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annual iep this afternoon

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LynnInVa
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28 Jan 2008, 10:56 am

my stomach aches.

why do i always have this anxiety? i'm prepared. i'm probably over-prepared.

:oops:



Tortuga
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28 Jan 2008, 11:17 am

Good luck. Those meetings always made me sick. I usually called in sick to work for them because after sitting around a table with 5 or 6 school people discussing my child for an hour or 2, I would leave out of there drained and sick to my stomach.



LynnInVa
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28 Jan 2008, 11:55 am

I'm glad I'm not alone with these feelings!



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28 Jan 2008, 2:21 pm

Let me know how it goes for you.



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28 Jan 2008, 7:59 pm

hope it went well.



LynnInVa
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29 Jan 2008, 6:33 am

It actually turned out great. I'm very pleased that the middle school teacher (transition person) was there. She really did her homework. :D
I'm very excited about middle school - the clubs - the mentor program (not an official program but E is free to pick a teacher mentor, and vise-versa). There a room designated for her to go if she needs to talk to someone, like a counselor - it's called the "chance room".
She will have the support she needs - and I will be watching like a hawk that her goals are met and, accommodations are supported.
I pray that middle school with be a turning point for her - I pray that she will gain more confidence.

E did sit in the room with us for the meeting, and she offered some feelings about social situations. I'm so proud of her. It was nice the she was able to express her feelings in front of the 6 adults that were present.



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29 Jan 2008, 8:24 am

That's really great. I hope she likes it :D



Lunacie
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29 Jan 2008, 10:03 am

Our IEP isn't until next month, but we requested a meeting and that was given yesterday. The girls were left to sit in the office, and after they got really bored they wanted to come into the room with us. The principle said she didn't think that was a good idea... and at the time I was too preoccupied with what had been said to realize she didn't want our little one to hear that they were saying she is being "manipulative." We called hogwash on that one, but I don't think we convinced any of them of anything except that we don't agree with them.

I'm so glad you have a teacher who is willing to take the time to look into ways to help your child. We had a teacher like that last year, but this year is a whole different story.


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29 Jan 2008, 10:05 am

LynnInVa wrote:
It actually turned out great. I'm very pleased that the middle school teacher (transition person) was there. She really did her homework. :D
I'm very excited about middle school - the clubs - the mentor program (not an official program but E is free to pick a teacher mentor, and vise-versa). There a room designated for her to go if she needs to talk to someone, like a counselor - it's called the "chance room".
She will have the support she needs - and I will be watching like a hawk that her goals are met and, accommodations are supported.
I pray that middle school with be a turning point for her - I pray that she will gain more confidence.

E did sit in the room with us for the meeting, and she offered some feelings about social situations. I'm so proud of her. It was nice the she was able to express her feelings in front of the 6 adults that were present.


Wow, it sounds like your meeting went great!


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29 Jan 2008, 10:21 am

Lunacie wrote:
We called hogwash on that one, but I don't think we convinced any of them of anything except that we don't agree with them.



I say this all the time about IEP meetings. It's so much better to take a child advocate with you. The whole tone of the meeting changes when the school people have to deal with a 3rd party professional. Also, take a digital recorder to IEP meetings. You are allowed to do that as long as you tell the school people that you are recording the proceedings. It's amazing how much nicer they are when you do that.



Lunacie
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29 Jan 2008, 11:20 am

Tortuga wrote:

I say this all the time about IEP meetings. It's so much better to take a child advocate with you. The whole tone of the meeting changes when the school people have to deal with a 3rd party professional. Also, take a digital recorder to IEP meetings. You are allowed to do that as long as you tell the school people that you are recording the proceedings. It's amazing how much nicer they are when you do that.


Sounds like good advice. How does one go about finding an advocate?


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29 Jan 2008, 12:04 pm

Lunacie wrote:
Sounds like good advice. How does one go about finding an advocate?


I found mine through a user group of the Autism Society of America (my local chapter). It was kind of bizarre to see how different the meetings were with the advocate present. I wished I had one from the beginning and maybe my son's public school experience would have been better. I don't know though. Our county seems to be awful when it comes to autism.



LynnInVa
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29 Jan 2008, 12:18 pm

Lunacie wrote:
Our IEP isn't until next month, but we requested a meeting and that was given yesterday. The girls were left to sit in the office, and after they got really bored they wanted to come into the room with us. The principle said she didn't think that was a good idea... and at the time I was too preoccupied with what had been said to realize she didn't want our little one to hear that they were saying she is being "manipulative." We called hogwash on that one, but I don't think we convinced any of them of anything except that we don't agree with them.

I'm so glad you have a teacher who is willing to take the time to look into ways to help your child. We had a teacher like that last year, but this year is a whole different story.



The only reason I wanted E there is because she is entering middle school in the fall. Near the end, she kept mouthing to me "when are we going home" LOL
She was bored - and probably didn't understand half of it. She was able to hear it from the teachers - what accommodations are and will be in place for her. It also shows her how concerned I am for her education - I don't think she understands that either.
I think it really depends on the age of the child.



Lunacie
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29 Jan 2008, 1:32 pm

Tortuga wrote:
Lunacie wrote:
Sounds like good advice. How does one go about finding an advocate?


I found mine through a user group of the Autism Society of America (my local chapter). It was kind of bizarre to see how different the meetings were with the advocate present. I wished I had one from the beginning and maybe my son's public school experience would have been better. I don't know though. Our county seems to be awful when it comes to autism.


Thank you. I just checked their website and the nearest chapter to us is almost 3 hours away. I don't know if they can recommend someone closer to us, or if any of them are willing to make that drive. I know it would be very helpful, but I don't know if we could afford to pay their mileage to drive back and forth. I will forward this info to my daughter's email so she can look into it though.


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Lunacie
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29 Jan 2008, 1:37 pm

LynnInVa wrote:

The only reason I wanted E there is because she is entering middle school in the fall. Near the end, she kept mouthing to me "when are we going home" LOL
She was bored - and probably didn't understand half of it. She was able to hear it from the teachers - what accommodations are and will be in place for her. It also shows her how concerned I am for her education - I don't think she understands that either.
I think it really depends on the age of the child.


That sounds like what her big sister would say. The little one would more likely start asking "What's for supper I'm hungry."


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29 Jan 2008, 1:54 pm

Lunacie wrote:
Thank you. I just checked their website and the nearest chapter to us is almost 3 hours away. I don't know if they can recommend someone closer to us, or if any of them are willing to make that drive. I know it would be very helpful, but I don't know if we could afford to pay their mileage to drive back and forth. I will forward this info to my daughter's email so she can look into it though.


Google search for any autism groups in your area or check the local newspaper. I only mentioned ASA because they have a free internet users group that is local to me. Local families will give you the best recommendations. If you post a question in a local forum, you will get a lot of good leads.