Re: IMPORTANT- REQUESTING INFO FROM ALL OF YOU

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

My son turns 3 in May and we've just begun the process as well. Where in PA do

you live? We're in the Lehigh Valley- eastern part of the state.

Kim

>

> Hi all-

> I am requesting a favor from all of you- so that I can " try to make a

difference " in the State of PA.

>

> The State of PA does not feel that Indiv. Therapy should be offered in the PK

Setting. I plan on fighting for this in my upcoming IEP meeting.

> I was speaking to my very nice EI Coordinator yesterday, and I told her about

how many of you were able to have indiv. therapy sessions included in your IEPs.

Her response was " I find that hard to believe " . (did she think I was making this

up)?

>

> I would like to provide her with proof that this CAN Occur. I am requesting

that those of you who who were able to negotiate for indiv. therapy e-mail me-

> Please let me know what State you live in- your child's dx. or degree of

Apraxia, your child's age, and the amount of indiv. therapy that your child

receives in the Pre K Setting. I will then copy and paste all of this info into

another document, which I will give to my EI Coordinator. I PROMISE to not have

any of your personal e-mail addresses shown on this.

>

> My goal is to educate the EI people in my area that Indiv. Therapy DOES occur

in other School Settings, to increase the knowledge of Apraxia in the EI System,

and to increase EI understanding that such a thing as Indiv. therapy in a PreK

setting DOES exist. The EI people in my area seem to be brainwashed by the

School System.

>

> We will no longer have EI when our Son turns 3 this March.... I am hoping that

my actions will help the parents in my area who are still involved with EI.

>

> sometimes cuts out posted e-mail addresses.... so I will enter my

address as follows:

>

> Thanks so much---

>

>

[Guest guest]

When my son was 3 - it was critical for him to have 1:1 therapy @ school &

privately. He gets easily distracted and the sessions would not have been as

effective otherwise. His dr. also requested that therapy be 1:1. He is now 8.

y.o. and doing quite nicely..the focus today is " reading " ...talking just

fine..not on par...but I don't expect par...he's come a long long way. He has

group sessions today along w/ 1:1...attention span much better & it teaches

socialization and teamwork.

[Guest guest]

Oh I agree!!! It is amazing how things happen at school when you bring in

outside evals or even an advocote..

I know first hand that really makes things happen!!!!

Alyssa

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 29, 2010, at 3:16 PM, wrote:

Hi Kim

I live in Wexford PA, which is about a 30 minute drive north of Pittsburgh.

I am thinking that I may have some problems during my upcoming IEP. I am

hearing that the School does not support indiv. therapy for Apraxia within

the Pre K School setting.... this has me very concerned. The most

appropriate form of therapy for Apraxia is Indiv. therapy..... our kids do not

respond well to, and may even regress with Group Therapy. I will let you know

what happens during my IEP Meeting this Tuesday.

Advice for you- if you have not received an outside formal Speech Eval on

your child-- make an appointment to have one done ASAP. I made my

appointment with Hammer from Children's Hosp. of Pgh.

Your EI Coordinator will soon be calling you to schedule " A Transition

Meeting " ..... where you will informally meet with people from the School.

They will tell you that they will be sending School Personnel to evaluate your

child. They then, will complete an " Evaluation Report " . It would be

helpful if you had an outside report that describes the degree of your child's

Apraxia. You can insist that they add this to their report. In my case,

the School decided to NOT send a Speech Therapist to evaluate my Son-- they

used the report that I had obtained from Hammer. If anything, an

" outside report " will be " added ammunition " to show to the School- to support

the services that your child will need.

Purchase the Book " The Late Talker " asap.... here is an Amazon link to

it...

_http://www.amazon.com/Late-Talker-What-Child-Talking/dp/0312287542_

(http://www.amazon.com/Late-Talker-What-Child-Talking/dp/0312287542)

This book is like " the Bible " for parents with Apraxic kids!

During your Transition Meeting, they will give you info on how you can

arrange to tour the PK School that your child will attend. Try to make this

appt. ASAP- they may have limited dates.... and you want to have enough time

to develop a list of questions to ask about the school that your child will

be going to.

In our case, our Transition Meeting was in November- (3 months before my

Sons 3rd BD). We made an appointment to see the School during late Nov.,

but had to cancel it because our older " typical child " was admitted to the

Hospital for a severe sinus infection. The School had no class observation

dates from December to late Jan. We had no choice but to wait to see the

school until less than one week prior to our IEP Meeting. I have many

questions about the school- all of which I must ask during the IEP Meeting... I

feel it would be better to have them answered earlier!

I will be here to help you in any way that I can