Opinion ID: 6497375
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Summit’s Review of Its Initial Interventions

Text: While the five evaluations were getting underway, the intervention team met on November 18 to review the previously implemented interventions. The team concluded that C.M. was making progress and that the interventions were working. The incentive to earn Pokémon cards daily had reduced C.M.’s outbursts to two for the entire month-and-a- half period. In addition to his behavioral growth, C.M. was making clear progress with his social skills. The intervention team also learned that C.M.’s teacher had, in line with Dr. McGuffog’s recommendations, implemented some additional sensory interventions, such as Velcro under his desk, to help him sit still and pay attention. The team found that C.M. used those interventions and seemed to like them. C.M. also improved academically in fifteen areas, such as his reading level, his use of writing conventions, and his mathematical algebraic thinking. Because C.M. had made meaningful progress and the interventions were successful, the intervention team decided to continue all of them. As far as making another assessment of C.M.’s progress, the team decided to hold another meeting after the five evaluations were completed. F. Summit’s Determination, on February 8, 2016, that C.M. Was Ineligible for Special Education By early February 2016, Summit had amassed an array of data on whether C.M. was eligible for special education. It had the materials provided by C.M.’s parents: the McGuffog Report, as well as supplemental reports from C.M.’s occupational therapist and psychologist. The occupational therapist determined that C.M. had delays in gross motor and fine motor skills and that he had difficulty in coordination and self-regulating. The psychologist, after observing C.M. in the classroom, reported that he was participating independently, and although his attention wandered, it was restored with 8 prompts. Overall, the psychologist found that C.M. was not disruptive and that he could answer his teacher’s questions. Summit also had the results of the five evaluations that it performed specifically to evaluate C.M. for special education. The assessment of C.M.’s speech and language abilities involved two tests administered by a certified and licensed speech-language pathologist. 2 C.M. scored in the 50th and 17th percentile on those. But to be communication impaired, a child must score in the tenth percentile or below on two assessments – and C.M. was not in that range on either test. The results of the physical therapy evaluation, performed by a physical therapist, reported areas of weakness. Those included decreased attention as well as proximal shoulder and hip joint weakness. But those issues did not affect C.M.’s gross motor function during his school-day routine. The social assessment, performed by a licensed social worker, did not report any social concerns in the classroom. The assessment found that C.M. got along well with his peers, having made two friendships, and that he was very gentle, sweet, and kind to other students, except when he felt that he or someone else was the victim of an injustice (which was infrequent). The social worker also observed that C.M. would fidget and could get off task, but that was easily remedied with redirection. The psychological evaluation, performed by the school psychologist, similarly determined that C.M. was generally focused and on task, but that he required occasional adult redirection. Like the social assessment, the psychological 2 The two tests were the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (‘CASL’) and the Language Processing Test Elementary -3 (‘LPT-3’). 9 evaluation described C.M. as friendly, cooperative, and extremely polite. It also concluded that C.M. had a positive attitude toward school, his family, and his peers. The final evaluation – an occupational therapy assessment performed by a registered occupational therapist – revealed that C.M.’s gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and bilateral motor skills were in the functional range. The occupational therapist further determined that C.M. could perform schoolrelated tasks, but that for unfamiliar directions, he needed repetition and benefited from one-on-one guidance. Summit also gathered data on C.M. from several other sources. Those included samples of C.M.’s work, paperwork from the intervention team, and comments from C.M.’s parents and Dr. McGuffog. In addition, Summit reviewed C.M.’s report card, on which his teacher remarked that he had developed “a greater understanding of the routines and expectations of first grade,” had “made strides with organizational skills since the start of the year,” and was “practicing patience and self-control.” Pupil Progress Report (Grade 1) at 4 (JA1752). To evaluate all of that data and assess C.M.’s eligibility for special education, Summit designated a group of fourteen staff members and other professionals from multiple disciplines. 3 After considering the compiled data and sharing it with C.M.’s parents, the group held a meeting on February 8, 2016, with 3 The group consisted of the school psychologist, the school social worker, the school principal, the supervisor of special education, a learning disabilities teacher consultant, two physical therapists, two occupational therapists, C.M.’s general-education teacher, C.M.’s basic-skills teacher, an expert certified in speech-language pathology, and two graduate-level psychology interns. 10 C.M.’s parents, Dr. McGuffog, and C.M.’s special-education advocate. That meeting ended with a determination that C.M. did not meet the eligibility requirements for special education and related services. All fourteen members of Summit’s evaluation team agreed with that conclusion either because C.M. did not have a disability or because C.M did not need special education and related services. In support of that decision, Summit’s team relied on the positive effects of the strategic behavioral interventions, which reduced the incidents of poor behavior. The group also recognized C.M.’s progress in reading and math as well as the behavioral improvements noted on his report card. Summit’s staff understood that C.M. still had some weaknesses, but because he had positively responded to the interventions, they decided to continue to implement those in lieu of special education and related services. C.M.’s parents, Dr. McGuffog, and C.M.’s specialeducation advocate disagreed with the conclusion that C.M. was ineligible for special education. Consistent with that belief, C.M.’s parents continued to have their son evaluated by Dr. McGuffog. They also retained a speech pathologist, Alana Fichtelberg, to conduct additional evaluations of C.M. Both of those professionals issued additional reports at the parents’ request. In early 2017, Dr. McGuffog concluded that C.M. should be diagnosed with autism and ADHD. After Summit received Dr. McGuffog’s recommendation, it referred C.M. to a psychiatrist who diagnosed him with autism and ADHD. In April 2017, Summit determined that, based on the autism diagnosis, C.M. needed special education and related services, and it began developing an individualized education program (an ‘IEP’) for him. C.M.’s parents agreed to that IEP in August 2017, shortly before C.M. entered third grade. In July 2019, C.M. left Summit to enroll in a private school. 11