IEP done....few qustions....

[ALLISA]

I had Erin's IEP the other day.

She will remain in her self-contained room with 1 to 1 rotating aides.

She will NOT intergrate at all.

She WILL have a bus monitor.

We have scheduled in WEEKLY team meetings ( me included) to be sure we are on top of all and any of Erin's needs.

There was also discussion about wether or not public school was the appropriate place for her. I have been "given permission....ie....letter from school" to visit private schools and see what there is available in comparison to what she is recieving. All agreed that Erin's needs ARE being met, but that keeping all options open is a good thing.

I am looking into meds for her

My only two remaining concerns is PT and ST.....

PT recommends moving Erin to "consult only" because she really doesn't need PT. I am in agreement.....she is soooo strong and soooo capable when it comes to ANYTING gross motor. SHe is on the playground AT LEAST twice daily ( in good weather)....but she has NO Physical Education piece ....I'm NOT really concerned but wonder if I should be ?

ST.....is my much bigger concern.....speech is a HUGE problem for her and I think the cause of most of her behaiors.....she currently gets 90 minutes per week. They want to keep her at 90 BUT 30 of those minutes would be the ST consulting with the teacher.....so Erin would truly ONLY have 60 miuntes sitting with the ST.......they have all assured me that in the classroom itself they work constantly with her on the SAME things the ST does. We went for a speech eval a month ago and their recommendation was DAILY speech with LICENSED ST......

gggrrrrrrr

I feel like we are losing in the one area that is the MOST important and I KNOW you can't do this : but I feel like....."okay I gave up PT, now I can I have extra ST in it's place. I gave up PT because it is a STRONG point of hers, but speech is her WEAK point, so let's bulk that up"

Thanks for listening to ALL my concerns over all these months.....it means a lot to me, especially since Erin's dad has little to no interest in anything hard or stressful.......

[momofrussell]

If she is in public school can't she have adapted PE? Russell has both, PT and APE.. APE is a big thing for me for Russell to have.. I don't see why Erin can't have that? Of course, then she will be "integrated" a bit

Um... personally? The ST stuff would be unacceptable to me if it was Russell. ST is NOT just "speech" and they need to know she needs lang/communcation as part of ST! I'd get out that recommendation and remind them what she needs I am not trying to make you start trouble LOL But I know who Erin AND Russell are And that wouldn't fly for me for either of them. Just my opinion ;D

Other then that... sounds like a GREAT plan! We requested no integration also when we moved but we did put in 15 min of gen ed time because the other kids in the 2nd grade class WANTED him in the room ;D So, how could I say no to that!? Russell goes into the class for 15 min when the Teacher is reading to the class. That's about it. But for now, I prefer a total self contained, restrictive environment for Russell, it's the ONLY way he is learning and getting all he needs!

Hugs!

A.

[momofrussell]

Oh.. and I wanted to add we too have been thinking of meds for Russell for awhile. I need to get off my duff and find a doc.. we tried to go to one and it didn't work out. So, I am still on the prowl for a good devel/behav ped.

A.

[CC]

Just my thoughts but I say its time for the pick your battles and speech is one very important battle and again just my thoughts but your daughter is not getting what she needs in that area.

You said "We went for a speech eval a month ago and their recommendation was DAILY speech with LICENSED ST......" What does your district say about that eval??

Chris is 14 and that has been our one very big issue for years till this year. He got 90 min. in school in a small group which was basically 30 min. 3 x a week along with another 60 min. after school at a private ST 1 time a week and all was paid by the district. He didn't get all that for fun was much needed and much improvement was seen by all. You can fight this if you want girl.

"30 of those minutes would be the ST consulting with the teacher....." That is BS sorry but it is

Rest of your IEP sounds GREAT ;D

If I were you I would pursue the speech more, not to be negative really but in my experience I have found that districts say what they want and bet most will not challenge it KWIM.

Best of Luck

CC ~

PS~ Chris was put on meds and Colin and I were worried but I have to share that they have done wonders for him. We were so reluctant to due it as we did not want a "drugged up child" KWIM but now I can honestly tell you when I see how well they help him I think man why did we wait so long... If they really are needed and work why not?? I mean meds are there for good reasons when needed right

[ALLISA]

Thanks Ladies.....I knew you woudln't disappoint me !!

I KNOW I have to fight the speech issue.....I agree CC.....BS on the 30 minute consult.......I'm not so great at fighting.....so I have to hunker down and make my battle plan.....any thoughts. commetns and suggerstions are greatly appreciated !!

[CC]

One suggestion and not saying you can't do it yourself BUT you may want to consider getting an advocate to help you. A good advocate, one that knows the laws and one that is strong but not a controversial type person, KWIM

Speech to me is the biggest issue and for them to take 30 of those min. away from Erin and give to the Teach Hmmmm let the teach get her own IEP for her speech consults Actually if they need to be trained in what is best they should have that training on their time not take the time away from Erin's speech.

For me if that were my IEP I would have disagreed with their recommendation in writing and requested an independent Speech Evaluation for Erin and depending on what the independent eval said would go form there.

Hope this helps some.

Best of luck

CC ~

[momofrussell]

My first thought would be to do a follow up letter recapping the IEP meeting, putting your understandings in the letter and whatever else you need to say. This will allow you to put your thoughts AND request for something different for the ST stuff. Then they would have to follow up and start some process on getting the ST stuff changed or tell you WHY they won't.

That would be my first step. We encourage follow up letters after IEP's especially if there might be some "misunderstandings" or things a parent/s isn't happy about. You can put in there what YOU would like for Erin as far as ST goes.. be it goals, minutes, ect....

Then I wouuld go from there. An advocate is also a good idea like CC said... although I think a letter from YOU would be good for now.. and see where they take this. You might have to request and have another IEP also, BUT, if it's just an adjustment to this new IEP with ONLY ST stuff, you can now do adendums without having a full blown meeting and redoing the WHOLE IEP. THAT helps alot!

Good luck!!!!