IEP
An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a written statement of the educational program designed to meet a child's individual needs. Every child who receives special education services must have an IEP.
Since Lauren is on the autism spectrum, has receptive/expressive language delays, and cognitive delays she will always have an IEP in place. They are individual goals written by her teacher, OT (occupational therapist), SLP (speech language pathologist), and APE teacher (adapted physical education). OTher children also have goals written by a PT (physical therapist), however, Lauren does not need physical therapy. They have to be measurable, and are broken down into benchmarks over the course of a year.
Today was Lauren's IEP meeting for the 2014-2015 school year. I feel very grateful to work in an MD (multiple disabilities) classroom, as it has really helped me learn the school lingo and what to expect from our educators. Lauren's team always comes through with flying colors, and they really know what skills she needs to develop. For the past few years, our main goal is always to make progress on her expressive and receptive language. We are now putting a big focus on reading comprehension and "WH" questions. I have to admit, when I see terms like "severe cognitive delays", "significant discrepancy between receptive and expressive language abilities", "age equivalent scores", and "below age expectations", I get really bummed, and thats how I felt last night when I read the draft for her new IEP.
Luckily, meeting with her team always makes me happy, as we discuss Lauren's wonderful and funny traits. They also ooh and ahhh over how much progress she is making. We have some great goals set in place for her, and we also have made a decision on an IPAD app to assist her with expanding her speech. We had used a Dynavox in the past, but we were highly disappointed with it's reliability. The cord and battery were constantly needing replaced, and at $150 bucks a pop for a $7500 Device (yes, $7500), it was crap. We are very excited with this new app, and luckily, it is half off tomorrow in celebration of Autism Awareness Day, so it will be $150.
All in all it was a productive day, and I left happy. One thing I have always wished though, is that people understood what time and effort are put into her IEP. I dont even think I've had anyone ask me what her specific goals are or how she is progressing with them, even though she has had an IEP in place for 6 years now. That might sound a little trite, but thats how I feel sometimes, like when people ask a broad, generalized question of "how is she doing?" I know that most people dont know what they should ask, and that it might be a very boring topic for them, but it's my life, and it will be my life forever. SHE will be my life forever, and I dont like to think that her progress doesnt deserve merit, even if its not "exciting". Ok, off my soap box, but parents who live with the IEP life know what I'm talking about.
I enjoyed the post. Step on your soap box anytime! I know a lot of people with kids on a IEP. Our Charter School has something in place for every child that I like a lot. It's called the PLP. I copied/pasted what it is here:
ReplyDeleteIndividualized Approach To Learning
Personal Learning Plan (P.L.P.) for each student that will assess his/her skill level when he/ she enrolls in the school.
A path for growth is designed for each student that is periodically reassessed to determine skill development
The P.L.P. will ensure that the individual needs of each student are met and provide parents the opportunity to participate in educational goal setting and monitoring of their child's academic progress.
Even tho I don't have kids with a medical or with autism I struggle to see where my kids fall in the academic world. Abby was placed in a couple classes this year because she scored low on the FCATS, her school took away her art and music classes and replaced with extra math and reading classes, at the open house I about cried to see her in this situation, she looked at me and said I tried-I can't take tests. I had to get over it, know that she will excel and she's a very smart girl! So now at the end if the year she is scoring above the school and district! I can't imagine what would have happened if the school let it go unnoticed- she had good grades but they still saw her struggles and helped her, she is so confident now. I guess what I'm trying to say is I understand your feelings and I am glad you have a plan and help with the plan because Lauren is benefiting from it everyday of her life. I probably just rambled.
Love ya
Beaver