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14 Comments Tis’ the Season (IEP Season, that is!)
I have seen quite a few other bloggers recently talking about IEP meetings and programming decisions and can empathize with all of them. It can be so hard to know what to ask for and what choices to make, especially when school is several months away in most cases. I am so, so thankful that we finally have all our decisions made and paperwork done for both the summer and the fall!
For those that have been following my (perhaps) overly obsessive struggle with the issue of kindergarten vs. first grade, the final answer is…
Although it is not quite 3 hours per day, and he will be pulled out for both Speech and OT each week, it just feels like the right choice for our Little Guy with where he is socially and emotionally. He will also be able to go to a social skills program after school for a couple of hours, through the behavioral health system, which will target those areas.
His STAP (Summer Therapeutic Activities Program) has also been finalized, and we got our first choice! This will be Monday-Friday from 9am-3pm for eight weeks. I believe he will really enjoy this, especially as they will go to different playgrounds almost every day.
One other good report – I spoke to our behavioral health provider and expressed my strong desire to keep the same TSS for both the summer and into the fall. I mentioned how difficult last year was with having 6 different TSS’s as well as 8 weeks without anyone, and I also expressed how both the school psychologist and speech therapist had asked specifically if she would be coming with him in the fall. The assistant coordinator assured me that she didn’t see any reason why that wouldn’t be possible, which is a relief compared to my previous experiences with them.
And did I mention that we only have 3 more weeks of paying for daycare and then we will be done with that part of our lives for the foreseeable future? (Yes, that is me doing the happy dance!)
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Tags: Autism/Special Needs, IEPs, Kindergarten, TSS
Testing out the new HaloScan comment system I just installed to see how everything looks.
Edited to add: Ooh, it pulled my Gravatar image correctly – yeah!
Testing out the new HaloScan comment system I just installed to see how everything looks.
Edited to add: Ooh, it pulled my Gravatar image correctly – yeah!
It sure does feel good to have everything squared away, doesn’t it! We opted to hold Jacob back for another year of preschool, which made him an “old” kindegartener, but it was SUCH a good decision. Even still, he is socially immature. After NINE long months of fighting back and forth with the school district on having him evaluated for OT services, they’ve determined that he has many sensory processing issues, but they aren’t severe enough to need services (even though the report says it interferes with how he performs in school). I have a meeting with everyone involved on Monday, and you can bet I’ll be advocating that he receive some sort of help for 1st grade.
Okay, I’ve ranted enough here (I should save it for my own blog). Anyway, just wanted to say I’m glad you’ve squared things away a bit.
It sure does feel good to have everything squared away, doesn’t it! We opted to hold Jacob back for another year of preschool, which made him an “old” kindegartener, but it was SUCH a good decision. Even still, he is socially immature. After NINE long months of fighting back and forth with the school district on having him evaluated for OT services, they’ve determined that he has many sensory processing issues, but they aren’t severe enough to need services (even though the report says it interferes with how he performs in school). I have a meeting with everyone involved on Monday, and you can bet I’ll be advocating that he receive some sort of help for 1st grade.
Okay, I’ve ranted enough here (I should save it for my own blog). Anyway, just wanted to say I’m glad you’ve squared things away a bit.
You know I understand how good it feels to have that decision made! It sounds like you have a really good plan set up, and I’m in serious envy over your summer program – what a fantastic option!
You know I understand how good it feels to have that decision made! It sounds like you have a really good plan set up, and I’m in serious envy over your summer program – what a fantastic option!
I’m so glad you’ve decided and have one less thing to think about…
I’ve also given you an award on my blog!
I’m so glad you’ve decided and have one less thing to think about…
I’ve also given you an award on my blog!
Wow, you’ve taken care of a BUNCH of issues! Congratulations! What a relief you must feel!!!!
Wow, you’ve taken care of a BUNCH of issues! Congratulations! What a relief you must feel!!!!
I had my IEP meeting with Sweet Pea’s speech therapist on May 15. We got the plan all in order for her in the fall. She will be moving up to the 1st grade but will still need to be pulled out twice a week for the speech. My biggest fear with her is that she will go backwards during the summer since she won’t have any speech..I’m going to work with her as much as I can to keep that from happening. I just hope it is enough. Little Man will continue his speech though the summer, though his isn’t though the school it’s done at the hospital. I did have to cut back from once a week to every other week for him though since we will be gone so much over the summer.
I’m so glad you got it all worked out and a good plan in place. I’m sure he will do really well. It sounds like it is all figured out and that must be a big burden off your back.
I had my IEP meeting with Sweet Pea’s speech therapist on May 15. We got the plan all in order for her in the fall. She will be moving up to the 1st grade but will still need to be pulled out twice a week for the speech. My biggest fear with her is that she will go backwards during the summer since she won’t have any speech..I’m going to work with her as much as I can to keep that from happening. I just hope it is enough. Little Man will continue his speech though the summer, though his isn’t though the school it’s done at the hospital. I did have to cut back from once a week to every other week for him though since we will be gone so much over the summer.
I’m so glad you got it all worked out and a good plan in place. I’m sure he will do really well. It sounds like it is all figured out and that must be a big burden off your back.
Amazing how many IEP stories there are this week. Last year we did not have such a good experience, so this one has been quite a relief!
Amazing how many IEP stories there are this week. Last year we did not have such a good experience, so this one has been quite a relief!