Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Even more IEP...

I spoke to Jaymes' teacher today, and I guess they went ahead and made a draft of the IEP ahead of time... Which is fine as long as they're aware I might want things changed around a bit. a lot of their goals are fine, but some I don't see the point of, some things he can do but chooses not to (behavioral), and some things are pointless in my mind. Obviously I'll have them explain the reasoning for the goals I don't really love, then make a decision everyone is happy with...

One thing I'm unsure about.. On the IEP there is a yes/no check box that asks "Does student have behaviors that impede his learning or that of others." If that were put to me, I would wholeheartedly say YES. They are telling me he won't hold a marker for more than a few seconds... That is a behavior, and it is impeding his learning. I think I'm going to ask for the Functional Behavior Assessment.

They state he does not understand to put items in/on/under. This is considered mastered (or at the very least, close to mastered) in therapy and he does it just fine at home. Another behavioral thing? Maybe.

There is a check box that asks if the student requires assistive devices or services and is checked "no." He wasapproved for one of those augmentative communication device speech board things (Can't remember what they're called) and might benefit from the use of the Picture Exchange System. So I will suggest these things, I guess.

They say he needs hand over hand assistance to draw a line. This is totally wrong. he even draws lines for ME, and that's saying something!

Their goals are as follow, my thoughts in red:

  • Jaymes will answer yes/no questions to indicate preference for an activity or object with 80% accuracy- Good goal, I like this one.
  • Jaymes will answer who/what/where doing questions during classroom and therapy activities with 80% accuracy- This one seems a little advanced for Jaymes, but i don't know.
  • Jaymes will point to the correct picture or person to show understanding of the pronouns me/you with 80% accuracy
  • Jaymes will follow directions to place an item on/under/in without prompts or repititions with 80% accuracy- He does this consistantly at home and in therapy. I don't think this goal should be on the IEP. His not doing this is purely behavioral.
  • Jaymes will imitate a variety of 2-3 word utterances such as "I want" "noun+ verb" etc- This was one of my own goals, so I'm all over it!
  • Jaymes will spontaneously use a variety if 2-3 word utterances such as those stated above with 80% accuracy-Goes along with the other one, a little repetitive in my opinion, but still appropriate.
  • Jaymes will identify numbers to ten and increase his print awareness- Not sure about the print awareness part, but he's getting there on his numbers. This is an easily attainable short term goal.
  • Jaymes will identify the descriptive concepts big/little, empty/full, open/closed, wet/dry, hot/cold with 80% accuracy- I'm not sure Jaymes is ready for this yet.
  • Jaymes will rote count to ten 4/5 times- Good goal
  • Jaymes will count using 1:1 correspondence with 80% accuracy-What does this mean?
  • Jaymes will identify his name in print 4/5 times- He used to do this consistantly, it's a skill he lost. Good goal.
  • Jaymes will identify numbers up to ten 4/5 times-Good goal, he's well on his way to accomplishing it.
  • Jaymes will participate in functional fine motor classroom activities- Such as what? I think this should be more specific.
  • Jaymes will use a name stamp with prompts to mark his classwork by 3/27/09- Wouldn't it be better to work toward drawing the letters in his name?
  • Jaymes will use a name stamp with prompts in a designated space on classwork by 11/06/09- Same as above.
  • Jaymes will complete a 2-3 step fine motor task with less than 85% assistance by 6/10/09
  • Jaymes will complete a 2-3 step fine motor task with less than 60% assistance by 11/06/09- Such as what? How will this be accomplished?
  • Jaymes will hold and use a variety of classroom tools for more than 30 seconds by 1/23/09
  • Jaymes will hold and use a variety of classroom tools for more than 60 seconds by 11/06/09- These are ridiculous unless they are thinking of them in a purely behavioral way, in which case they should not be arguing with me over the FBA... He can, but he chooses not to a gets away with it.

2 comments:

~Michelle~ said...

Wow. those seem like some complex goals for the IEP. He's 4 (right?). I hope she allows some of your input into the meeting and you can come to a happy medium on the goals for the IEP -- that's the ideal situation, right?? Good luck - I know it can't be easy.

luvmycrazyboy said...

Hopefully things will head in the right direction for you and Jaymes. Just don't give up on what you really want. Pick a few issues that you feel the strongest about and push those and compromise with the others. :0)