Hope they're ALL this way!

[ValerieC]

I had my very first IEP meeting today. Alethea begins pre-school in Sept (before her 3rd birthday in Oct).

I had gone in with a list of things I was unwilling to bend on, willing to compromise, and things that didn't matter either way.

Don't you know...each of the things on my list were already taken into consideration from the Child Study Team, already discussed and put into the IEP.

I read all evaluations and boy oh boy, did they have my daughter pegged to the tee! It's amazing that they found what they found out about her in the testing they did. I didn't disagree with one thing and they actually put into words some things that I couldn't voice about her.

It was amazing how like minded we were in our thoughts and desires for Alethea.

The one thing I was unwilling to bend on was Alethea's wandering tendencies and the need for an aide/adult to watch her at ALL times. As we discussed the issue further the need for 1 on 1 in the classroom was unnecessary as she wouldn't be able to get out of the classroom on her own. So....they are providing a 1:3 aide inside so Alethea is not "on top of" all day, but all activities outside of the classroom she will have a 1:1 aide.

It was really a pleasant experience. It is especially nice to know the team and I are like minded.

There are good IEP meetings out there for those of you who afraid to venture into this arena. Be willing to compromise on certain issues and work together as a team for the betterment of your child.

Valerie C

[momofrussell]

WOOOOHOOOOO VALERIEC!!!!! Oh man that's awesome!!! I am so glad to read this!!! Yes, there ARE good IEP's.. and I think you hit it on the head... go in knowing what you want... but willing to compromise sometimes!!!

AWESOME!!!!

A.`

[wrblack]

Val,
Sounds like you're on the road to being as lousy a resource for IEP meetings as we are. We've dealt with a few complications, like working in a dx of autism along with DS and visually impaired. But we've never had to fight about anything, placement, services, etc. Once we said, well, we thought we might have considered such and such. And CST leader, said, oh, well, you'd have to check with your school district about that, don't think they'd spring for that. Rep from sending district jumped in and said, no, that wouldn't be a problem, if they wanted to go there, we could do that.
I've been amazed at how genuinely helpful, and caring, our case manager from sending district has been. Sounds like maybe you're as lucky as we've been. But also sounds like you were much better prepared than we were. But then, sometimes, when you're lucky, you don't have to be good, nor all that well prepared.
But did remind me of our very first IEP meeting. Lots of people packed into a rather small and not all that well ventilated room. And Charlie, with his usual great sense of timing, did one of his stinkiest diapers ever, really loaded up a diaper and really stunk the place up. After that, nobody, including us, wanted to waste any time there. No problems, no arguments, no wasting time. Let's get it done and clear out of here.
Cheers,
Bob

[girly]

Glad to here the IEP went so well!! I am always hearing the horror stories. We will be having one in the not so far future and hope we have the same results!

[Kristin]

Pretty much all of our IEPs have gone well, too. I think that going in prepared is the key. Once the educators have seen that you have done your homework, they seem more willing to go to bat for you. I've had them offer me more that what I wanted (extra speech days), and they were usually willing to negotiate other things (like aide time) as long as I had a good justification for my request. I'm glad to hear of good IEPs. Sometimes I think we hear about the poor IEPs and think that an IEP is a battle.

[Monique]

well send some good IEP vibes my way. I'm still battleing the school disctrict over feeding therapy which i thought was already clearly specified on the IEP.

Congrats to you!!! no one should have to fight for what their child needs!
monique