New...SPD...HFA/ASDNOS...IEP help

[mrsfatty]

My son has been evaluated for SPD (medically) and has been in treatment with OT since Oct of last year. He turns five in two weeks. We had the early childhood screening for school entrance--which he passed but he was referred for a special needs evaluation. We did that and they told me, before the reports were put together and scored, that they would be offering him services and they believed he has high-functioning autism. When we had his evaluation results meeting, they went through all their tests and scores and notes and stated they believe he has mild autism with sensory issues. He will be going to kindergarten in the fall, and will be receiving services.

I have an IEP meeting for him next week--and I have no idea what to expect, what to prepare for, what to want/need for him, what I should ask for, what I should know, etc.!

Any knowledgeable, experienced parents want to clue me into the IEP process and what I should know, do, expect, prepare for, ask for, etc.??? HELP! Please--I'm very new to this process--it's all very overwhelming! Thanks in advance!

[mrsfatty]

I should note we are on a waiting list for a medical diagnosis for the autism. At this point, it's considered "just" a "school diagnosis"...we figure, knowledge is power, the more we know, the better we can help him (and educate ourselves).

[2boyzmama]

I'm kind of new to the IEP process too, as my son got his in March. And my son's is not Autism related, so I can't help with those kinds of specifics. BUT...here's things to think about.

Start making lists! List every sensory behavior he does, whether it's seeking or avoiding, and what can help him "come out of it" or ways to help integrate it into the classroom (for example, my older son used to get awfully fidgety during fine motor activities, but if he wears a pressure vest or gets some time on the ball first, then he's fine).

Is your son a flight risk? Will he need an aid? Does he need help with personal care things like bathroom, dressing/undressing, opening/closing his backpack?

Will he continue to get OT at school? Does he need speech? PT?

Remember you won't get anything if you don't ask for it, so ask for more than you want! I was trying to get my son a personal aid/nurse for meal time, but it turned out that the school instead gave his ASL interpreter the training necessary to handle his feeding/swallowing issues. So we compromised on that. There were many more issues that we discussed, some in great detail, some were easily agreed on.

[Linda on the move]

My DD's dx was PDD-NOS for a long time and was just recently changed. (She's 13). Our school is super helpful and very kind, so I've had only positive experiences. Meetings for us are a group of very nice people with different specialties trying to figure out what it would take to make my DD successful at school.

Because your son is really new this whole situation, I think it's impossible to know what to ask for. Every child with PDD-NOS is different. That's the point of the dx. The child has a funky set of issues and that don't fall neatly into a category.

You may just have to try things and see how they go, and figure out what needs to be tweaked as you go along.

One thing I would recommend is asking for a follow-up meeting about a month after school starts to discuss how the IEP is working and if it needs to be changed. It can be very hard to schedule an IEP meeting and all the slots can get full. Try to get your next meeting on the schedule at the end of this one.

And good luck! This can be an emotional process. My other big piece of advice as you go through the process is to enjoy your little boy. Spend time focusing on his strengths and the things he enjoys.

[BookGoddess]

Originally Posted by mrsfatty

they would be offering him services and they believed he has high-functioning autism. When we had his evaluation results meeting, they went through all their tests and scores and notes and stated they believe he has mild autism with sensory issues. He will be going to kindergarten in the fall, and will be receiving services.

I have an IEP meeting for him next week--and I have no idea what to expect, what to prepare for, what to want/need for him, what I should ask for, what I should know, etc.!

Any knowledgeable, experienced parents want to clue me into the IEP process and what I should know, do, expect, prepare for, ask for, etc.??? HELP! Please--I'm very new to this process--it's all very overwhelming! Thanks in advance!

I've had great IEP meetings and really dreadful, emotionally draining IEPs. It can vary. Our last IEP meeting a month ago was wonderful. It lasted no more than 2 hours. I've been in 6 hour IEP meetings so a 2 hour IEP is a great thing.

Before you go to an IEP meeting, you need to understand your child's rights to a Fair and Appropriate Education or FAPE as people commonly refer to it. Please go to www.wrightslaw.com if you haven't already. That site is a great source of information, and their books are really handy for any parent involved with the special ed process. It's a lot of information, but it's good to know Get all your ducks in order. Know the law. Know what you can ask for.

If it is your gut feeling at this time to leave your child in a general education (mainstream) setting then I would do everything possible to make that happen which includes a one on one full-time aide, modifications like extra time, frequent breaks, preferred seating, OT, speech therapy, social skills groups, daily communication log, monthly team meetings (we get all of those mentioned so far), lunch buddies, visual schedule, and the list goes on. Whatever services you and the team agree to this year isn't for the rest of your son's life. The IEP is a document that you can revist and modify as he improves. I love the monthly team meetings and the daily communication log. I would ask for those.

Make sure the IEP goals are specific and measurable. "Andy will get used to kindergarten" is not a good goal.
"Andy will put away his jacket, join in circle time and participate in circle time activities three out of five times a week," is a better goal because it's specific and measurable.

I typically get a private evaluation on my own dime and I have that child psychologist write a summary report with recommendations. I submit that at the IEP meeting and I have the team go over the recommendations. That's how we got the services we wanted.

[peaceful_mama]

My son had an IEP all through preschool.

I had a great experience with it--great team working with him. (he was dev. delay--a pretty broad category that covers pretty much everything without a specific diagnosis that is not a physical disability or a severe speech or language--I think that's got its own spot too.)

I remember being asked what my concerns were, what I thought his strengths were, his interests, and if there were any specific things I would like to see worked on.

From my experience with DS and my experience in a preschool classroom for kids on IEPs, most seem to have 3-4 goals.

If I were doing this again, I would write down anything I thought they should know. (it's easy to 'forget' when you get to talking about different things) I would write down my concerns and pick the ones I'd like to see addressed first. (maybe 2-3, giving them room to suggest another 1-2 that you might not have thought of but that are important--DS's teacher would usually have 2-3 written, but it was entirely up to me to agree or not agree with her.)

to me, it also looked like they tried to have the goals balanced to different areas of need--so for example, if a child had a problem with motor skills, language or speech, self-help, and lagged behind in general 'skills', there might be a goal for the motor stuff, one for the speech/lang. stuff, one having to do with a self-help, and one focused on learning a concept or something like writing their name. So if there's lots of areas of concern, I'd probably write down what I felt like my biggest concern was in that area--or the one thing that you think would help him (or all of you) the most if he could do it more independently.

I was fortunate to never have a real disagreement.

[Kristine233]

Ditto what everyone else said but I also want to include that putting in the IEP how situations will be handled helps too. If he is having touble sitting in his spot, what will they do? If he is over stimmulated in the classroom that afternoon, how will they handle it?

We have written in ours to allow preferable seating and directions that allow the para to take him for a walk around the school or to the special ed room if the classroom becomes too distracting/stimulating for him. Before we put that in there I'd get calls saying "He's being disruptive/antsy/whatever. How should we handle this, do you want to pick him up?"

What tools will be available to help him in the classroom? (fidgets, OT seat pad thing, visual aids/schedules etc.) Will having something he can hold onto for sensory stimulation help? That sort of thing.

How will communication be handled with teacher/parent? Big one! We used a notebook and each day the teacher would either write me a note or stick in a sheet that had homework/behavior stuff on it. Each year it was slightly different but we found that they HAD to be bound into a notebook or binder or I generally never got them. (with a child who would either hide them or get so excited he would pull everything out halfway home from school and they'd be gone, lol)

Really, anything that you can see as a potential issue that could disrupt his day, tell them. The more detailed it is, the more it will help your child. Any and all requests for changes or requests for new IEP meetings etc should be done in writing as well. And start a binder with ALL the info you have on evals, IEPs, DXs etc. Trust me, it will help when 5 years from now when you have enough stuff to fill a small library, lol.

The school DX is a good start, but I agree with getting the medical one as well. Once you have the medical one the school can't go back and re-eval and say he doesn't need services anymore or change his DX, the medical one will hold more weight. (and it happens) As you can tell I don't have full faith in school diagnosis (issues with my DD's), but the school itself and our team have been AMAZING!

[mrsfatty]

Thank you SO MUCH! You have no idea how much this is helping me--I'm almost crying!

THANK YOU!

Keep the information/experience coming!