- Took "Longer School Year" out of the IEP moving "Tutoring" to "Additional Information".
- Changed the wording regarding his Ipad, took out home-use.
- Some dates were wrong.
- Changed wording in the transportation area and took things out so basically he had him on regular transportation with no supports.
I walked in with my big rolley cooler type bag on wheels. It has 3 big binders (2'' with info regarding this mess, 3'' with his most recent IEPs/Evals + other recent materials and the third 3'' with his old IEPs and other old info), Wright's Law, The Complete IEP Guide, a copy of the state regs, my notebook and other info I might have needed. The secretary joked asking if I was moving in. Things went very well. I requested his old teacher Mrs. Understanding and the new SpEd Director's presence. Also there were OT, PT, Principal, School Psych, School Counselor, his current teacher and the IEP chairperson. I walked in, opened the bag, sat the Wright's Law book on the table, opened one binder to the Mass Regulations and sat where I knew the SpEd Director and IEP Chair could be close by to see it lol.
They agreed to put the Longer School Year back in his IEP specifying the 2 hours per day, 4 days a week for 4 weeks he's been getting for the past few Summers. He said he learned something. He came from the high school as a SpEd teacher where at that school they had a complete Summer school program. There that's what they consider ESY/Longer-School-Year. There tutoring is not, when in the elementary school it is. Although we agreed upon that, I don't see it in the meeting notes....
At the end of the meeting I asked if what we agreed upon was actually going to make it in the IEP. I also asked Mrs. SpEd Director lady if she ever proof-reads IEPs. She said randomly. I asked her if she could read (Honeybunches)'s before it goes out. She said she would. School psych and Mrs. Principal described the "Historical patterns of events regarding transportation." (OT) discussed the Ipad's benefits of being an "Assistive Technology Device" and agreed it was such. She brought up the question if we write it with a time stipulated such as for the duration of his involvement with special education... what if something better comes out in a couple years? I agreed to leave that part out based on her point that technology is improving and their agreement to place it in the other areas. School psych made the point that it should also go under PLEP A and PLEP B which everyone agreed upon.
As for transportation: School psych lady and I went over his history. (Basically in a nut-shell for Kindergarten he was on the van, but was aggressive with the bus driver and other students some of whom were medically fragile so I drove him the rest of that year and got reimbursed from the school district; In grades 1-4 he had a 1:1 on the regular bus.) School psych pointed out how he has difficulty with any transitions and gave examples. They are making changes regarding what IEP Chairperson called his "Transportation Support Plan" which will state "Criteria for enacting the transportation support plan:
- Increased number of refusals, increased number of behavioral incidents
-Change in (Honeybunches)'s attitude towards riding the bus.
The plan will state:
Step 1: Addition of a monitor to the general education bus.
Step 2: Include special transportation and evaluate the need for a monitor"
They also agreed to write in the IEP his assigned seat behind the bus driver by himself, although I don't see that in the meeting notes. They clarified "Proximity to teacher" which will be changed to "Seat within 15 feet of teacher" or "Seat within 15 feet of instruction". I let Sped teacher determine the exact number of feet.
I was pleased with how the meeting turned out. I got the important stuff. (Or shall I say, at least it seems that way now, but I'll see when the IEP comes if what we agreed upon today actually makes it's way into this IEP.) We did agree to leave out an accommodation that the IEP chair and teacher took out that stated "Counting in real life situations to be implemented throughout his day", because he's way past that now with his math skills. Basically I threw that in there to have something to negotiate with so it looks like I was cooperating.
I told them it was important for things to be clarified and the reason I nitpicked through the IEP (Which I would have anyways) was because since my father died last year, my mother's been having a hard time affording to keep the house. I don't know if we'll have to move in the next year or so. I told them that's why it's important things be written in a certain way so if we were to move and he went to a different school district things would be clear. IEP chairperson said that gave him a different perspective. He talks a lot about this school district. Sometimes things in life happen and children move or get school choiced out of here (Which is something I've always debated regarding when Honeybunches gets to middle school).
All in All this meeting went well. I was determined it would. I feel accomplished! My advocating skills and knowledge of the federal laws plus state regulations needed to be polished off anyways lol. I guess I am thankful that I was given this challenge in life so I had the opportunity to do that. Now I sit and wait for the IEP to come in the mail probably sometime next week. Then I'll see if what we agreed upon makes it's way into this one. At the last meeting we signed off on the meeting notes. Certain things were in those notes that IEP chairperson decided to change in the IEP. Hopefully now that they know I am knowledgeable regarding the laws/regulations and not scared of Due Process they will be more cooperative.
I am also the SEPAC (Special Education Parent's Advisory Council) Chairperson. The DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) is coming in a few weeks to review certain programs including the special education system here. They want to interview me as I represent the SEPAC group. Hmmm maybe that worked to my advantage as well?
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