I have my first IEP Tuesday.

[BrerMom]

My 2-year-old officially qualifies for special ed services for speech therapy. The levels were non-handicapping, mild, moderate, or severe. He's severe.

He's been having speech therapy two half-hour sessions per week for about four months that we've been paying for. I don't think it's enough. He's making progress, but not enough.

We'll see what Tuesday brings.

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's some pixie dust for you! Good luck!

 

[teri]

Best of luck to you! The first meetings can be overwhelming, just remember one important thing... You are the parent. you are the MOST important person in the room. Those other people will be short-term influences on your child, but you are in it for the long term... you are the one that they must satisfy that your child is receiving the best possible services.

Good luck!!!

 

[Andy too]

Best of luck with it!

Remember, you don't have to sign anything there. Take it home and read through it and get all your questions answered before you sign anything

 

[nancycels]

but i ck'd w/our specialitst at the dev. clinic where i work...they recommend 3 times a week
for the first six months, and then adjusting it after that upward or downward as needed.
just thought i'd add this in case u haven't signed it yet! granted this isn't true for all kids,
they are all different... but its a guideline to use... maybe to negotiate a bit.

 

[BrerMom]

I did and didn't get what I wanted. They wanted 20 minute sessions, I wanted 30 minutes. We've been paying for two 30-minute sessions a week. I asked for three sessions a week. The IEP says 30-60 minutes. I really wish now that I hadn't signed it; I'm afraid they will only do one session a week. I should have insisted on 60-90 minutes. I never thought they'd try to do 20 minute sessions. I suspect we'll never see three sessions.

The speech therapist called to set up appointments for twice a week. I asked about the third session. She was quite evasive. I was persistant and she finally said, "We'll see how he compares to my other clients. If he needs three times a week, we'll sign him up." Bet it doesn't happen. Even with speech twice a week, he's still losing ground. He was 27 months at the time of testing scoring as a 16 month old.

 

[nancycels]

is the speech therapist who will be doing the therapy different from your other therapist?
did she send in recommendations for what your son needs? i know u didnt say, or i missed
it but what is his diagnosis? aside from speech delay. this might get u more time.
Failing that there is always the option to re-write your IEP. Tell them u felt pressured into
signing it, u won't be the first parent who has felt that way. let us know how it works out.
good luck!

 

[BrerMom]

Yes, one was a private speech therapist that he had a wonderful rapport with. I understand the public school not wanting to pay her when they have speech therapists available, though.

He's so little, just barely two, that the only actual diagnosis that he has so far is apraxia. There are tons of other potential diagnoses floating around, such as something on the autism spectrum and sensory integration disorder for examples, but we just don't know. Some days he seems to understand most of what I say; some days he has a blank look whenever I talk to him...

I don't think "pressured" is the right term. Over-whelmed, possibly. I got distracted discussing number of minutes and lost the big picture.

I forgot to mention that he also gets a home visit once a month from his "case-worker", I can't remember her official title.

One thing I really wanted and got was speech therapy next summer. That's when I suspect they will try to only give him once a week. Oh well, live and learn.


**and this was post 911. It just puts it all in perspective, doesn't it? We're alive and together and safe.**

 

[mickey'sbud]

Hi, I read your posts. Some things I have learned along the (IEP) way...
1) You don't have to tell them what private services you are getting for your child.
2) YOU or any member of the IEP committee can call for an IEP meeting at anytime to make appropriate ajustments to the IEP. They cannot deny you this right. However, they may not "see it the way you do." Ex: required number of minutes each session, each week.
3) If your child has medicade, you do NOT have to give them the number.
4) Some people think a child will just "grow out of" his speech issues. Therefore, they don't want to give too much because of this possibility. Stand your ground that you don't know what the outcome will be, but that it is certain that the less services he gets now may mean more services in the long run in the future. Make it cost effective for them. This argument may or may not work.
5) Observe the sessions to know what is actually being accomplished. If they don't have an observation window and it's not appropriate to stay in the room, then stand outside the room next to the door so you can hear both the therapist and your child. This is the only way you can truly know how it is going.
6) And finally, point out the reality of a 20 minute session. It takes at least 5 minutes to get the child in the room and actually in a "work mode". At maximum benefit, he only truly recieves 15 minutes of therapy. If she watches the clock to have to walk him down the hall to meet you at the end of the session-then subtract that too. I found that 30 minute sessions actually allowed for only 15 minutes of true therapy. So I doubt that 20 minute sessions ever even get the child started. .....And this "he's attention is too short" (an argument I've heard over and over) for more than 20 mins., well it's not a true 20 minutes in my opinion.
Good Luck!

 

[BrerMom]

Thanks, mickey'sbud

So far the only people that think we're crazy and think he'll out-grow it are friends and relatives. The professionals aren't arguing at all. Our little guy can't even repeat sounds even though it's obvious he's trying his best.

And I'm lucky, too. I waited in the waiting room for the private speech therapist. With the public one, I'm "required" to come in too so I can see what she's doing and repeat it at home between sessions. It was implied that if I don't do the homework, he drops to once a week. Bluffing, I'm sure, but annoying none-the-less.

 

[s&k'smom]

Hi Brer Mom, I have quickly read over your posts and you may want to check what your special education laws say. Don;t be surprised with reduced services in the summer. You said your son was 2? How long does Early Intervention run in your area.? I chuckled when you mentioned that people told you he would outgrow it. That's just what they said to me, or my other favorite was "oh boys are just slow in talking". Listen to your gut. I've discovered mom's and dad's always know their child best. And yeah, with what has happened this week everything seems pretty insignifigant right now.

 

[BrerMom]

If I understand correctly, he qualified for Early Intervention, ages 0-3 years, last spring and qualified for Special Ed services this fall. He will be covered by the IEP for 12 months and then has to re-qualify for Special Ed because he'll be three. I think the next grouping of Special Ed is age 3 to either 7 or in school, not sure which.

 

[nancycels]

i know my daughter had year round services... after age 2. it is very important that u be
able to do some of the things the therapist does w/yr son at home... this will reinforce
everything for him... be glad its only speech therapy!!! <g> i had pt/ot/and speech, all of
whom wanted me doing something different for her! not to mention working with my older
daughter too! i sometimes felt like all i did was THERAPY!!!! I have to say, I don't miss
those days!(miss the kids being little, but not the 24/7 therapy regimen!) the more he gets
now the better he will progress. i think it might be worthwhile paying for an additional
session or two a week privately if u can pull it off. I know its really expensive and that
its likely only some of it is covered by yr insurance! but it wd be well worth it. Have a
nephew(actually cousin w/child) that was diagnosed w/autistic spectrum... unfortunately
they are not great about taking him for therapy.... now my other cousin is taking him and
making sure he gets the help he needs! thank goodness for his sister!! of course it took
them forever to admit he has a problem...(at 3 he didn't talk, and couldn't color...HELLO???)
he didn't even know how to use a crayon! personally i wd have called it child abuse...
his parents don't take him to the playground, and he isn't allowed to color(he might get
crayon on the walls!!) they insisted he didn't have anything wrong because he cd
put all his brio trains together and knew them all!!! I can tell u r working on doing the best
u can for yr son...best of luck! its tough fighting the system, but...as one special ed super-
visor told me... the sqeaky wheel gets what they want! she automatically got a summer
program, if u can prove that they will regress w/o it, they will usually provide it, at least
in PA. not sure where u r located. best to U!

 

[SueM in MN]

Age birth to 3 years is under one program - Early Childhood Intervention. There is one set of federal funding for this. After age 3, the children's special needs are the responsibility of the local school district. They do have re-evals at mandated at certain points because some children who receive assistance at the birth to three level just needed a littl eboost and don't need servies after age 3. Some will need it until starting Kindergarten, but then they might need less services than the Special Education program.
I've posted this link before. It's for the PACER Center in Minnesota. It was one of the first Parent Advocacy programs and is the model for the programs set up in each state. They have a lot of info and have links to the PACER type organization in each state.
Another page that might be useful to you is the Portage Project web site. This is a project in Wisconsin that pioneered the Early Education model in the US during the early 1970s. This program is the parent of all the home based therapy/education programs that now exist.

 

[klwally]

hello, I'm new - but this thread caught my eye.

My son will be 6 next month (Bday party at WDW!)

Anyway, he's autistic and has speech language, OT and the whole IEP thing.

I just really wanted to add that YES if you are at all unhappy with what he has, CALL another IEP. Keep on them. I've had relatively good luck with my school district, but I've heard such horror stories, I would highly recommend to 1)Keep a notebook of who you speak to and when and what was requested, and what the answer was 2) Keep on them to get as much for services as you feel appropriate. I agree with the previous posts that you don't have to tell them anything you're doing privately, Not their concern.

Good Luck! I know it's a struggle, but worth it in the end.

 

[BrerMom]

Hi, klwally! Welcome to the DIS!

And I have news:
The bad, I suppose, is that DS is evidently more severe than even the initial testing showed.
The good, definitely, is that he qualifies for the three sessions a week that I asked for in the first place. Each session is 30 minutes. The new schedule begins this week.

I am so pleased. He is already making more attempts to imitate.

 

[klwally]

Thanks for the Welcome, and looks like you got good news on the sessions! Good Luck.

 

[SueM in MN]

Glad to hear you got what you needed. And for the bad, young kids have a lot of potential to change as they grow, so hopefully, with the extra help, he will improve a lot.

 

[BrerMom]

Yes, I have to keep reminding myself that he's only two - things can really change in the three/four years before he starts school. He's such a happy little guy; it's a shame he can't tell us what he's thinking. Sometimes he stands in front of something - usually a cabinet - and says "mmmft." I have no idea what it means and he looks at me for action! Patient little guy, too. Most kids would have given up on me a long time ago.

 

[SueM in MN]

Another thing to remember is that kids don't develop "evenly", in other words, they tend to work on one skill for a while (like a gross motor skill like walking) and then they might pick up a lot of language after that. They tend not to make big gains in all types of skills at the same time. It's almost like all their energy is channeled into learning one skill and they don't have as much left to work on other things.