Incoming IEP

[mattblakk]

Tomorrow is Blake's IEP meeting. If there are any last minute reminders, or things I should ask about that I might not think of, feel free to respond with suggestions. If you don't know what an IEP meeting is, don't worry.

Logan has to go to the doctor at almost exactly the same time, and so I'm also going to miss work tomorrow evening and have to have Blake with me during the IEP. Since it will be in his classroom, I'm not anticipating this will be a problem at all.

(did I mention the no work = no pay bit? see comment about money stress earlier)

I'm hoping that the next oh probably 14 days that I have to wait before my financial aid is disbursed get a bit easier.

Comments

[doublestuff32.livejournal.com]

Yeah, no school system would finance daily speech therapy, but there is a place on the IEP to document how much time a specialist is spending each week inservicing/consulting with/planning with/training his teachers (all teachers, including PE, reg.ed., etc). In AZ, the IEP section I mentioned is called "program support" and it is on the service delivery page (where all service times and locations are documented). Even though the speech therapist will likely not see Blake daily, come up with a plan tomorrow that has her working with the teacher more, to facilitate his language development in the classroom. A reasonable amount of time would be 30-45 min/wk. (The therapist might spend that time planning lessons with the teacher that are more language-appropriate, make and demonstrate use of activities (e.g., the pizza book), etc). That way, the spch therapist will still be involved a great deal, in a more indirect way, and Blake will get more of what he needs from his classroom teacher, which is the ultimate goal of therapy anyway... to help a child be successful in the most natural environment possible. And yes, spch tx twice per week is very reasonable. Did you say that he has not been getting it regularly? Wow. You must definitely have the therapist make up missed sessions. Also consider discussing inclusion therapy (where the therapist, he, and his friends play together, so that she can work with them on social language). Best case scenario would be to have him receive individual tx 30 m/w, and inclusion/play tx 30-60 m/w (in my professional opinion ;).

Again, good luck tomorrow. Don't let the district budget get in the way too much. If you feel like you aren't getting what Blake needs, repeat to yourself "I am Blake's biggest advocate." (It helps me alot.) If you ever get into a snag at an IEP meeting, it is your right to table the discussion until you have time to get more information, come up with better solutions, or invite other pertinent people to the meeting. You do not have to sign the papers until you are completely satisfied that Blake is getting what he needs.