IEP Meeting

Last month I met with Justin's teacher and speech therapist for his end of year IEP and to discuss goals for next year.  

Comments from his speech therapist - J's speech is unintelligible, speaks in a lot of jargon with a few understandable words thrown in here and there, is drawn to the classroom boards with shapes and colors and often uses shapes and colors when communicating.  For example, during kitchen play he’ll pick up a bowl or a plate and instead of referring to it by name he’ll call it a circle.  Carl and I have noticed this at home when it comes to colors; when he’s watching Yo Gabba Gabba and sees Muno he calls out red instead of Muno’s name.  This surprised me because J is speaking 4 or 5 word sentences at home so I gave examples of him saying I want chocolate milk or I want to eat breakfast, etc.  The therapist and his teacher said that they have never heard him speak a complete sentence and noted that while that is great he is speaking some at home it is routine and probably something that we have worked with him on.  Which is true, one of the things Molly suggested we do was to not give Justin anything until he properly asked for it.  The speech therapist also noted that J is unable to answer any W questions or answer simple yes/no questions like “Are you a boy”.  Again I mentioned that he does this at home and Molly even commented on him answering some W questions so of course it’s frustrating when he’s not doing these things consistently.  But J clearly wants to communicate so one of the goals for next year is to work on getting him to initiate conversations on his own by implementing the PECS System.  The therapist said she can tell someone has been working with J because he knows his rote skills and the fact that he sounds out his letters when he says them.   Unfortunately we lose Molly this summer, she’s moving to Chicago L so we’re looking for someone to work with J during the summer. 

Comments from his teacher – general lack of focus and inability to pay attention for long periods of time.  If they’re working on writing letters J will write one letter, push his chair back and try to run away to play.  Once she gets him back to the table he’ll write one more letter and try to run away again.  J follows routine directions very well but needs prompting with non-routine directions and although he does not respond to two step directions at school I have noticed he will at home.  He prefers to write/paint/draw standing up and on the easel which is funny because he’s never shown any interest in the easel at home.    

J will not be starting kindergarten next year.  The biggest reason is his speech, or lack of communication skills.  In addition, although J knows/has the core requirements required for kindergarten (i.e. knows his letters, numbers, shapes, colors) he doesn’t know how to expand upon it.  The general consensus is that he will benefit greatly from another year in the ECSE program.  I asked about his readiness for special education kindergarten and although it is a possibility, typically with kids in Justin’s situation they recommend another year of ECSE.  They are concerned about placing him in a program with lower level performing students and by repeating ECSE they will be better able to assess his readiness for general education kindergarten.  It's somewhat disappointing but of course we want what’s best for him academically, socially, and emotionally and ensure he's ready to start kindergarten than have trouble later on.