IEP meeting is tomorrow

[chaya]

..I'm starting to get nervous. The school is good, but these meetings always have a way of making me feel inadequate. I received a draft IEP for review a week before the meeting, which is a rare treat. I have a number of comments on the draft which I hope his teacher and therapists address.

Wish me luck,

-C_

[amarie1]

I can understand how you feel

especially if there are a lot of people involved in the meeting. We're one of the lucky ones and our SD really tries to accomodate DS, but at times I still feel nervous.

Things I do are (some are a little corny):

I try to be a little early so I'm not walking into a full room.

Try to be (or at least appear to be) organized. A pen/pencil I like to use, blank paper, extra/support documents in a plain folder. Most of the time I don't even open the folder but knowing I have the information I need helps me feel more in control.

Have a separate sheet with my (typed/double spaced to allow for notations) questions and notes listed in order of importance (also flagged on the IEP doc) as I find it easier than flipping through the pages and I am less likely to miss a point.

At the top of the page I have a statement (more for myself than for the group) of my ultimate goal, keeps me on track. (i.e. Have an IEP that will support the development of positive self esteem and minimize anxiety - nothing to do with interventions but it was this years focus)

Remind myself constantly that I am the CEO at this meeting and that out of everyone in the room I know my child the best.

Good luck.

[anniemc2000]

Hope all goes well, please let us know.
Ann

[chaya]

especially if there are a lot of people involved in the meeting. We're one of the lucky ones and our SD really tries to accomodate DS, but at times I still feel nervous.

Things I do are (some are a little corny):

I try to be a little early so I'm not walking into a full room.

Try to be (or at least appear to be) organized. A pen/pencil I like to use, blank paper, extra/support documents in a plain folder. Most of the time I don't even open the folder but knowing I have the information I need helps me feel more in control.

Have a separate sheet with my (typed/double spaced to allow for notations) questions and notes listed in order of importance (also flagged on the IEP doc) as I find it easier than flipping through the pages and I am less likely to miss a point.

At the top of the page I have a statement (more for myself than for the group) of my ultimate goal, keeps me on track. (i.e. Have an IEP that will support the development of positive self esteem and minimize anxiety - nothing to do with interventions but it was this years focus)

Remind myself constantly that I am the CEO at this meeting and that out of everyone in the room I know my child the best.

Good luck.

Thank you for the very helpful tips. :-)

[chaya]

Thanks.

[trek]

So besides Theory of mind issue hope it went well.

[chaya]

Thanks everyone for your support.

The meeting went fairly well. The Speech Therapist agreed to remove the "Theory of Mind" statements from the IEP. Also, ds's teacher agreed to include a statement that ds should not be on the school bus for more than an hour. This is very important to us because the school is only a 40 minute walk from our home, but it could take 1 1/2 hrs on a school bus because the Education Dept might have the bus stop at several schools after ds's on the way home. Finally, everyone acknowledged what a nice child my son is, and that he loves music and might try out for the school chorus or band next year.

A few quirks were that his very well-meaning therapists (OT, PT) have some ideas that I think may be unfounded. His therapists have recommended that we go for vision therapy to help ds become more focused and organized, which we probably will check out in the summer. I noticed that some of you have written about your success with it on the INCIID boards. I'm a little hesitant about it though, because I hope it isn't a 'new age' sort of thing that is just going to stress us out and provide little value. We've successfully avoided a lot of that stuff, but I'm going to try to keep an open mind.

Another thing that his PT brought up is that she noticed that ds's eyes don't converge at a normal distance from his face. I really don't think it is an issue that affects his work in a major way, since I have the same issue and I'm very focused in doing my work. The PT started doing some eye exercises with ds that I think are causing him more worry and stress than it's worth. I sometimes see ds at home practicing moving his fingers toward and away from his eyes, and I was wondering where he got that idea from. He already has other issues with fidgeting, so this new finger-to-eye habit isn't great.

But, all in all, I am pleased with ds's school, and the attention that his therapists are giving to him.

-C-