First iep

[alfiemama]

Hi everyone

I have a meeting with the school tommorow to talk about why know one has mentioned ieps to us.

What kind of things can I suggest to be included in this?

sorry ds is 4 so in reception (suspected As and Dyspraxia)

Bumpety bump

hope no one minds, got the meeting early in the morning.

What are his main difficulties.You will need to identify 2 or 3 targets for the IEP. eg. developing independance for getting dressed and undressed for PE, and the strategies to be used. Or extra support to improve fine motor control - e.g. lots of playdough/plasticine/pegboards. Maybe a writing slope? Coming into school and organising himself independantly, with some sort of visual support/timetable to back this up?

targets ar best kept small and foccussed and should be reviewed at least 3 times a year. The target should be achievable over a few months- or it is a waste of time.

Thanks WMFrog, he is struggling with everything to be honest. He cannot get himself dressed/undressed. Not very good on phonics and numeracy. Cannot go to the toilet by himself. Isnt able to read or write yet.

Is it just educational needs or can I suggest care needs aswell, ie toileting etc?

Sorry if a little dim here but what is a writing Slope?

Visual timetable is a good idea.

Could they have things like this in place without us knowing?

Yes you can do care. My DS's first target was to learn to ask to go to the toilet as he used to sit and cry. Then we moved on to cleaning his own bottom and now we are on handwashing - one stage at a time. School have used social stories to help. Actually educational needs are less relevant in some ways as they should be alerted to those anyway as part of the curriculum requirements.

Absolutely, thanks some good ideas.

Someone on another site suggested PECS, ds is verbal (very robotic) but very visual, do most schools use these? Sorry not quite sure what they are, still looking into them.

PECS are more specialized, but yes, visual symbols for supporting timetables, routines, or a dressing schedule etc. We use other symbols like a 'wait' card and an 'i need help' card. These can be very simple and IME are hugely helpful.

PECS are more specialized, but yes, visual symbols for supporting timetables, routines, or a dressing schedule etc. We use other symbols like a 'wait' card and an 'i need help' card. These can be very simple and IME are hugely helpful.

Wmfrog, you have been most helpful thank you.

Visual timetables are something that can be really useful for the whole class, especially in Reception where everything is still new to them.

Ds2's class last year and this year have symbols for things that they will be doing that day, eg PE, assembly, numeracy, choosing etc.

My ds1 had problems with getting dressed. Someone suggested a method called back-chaining/backwards chaining (or something like that. Basically the child learns to get dressed by first working on the very last stage of dressing and then the preceding one, and so on.

So, for example, if teaching your ds to put on his own trousers you would start by helping him into them but letting him pull them up from his thighs to start with. Once he's mastered that you do everything for him but let him pull them up from his knees. Once he's got that you help him get one leg in but let him do the 2nd leg himself and so on.

If it's the order of dressing that he finds difficult then a visual timetable could help, with a picture of each item he needs to take off/put on in the right order. As he takes off/puts on each item he (or an adult helper) takes that picture away so that he can see the remaining ones more easily.

Targets that my two have had in the past include things like:

• improving fine motor skills by rolling playdough into specific shapes

• encouraging them to join in with class discussions by starting off with an adult and one or two other children. As confidence increases and they get the idea of what to do the group gradually becomes larger.

• Helping with transition from one activity to the next by using timers, warnings etc

• Encouraging and helping them to realise when they are getting angry or upset and to try to take themselves away from the situation, eg to the book corner or other quiet area.

A writing slope is basically a sloped board to use for writing instead of a flat table. It helps children to get a better position when writing and generally makes it easier.

One of my DS first IEP targets was to learn the names of all the children in his class. This was very useful, especially as he has ASD. Does your DS have support in school?

Hi everyone, thanks for the advice. I like the idea about undressing and the names of the pupils also a good idea.

Just got back from the meeting. Seems Alfie is a lot worse than we initially thought.
Ed pysc is still of ill and still waiting for SALT appointment, luckily I did a dual prong attack and went to the gp who reffered to comm paed which is 12th Feb.

They are going to put some ieps in place but like the teacher has said Alfie is very complex and she will have to have a think about the best way to help him.

She advised that he needs 1 to 1 throughout the full school day not just educationally but also with care needs.

I asked her to tell me honestly if Alfie would be ok at their school or if a special needs school would be better. She said it was hard to say and they would have to see once he has help but that he has very complex issues and his needs have to priority.

I have advised them that I need the iep in place and that we are going for a statuory assesment, which they were very pleased about. They advised he needs a statement.

Bit of a shocker as I think I was still expect them to say, no dont be silly he will be fine. But I have to accept that this is not going to happen and even though he hasnt yet got dx that he most deffinately has special needs.

leonie - targets should be SMART lol, of which the A is attainable. (google smart iep targets, there should a be a lot of info) I would be discussing with school whether the toileting target is attainable, or needs to be broken down into smaller steps, ie this term our toileting target is for her to recognise when she needs the toilet and ask/ sign to go, or to be able to adjust her own clothes/ wash her own hands when the LSA takes her, or any other smaller target around the general toileting area lol. it can be built up gradually by adding a 'new' target bit into the toileting routine once she attains the smaller one. Too big a step for her to go straight to doing it all, and hence not SMART in any way.
the idea is of course that if children are not progressing with the help of an iep that they require 'more' support (ie it can be used to request statement), but in order for that to be taken seriously you would have to look at the iep and see if it would stand up to scrutiny. What have they got down as their action to help her achieve this target? setting a target without providing support for her to reach it is a fairly pointless exercise... as it would happen either with or without the iep...

in your position, if she genuinely does not know when she needs the toilet, i would be suggesting a target such as getting her to toilet at regular intervals through the day (ie at morning break, lunchtime and afternoon break) and the staff should be helping her to build it into her routine - so she has cues has to when to go (ie before she lines up to go outside) that way, she will learn the routine (are they using picture timetable or similar?) and can eventually learn to follow the routine and toilet appropriately, without being reminded by the LSA. you would need to ask your paed their advice on toileting though - ours likes the timetabled approach if children do not have a'sensation' of needing the toilet, but ehn likes to introduce longer periods between timetabled toilet stops to allow the bladder to expand and see if the child recognises the 'full' sensation...
we always check targets with whichever specialist appropriate - ie paed, ot, physio etc... they can often suggest a more appropriate target if attainment is a struggle...

Leonie - only just logged on and seen you comment. You've had some good advice already, but just to re-iterate the target should be attainable - 'going to the toilet' is a big request. As you will see this was staged into smaller chunks for my ds - first he just had to ask to go, then he was supported to clean himself independantly, and now we are trying to get himself to wash his hands. This has taken us 15 months.

Alfiemama. Sorry to hear that things are worse for your DS than expected. This is exactly what happened with my DS when he started in reception - he would not enter the classroom, look after his toileting, dress himself, or even ask for a drink. he was totally shut down and the school couldn't cope. We applied for a statement, got full time 1:1 and now a child who could not access school at all last year is fully included and thriving. Reception is particularly difficult for and ASD child as it is based so much on free play. Once in the structure of Yr1 with 1:1 my DS is a different child - still with problems but learning and enjoying school, Our statement was obtained before diagnosis btw.

Hi Wmfrog, thanks that has made me feel so much better, thanks for taking the time to reassure me, appreciate it. x

Not at all Leonie, I just hope you get it sorted, I think it's disgraceful to leave your little one how they did. Good look with the statement.

Hi Alfiemama

Sorry things are worse than you expected. We had a similar situation when had our first meeting with DS2's nursery teacher. He really wasn't managing that well at all. Non verbal, aggressive. Would walk around the nursery unit and knock other children's games off the table, etc, etc. Wouldn't co-operate with rules or move from task to task. It was all a bit of a shock. The nursery teacher stated that she was very worried about him!

However, he was given an IEP which they followed. We used the diary going back and forth. They helped brilliantly with the toileting issues (embarrasing but they were very good about things). We practiced turn taking, etc and in the end he managed quite well.

The staff were supportive and he ended up with quite a good relationship with his nursery teacher. We were very grateful.

DS2 also went to ICAN Nursery at this time and then eventually moved to specialist unit and it has been extremely beneficial to him.

I think one of the hardest things is not having reassurance from anyone that 'everything will be all right' - so sending hugs.

Ah thanks Helensmelons, I really appreciate that. It is scary, but I think we have managed this far (just thought that was Alfie) that anything from now should get better. But I would certainly not rule out a special school at all, in fact the thought of mainstream high school is very scary.