I know I posted this **somewhere** but I don't know where:^)

I know how to write measurable objectives and goals for disabilities, but I have NO clue how to do so for giftedness. I have the state gifted director on my side and she says the district **must** address the giftedness in the IEP. I even have that in writing from her!!!!

So, what things should I ask for in the IEP and how can I make them measurable?

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For example, for the graphomotor dyspraxia (dysgraphia), we might have a measurable objective like this.....

PLOP (present level of performance) on the Fine Motor Development Scale, Mite scored at 4 years 11 months for right handed skills.

Objectives

1. When given a piece of paper and a pattern to copy, Mite will be able to copy the pattern without deviation

2. When given a maze for age level 9 years Mite will be able to follow the maze without deviating from the path or crossing over lines.

Goal

When given the Fine Motor Skills scale in May 2007, Mite will score at 9 years 4 months.

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How do we do that for the gifted areas that have been neglected in the classroom?

Ok, I have to first say I didn't know that dyspraxia was the same or similiar to dysgraphia. I am still picking my jaw up off the floor because my son was just diagnosed with gaving disgraphia. He scored REALLY low for his handwriting with the testing he just had done. I was told he shouldn't stop writing all together but that he was to be taught keyboarding for his compositions because his curriculum has strong focus on writing skills and he has a lot of them to do every year and that will likely continue to increase as he accelerates.

Now to answer your question....

The way my son's GIEP was written up to focus on gifted areas or strengths was that it said he was to be grouped with children equal to his ability for both math and reading. Studies show that kids need to be with their intellectual peers for at least 50% of their school day and the school he was attending CLAIMED that they would do this and that math and reading were 50% of their school day. (I say CLAIMED because he was NOT grouped with his intellectual peers for either subject and I could tell that just by the homework and tests he brought home! He was grouped with his age peers who were on the higher end intellectually for that grade. :rolleyes: ). It also listed his strongest interests and said that he would be stimulated in those areas such as his voracious appetite for knowledge on dinosaurs, the inter-workings of the human body etc. I believe there was something in there about him being taught more computer skills but I never really noticed any increased profficiency so...I can't say if they did that or not. Basically I would have a list of his strengths and interests and ask them to not only focus on stimulating them but to help him with the weaknesses as you have outlined above.

M.

M-
Thanks. That's somewhat helpful. I always expect and IEP to be measurable goals and obejctives, but find it strange to think of it in the high end of things. I'm not sure what a measurable above grade level goal is.

Dysgraphia rarely occurs on its own. It is usually a symptom of other disorders. My son has dyspraxia. The dysgraphia for him is a result of graphomotor dyspraxia. Dysgraphia can be coupled with dyslexia, adhd, aspergers, autism, NLD...etc. It can also be the result of visual discrimination and tracking problems.

Yes, my son has ADHD I guess. I am reluctant to admit it but I guess I just have to come to terms with it and deal with it. He's good with his medication and he only has to take one so that's good. It's easily treated for him. The psychiatrist said that they see dysgraphia in about 80% of ADHD kids so it's not like it's uncommon.

As far as his testing and the writing he actually scored as a 12 year old for written expression. She was AMAZED at his ability there and said she just could not BELIEVE some of the sentences he put together and the complexity of some of his vocabulary. She said once she saw the difficulty he was having with the handwriting she actually let him answer verbally and I thought that was pretty nice of her. The main things I was looking for was an answer about his social development because of the concerns our ped. was raising and she quickly shot all of that down saying that yes, he has some trouble reading cues but that we simply need to remember to teach him some good social rules to follow and remind him along the way as he forgets. The other concern I personally had was about his schooling and the pace he seems to want to keep because he had said he wanted to complete 4th and 5th grade this year and she said LET HIM! Her testing shows that he's on a 5th and 6th grade level for everything already anyway so she said it's just fine if he wants to do that. The only thing he scored as a 7 year old on was the handwriting and she said he should learn keyboarding for his compositions yet not to stop writing completely as he'd still need the skill in life. She also said it's great that he wants to learn so much because a lot of kids with ADHD do not have ANY desire for schoolwork at all and hate learning so just go ahehad and give it to him if hee wants it. The actual tests she gave I'll list off for you although it doesn't mean a whole lot to me because I don't seem to get the difference in tests or what they all mean. I understand what most of the scores mean and that's the important part I guess...or maybe not.

She gave him
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children fourth edition (WISC-IV)
Wechsler Individual Achievement Test Second Edition (WIAT-II)
Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration-4 (VMI)
Gordon DIagnostic System (GDS)
Pediatric Behavioral Scale
Children's Self Concept Scale

As far as IQ he basically tested in the same range as when the school tested him but she did use different tests. I don't have that paperwork in front of me and I don't recall what they used at the moment.

Sorry Willa, I didn't mean to hijack your thread!

M.

If my school would allow a gifted IEP I would ask for :

"curricula compacting" - that is, he pretests math units and only has to join the class when the teacher is presenting the topics he did already knows. A book called teaching Gifted kids in the regular classroom has lots more examples.

Not to use all the "freed up" time for remediating strengths, but to allow "in-depth" pursuit of topics of interest. Your child also deserves an audience for his findings. Renzulli's school wide enrichment model has a lot to say on this.

And, why not be objective driven? First you'll have to test where, exactly, he is, and then say that he should be one year more advanced every year, yes?

Best Wishes,
Trinity

We do need to get some achievement testing done for Mite, Trin. We don't have anything like that yet and the scantron's were a joke. He scored 31%ile in language on that. I don't know if he was goofing around. I suspect he was. Lots of kids do. It might be that his fine motor skills interfered, too. However, it was a computer point and click test.

Dottie, he will be 7 1/2 next month.

Do I not understand properly as far as Davidson? Don't you have to live in a particular state for that? We are in south central Pa so he is using the Pa Cyber Charter School right now although he doesn't do the online courses. He does his work through another curriculum they offer where they send him the books and he can work at his own pace. The curriculum he is using right now is Calvert although they offer another one called Lincoln Interactive that he can switch to once he's in a higher grade I believe. Anyway, correct me if I'm wrong about Davidson.

M.

Dottie, Thanks for that info. I will have to look into that further. HECK! Maybe he can get this wireless mouse I bought for my laptop to work! I am ready to smash the thing! (the mouse not my precious laptop!)

M.

hoagies has a page on gifted iep!!!!! I shoulda known.

here is the link....

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/unofficial_guide.htm