IEPs tomorrow
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| Tue, 02-14-2006 - 10:54pm |
UCK. I have 2 of them. One for Mike and one for a surrogate kid. Silly me.
The one for Mike is to determine speech/language services but we have to go over behavior stuff too since he has been having a time of it lately. I also want to discuss placement for next year. I am even having his therapist come to this one because I would like her input on the behavior and she is working on those same language issues.
I got the speech report today. It was so brief and basic I swear she just inputted data into a template and spent 30 minutes on it if that. I already called her to add one thing to it and got loads of resistance. The standardized testing she gave showed average ability in comprehension and following directions but the teacher has been working on this as one of his main IEP goals for the last 2 years and notes it is still a huge area of need in the class. I just wanted her to add that though the testing has this as average ability, it is an area of need noted by the teacher and has been and continues to be an area addressed in his IEP. She just kept saying but her report only notes her testing. I just said but I wanted this noted so in the futre the next person testing will see that it is an area of need. I finally got my way. Otherwise independent assessment here I come.
She noted a bunch of things anecdotally to me about his testing that were not noted in the report and I felt they should have been. But I am not sure that is a battle worth fighting. I will try to get it in the notes but I doubt I will get all of it in the notes. But the anecdotal data (such as how much reinforcement he needed and how much he struggled, how in some sections his answers were obviously not natural and were learned responses) I think speak volumes about how hard this was for him and his needs.
It will get him services I do believe as she noted pragmatics as an area of significant need but I am also not really comfortable in her ability to implement what Mike needs but at least the therapist is working on it.
Plus his tri-ennial in next fall and I doubt they will re-do speech language assessment since it was just done and I won't bother if it is the same therapist next year again. We just can't seem to get a good SLP at our school. This one is the best I have had in the district and that isn't saying a whole lot.
Oh, my other IEP is for another ED teenager who is messing up again and needs a placement change to a more severe program. Yippee fun. I just had an IEP for a kid last week who was stealing, ditching class and went awol from his group home and had to go back to non-public school. I still don't know if they found him. OYE! All my surrogate kids are ED teen boys from bad environments who are now in group homes or residential schools. It is depressing.
Renee


Renee, good luck with the IEP's. I hope you can get everything documented like it needs to be. So, did they agree to services then? If so great!
We have an IEP tom. morning.
Samantha
Good luck on your morning IEP! What issues are you covering again? I know you have been having troubles with the school and hope that stuff gets resolved. Is there more or at this point how did it go.
On the report she recomends basically that Mike recieve direct instruction within the classroom to address pragmatic deficits. I am not sure what she means by that becasue it is worded oddly. She may even mean direct instruction from his teacher or aide with regards to pragmatic skills.
What I want is direct instruction in pull out and within the classroom and I want to know what curriculum will be used or how they plan on teaching it. It isn't going to make any gains if she just goes and sits in the class once a week and watches how he interacts and perhaps provides some direction. He needs very concrete instruction that he understands. Daily I am instructing him on social language for the past 10 years and it takes tons for him to learn a new skill. His therapist has been working specifically on asking questions in a conversation for over a year at it is still really stiff and not terribly consistent.
The one big thing she noted was that he has stiff or lack of facial expressions and body movement (ya know non-verbal language stuff). I gotta tell you, that is not my biggest concern. Heck it isn't even a concern. Your right, his facial expressions are stiff, non-existent or exhagerated and learned. He is autistic. It isn't going to come natural for him. What I am worried about is that when he is frustrated his first means of communication is to yell. That he can't hold a conversation well. That he misunderstands social interactions which often end up causing problems like broken fingers.
It is frustrating because I know he needs speech services, I know he is going to get them, but I don't know if it is going to help or is worth the time.
However, our therapist is going today and she is awesome with this stuff. I have her going specifically so everyone is on the same page. If they can carry over in school what she has been working on privately as far as conversations then I do think he can make progress.
Renee
I just got a call yesterday to set up our IEP. Looks like it's going to be March 8th. It's only scheduled tentatively for now...have to make sure everyone can be there! Good luck on your IEP'S!!!
It's that time of the year.......
michelle
Renee,
We are covering his breaks. Right now he has two scheduled breaks to help reduce anxiety/frustration. I want him to have access to a non-scheduled break if he needs one. He needs to learn how to recognize when he's becoming over anxious/frustrated and be able to be in control of handling it in an apropriate way. They aren't giving him that opprotunity now.
We are also discussing, again, spelling instuction vs written language instruction. Hopefully everyone will be clear on our decision this time.
Lastly we are going to discuss the teachers lack of communication with us. We send letters or emails and they don't reply. We are asking to have it written in his IEP that they have to reply within 2 school days.
We aren't ready to go over the speech stuff yet.
Sending lots of vibes for Mike's IEP+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Samantha
You put me to shame! Here I am complaining about being depressed and feeling sorry for myself and you are out there not only taking care of your own kids but other peoples too. Yoy really are good person and I hope you feel appreciated for all you do!
Teresa
ROFL, no I am not! I am really a b-tch in disguise honest!
Honestly thanks Theresa. I appreciate the kudos. I do feel appreciated for that stuff usually though a paycheck would be nice. Even today and yesterday the program specialists couldn't thank me enough. The list of surrogates is too small and they often can't place kids that come into the district in these situations even temporarily because there isn't anyone to sign for them. Yesterday I had a program specialist basically begging me to take on another guy because he was just sitting in his group home and not able to go to school until they found someone to sign for him.
It was depressing on the surrogate front today. Not so much on the little guy I had the IEP with. He is changing placements to a more restrictive setting but it is a good move for him. However, 2 of my other kids are in juvenile hall. One won't be coming back and I had to shred his docs and the other I don't know yet. A third was AWOL last I heard from his group home. The one I shredded has been in 36 placements since he was 3 and is now like 16. He went awol and robbed a store and that was juvie trip #1. The residential school took him back and within a week he went back to Juvie again so he can't come back so he will likely be spending the rest of his childhood in Juvie and then most likely jail as an adult.
Our kids are lucky to have us. These kids so much of thier background is abuse and neglect and changes and no one giving a care about them that by the time they are teens it feels too late. I keep hoping I will make a difference in thier lives. Maybe a little but awol and juvie are a constant thing for these guys.
Maybe autism isn't so bad.
Renee