Help with IEP please.

[ShadeofViolet]

DS2 goes to a preschool four mornings a week and has been given funding for 4 hours, so they are in the process of writing an IEP. However the Preschool have been quite honest that they have not had an ASD child before, or done an IEP, and its not something I have any experience in, so I was wondering if you can help me with what I should expect, or anything I can suggest?

IEP should outline what you would like the child to achieve and what he finds difficult - ie sitting still, eating, drinking, - i don't have a ASD son but our IEPS focus around walking, standing, eating, drinking, listening communication, anything that he can't yet acheive an you would like him to.

So say for example he won't sit for more than 5mins then an IEP might suggest sitting for up to 10mins - with support initially. Each term they should change and if not acheived broken down smaller - ie sit for 7 mins.

Or perhaps he can't drink from an open cup ? or eat independantly ? it is very difficult to say without knowing the child but your input is crucial so think up what you would like him to achieve and think of it as little targets.

Good luck

alison

Do the nursery not have a SENCO?

Did the LA not make recommendations with the funding?

The NAS give guidelines on writing SMART IEPs, if you give them a ring they can email you a fact sheet.

You should expect targets to be SMART
specific
meaningful
attainable
relevant
Time based. (there are variations on the acronym, this is my favourite!)

As a teacher, I was regularly astounded by the targets some of my kids would come in with - woolly, undefined, meaningless to the kids, and basically just pulled out of a hat.

(Example - "X will learn the first hundred high frequency words." Will he? Gosh. )

I expect to see targets that are FOR THE CHILD, not for the benefit of staff.

So, for example, you might say

"X will work towards sitting on the carpet at story time for ONE minute with adult support," NOT "X will sit on the carpet at story time and not fidget."

"X will work towards asking for adult intervention when he is finding a situation difficult. He will be supported in this with a Time Out card and adult supervision initially" NOT "X will not hit other children."

You need to work with the Nursery to decide what the areas of most importance are. More than 5 targets are largely pointless as it the work will not get done with the best will in the world.

I usually have at least one target for communication, one for personal care, one for physical needs/ physio/ OT (e.g. working on sensory diet etc) and then maybe a couple of 'academic' ones too, depending on where the child is at.

I don't know how other people have found it, but when I have visited MS schools I have felt that the IEP is largely misunderstood. Make sure YOU understand it, then you have a good starting point! HTH

The two things I would really like to work on are using a spoon and drinking from a cup, but I dont know if this is something I can ask the preschool to do.

the school has an early years teacher that comes once a term, so she is coming to help them plan the IEP.

I am sorry, I dont even know where to begin with acedemic ones - he likes to paint and play with the bikes but he doesnt do much else. He just seems so happy there

Would also add make sure that the help received, matches the target.

I know that this is stating the obvious, but my ds's IEP didnt.

For example all concerns were self-care, social, emotional or social communication difficulties. Help received and targets were aimed at academics.

we started v. simply, alway 3 targets:
using two words
taking turns with one peer and adult
make ds aware of his tactile needs
then progressed if succeeded
taking turns with two peers
play with peer and adult
sharing toys
then:
taking turns (no adult)
when his talking got better, with adult invite peer to play
role play with adult (in kitchen or garage, all v. simple)

his 1:1 time (an hour a day) he has just with his keyworker, away from everyone doing jigsaw, games, reading etc

they were always little and ds always achieved them and seems to have worked. his peers like his fiddle toys

if he has 1:1 for 4 hours ask if the spoon/cup can be one of the targets.

Thanks everyone. I have just got my head around the health side and the education bit seems even more complicated (and in some ways even more important) and I just want make sure I am getting it right!

You could ask that one of the targets is something like "X will work towards using a cup independently at snack time. In the first instance, he will be supported with hand over hand by an adult." (sorry, I don't know how your child's FMS are, he may not need that level of support.)

Break it down - put a cm of liquid in the cup each time. There is also an excellent halfway cup that used with some teenagers to help them learn; this

But personal skills - spoon and cup - are definitely appropriate areas for school to work on.