar program?

Aletha
A lot of our parents continue with our program when they go home. We’ve had a couple leave lately and their parents were so excited about their success, that they want them to continue on our program, our school program that we have, so then we support them online. Or they can return to their schools, but they would need to have a meeting with the school prior that. The parents need to let the school know that they have a child that has been in treatment. And that the education program has been structured and they have been successful, and let them know that they have never been successful before. And they want that to continue. And schools are responsible for setting up a program for structure, for them to transition back into their school. They’ve just passed a new mental health act. It's called the Mental Health Services for Students Act, passed in 2020, which set up $200 million in grants that schools can request to set aside some services, some extra services and structure, mental health counseling for students that transferred from treatment back to the home school.

Selina
Do schools know about this?

Aletha
They may not know about this, so there are some parents who need to educate them. There are some things that you can ask the schools to do. There should be a multidisciplinary meeting where they're bringing in all of their support personnel and their mental health professionals in the schools. They're very, they're spread very thin, but now there's extra money to hire more if they need it. Everyone that sees the child during the day should have some kind of contact so that they know your child's coming back. These are the things that you're going to look for. And there should be a safe place for your child to go during the day during school, with a safe person. There should be a safety plan in place. All schools can do this.

Selina
Safety plan - can you be a little bit more specific?

Aletha
If they have an anxiety issue at school, if they get upset, what is the plan for that? Who will they go to? If the child knows that in advance, that’s more calming than just walking back into school like they were prior to their therapeutic treatment. There are behavior plans that children with IEP plans have, and it's step-by-step and the teachers and the administrators, police officers, security, everyone has to be aware of that behavior plan. And it has to be followed to the T every day. And parents must be in contact with the school at all times.

Selina
So let’s take a child that's struggling with, maybe a high-functioning autism that hadn't been discovered until they were in a residential setting and some assessment and evaluations occurred - say that diagnosis was discovered. When they come back to the public school - ?

Aletha
You take that treatment plan and that diagnosis straight to the administrators, and they should put a plan of action in place immediately. They can't put you off. They can't say, you know, it's going to take time for us to do this. It should be immediate. If they have to do the testing and everything, there should be a temporary plan in place until the testing is done.

Selina
Gotcha. Can you share with us some examples of advocacy or, you know, some of our graduates of Elk River, you know, how, how did they transition back to school? Did necessary steps to have to be taken, you know, to make sure they were successful?

Aletha
One that sticks in my mind: we had a young man come to us from about 50 miles away. He was a “behavior problem” in school. So he already had a reputation. He was in the ninth grade. He had barely started high school, but was going down hill. He was sent to Elk River, and it was a struggle in the beginning. He did have an IEP but he had never been successful in school, even with an IEP. We needed to work with the parents and make sure we got all of his core issues addressed. With our computer program, he could say he saw that he could do the schoolwork. And he had always been told that he needed a lot of special help and he needed to be pulled out, but he was in the same classroom with the other kids and started being successful.

And by the time he was ready to leave he was being very successful. He had A's and B's for the first time in his life. That's when the light came on. And he couldn't wait to get back to school. So he gets back to school. He was in class on the second or third day. And I think he had his phone out or something he was not supposed to have. You can't expect them to be perfect. And the school knew he was coming back. So the teacher demanded that he put it up, and, you know, was not real nice about asking him to put his things away. So he did what we prepared him to do. He just quietly got up out of his seat and left the classroom and went to his safe place.

Selina
Was the teacher aware of his safe place?

Aletha
His teacher was not aware of his safe place.

Selina
So, a communication breakdown.

Aletha
Yes. So she followed him out and he went to his safe place. He went to the assistant principal's office and he just sat down. Later in the day, they called his mother to come for a meeting the next day, which is a no-no because, you know, you don't have to go immediately and you need a time to prepare. And the school informed her that they were going to place him in an alternative school with that one incident. So she called us and asked what she should do. I volunteered to go to the meeting with her. And we a huge meeting. They brought in all of his teachers, two or three principals, and the counselors, because they were determined. And it was me and mom.

And so they were determined that he was not going to remain at that school because of this one incident, and we just had to stand firm. We gathered all of the documentation. And at the end of the meeting, they were still determined that he was going to leave the school.

Selina
Was it the reputation that he had prior

Aletha
Yes, instead of providing the support that he needed, they were going to just make it easy, put him in an alternative school, and be done with it. So we got everything together. We went over her rights with her, and we advocated any way we could. They could not put him in the alternative school. He did return to school after they realized that that mom had help and that we were going to see it through until the end. He did graduate – he graduated from high school. He graduated from high school. You just have to make them aware that you know your rights and that you're not going away, and that you're going to hold them to do what they are required to do by law.

Selina
Well that sounds like really good advice for any parent, whether their child is struggling with a challenge, a mental health challenge, or a learning challenge: to be an advocate for your child.

Aletha
And when we do have students leave Elk River, I always let their parents know that, you know, if you have problems, if you want them to go back to their regular school, and if you have problems, call me. I will, if it's too far away, because we get students from all over the United States, I will attend via phone conference or Zoom, or however they need me to attend, just to make sure that the school knows they do need to follow the law when working with these kids that have disabilities and emotional problems and have a hard time with school.

Selina
Do you have any parting advice for parents? You know, if you could tell them one thing that they could do to help their child with their education process?

Aletha
Communicate, communicate with your child, or your child and the school system. If they start showing signs of school behavior problems, getting bad grades, etc. there are always ways to correct those things and get them on the right track. Just ask for help.

Selina
That’s great advice.

Thank you for joining us, Aletha. And thank you for listening to On Air with Elk River Treatment Program. We are the residential program of Pinnacle Behavioral Health. To learn more about our residential program, you can visit ElkRiverTreatment.com or you can email [email protected]. You can also call us directly at (866) 906-TEEN. Thanks again, and we hope you'll join us next time “On Air.”