For those of you who have children with learning differences, you understand the power that an IEP holds over you. Luckily, for us, IEP's have been nothing more than putting into words all the needs and differences Adeline has. Our state/county has a fantastic - dare I ask if there is a better one - 3-5's preschool program. Adeline was met head on and many of her differences have lessened or subsided due to the aggressive and personal approach taken by her development preschool classroom.
Last week, I had the privilege of attending Adeline's IEP meeting. I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the meeting because her teachers and therapists don't beat around the bush when talking about their students. Often these meetings put me right back into the NICU where I so desperately wanted the doctors to tell me that I was going to carry both my babies out of the NICU and that they were both going to walk, talk, and know what love is. Where is that magic 8 ball when one needs it?
I started the meeting by asking each person to share if they thought Adeline had made more, less, or an expected amount of progress. There was a resounding MORE! I was so happy to hear that she is much more than they thought she would be upon meeting her on the first day of school. They remembered when it was hard for Adeline to walk down the long halls with her backpack on or how it was a very slow process to get Adeline to navigate the field to the playground. They happily reported that she runs ahead with some of the other kids now! After sharing many of these examples they all seemed to come back to her personality. Each person commented on her determination, patience, and remarkable perseverance. That is my little girl!
Once done with the anecdotal part of the IEP we moved on to writing goals/outcomes. It is necessary to be specific regarding Adeline's needs and how each need is addressed and measured. Here is what we came up with.
1. Adeline will respond to 10+ verbal directions containing the following concepts during small group activities 4 out of 5 times.
prepositions
negatives
categorization
qualitative concepts (5)
2. Adeline will consistently communicate through the use of 4 to 6 word basic sentences using :
pronouns - he, she, we, it, they
possessive pronouns - his, her, hers, its, theirs
articles - a, the
is/am + verbing
simple past tense
(Right now Adeline communicates using high content words which convey meaning but usually leaves out smaller parts of speech.)
3. Adeline will improve her social and emotional skills during the school day in order to: independently initiate simple back and forth games with 1-2 peers taking 2-4 turns in a 15 minute free play session.
(Right now Adeline is social and engages in play but doesn't initiate play in the classroom. It should be noted that she initiates play at home.)
4. Adeline will improve her fine motor and visual motor skills to imitate a closed circle, a cross, square and correct facial scheme using her preferred dominant hand and holding writing implements in a modified tripod grasp in 4/5 opportunities.
(Adeline just started imitating a closed circle this week!! She is able to correctly place facial scheme using wooden pieces but doesn't have the dexterity to draw one on paper. She switches hands mid activity.)
5. Adeline will improve her bilateral hand skills to cut a 5" straight and curved line to 1/2" accuracy.
6. Adeline will improve her gross motor play by:
walking a 3" beam for 4'
jumping down 10"
jumping forward 12"
rising up from the floor through a half kneel position
running 10' in 12 seconds
(Currently, Adeline needs assistance on the beam, jumps forward 8", down 6", and runs 10' in 16 seconds.)
7. Adeline will consistently speak in an audible voice.
(Currently she uses a soft voice that can barely be heard in the classroom.)
I am pleased the the above goals seem within Adeline's range of achievement. I fully expect her to plug away at the list. By doing so, she will close the gap even more which puts her that much closer to her mainstream peers!
