I have a meeting tomorrow with the preschool, to discuss what the EP says.

[colditz]

What can I expect? I get on well witht the preschool teachers, btw, but I am finding the idea of a 'meeting' a little daunting.

And Oh Lord oh God I am still in denial. I am well and truly, while seeking the best for my child, totally sticking my head in the sand.

I am going to have to not let myself argue witht hem about what she has said. I will feel like it is my fault he is the way he is, and that they are blaming me somehow, and I will feel like that becvause deep down I blame myself.

Why have they called the IEP meeting?

Sorry it's not an Individual educational Planb IFAIK (tG for the acronym list!) I meant Educational Psychologist.

IME meetings at pre-school tend to be fairly informal. Notes are written etc but it usually involves sitting down with a coffee and chatting.

It won't make you change your mind but I'm going to say it anyway - It's not your fault.

From my experience no one will be blaming you and thinking it is your fault. You are all working together for the best for your son.

I hope others on here give you more support. I cannot tell you not to blame yourself because that is not in my power, but I wish you did not.

hope it went okay.

It was all quite informal. There points are

-he doesn't hold scissors properly (he is 3.10)
-he is very very impulsive
-he doesn't hold a pencil properly
-they don't agree with him being discharged from Speech Therapy (neither do I)

So, he is having a visit from the Educational Psychologist on the 9th 'to review his educational progress'

he had the vist from the Ed Psych. The only problem she sees, as far as I know, is his speech. I am awaiting a letter from her to get the detaiils.

Thanks all for your support.

Have they or you tried Fiskars scissors? Theyre the ones with a big loop and a small one so that the thumb goes in the small loop and the index and middle finger go in the bigger one. theyre much easier to control. Tesco do something very similar and cheap, in their kids stationery section.

Pencil grip is frequently not established at 3.10, have they tried chunky triangular pencils? Lots of kids get on better with them than pencil grips that move.

Hope the EP visit helps.

Thing is, he always had a fine pencil grip until he started at the playschool! Now he uses pencil grip at home and chimp grip at playschool!

I wouldnt worry about that side too much, if he can do it its not a problem.

I visited a reception class this morning and the variety of pencil grips was amazing.

And dont get me on to the subject of cutlery styles!

Unfortunately some schools put a lot of emphasis on the development of crtain skills, whereas in reality skills develop at different rates in different children.

Hi Colditz, please don't worry too much about pencil grip.

My ds (who has AS and ADD) still does not hold a pencil properly. However he is improving his writing now and starting to form his letters correctly (aged 6 and a half). He was just not ready beforehand.

Its great that the EP is getting involved at this stage, it sounds to me like the nursery is really good and being proactive. Believe me, that is not as common as you might like.

DD's OT has recommended some spring loaded scissors to help with cutting.

They look quite good, Neroli, theyve got the two finger loop as well.

Some children also find it easier to use scissors that you squeeze - I cant remember what theyre called. OTs often recommend them and specialist education catalogues sell them.

explain to the EP that his pencil skills are okay at home, maybe attention needs to focus on the preschool.

dd2 is 5 1/2 and has just sussed pencl grip and isn't good with scissors.I wouldn't be concerned at this age with those.I would push the speech though as I wish I had pushed more for dd2 when she was younger.