Possible Relocation! Info on Special Needs IEP Services in the Dallas Area HELP!

Updated on April 26, 2009
L.W. asks from Dallas, TX
16 answers

Hello mommies of Texas! My family and I live in Richmond Virginia and we recently found out that there might be a move in our future to an area of North Dallas, Plano, Richardson,Carrolton area.We problably have at least 6 months-1 year until that happens but I need to start preparing myself and my kids... The news leaves me extremely concerned about my little girl. She just turned 3 in Feb of 09 and has been diagnosed with Developmental delay/speech and language impairment. She is currently receiving services from the county in the form of preschool special needs class 5 days per week 3 hours per day with 4 speech therapy sessions 1 OT session and PT per week.Richmond is a very tough area to advocate for your kids and if the experience in Texas is the same I need as much background information to prepare and minimize her gap in receiving therapy as much as possible. Can any of you point me in the right direction! I am mainly looking for personal experiences with the system and how you have been able to deal with it. I guess I am very apprehensive because down here I have had to hire an advocate to attend IEP meetings and we had a very extensive base of support from our Early Intervention therapists, physicians and pediatricians. All that will be new if we have to move
PLEASE HELP!!!!

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D.M.

answers from Dallas on

I have worked with kids with special needs in the Dallas area for 10 years and I can tell you there is no place better equipped to handle special needs than the Dallas area. There are pediatric specialists on every corner! We have Private schools that have a focus on just about every disorder you can imagine! For public schools, Plano ISD has the best public special education programing I've ever seen or heard of. People move to this area specifically to get help for their kids. I'm certain you'll find what you're looking for!

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L.B.

answers from Dallas on

If at all possible move to McKinney! I have a 19 yr old with Down Syndrome who has gone through the McKinney special ed system and it has been a great experience. Based on discussions with people with kids with special needs in Allen and Plano they pale in comparison to what McKinney offers. My son has been working in paid employment since 16 and has had incredible teachers and experiences. Hope this helps.

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H.B.

answers from Dallas on

I work in public schools in the area of special education. My recommendation to you is to bring copies of all of the paperwork (IEP, testing, etc) with you when you move. Be sure to pack all that information in a separate box or file so things don't get lost in the shuffle of the move. As some of the other replies mentioned, the school district here will transfer your daughter's current services into their system and will replicate them as closely as possible. This can happen much quicker if you have copies of everything recent available for review as soon as you get there.

All school districts in the area have similar services (speech, OT, PT, classroom-based services) but we almost all have different names for our programs.

Once things have been transferred here on a temporary basis, the school will decide, along with you, if new testing needs to be done or if there is something that hasn't been done that might need to be addressed. Then, they will come back within 30 school days to finalize her program.

Once you decide where you will be exactly, I would strongly encourage you to contact the school district and let them know. If you aren't exactly sure where to call, contact the special education department and ask for the supervisor who oversees the preschool program. He/she will answer your questions about what the programs look like in that district and then send you in the right direction to get an ARD set up. (This is what we call our IEP meetings - ARDs. It stands for Admission, Review and Dismissal meetings. Your daughter would likely fall into the "Review" part when she gets here since she is already receiving services.)

One thing to realize is that not all states have the same rules for eligibility for special education services. A child may be eligible for certain services in one place but not in another. This may not be the case for your daughter, but it's something to be aware of.

If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to help out. Good luck!

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L.K.

answers from Dallas on

We moved to Richardson 5 years ago with a middle school son with lots of learning challenges. As a toddler and younger child he was in Early Childhood and diagnosed with severe expressive and receptive language disorder, sensory intergration disorder, motor skills delay and more. We did very intensive speech and OT therapy when he was younger like you describe. I believe you are coming to a great place for resources. I am not as familiar with the public school resources since our son attends a private school for kids with LD. The Callier Speech Center in Richardson is where I would start for speech therapy questions.

Our son is now getting ready to start his senior year at a college prep private school for kids with LD. He's an honor roll student, sweet and kind as can be, and although he's still a little shy and awkward with his conversation skills, he's a joy and a kid with a bright future. This is a sweet boy who could not even understand or answer a "yes/no" question until age 4 1/2. He didn't talk in more than 2 word sentences until after the age of 6. His language delay was especially severe. He is now in advanced drama and interested in performing in community theatre, and making As in Chemistry too. So, don't get discouraged about your daughter's future. We believed in our son, but he has outperformed our greatest expectations 10-fold from what we saw when he was 5 years old. Speech therapy was a very good thing for him, and finding teachers who were skilled, and would love and encourage him was very important. He attended EC for 2 years, attend a private preschool with speech therapists as teachers for 2 more years, then mainstreamed into a catholic school that was very supportive from 1st - 8th grade while we supplemented with other tutoring and therapies as we could. For high school we chose to go back to a LD private school since we really wanted him to have a college-prep curriculum with small classes and extra attention. I'm sure the public high schools have good resources here too, but in general the high schools are very large which was not what he needed.

Your daughter is younger than school age, but you might want to google for info. from some of the many excellent private LD schools in the area to guide you for ideas on where to start. Shelton and Fairhill are both in Richardson, but people move here from around the country just to bring there kids to these two schools. They are both expensive, and not necessarily the right choice for many kids, but the folks at both those schools are really experts and have a great track record for helping kids reach their potential and stay balanced in the process. It can be a real strain on a family to manage all the emotional and financial challenges with a special needs child. Having a supportive network of teachers, therapists, and other parents was critical for us. You don't have to go the private school route. It can be expensive, although don't rule it out because there is financial assistance available. But, mostly I think it is good to see what is offered for a comparison, and I've found the folks at both schools very willing to help families find other resources that work best for them. Shelton may have some early childhood programs. It is the largest school for LD kids in the world from what I understand.

You are wise to start early and do your homework. Sounds like you are already a good advocate. I've done the ARD and IEP meetings too when we considered public school in Austin, and I found the process quite frustrating too. I just never felt like the benchmarks or expectations were set high enough for our son to ever catch up. That is what prompted us to try the catholic school.

Who knows??? It's hard to know if our son would have grown up almost the same if we'd stayed in public school instead of switching to catholic school. I do believe that what the parents do at home is the most important ingredient, and when it comes time for grade, middle, high school decisions, you will know what works best for your child.

Just don't forget to treasure and love the age and stage your child is at right now. Don't let your worries for her future dampen the funny and loving times you have now. You'll find the help she needs and you need. It's hard to leave an established network of support. I had a very extensive one in Austin that we left. But, I found even greater support here because I became wiser and more confident about advocating for our son as time went by. Age 3-7 was the scariest time for me since I had so many unanswered questions and the emotional rollercoaster was rough caring for a special needs child and two little babies too. I wish I had cried less and spent more time laughing at the park and making mud pies back then. You are on the right track. Hopefully your move here will be a great blessing and adventure for your family. I know our move was.

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M.D.

answers from Dallas on

Hi L.,
My son is also in PPCD classes for speech. I live in Carrollton, and his school district is Lewisville ISD. The programs are wonderful, and also 5 days a week, for 3 hours a day. My advice would be, since she is already 3, she now has to go thru the school system, at least that is what I was told, so when you decide what city you are moving to, contact the school district you are in, and they will send you in the right direction. I'm sure they will do an assessment to see what services she qualifies for, and place her in the class. Again, I couldn't be happier, and they are so helpful!! I'm sure your early intervention friends can get you info also. Again, my experience has been wonderful, and there is a lot of help available here. Good luck, and if there is anything I can do to help, please let me know.

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A.A.

answers from Dallas on

We moved to the DFW area(from another state) a few years back with a special needs child. The school accepted the IEP of my son right away, until they could do there own testing and redid the IEP. Even then, they had only a few changes. As soon as you know the exact info (when and where) you will be living, let the schools know so that they can get your child written in the schedule with the therapists.

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J.H.

answers from Dallas on

Dear L.,
My name is J..I am the Area Director for AuPairCare in Dallas and have many Host Families in North Dallas, Plano, Richardson,Frisco,etc.
I have had several host families with special needs children such as yours and would be happy to put you in touch with one of them. You can contact me at ###-###-####.You may visit our website below. We do find au pairs for special needs children if you ever need that service.
http://www.aupaircare.com/host-families/welcome
I wish you the best!

M.C.

answers from Dallas on

Plano ISD is known to be one the most progressive school districts as far as Special Education... Having said that I think you may want to take at look and feel out the schools where you child may receive services.

I would definitely look into the Callier Center Richardson or Dallas for programs... A university based location.

I would also look for private practice and/or home based therapists. Some see kiddos afterschool in their homes and others see kiddos in their homes during daytime hours.

www.mintj.wordpress.com

I have blogged articles about speech development and speech pathologists.

I live in the DFW area. I have worked in private practice, ECI, Home Health Agencies, various school districts in the area, and spent a brief time in PRN for a nursing home.

Hope this helps...

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C.M.

answers from Dallas on

We moved here last year from Florida. Our son has been receiving very similar early intervention services as what you've described. We're in Allen I.S.D, and we started him before he was 4 years old. He goes 5 times per week for 2.5 hours per day for speech and very mild OT therapy. They even bus him (down the road) to and from Primrose where he attends private Pre-K. Aside from all the paperwork and up front work required, it wasn't too difficult to get him approved. We also had all the information from Florida, but they still had to re-test him to validate he was eligible to receive services. We did not research all the various school districts in the area, but I imagine they have similar EI programs.

Good luck, let me know if I can be of further assistance to you.

C.

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D.W.

answers from Dallas on

Hi L.,

I'm a mom of a child diagnosed with high functioning autism. He's been in Texas schools since he began kindergarten. He's now in 6th grade and has been in 3 different districts (Dallas ISD, Plano ISD, and Carrollton/Farmer Branch ISD). Dallas was by far the worse. I think if you talk to any parent of a special needs child in the area, they would advise you not to put your child in DISD. Although a lot of parents praise Plano ISD, we didn't have too much luck in Plano either. Honestly the experience for us was worse than Dallas. They mis-diagnosed my son and tried to brainwash me into thinking my child was Schizophrenic. They switched him to 3 different schools all in one school year and he learned absolutely nothing. He even failed the state exam that's need to promote to the next grade. He's now in Carrollton-Farmers Branch District. Thank God! They are patient, yet firm, and I feel this was the best district for my child. He's doing much better and is now in all regular classes with good grades.

I know other parents will chime in, but I wanted to give you my experience.

Good luck to you and your family.

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J.R.

answers from Dallas on

The school should take the information from your previous school until they can conduct their own testing. Once you decide which district you will be moving to, contact the school immediately and get the paperwork started. Because your child is already receiving services in another district, it should be much easier to get everything started.

My husband is a children's minister (and I work in special needs at a local school district) and we have had children at church from various school districts. In my opinion, the children who have made the best progress were in the Plano ISD.....evidently their special needs programs are superior.....they definitely have more specialized classes than the other districts and they have the resources to keep improving!

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K.P.

answers from Dallas on

L.,

It seems you have already gotten the advice I would tell you. As a former school teacher, I know that kids move all the time and we had ARD's when the new kids moved in. Once you find out which district you will be in contact them and the special eduaction department. Let them know what is going on and how to make sure she continues the help she has gotten to this point. Bring copies of your previous ARD with you. I haven't known this to be a problem here in Texas.

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S.P.

answers from Dallas on

My son is 4 years old and has a similar disablity. He attends Plano ISD in their PPCD program for 5 days a week 3 hours per day. The staff has been wonderful and very helpful. They work with the parents to set IEP goals. He is making good progress. They even talk with the private therapists we use at Comprehensive Therapy Services in Richardson.

I love, love the staff at Comprehensive Therapy. They go above and beyond all the time to help parents and kids. Adding their one-on-one services has made a huge difference in his development. They send home reports monthly and re-evaluate every 6 months to set new goals. The therapists have great resources and recommendations for helping the kids.

Call now if you need a developmental pediatrican as the wait to get in is incredibly long (6 monthes or more). Dr. Genecov at Dallas Med. City is highly recommended. There are a few other in the area but not very many. If you need a neurologist, Dr. Chudnow in Plano is also very popular.

For a regular pediatrican, Dr. Scott Katz in Plano is great. He gets awards all the time. He watches the kids development and stays on top of medical news better than anyone I've heard of. His staff is really good and you can get in for sick appointments the same day. Sometimes I call and they say can you be here in an hour or when do you want to come.

I think you will find people in Texas friendly and helpful. Plano ISD did an entry evaluation and he qualified for services because of his speech delay. He does not formally recieve OT at school but they do it as part of the curriculum (learning to write, etc.) The speech therapist work in the classroom. The class size is small for the special needs kids. Teacher to kid ratio is about 1 to 2 kids.

I hope this info helps. We feel so blessed to be here where our son can recieve these services that he needs. We have the very same fear that moving would disrupt his services and progress. So far we have been lucky to be able to stay here. Good luck!

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P.R.

answers from Dallas on

You can contact the school districts and ask them about the services. I have some experience with ECI and PPCD (preschool for children with developmental delays) and I can tell you that Plano has excellent programs and services, they are about to open another Preschool school that is very nice. I really like them better than lewisville ( I think part of Carrolton is Lewisville ISD) and maybe even better than Frisco. They would love to know in advance your little girl is coming so they can plan services accordingly.
Good luck and welcome to Texas!

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C.R.

answers from Dallas on

My now 8 yr old son was involved with ECI from 2-3 yrs of age, and on his 3rd birthday was enrolled in Planos Early Childhood Schools. The staff there was awesome, he made tremendous progress and today he's still in 15 mins of speech therapy a day in McKinney ISD schools. I would reccomend Plano in a heart beat! The classes he had were taught by Speech Language Pathologists, so the entire time he was there, he was being worked on. He went 3 days a week 1/2 days. And because he was classified a special ed child they provided busing for him to and from school. Good luck.

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M.C.

answers from Dallas on

First of all, welcome to Texas. No matter where, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, or Allen they all have awesome Special Needs Programs. I am partial to Plano since I teach Special Education there. My advice would be to bring all of your paperwork with you. Once you have narrowed down the area where you are moving to, I would love to help you. Please let me know if you need any assistance.

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