IEP

[Guest guest]

Hey All "

's Annual Case Review Conferenc and IEP writing session went well -

the LEA only calle din about hahlf-way thru and had to go after about 1/2

hour. It was great! If she wasn't there, she couldn't gripe about the

conference committee's placement decision...not that she would get us to

agree to move out of the Deaf School setting, just that she'd try

very hard...and be annoying about it.

's teacher said she has adequate language, but her social and some

fine motor issues might be limiting to what she needs to do in first grade.

The OT agreed, she said she got a copy of the first grade requirements and

she feels could benefit from another year of acquiring better and

more consistent skills. The OT did note that does better at things

when " the challenge " is issued. (OK, bet you can't do that, reverse

psychology thing.) She wondered if would do better in first grade

becasue it would make her rise to the level of expectation. But we also do

not want her to feel too much pressure or become frustrated becasue she is

not really ready for first grade. We all ended up supporting retention to

Kindergarten for 1999-2001 school year. I am fine with this, as is Rick

because we would much rather her be held back now than in a later grade.

Not that this year's teacher has been a problem, but I feel she will benefit

a great deal from a different teacher as well. If she has a different

teacher, another approach can only enhance what she has already learned.

I've stated before that is in that greyish area of being the

beneficiary of a wonderful Bilingual-Bicultural program that has given her

great language capability early. But she is not from a family of native ASL

users, therefore is at a slight disadvantage to her Deaf peers who had the

benefit of fluent early exposure. However, she is far ahead of many other

Deaf children her age.

Also, since this is only Kindergarten it is hard to guage the amount of

learned skills she will forget over the summer. If we were going into

another grade level with actual academic scores and concepts graded as it

were, then it might be easier to prove regression and get the Extended

School Year for . Since she only came out of preschool last year,

this year's teacher has no academic curriculum to guage regression. As there

was no real academic score involved last year, only socializing and

language/culture exposure, it is hard to be able to justify ESY under the

specific criteria required. I hate the fact you must have a crystal ball

to know if you need the ESY. 's teacher stated she is quick to pick

up the concept - and it is not just copying - but the next day may

or may not remember it. And sometimes it is like teaching the entire

concept over. The long-term memory may be a problem for . If that

is the case, I think we will have documentation for next year to justify

ESY. We requested that whoever her teacher is next fall, they need to

record how long it takes to " catch her up " to her peers. Also to document

specifics about catch-up after gaps in school such as Christmas/Winter

Holiday and Spring Break.

We wrote some very good, clear, attainable goals both long-term and

short-term. Overall, we are both happy with the meeting today. It was very

productive and goal oriented because we were not fighting the LEA every step

of the way!

Well, it's been a long day and I'm going to bed! I'll read all the e-mail

tomorrow - HA! I'm never gonna get caught up!

Friends in CHARGE,

Marilyn Ogan

Mom of Ken (9) and (6 - CHARGE), Wife of Rick

Indianapolis, IN

oganm@...

[Guest guest]

<< We all ended up supporting retention to

Kindergarten for 1999-2001 school year. I am fine with this, as is Rick

because we would much rather her be held back now than in a later grade.

Not that this year's teacher has been a problem, but I feel she will benefit

a great deal from a different teacher as well. >>

Marilyn,

repeated Kindergarten this year, with our agreement. However, I do

wish we had insisted that he change teachers. Your observation about

different styles is so true.

Janet

Wife to Matt

Mom to Many

Weymouth, Massachusetts