31 for 21 Day 8 IEP DAY

We had Addy's annual IEP meeting this morning. I know most parents dread IEPs. I personally do not. I guess it's because I have been involved in developing and implementing IEPs for 15 years. Fortunately I know that scores really don't mean squat (most other educators do too, we just don't always broadcast it) and parents know their child best. I like how our IEP teams give parents a Family Involvement page to complete before the IEP meeting. It made the development of the IEP and meeting go much more smoothly. Scott and I filled out our list of goals that we want to see Addy accomplish in the next year and our expectations. Addy IEP was a pretty big deal today, we did a lot of changes. Since Addy turned 3 last October we have utilized itinerant services. Mainly due to her health and she was not ready for a classroom environment whatsoever. Well, she's had these services in our home for a year now and it's time to push forward. I have been taking her up to school for PT after school hours so the building is defintely not a foreign place for her. We are taking it up a notch now. She was receiving 60 mpw of OT and PT, 120mpw of ST and 120mpw of DT. Now she is going to be attending our reversed mainstream Helping Hands preschool classroom two mornings per week (Monday and Wednesday) for a total of 330 minutes of developmental instruction to address cognitive skills, social development and adaptive behavior skills. She will only be pulled out of the classroom for 30 minutes of OT. Her other 30 minutes will be at home. I will still take her up to school (outside of school hours) for her hour of PT. She will be receiving speech therapy 150 minutes per week now. Some will be at school (before she goes into preschool) and the rest will be at home. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she will be receiving a total of 90 minutes per week of direct developmental therapy at home. I am pleased with her goals (there's a lot of them!) and feel that we are making the right decision to start school. She needs her peers desperately. She will also attend Art, Music, PE, Library and Computer Lab while she is at preschool. We are a little apprehensive about the transition since she is the only non-ambulatory child in the class that isn't wheelchair bound so that will be an issue. She will be taking her walker to school and she will be encouraged to use it, hopefully a lot of that encouragement will be from her peers!! Sounds like a good plan right??? I'm not sure we have ever had an ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education) IEP with both special services in the classroom and home at the same time. Must be why Individualized Education Program is individualized!

I haven't mentioned how amazing God is lately but he is!!! Addy is starting feeding therapy next Wednesday!!! The therapist rearranged and was able to schedule her on Wednesdays after school!!! She has the spot for at least the next 6 months :) Yeah!!! I'm so excited about this for her! It will be so amazing to see all of the changes that she is going to be making!!!