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Advice on rewriting an IEP with different label
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<blockquote data-quote="Babbs" data-source="post: 51933" data-attributes="member: 3820"><p>Polly,</p><p>wow - it sounds like the teacher and the aides need some basic education on how to deal with kids period. Sounds like a teacher who has certain issues of her own just hasn't learned that it's the war that matters, not every little squirmish.</p><p></p><p>1. Definitely get the diagnosis changed. It opens more doors and considering that any future IEP is derived from the most recent evaluation you want that information to be correct. SD's are only obligated to re-evaluate a minimum of every 3 years - that's a long time to deal with an evaluation which does not give the full picture. Did he have a complete speech and language evaluation? Many children who have Asperger's have extreme difficulty with pragmatics and inferences which won't necessarily show up on a quick language screening. And if you don't understand pragmatics, then following directions becomes VERY difficult.</p><p></p><p>2. Special Education is academically focused. That's the purpose of school, right? Bleh. In order for a student with a disability on the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) spectrum to benefit from a free and appropriate education (FAPE) several other issues are usually more important. If behavior and social skills aren't dealt with, addressed, and instruction provided, his ability to sit in a general education classroom is going to be severely impacted. Unfortunately, most SD's suck at teaching behavior and social skills. It sounds like the IEP team has a lot of work ahead of it in order for him to learn work task behaviors and social skills. </p><p></p><p>3. If your son is having that much anxiety then forcing him to be in the classroom 80% or greater of the time is punishing him. And it sounds like that's the last thing you want to do for him at this point. Anxiety with kids who are on the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) spectrum is often influenced greatly by sensory defensiveness - which is just the overacting of our protective reflexes - those old fight, flight, or fright reactions. Imagine trying to live your life and learn when you're in constant fear or fright. Kids who experience high levels of anxiety are often living life like that and then the uninformed adults in their world try to make them "get over it." </p><p></p><p>4. You may want to spend this down time over the summer finding a good sensory based Occupational Therapist (OT) and have him tested. The Occupational Therapist (OT) then can make some great recommendations for his sensory needs, not only at school but also at home. The school Occupational Therapist (OT) can only address issues which directly impact a student in their educational environment. There's a lot of things you can do at home to help transition in the mornings and afternoons to help a child with sensory defensiveness. Direct treatment for sensory defensiveness doesn't tend to help, however understanding that part of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) diagnosis, making accomodations, and helping him learn to self calm from a sensory perspective can be a huge difference in his life.</p><p></p><p>5. Make sure to have the IEP written for his needs - not to fit into an existing program (which SD's love to do). Has the school tried placement in a more restrictive classroom (like a self contained classroom)? It sounds like all they have tried is to keep him in a general education classroom, which is not always the best placement for kids who get overwhelmed and anxious. Before most SD's agree to pay for private schools they will go through mediation first - and they can demonstrate that after only one year all available options in the public school haven't been tried yet. </p><p></p><p>I would definitely recommend that the IEP be rewritten to reflect his needs for this next school year. The purpose of an Individual Education Plan is for him to have goals that he's working on and that the school provide specially designed instruction as well as accomodations and modifications. If the IEP isn't meeting his needs, then why try to hold the school's feet over a fire and keep them from wiggling out of it? Is it written to reflect your son's true needs? A good IEP team recognizes when a plan needs to be changed and ammendments are easy to do compared with the whole evaluation initial IEP process. </p><p></p><p>by the way, where was the special education teacher in this mess? It sounds like he had only a general education teacher and aides working with him last year. It sounds as though you had behavior goals on the last IEP but how were they trying to or intending to teach him those skills? An 80% goal to sit at a desk sounds all well and good but if it doesn't produce actual learning, is it really meeting his needs? Some of the best learning I've seen kids do is while they stand at their desk, learn their spelling words as they walk the track, do addition problems in a net swing. </p><p></p><p>Best of luck to you Polly</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Babbs, post: 51933, member: 3820"] Polly, wow - it sounds like the teacher and the aides need some basic education on how to deal with kids period. Sounds like a teacher who has certain issues of her own just hasn't learned that it's the war that matters, not every little squirmish. 1. Definitely get the diagnosis changed. It opens more doors and considering that any future IEP is derived from the most recent evaluation you want that information to be correct. SD's are only obligated to re-evaluate a minimum of every 3 years - that's a long time to deal with an evaluation which does not give the full picture. Did he have a complete speech and language evaluation? Many children who have Asperger's have extreme difficulty with pragmatics and inferences which won't necessarily show up on a quick language screening. And if you don't understand pragmatics, then following directions becomes VERY difficult. 2. Special Education is academically focused. That's the purpose of school, right? Bleh. In order for a student with a disability on the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) spectrum to benefit from a free and appropriate education (FAPE) several other issues are usually more important. If behavior and social skills aren't dealt with, addressed, and instruction provided, his ability to sit in a general education classroom is going to be severely impacted. Unfortunately, most SD's suck at teaching behavior and social skills. It sounds like the IEP team has a lot of work ahead of it in order for him to learn work task behaviors and social skills. 3. If your son is having that much anxiety then forcing him to be in the classroom 80% or greater of the time is punishing him. And it sounds like that's the last thing you want to do for him at this point. Anxiety with kids who are on the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) spectrum is often influenced greatly by sensory defensiveness - which is just the overacting of our protective reflexes - those old fight, flight, or fright reactions. Imagine trying to live your life and learn when you're in constant fear or fright. Kids who experience high levels of anxiety are often living life like that and then the uninformed adults in their world try to make them "get over it." 4. You may want to spend this down time over the summer finding a good sensory based Occupational Therapist (OT) and have him tested. The Occupational Therapist (OT) then can make some great recommendations for his sensory needs, not only at school but also at home. The school Occupational Therapist (OT) can only address issues which directly impact a student in their educational environment. There's a lot of things you can do at home to help transition in the mornings and afternoons to help a child with sensory defensiveness. Direct treatment for sensory defensiveness doesn't tend to help, however understanding that part of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) diagnosis, making accomodations, and helping him learn to self calm from a sensory perspective can be a huge difference in his life. 5. Make sure to have the IEP written for his needs - not to fit into an existing program (which SD's love to do). Has the school tried placement in a more restrictive classroom (like a self contained classroom)? It sounds like all they have tried is to keep him in a general education classroom, which is not always the best placement for kids who get overwhelmed and anxious. Before most SD's agree to pay for private schools they will go through mediation first - and they can demonstrate that after only one year all available options in the public school haven't been tried yet. I would definitely recommend that the IEP be rewritten to reflect his needs for this next school year. The purpose of an Individual Education Plan is for him to have goals that he's working on and that the school provide specially designed instruction as well as accomodations and modifications. If the IEP isn't meeting his needs, then why try to hold the school's feet over a fire and keep them from wiggling out of it? Is it written to reflect your son's true needs? A good IEP team recognizes when a plan needs to be changed and ammendments are easy to do compared with the whole evaluation initial IEP process. by the way, where was the special education teacher in this mess? It sounds like he had only a general education teacher and aides working with him last year. It sounds as though you had behavior goals on the last IEP but how were they trying to or intending to teach him those skills? An 80% goal to sit at a desk sounds all well and good but if it doesn't produce actual learning, is it really meeting his needs? Some of the best learning I've seen kids do is while they stand at their desk, learn their spelling words as they walk the track, do addition problems in a net swing. Best of luck to you Polly [/QUOTE]
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