IEP meeting for apraxia

[Guest guest]

At our IEP meeting yesterday my son was awarded by our school district as much

private one to one speech therapy for dyspraxia as the private therapist deems

fit.

I want to encourage parents who need school based therapies for dyspraxia. Our

preschool son has Down syndrome and was diagnosed w/dyspraxia this past August.

Due to my asking for an OT to work with my son at the school rather than a COTA

this fall, retalitatory action began against us and I was told I could no longer

observe therapies. Then, in order to ensurre that I wouldn't be able to observe

any therapies, his one to one therapies were changed to group therapy. This was

really awful since he has dyspraxia. Due to the OT at the school beginning a

personal vendeta against us--we were forced to change schools for outpatient

therapies.

So, we had two very hostile IEP meetings--on the part of the school

district--and it seemed no one would listen to reason concerning a child

diagnosed w/CAS and appropriate treatment. In fact, my assertion that 1:1

therapy was what research proved to be best practice was dismissed by the ESE

liason simply on the grounds that he had a PHD in SLP. He also dismissed a

letter from the school psychologist and a diagnosis prescribing one to one

individualized therapy for the CAS.

At this third meeting yesterday, I downloaded and printed out 10 things to read

and share. Apraxia Kids, CASANA, ASHA were very helpful in giving documentation

for 1:1, intensity, frequency, 3 to 5 times a week speech therapy for kids with

Apraxia. I did not share my information until the very end of the meeting after

all of the therapists went over goals. We were very kind and appreciative to

everyone. Given the retaliatory behaviour we had experienced from the previous

ESE liasons, I did not expect a good result, yet after I shared the info we were

surprised by the offer of private.

So, bring your facts and share as nicely as possible. My husband told me to

pretend like I was sharing w/friends. This helped. Actually, this new school

has awesome therapists and they are very nice. Downloading the slaw

Advocates handbook and reading it beforehand also helped.

I must say, I believe God intervened on behalf of my son. And we went into this

meeting with lots of prayer.

If anyone needs help documenting with research for an IEP mtg.-let me know and I

can share the links I used.

Colleen