Statement objectives IEP

[claw2]

Ds has just received his first IEP after receiving his statement and its pretty rubbish. So is his statement and school are only following this, however I was hoping it would at least be SMART.

Statement objectives are

Manage high levels of anxiety

To use language to express his feelings and thoughts and communicate his needs to others

to increase his self help and independence

to build his fine and gross motor skills

to foster his social interaction and general communication skills and his ability to learn as part of a group

An example.........................

Target 1 English

Ds will become more able to accept 'constructive criticism' of his creative writing.

Resources - Lots of praise and reassurance that not everything has to be correct.

Target 2 writing

To begin to write in a cursive style

Resources- Regular practice

There is no mention of who, what or how often. There is no mention of how it will be monitored or how success will be measured.

Now do I try and get school to improve on the IEP? to make it more detailed?

or

Do I just focus on annual review in a few months and try and improve the statement?

No. I would act as if these are broad targets to be broken down into measurable components and agree they are good topics to write SMART targets for (if you think they are)and thank them for consulting with you prior to setting them.

Ask too if they would mind you having a go at writing them.

But you might not want to take any notice of me as I have my own target crisis going on currently.

Oh I haven't been consulted or asked to comment upon them, the IEP has just been written and placed in ds's book bag!

Another target is Maths - ds will be able to accept that there are other methods of doing things and at least have a go at alternatives. Resources - same as previous 'lots of praise'

Now during last meeting I was told they have a 'framework' for working with rigid thinkers. Why is this not mentioned?

Another target is social - ds will communicate to staff when he is anxious/worried/upset and staff will deal with it. Resources - Ds will communicate when he has an issue. Staff will provide comfort.

IEP is a pile of crap!

It has two columns targets, then resources and that's it.

Im just wondering whether it is worth trying to get them to change their 'format' and write SMART IEP or whether to focus on improving statement or both.

Well I'd probably leave it then but insist that there is a paragraph in the statement that says school must write SMART targets with input from parent.

That's a good idea.

They seem to be focussing more on academics, than social and emotional. Although academically he does appear to be struggling due to his difficulties, he isnt behind yet. As you know social and emotional are the areas where ds has the most difficulty/delay. There is absolutely no point in ds 'communicating his worries/anxieties etc to staff' unless they actually do something about it ie provide some support. Just talking/reassuring isn't going to decrease his self harm, not being listened to or taking action is.

As far as im concerned he IS communicating his worries/anxieties to staff and me, quite clearly, he is crying/getting distressed and telling them he doesn't understand/know what to do/know what is expected of him etc.

There is a section headed SALT targets (left blank), which will come directly from 1:1 input from SALT. Ds has started direct SALT assessment this term. Maybe I will forget about IEP for now and focus on her providing better SMART targets for IEP and school and you say getting it written into statement.

Ds was asked to do a 'trigger chart' with the rest of the class. 1 - this never bothers me. 2 - this sometimes bothers me. 3 - This makes me feel nervous. 4 - This makes me upset/sad. 5. This makes me feel angry.

Ds has listed under 4 - Not knowing what to do. School. Bullies. Family getting hurt. Getting told off. My cuts.

Ds has already expressed that he deliberately self harms and cuts himself when he feels sad/confused. He has expressed quite clearly what makes him sad and what makes him confused.

Im just not sure why school are setting targets 'ds to communicate to staff' rather than dealing with what he has already communicated. Is it the crap statement or them not understanding his needs?

Why do SENCOs find it so hard to write SMART IEPS? But rather than admitting they need help with understanding how to do this (there are lots of consultants about that help Shools with these sorts of things) they just do whatever and hope the parents do not challenge this non SMART IEP.

My one simply copies and pastes what is in Ds statement, nothing more nothing less, its madness

I have no idea, its not rocket science!

I totally get that ds's statement is crap and if school don't receive the funding then they wont/cant provide the resources.

However I don't get why they cant address the difficulties they already know about. I don't get why they are targeting the areas where ds has minimal difficult, as oppose to his greatest difficulties.

For example anxiety is ds's greatest difficult as it results in self harm. Why not target that, costs nothing for anxiety scales etc. Self esteem is another, why not target that, it costs literally nothing to throw together something like an achievement chart.

How do they expect a kid with very low self esteem and high anxiety to 'accept constructive criticism' or criticism of any kind unless they deal with the low self esteem and anxiety first. Same goes for his rigid thinking, maybe once his self esteem is raised and anxiety reduced, he will be more willing to try new things.

I remember one of Ds' schools agreeing that I coukd write the first IEP.

I did so, they thanked me and said that they woukd have to rewrite it to make it something called SMART.

At that point I lost the will to live as it was so Unquestioningly SMART, quite frankly they shoukd have framed it, not rewritten it.

Ive spoken to CAMHS today and they have really pissed me off. After 4 years of fighting to get ds needs met and a statement, after asking them for some support with ds last time we spoke, they are now saying he needs less support, we shouldn't be drawing attention to his 'differences' but treating him the same as other kids.

He should not have anything differianted. Amazing what a difference asking anyone to spend some money does.

We are back to square one again, ds feels 'different' because of all the assessments in order to get a statement. Not ds feels 'different' because his needs have gone unmet for 4 years and the gap between him and his peers has increased.

I feel like im going backwards again. So ive finally got a statement and the scope to finally get some needs met and CAMHS are recommending nothing to single out ds's differences. He is to have the same support as non statemented children. Bloody idiots.

Previously it was written by CAMHS during their year and half worth of therapy that 'ds was feeling increasing different to his peers and this sense of difference was due to the way ds experiences the world and his social interactions. He struggles to read other peoples cues and he understands interaction at a more concrete level. Therefore communication and interactions may be confusing for him'

Now a few years later, with no therapy or input from CAMHS since he was 6 and half, this sense of 'difference' is due to assessments of which he has had NONE as he refused to take part in SA EP assessment!

Im so annoyed.

Sigh. Writing IEPs is bloody hard. I've done five today and it takes a while. miniclaws is crap. Hopeless. It's more woolly than a flck of sheep.

So what i would suggest

Target; I will be able to give sign or tell my teacher/ TA when I am feeling at number 4 on my scale

Strategies: staff to check during day, especially after transition times, as to wht scale minicaw is feeling. Staff to agree with miniclaw a non verbal signal that he can make (ie, putting a fiddle toy on the left side of his desk) if he is feeling at number 4 during lessons. Miniclaw to be praised when he communicates his anxiety. Miniclaw to have support sessions with TA on things he can do to release tension, eg, deepbreathing, downtime for x minutes, walking round playground (insert whatever works fr him).

Provision: Fiddletoy (or whatever is chosen), staff to be aware of five point scale, social pair/individual lessons, particuar managing anxiety cards (look at Speechmark really good resources)

Outcome: Miniclaw to be able to communicate his anxiety either vebally or non verbally witnessed on 85% of occasions.

It's not perfect because i don't know the child and I don't knw the school but really it gets my goat this. That being said SENCo at juniors is normally dumped on someone with no specialist training and its luck of the draw who you get.

Flapping, come and write my ds's IEP for him please!

I just feel like im hitting my head against a brick wall, especially now CAMHS have decided (after me asking THEM for support and for THEM to spend some money) have changed their tune.

After nodding in agreement previously to SCHOOL doing anxiety scales and previously agreeing to offer ds weekly therapy to help him manage his self harming once he returned to school etc, they have today decided along with their refusal to give ds any support, that ds needs LESS support. Ds shouldn't receive anything that singles him out or draws attention to his differences.

I cant win.

Ahhhhhhh. Poor you. He always sounds so lovely. Can you pm me with details, what three smallish things does he need to make headwy, that the school can support and that are feasible for him to achieve and and I'll write you an IEP. How much support will he get? Don't these people realise that a young child self harming is not normal. Grrrrrrrr.

Aww thanks Flapping, there are so many areas and the statement is pretty messed up. For example one of his statement objectives is 'to build his fine and gross motor skills, yet in parts 3 and 4 it states he has NO fine and gross motor skills needs and his needs are listed as 'sensory', but again no objective for sensory.

His difficulties are
sensory
fine and gross motor
self harm
anxiety
self esteem
soiling
poo smearing
eye disorder
communication
social
emotional
eating - he barely eats in school
rigid thinking

He has just returned to school after a year of being signed off due to anxiety, self harm and suicidal thoughts.

I really need to sort the statement out at review. I think I will be better off just trying to work with the targets given and not ask school to change their format totally

The first thing that struck me about all of the targets is there is nothing to encourage ds to want to try in the first place.

For example English target - ds will be able to accept 'constructive critiscism'

resources - praise when deserved

I would like to add some positive motivation to get him to want to try and to raise his self esteem. Like gaining a house point or an achievement chart for example.

Im also stuck on how this will be monitored or success measured? any ideas?

Exactly. What's in it for him.

Im a little concerned with what is 'constructive' about the 'criticism', without the 'constructive' part, its just criticism! i feel school need to tread carefully here.

I also don't get the point of the resources bit 'reassurance that not everything has to be correct all the time' then offering 'constructive criticism' ie what he needs to do differently and trying to get him to change!

How does this sound?

English/communication target
Ds will become more able to accept ‘constructive criticism’ of his creative writing tasks.

Resources
Ds to be given specific examples of what he can do differently

Ds to use these examples in his writing

Ds to receive a sticker or an achievement chart or house point or ‘golden time’ when he tries?

Also Maths target

Ds will be able to accept that there are other methods of doing things and to at least have a go at alternative methods

Encourage ds to consider other methods, even if he ends up resorting to those which are more comfortable.

Im a little confused as to how progress will be monitored? We want him to accept there are other methods of doing things, even if he doesn't use them? Surely success of him accepting them, is him using them?

Flyingboy had 16 targets on his statement (i wrote it). I was very popular at Annual Review time! Is he in mainstream primary? I've discovered that in many mainstream primaries the class teachers write the IEPs, which makes sense in one way as it's their classroom and they have the child all day but they get no training on how to do this and there is often no monitoring on how good they are. There is a very good chance that the teacher has never seen the statement.

I think you are right. The statement is the thing to get right as that is a legal document. Is it worth contacting SOS SEN for advice. Ultimately, do you want him to go to indie SS? If so these awful IEPs are worth their weight in gold at a tribunal because they shout from the rooftops 'we are clueless'.

Ds is at indi SS! (well indi with specialise in HFA, although not exclusively for children with sn's, they have specialist provision on site, trained counsellors, OT, SALT etc)

They have been good so far with communicating with me and are quite open to admit that they are still learning and getting to know to ds.

Statement is absolutely terrible, so not schools fault as such. I think they are just trying to make the best of what they have, like me.

For example;- communication and interaction

Statement refers to report of 2010 (so much for reports being 'out of date'!) and state specific areas of difficulty within the areas vocab and semantic links have now resolved and conclude ds does not need a direct programme and what lovely progress he has made (not sure how they know this from a 2010 report!).

Although my indi SALT report of 2011 states the opposite and their own EP when assessing ds for SA more recently 2013 concluded these difficulties had not resolved and ds will need structured programmes and his learning programme should be devised by SALT and 1:1 and small group work to implement these etc, etc.

School have provided 1:1 with indi SALT, even though statement says he doesn't need it (although SALT was little unsure of what she should be working on!)

I don't want to push it too much with school, however im not asking for 1:1 or anything too difficult to implement in IEP and im hoping they will be open to suggestions.

Thanks everyone for helping me to get my head around this. I have taken the bull by the horns and emailed school. After all an IEP is my evidence of need and what will be needed at AR.

"The first thing that struck me is there is no mention of what will be done to encourage ds to want to try and do this in the first place. There is no mention of how we are going to support ds to enable him to do this. There is no mention of how it can be measured if that input has been successful.

Although the targets are what we are hoping to achieve in the long term, I feel they need to broken down into smaller short term easily achievable targets. Laying the foundations to build, before we try to change his thinking/behaviour. Hopefully at a reduced level with easily achievable targets we will allow ds to perceive his own success and raise his self esteem, thereby enabling ds to be more able to accept changes.

I have attached some ideas and hopefully we can discuss IEP/ideas at the next meeting"

I hope I am coming at the IEP targets from the right angle. Im no expert!

English/communication
Ds will become more able to accept ‘constructive criticism’ of his creative writing tasks.

Ds to be given 10 minutes with X to work on this daily.

Ds will be given explicit examples/instructions and maybe use his interests ie animals or pokemon to motivate him. He will be provided with the opportunity to practise these skills while working X

Ds to receive a sticker or an achievement chart or house point or ‘golden time’ when he tries

Hopefully school will receive my input as a good thing! Fingers crossed.

Oh dear claw...IEPs really are a pain. Combined with a crap statement then double trouble.

I did come across a free organisation that could assist with these things but it was a while back and need to do some serious email digging. If I find I will PM you.

Thanks Hoxton, I have emailed school and they have thanked me for my input and told me SENCO and class teacher will discuss it next week and they will do everything they can to ensure targets are achievable, measurable etc. So looking good.