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Post by Monique on May 10, 2007 20:13:07 GMT -5
Does anyone have a therapist (be it speech or ot) doing feeding therapy with their child in Kindergarten on up? I was able to get Jameson a therapist to come to his school work on "eating" with him. He has a lot of issues with sensory , texture, lip closure etc. He only eats pureed food. He does not chew. He is 6 1/2 ! This was huge fight with the District last year, but I won. Apparently in this district the Speech Therapists are not allowed to put their fingers in mouths due to liability issues (whatever) but since my IEP has a specific goal with food in it, they HAD to get an outside therapist to come to his school and work with him. the problem is now, that i got the new goals from his food therapist and they ar very vague with no mention of food which I feel can be misinterpreted. The meeting is next tuesday and I just got the goals today. If food is part of the academic curriculem (i.e. lunch, and a lifeskills class they have where they cook and then eat the food) shouldn't they be provideing him whatever tools they need to to address this? I feel that oral motor therapy will be no good withough actual food being part of the process. Just want feedback on if any of you have specific goals in your IEP related to food and how you have them written. This is so stressing me out again ! for the 2nd year in a row. Any advice? Im desperate Thank you for reading this.
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Post by Chester on May 15, 2007 12:00:18 GMT -5
Sorry no food goals here, but I am doing an intensive crash course on IEP's....it's not so pretty over here in my neck of the woods right now....ANYWHO~
The way I understand it is yes, whatever "it" may be, if "it" is effecting his academic school life you can address it in the IEP. I just had a very knowledgeable MD tell me yesterday that if the school is saying they can't meet those needs then ask them to put it in writing, that they are unable or unwilling to fulfill the IEP requirements.
Press on Monique, you know whats best. Ahead of the IEP write up what you think is important and why and bring it with you.
Dawn
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Post by Monique on May 15, 2007 19:17:40 GMT -5
Thanks Dawn, I was surprised i didnt get any comments on this. So FYI, we had the meeting. It was a point that we went back and forth on, but since it was a goal on his IEP last year and he didnt achieve it, that was pretty much my saving grace. They just can't dismiss a goal because it wasnt achieved. I did look up quite a few cases around the country including my area and I have to say it was not very promising. Most of the cases were denied because "feeding" doesnt interfere with "academic" goals meaning they can still learn their ABC's without having to know how to eat. Thats the arguement anyways.
The only other extra was that his particular school has a class once a week where they learn to cook something and then eat it at the end of the class so technically eating is part of his academic curriculum, know what I mean. So the only thing is they reduced his eating therapy down from 3x a week to 2x a week but he also gets speech with oral motor 5 X a week so i comprimised. Of course, they blindsided me at the meeting and said he wouldnt get it for Extended summer school year (they only have on therapist for the district and she doesnt work summers) I know.. I know but the aide is going to carry over the feeding during the month of school they have so i was okay with that. You have to pick and choose your battles.
We will revisit this in December to see if he had regression due to the non service in the summer.
I know I am the first one in the district to ever be able to get feeding therapist to come to the school and of course they pulled the old " Jamesone gets more services than most of the other kids" like that means anything to me. And of course I said " i dont care about the other kids I am concerned with mine". All in all, we got everything we needed, just wish it wasnt a battle every time. P.S. The IEP was two hours and that was with me going over and approving all the goals with his therapists and teacher in a series of meetings two weeks before the meeting.
I feel your pain Dawn! It isnt easy here at all and I have to prepare for these meetings weeks in advance. But now I can let it go until the next one! Hang in there and fight the good fight!
And also, they will not put in writing that they will not give a service. I have tried that.
Thanks for posting! I appreciate that alot!
Monique
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Post by momofrussell on May 16, 2007 10:09:53 GMT -5
Monique.. I am sorry I never responed.. I know in the past this feeding stuff was an issue for you too. I didn't know what to say actually! LOL I am glad you had your "saving" grace with the goal not being met.. and I am glad they knew the laws Hang in there... A.
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Post by laurasnowbird on May 20, 2007 16:26:14 GMT -5
Monique,
We've had feeding therapy on Ethan's IEP, but I'm not sure why they included it, other than that we insisted. Part C rules are so much easier to work with than Part B - we never had a problem then! I've been working hard on prep for Ethan's IEP for the last week, and I found this, which is a change in IDEA 2004. I bolded the parts that I think will help.
Chapter 7: Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) Developing Your Child's Education Plan
Consideration Factors. The development of your child's IEP must begin with the consideration of several important factors. These are:
The strengths of your child
Your concerns for improving your child's education
The results of your child's initial evaluation or most recent evaluation
The academic, developmental and functional needs of your child. (emphasis added)
Careful consideration of each of these factors by the IEP team leads to the development of a statement about your child's present levels of academic and functional performance. Your concerns as a parent should be considered as important as the school's concerns and information. You should provide a written statement of concerns about your child's academic, developmental and functional needs to help ensure that the IEP reflects your input. For example, if your child is struggling with homework each night or experiencing difficulties participating in activities such as after school clubs or sports, include these as concerns that should be addressed.
As noted above, IDEA 2004 adds a new requirement that the IEP must take into consideration the "academic, developmental and functional needs" of your child. This allows the IEP team to broaden what it might consider important for your child's IEP beyond academic performance and include needs associated with other important aspects of your child's performance.
Developmental and functional needs can include areas such as social skill development, behavioral problems and attentional issues – all areas of development that can have significant impact on your child's academic performance. Your child's participation in extracurriculum and other nonacademic activities should also be considered.
If I were to get grief about the feeding portion of his IEP tomorrow, th is is the section of IDEA 2004 I would use to justify our need for this service. Eating is a function skill that every child needs, and they certainly need it to participate in lunch and field trips!
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Post by kerri on May 20, 2007 21:50:05 GMT -5
Yosh isn't in kindergarten yet but has similar feeding issues. He has a 1-1 nurse doing feeding every day and a feeding therapist 1x a month. He turns 5 next month and we've already been promised that the nurse and therapist will continue. The nurse was the school's idea. We would have been happy with an aide, but this has been so much better. I can't find his last IEP, but I think the nurse is listed under supplemental services.
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Post by Monique on May 24, 2007 19:37:27 GMT -5
Thanks for the input Laura. We are revisiting the Feeding Therapy again in December to see if the 2x a week (down from 3) is not working. I am going to print out what you wrote and save it for my next meeting. Thanks for doing my homework for me! and I see that you did an awesom job on your own IEP. I hate them!!!
Thanks for helping me with the good fight!
Monique
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Post by laurasnowbird on May 24, 2007 21:12:31 GMT -5
You are so welcome, Monique. I know firsthand what a struggle this can be, and how frustrating to overcome these feeding issues.
Keep in mind that you DON'T have to use the therapist's feeding goals. If theirs are vague and poorly worded, write your own! Heck, we even have the OTs working on a gum chewing protocol.....and it is appended to Ethan's IEP for reference! We got included because Ethan needs oral stim, and this is a great way to address it.
It sounds like Jameson has a suckle/swallow pattern going still. He CAN be taught to chew, trust me on this one. We had to teach Ethan, because he wasn't chewing. He is doing soooo much better, but his chew has still not matured into a rotary chew, still very much up and down. It's coming though, I see it once in a while.
Just make sure that when the IEP is reconvened, (and seriously, don't wait until December if you arent' seeing significant progress, you can call an IEP anytime) that you take a present level of performance statement, and make specific reference to Jameson's inability to eat properly. Take the goals that you want to see. Once you have identified a need, the IEP must then address methods of meeting the need. Insist on it. If they don't have anyone, that's their problem - they're going to have to find someone. If you expect resistance, take a statement from your doctor. Every bit of ammunition helps.
You are out east somewhere now, aren't you? I'm thinking it wouldn't be a stretch for you to go see Lori Overland. I would strongly recommend a visit to her, as she could identify Jameson's issues in a New York minute! And she also develops a treatment plan - which you then incorporate into the IEP. That is what we've used in the past, and are still using!
Good luck. I'm sorry I didn't see and respond to this sooner. I was in IEP prep hell myself. And honestly, I don't think to check this forum very often....my bad.
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