Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional ASD/giftie IEP for K: what are your highlights?

We're about to start the process, and I was just wondering if people had some BTDT "Don't get snagged on this" or "Make sure to bring this up" type advice.

I have a feeling I need to be on my toes, they seem to be progressing VERY fast, and without really stopping to listen much.

thansk!!
-Mich

There is no cookie-cutter set of goals to choose from. Everything in an IEP is need-driven, based on what has been found in the school's official evaluation. If they try to give you something cookie-cutter that doesn't fit your kid, e.g. "this is what we do for kids on the autism spectrum," don't let them-- the I in IEP stands for "individual" and they are obligated to give this particular outlier an "appropriate" education. (Never say "best"-- say "appropriate.")

I'd make a list of things to address by looking at

(a) how he does in group situations now, with peers, following directions, and self-control; make a list all the "soft skills" for school that are probably not in place

(b) the state standards for kindergarten and where he stands in relation to them (the standards often include both academic things and social/emotional things like cooperation that can be worked on in an IEP).

Some schools will let you specify differentiated instruction or other gifted accommodations in an IEP; some won't. Ours doesn't officially but it has been part of every IEP process since 2nd grade to figure out how to address the giftedness, because DS behaves better when it's all addressed properly. This was not possible in K, when we were just trying to get an IEP into place.

If your DS qualifies for speech or other services, those can best be scheduled at times when the class is doing something that he already knows. That's one reason to have the academics on the table.

Our DS made the best gains when special ed services were pushed into the classroom, rather than having him pulled out. (Pullouts are sometimes necessary to teach a skill-- but skills must also be reinforced in the classroom so that they become part of the skill set the child has in all settings.) We needed someone to take data on what classroom behaviors he had not yet mastered, devise strategies for teaching and reinforcing those behaviors, and carry out the plan to mastery. We always had our private ABA therapy team come to IEP meetings and often had them taking supplementary data at school and helping devise these plans, because that way our home and school programs stayed in sync, and the school appreciated the expert help.

Look into "behavior plans" or "behavior intervention plans." My DS definitely needed one, and the school was very slow to put one in place. This document, supplementary to the IEP, protects a child who flees or acts out by specifying what triggers this kind of behavior and what steps the school must take to prevent it or cope with it if it happens.

Does that help? If you specify what you think is needed, I can brainstorm some more.

DeeDee

DS4.9 has an IEP in place for Kindergarten that we just updated back in May. It does not mention giftedness in any way. Our District doesn't offer any GT services until 3rd grade and there is no state funding. As for his PDD-NOS, there is very little about it in his IEP. He will be getting speech therapy once a week. We are unsure at this point if he does in fact have a speech issues (with pragmatic language) or if he's just too busy to slow down and listen. We've gotten opinions both ways. And he will be getting OT for writing because of fine motor skills issues. Other than that, there isn't anything else as we haven't seen the need really. He did really well in the special ed preschool in terms of behavior, much better than expected so we'll see what K brings!

Our biggest part of IEP though unofficially is all of his health accommodations (for allergies, mainly). It's not part of the IEP but it is included in it as a health plan.

Anxiety is a concern, as previous bad fits showed as "Illness" rather than bad behavior, and mainly cumulative effects rather than major tantrums. (and the tantrums he did have escalated fast enough that he was throwing up before anyone noticed it was really a tantrum, so I was always told he was 'sick')

Gifted is included in our IEPs, though I don't think the term will be used until gr 3 unless he gets into one very specific programme which I doubt is appropriate or desirable (and it's Gr 1)

Thanks!

Mich, back at you soon, running around today.

DeeDee

Our IEP is just a 'regular' one... no mention of giftedness, but here's what we have in it so far:

Preferential seating (next to teacher if possible)
Verification that DS has understood assignments/homework (he doesn't always catch that something is required work)
Access to the Spec Ed resource room if anxious/upset
Extended time on tests if necessary
100mins per week with the Spec Ed teacher - this basically translates to spending the last 20mins of each day with her. They go over what's in his backpack, verify he's got his homework, discuss anything that happened that day, etc. This has been AMAZING. The end of the day was always a trigger due to the chaos and noise.

He also will receive counseling through a private office (paid for by the school) every other week. We actually ended up knowing the psychologist they brought in to evaluate him, so yay for that! They will work on his anxiety, pragmatics and anything else he needs/wants.

Things we might request in the future for him:

A note-taking device, such as an voice recorder or ipod
Staff assistance during class changes (in 5, iirc, the kids all start having different schedules, so they have to get to the next class on their own)

He also is allowed to keep protein-heavy snacks (beef jerky, for example) with the nurse and Spec Ed teacher so he can run and get a snack when he needs it. He's a hot mess when he's hungry!

DS skipped kindergarten, but in 1st grade he had both IEP and ALP, so the gifted stuff was all in the ALP.

We have had things in the IEP like preferential seating (don't trap him between other kids), allow snacks, can go to quiet area (reading corner or whatever) when needed, can go to see counselor when he feels it necessary, but the most important for us was the stipulation that he would not be suspended or expelled on behavior issues.

His Asperger's gave us some rough years in the behavior territory, and without that, he would have been kicked out under the normal rules -- one year he had six pink slips. He would get so frustrated at various things (the way the other kids didn't understand him, something he felt should be a certain way and it wasn't, somebody got in his way when he wanted something, etc.) and he would yell inappropriate things, insults or threats, and once he hit his best friend for getting to the light switch before he did. The school was fabulous about counseling and behavior training and social skills classes and groups, and by 5th grade we didn't even renew the IEP anymore, although of course he still has Asperger's. Not a single pink slip this year, woohoo!

But if you have any concerns about behavior and social skills, I would definitely get that into the IEP. He would receive various in-school detentions, lose lunch recesses and/or sit in the principal's office or whatever, and he did lose his spot on student council in 4th grade when he had worked so hard to get elected, but they worked on solving the problem rather than just kicking him out of school, which let off some of the pressure for us.

Sooo... the principle wouldn't take our letter requesting the process to begin, refused to look at the cognitive section, and declared that she only had so many aids, and she couldn't give him one (I didn't ask for that, or say anything at all of the kind).

erm. illegal much?

I think she's just ill-informed, and she extended an olive branch on a minor point, but this does not bode entirely _well._

The school's particulars did not prepare me for this eventuality. I was expecting them to have it all in hand. ARG.

NOTE: there is substantial good news: we met with our ASD advocate last week, and she's pretty darned awesome. We've looked things up again, and now know exactly what to add to our request letter to make it plain as day that we want an ENTRY to school plan. ARG. It will all be ok. We're just not entirely immune to bumps in teh road, apparently.

Sounds like a combination of budget stress, ill-informed, and having been pressed before.

Remind me where you stand: is this the first IEP, and has your child already been evaluated through the school district?


Sounds good. I'm glad you have help.

When you get to writing the IEP, the Profile section will be really important. That description drives the rest of it. You'll want to put in the data you have (in summary form), as well as the relevant facts. For example, your account of how the anxiety presents (that it is often mistaken for or reported as illness) belongs in the Profile. You want someone to read this profile and have it be clear what the child is like, what the strengths and weaknesses are, and why an IEP is needed.

When writing goals, make sure that they are specific, and designed so it is possible to take data on each one, and the data obtained will be relevant.

HTH,
DeeDee