IEP Season

IEP season is approaching. (An IEP is an Individualized Education Plan, basically a legal document outlining why a child is eligible for special education services, what those services will look like, and what the goals are in each area.) Not only will we have an annual review this spring, but it is also time for LG's triennial reevaluation. 

The school nurse has emailed me to see if I have a recent audiogram. (LG's medical diagnosis sort of automatically qualifies him, so I assume she has been asked to provide that documentation to the IEP team.) 

The school psychologist (who basically leads up the IEP team) was waiting for me in carpool line one afternoon with LG. As LG climbed in the van, Mr. S handed a clipboard and pen through the front passenger window, asking if I could sign consents for various academic & auditory screenings. 

I had to cancel LG's early March annual speech & language testing at his previous school (due to a cold which would have skewed results).  Rescheduling would have been in May (since it is IEP season and everyone else also needs data in advance of their IEP meeting also), but because we also need data for ours, the school worked with us to work it in to their schedule before May, so we too can have data before our IEP meeting. 

There is no comparison between public & private, so the public school will pretty much rely on the private school's data.  In addition, the private school has been tracking data on LG since he was 18 months old, so by using their data, we can compare apples with apples.  Basically, he's part of a longitudinal study on the effects of LSL (listening & spoken language) early intervention in children who are deaf or hard of hearing.   

The outreach coordinator at his former school is our unofficial IEP advisor, and has given her input, and also reached out to two members of the public school's IEP team to coordinate testing, etc.

The school social worker is aware of things that need to be pre-taught & coached if recess returns in the 2021-2022 school year.  She assured me that most children will need that same help!

The school speech therapist has reached out to me to explain a spelling program linked with phonemic awareness which she will be using to evaluate LG. 

The school OT, after months of taking a wait and see approach, has asked for permission to do 15 minutes of pull-out services every other week. (Sounds minimal, but they have lots of constraints, and hey! I'll take it!)

The private OT is drafting her own letter of recommendation to be shared with the IEP team. 

I think that about wraps it up.  :)

Hopefully & prayerfully the IEP meeting (on Google Meet, of course) will go well and all the pieces of the puzzle will come together both to create a good document and also to put into place for next year all the things that will help LG continue on the path to thriving to the best of his God-given abilities.  

And in August, well, in August, we will start IEP meetings for LM. :)  Round two!