Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Movie Making as a Workaround for 2E?

The meeting did not go as I expected. At all...

DD was incredible - one of my proudest days as a parent. During the meeting my consultant passed me a note "DD is AMAZING!" So it was great that she took a seat at the table and had her voice heard. In terms of AT though... well... I don't know what to make of it.

I learned a few things. I'm not sure if it's true all over but at least in our area AT and OT used to be one and the same but have now become totally separate entities. Apparently there is no way to write a specific AT goal. The AT specialist is a consultant not a service provider so can't be required to provide anything measurable. I was flabbergasted. She simply wanted to train the TAG teachers to make them familiar with DD's AT. Didn't plan to incorporate direct instruction at all. Big red flag.

Fortunately the currently assigned OT working with DD at special Ed school is older so from the era when AT was part of OT. She proposed writing Executive Functioning goals that would require the OT to develop a strategy for how DD was to complete each project. This would include discussing the project, brainstorming how to approach it and working with DD to learn and become independent on the technology associated with completing it. Frankly I didn't understand it or see how this would obligate the reluctant OT at TAG to work on AT but everyone in the room was convinced it was the correct solution. I'm hoping once the proposed goals and objectives are written it will make sense to me.

I tried to propose the language aeh gave me above and was told it wouldn't work. I asked about specifically naming types of AT and was told it couldn't or shouldn't be done that way. I asked how this was going to be measurable. I asked how this is going to be enforcible - couldn't a reluctant OT tell DD to make a poster with construction paper and cotton balls rather than a movie or video presentation? All came back to OT's proposal was the only solution.

As for spec Ed school they expressed frustration that if they were going to be expected to support what DD needed for TAG they would have to take that time away from other parts of her program. Odd how they view her learning these skills as existing in a vacuum. As if it wouldn't benefit her daily classroom work too. Lots of "educating" the staff on DD's needs - not what I expected to do in a meeting during her 4th year at this school. They view their role as "pre teaching" but we had to clarify that she does not need help intellectually or academically with the work in TAG - their pre teaching needs to address the technical side and focus on developing a strategy for using her AT. The analogy of the other TAG students walking in with a pencil and notebook and being prepared while DD had to figure exactly what to access on her iPad came up a few times.

So despite being unbelievably proud of how DD conducted herself I left the meeting totally frustrated and feeling we had accomplished nothing tangible. We did remove her handwriting goals so TAG OT wIll have to work on something else but I haven't yet seen a proposed IEP goal or objectives so clearly the new approach is not likely to be implemented on Monday, DD's next TAG day.

On the bright side the day after the meeting DD's OT time was spent pretesting her on various AT so it does look like the goals will somehow be measurable. And then yesterday OT and classroom teacher found a way to get the first of DD's video diary entries onto her iPad so she can try to do something with them at TAG on Monday. Also we refocused school's need to provide appropriate enrichment. They had basically "dumbed down" her program in response to her being out one day per week for TAG. The day after the meeting DD was informed she would now be doing independent research projects rather than the low level worksheets that had been introduced this year. This should allow her intellectual stimulation AND practice with her AT so definitely a positive development.

So yes we have definitely identified holes in her AT program and they are bigger than I had ever suspected. Thank goodness the OT assigned to spec Ed school this year is a good one with the appropriate skills (and interest) to help address the problem. I really have no idea where exactly this will lead...