Re: EF goals

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the suggestions about how to write goals. This is not a strength of my son's spec ed team at school. I think since he is pretty high-functioning, it's harder to do. Plus (and something you mentioned below), I think they are written with the schools resources in mind first and foremost. That's what it seems like to me, at least.

I would never take a goal written specifically for another child and ask for it to be added to my son's IEP with no discussion. I thought seeing some examples would be helpful so I could take them and modify them accordingly. I see what you mean though.

"Over-optimism is waiting for you ship to come in when you haven't sent one out."

From: Roxanna <MadIdeas@...> Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 9:39:36 AMSubject: ( ) EF goals

I don't think it is that helpful to share specific goals because people will take them to use without thinking first about present levels and needs. I know because I would do that. lol. You see a goal, then you say, "My kid has that same problem!" and next thing you know, it's sticking out in the IEP like a sore thumb whether it is practical or not.I encourage everyone to focus on the PLOP = Present levels of performance. You identify and write goals from this information. It also supports the need for specific goals. So if you get a well written PLOP, you can argue later when people say they can't do that, they don't need that, or any number of excuses. There are no set goals for things. Each should be written with that child's needs in mind. Do not make the mistake of letting goals be written based on what the school has available or a specific program the school has available, unless those

programs available meet your child's specific needs. Canned goals can work, but again, only if they are tailored to your child's specific needs.We've had a number of EF goals/organizationa l goals in IEPs over the years. One example might be:PLOP: R does not turn in his paperwork or follow along with the class. While others are opening their books or handing assignments in, he does not appear to notice what is going on around him and does not participate.Need: R will take notice of what others are doing in the classroom and participate as appropriate. He currently does this 0% of the time.Goal: With prompting from aide or teacher ("What are the other kids doing now?"), R will notice what classmates are doing and join them 90% of the time.Future goals were written to reduce the amount of prompt and increase his ability to notice and participate on his own. I must say, it

worked fairly well. Half his problem was autism, the other half was auditory processing problems. But he learned to pay more attention to compensate for both. He did not realize he could watch his peers to get clues on what was going on. This was a big key. By asking him that question, he started to take note and understand that he needed to be doing what everyone else was doing. Data was taken according to the goal - in the beginning it was telling him every time and marking down how often he was able to tell what they were doing and do it himself.Another goal for another ds with hfa was about staying on task. The PLOP read that he had a terrible time staying on task, was easily bored and unable to break (chunk) assignments down into manageable segments.Several goals were written. One was an accommodation that the sped/LD teacher would work with him once each day and part of that would be her

job to chunk his assignments for20him. So she would make him a written calendar schedule and also work with him to get things done on time. This was put in place and worked well for that issue.Need: R needs to increase his ability to stay on task and finish assignments. Currently, he can stay on task for only 2 to 3 minutes at a time.Goal: Using a timer, R will stay on task for 5 minutes at a time.Again, this was increased as he met with success. A reward system was put in place for meeting his goal. Success was made easy to start with. Also, this kind of goal did not work for him in the earlier grades. He would hyperfocus on the watch/clock and obsess about the time rather than use it as a guide to get his work done. But later, he uses it as a challenge and it works. So that is what I mean by not taking goals meant for someone else because it might not fit your specific child even if

it's the same problem.Incidentally, this is still a goal! He can work up to 10 minutes on his own now, sometimes up to 15 minutes if he is having a good day. I'd like to see that increase. We've also implemented meds to help with attention, reduced repetitive assignments, I still chunk assignments for him and he sees that I will rush through things he already knows so that reduces boredom. I'd like to increase his ability to "put up" with boring things as a specific focus in the future. And once his attention span increases, he can start learning to chunk his assignments. But that is not in the immediate future for him right now.The basic gist is to write goals based on need. You must have a baseline to write a goal. How often is this not happening, how often is it a problem? You have to know where you are starting in order to measure progress. Break the need down into smaller skills,

if necessary. Teach smaller skills before putting them together to form the main need/skill.Next you write what you want to see corrected, learned or implemented. "R WILL (skill we want to see)" followed or preceded by how that's going to happen. For instance, many social goals were written for my ds that began, "With appropriate instruction in social etiquette, R will...." Or you might need to state, "With prompting, R will...."So you need to state how this goal will be taught or implemented. Sometimes this is written separate from the goal - in a services section.Services should state what he needs to meet this goal. ST? Aide? Prompting from teacher? What resources will be put forward, how much time will be focused on teaching this skill.And finally, you want to specify how you will measure progress.A really wonderful book on writing goals is "How well does your IEP

measure up?" Roxanna"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." E. Burke

[Guest guest]

It's not so much that people take a goal with no discussion. It's more

that they think, " My kid has that same problem " and so they add that

goal. And even that is not a terrible thing to do except that it may

not address the whole problem or meet that child's specific need. That

is one problem with canned goals as well. They can help give a person

ideas and you can even use them, but if you don't modify them to the

child's needs, it only sorta helps. And it might hurt if you don't

consider other factors in some cases. It's a lot like sitting down

with a teacher who says, " I " ve done this for 30 years. " You get one

formula. lol. But if you write goals from the perspective of first

looking at the PLOP, we can find goals/goal ideas that are specific to

that child's needs. In addition, you would then meet those needs by

considering their strengths as well. But the number of goals one could

think up is so large that if you want examples, it seems limitless to

me. So maybe I don't understand the question.

 Roxanna

" The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do

nothing. " E. Burke

( ) EF goals

 

I don't think it is that helpful to share specific goals because people

will take them to use without thinking first about present levels and

needs. I know because I would do that. lol. You see a goal, then you

say, " My kid has that same problem! " and next thing you know, it's

sticking out in the IEP like a sore thumb whether it is practical or

not.

I encourage everyone to focus on the PLOP = Present levels of

performance. You identify and write

goals from this information. It

also supports the need for specific goals. So if you get a well

written PLOP, you can argue later when people say they can't do that,

they don't need that, or any number of excuses. There are no set goals

for things. Each should be written with that child's needs in mind.

Do not make the mistake of letting goals be written based on what the

school has available or a specific program the school has available,

unless those

programs available meet your child's specific needs.

Canned goals can work, but again, only if they are tailored to your

child's specific needs.

We've had a number of EF goals/organizationa l goals in IEPs over the

years. One example might be:

PLOP: R does not turn in his paperwork or follow along with the class.

While others are opening their books or handing assignments in, he

does not appear to notice what is going on around him and does not

participate

..

Need: R will take notice of what others are doing in the classroom and

participate as appropriate. He currently does this 0% of the time.

Goal: With prompting from aide or teacher ( " What are the other kids

doing now? " ), R will notice what classmates are doing and join them 90%

of the time.

Future goals were written to reduce the amount of prompt and increase

his ability to notice and participate on his own. I must say, it

worked fairly well. Half his problem was autism, the other half was

auditory pr

ocessing problems. But he learned to pay more attention to

compensate for both. He did not realize he could watch his peers to

get clues on what was going on. This was a big key. By asking him

that question, he started to take note and understand that he needed to

be doing what everyone else was doing. Data was taken according to the

goal - in the beginning it was telling him every time and marking down

how often he was able to tell what they were doing and do it himself.

Another goal for another ds with hfa was about staying on task. The

PLOP read that he had a terrible time staying on task, was easily bored

and unable to break (chunk) assignments down into manageable segments.

Several goals were written. One was an accommodation that the sped/LD

teacher would work with him once each day and part of that would be her

job to chunk his assignments for20him. So she would make him a written

calendar schedule and also work with him to get things done on time.

This was put in place and worked well for that issue.

Need: R needs to increase his ability to stay on task and finish

assignments. Currently, he can stay on task for only 2 to 3 minutes at

a time.

Goal: Using a timer, R will stay on task for 5 minutes at a time.

Again, this was increased as he met with success. A reward system was

put in place for meeting his goal. Success was made easy to start

with. Also, this kind of goal did not work

for him in the earlier

grades. He would hyperfocus on the watch/clock and obsess about the

time rather than use it as a guide to get his work done. But later, he

uses it as a challenge and it works. So that is what I mean by not

taking goals meant for someone else because it might not fit your

specific child even if

it's the same problem.

Incidentally, this is still a goal! He can work up to 10 minutes on

his own now, sometimes up to 15 minutes if he is having a good day.

I'd like to see that increase. We've also implemented meds to help

with attention, reduced repetitive assignments, I still chunk

assignments for him and he sees that I will rush through things he

already knows so that reduces boredom. I'd like to increase his

ability to " put up " with boring things as a specific focus

in the

future. And once his attention span increases, he can start learning

to chunk his assignments. But that is not in the immediate future for

him right now.

The basic gist is to write goals based on need. You must have a

baseline to write a goal. How often is this not happening, how often

is it a problem? You have to know where you are starting in order to

measure progress. Break the need down into smaller skills,

if

necessary. Teach smaller skills before putting them together to form

the main need/skill.

Next you write what you want to see corrected, learned or implemented.

" R WILL (skill we want to see) " 20followed or preceded by how that's

going to happen. For instance, many social goals were written for my

ds that began, " With appropriate instruction in social etiquette, R

will.... " Or you might need to state, " With prompting, R will.... "

So you need to state how this goal will be taught or implemented.

Sometimes this is written separate from the goal - in a services

section.

Services should state what he needs to meet this goal. ST? Aide?

Prompting from teacher? What resources will be put forward, how much

time will be focused on teaching this skill.

And finally, you want to specify how you will measure progress.

A really wonderful book on writing goals is " How well does your IEP

measure up? "

 Roxanna

" The only t

hing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do

nothing. " E. Burke

0D

[Guest guest]

So what kind of EF/organizational problems do you want goals for and

what goals do you have so far?

 Roxanna

" The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do

nothing. " E. Burke

(AspergersS

upport) EF goals

 

I don't think it is that helpful to share specific goals because people

will take them to use without thinking first about present levels and

needs. I know because I would do that. lol. You see a goal, then you

say, " My kid has that same problem! " and next thing you know, it's

sticking out in the IEP like a sore thumb whether it is practical or

not.

I encourage everyone to focus on the PLOP = Present levels of

performance. You identify and write

goals from this information. It

also supports the need for specific goals. So if you get a well

written PLOP, you can argue later when people say they can't do that,

they don't need that, or any number of excuses. There are no set goals

for things. Each should be written with that child's needs in mind.

Do not make the mistake of letting goals be written based on what the

school has available or a specific program the school has available,

unless those

programs available meet your child's specific needs.

Canned goals can work, but again, only if they are tailored to your

child's specific needs.

We've had a number of EF goals/organizationa l goals in IEPs over the

years. One example might be:

PLOP: R does not turn in his paperwork or follow along with the class.

While others are opening their books or handing assignmen

ts in, he

does not appear to notice what is going on around him and does not

participate

..

Need: R will take notice of what others are doing in the classroom and

participate as appropriate. He currently does this 0% of the time.

Goal: With prompting from aide or teacher ( " What are the other kids

doing now? " ), R will notice what classmates are doing and join them 90%

of the time.

Future goals were written to reduce the amount of prompt and increase

his ability to notice and participate on his own. I must say, it

worked fairly well. Half his problem was autism, the other half was

auditory pr

ocessing problems. But he learned to pay more attention to

compensate for both. He did not realize he could watch his peers to

get clues on what was going on. This was a big key. By asking him

that question, he started to take note and understand that he needed to

be doing what everyone else was doing. Data was taken according to the

goal - in the beginning it was telling him every time and marking down

how often he was able to tell what they were doing and do it himself.

Another goal for another ds with hfa was about staying on task. The

PLOP read that he had a terrible time staying on task, was easily bored

and unable to break (chunk) assignments down into manageable segments.

Several goa

ls were written. One was an accommodation that the sped/LD

teacher would work with him once each day and part of that would be her

job to chunk his assignments for20him. So she would make him a written

calendar schedule and also work with him to get things done on time.

This was put in place and worked well for that issue.

Need: R needs to increase his ability to stay on task and finish

assignments. Currently, he can stay on task for only 2 to 3 minutes at

a time.

Goal: Using a timer, R will stay on task for 5 minutes at a time.

Again, this was increased as he met with success. A reward system was

put in place for meeting his goal. Success was made easy to start

with. Also, this kind of goal did not work

for him in the earlier

grades. He would hyperfocus on the watch/clock and obsess about the

time rather than use it as a guide to get his work done. But later, he

uses it as a challenge and it works. So that is what I mean by not

taking goals meant for someone else because it might not fit your

specific child even if

it's the same problem.

Incidentally, this is still a goal! He can work up to 10 minutes on

his own now, sometimes up to 15 minutes if he is having a good day.

I'd like to see that increase. We've also implemented meds to help

with attention, reduced repetit

ive assignments, I still chunk

assignments for him and he sees that I will rush through things he

already knows so that reduces boredom. I'd like to increase his

ability to " put up " with boring things as a specific focus

in the

future. And once his attention span increases, he can start learning

to chunk his assignments. But that is not in the immediate future for

him right now.

The basic gist is to write goals based on need. You must have a

baseline to write a goal. How often is this not happening, how often

is it a problem? You have to know where you are starting in order to

measure progress. Break the need down into smaller skills,

if

necessary. Teach smaller skills before putting them together to form

the main need/skill.

Next you write what you want to see corrected, learned or implemented.

" R WILL (skill we want to see) " 20followed or preceded by how that's

going to happen. For instance, many social goals were written for my

ds that began, " With appropriate instruction in social etiquette, R

will.... " Or you might need to state, " With prompting, R will.... "

So you need to state how this goal will be taught or implemented.

Sometimes this is written separate from the goal - in a services

section.

Services should state what he needs to meet this goal. ST? Aide?

Prompting from teacher? What r

esources will be put forward, how much

time will be focused on teaching this skill.

And finally, you want to specify how you will measure progress.

A really wonderful book on writing goals is " How well does your IEP

measure up? "

 Roxanna

" The only t

hing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do

nothing. " E. Burke

0D

[Guest guest]

Sometimes I think my son sees an assignment and panics a bit b/c he knows this is going to take some time to complete and it's hard to get himself started on his own. What happens is he puts the assignment in his binder and we only discover he never completed it until I see a "0" on Gradespeed (the online system his school uses to post grades/assignments.) What normally happens is I see the "0", email the teacher, and arranges tutoring so he can make it up. This takes care of it about half of the time. The other half, he still doesn't finish it (maybe he proclaims he'll do it at home) but doesn't, so the "0" is still there a week after and I email the teacher again and send him in for tutoring again (or he produces the assignment and finally finishes it at home.) If this was only happening in one class, it wouldn't be as big of a deal, but it will

happen in multiple classes simultaneously and with his band commitments before and after school, trying to stay on top of all of this is crazy.

My biggest goal for D is to realize he'll always have to do the work and it's better to get it done when he's in class than wait until he gets home or has to go to tutoring. I realize some of this might not have anything to do with executive functioning and could be sensory related due to noise levels in the classroom or his anxiety over the amount of work. The good news is we always (eventually!) get it all done and it's all pretty pleasant too (he's not upset about having to do the work, he just needs help breaking the assignments down, verbal reassurance he can do it, and more prompts from the teachers - it seems to me, at least.)

I'm going in this afternoon for an ARD for him and he's up for a FBA and a new BIP. Any advice, given what I've typed out above, is much appreciated!

"Over-optimism is waiting for you ship to come in when you haven't sent one out."

From: Roxanna <MadIdeas@...> Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 7:24:24 AMSubject: Re: ( ) EF goals

So what kind of EF/organizational problems do you want goals for and what goals do you have so far? Roxanna"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." E. Burke ( ) EF goals I don't think it is that helpful to share specific goals because peoplewill

take them to use without thinking first about present levels andneeds. I know because I would do that. lol. You see a goal, then yousay, "My kid has that same problem!" and next thing you know, it'ssticking out in the IEP like a sore thumb whether it is practical ornot.I encourage everyone to focus on the PLOP = Present levels ofperformance. You identify and writegoals from this information. Italso supports the need for specific goals. So if you get a wellwritten PLOP, you can argue later when people say they can't do that,they don't need that, or any number of excuses. There are no set goalsfor things. Each should be written with that child's needs in mind.Do not make the mistake of letting goals be written based on what theschool has available or a specific program the school has available,unless thoseprograms available meet your

child's specific needs.Canned goals can work, but again, only if they are tailored to yourchild's specific needs.We've had a number of EF goals/organizationa l goals in IEPs over theyears. One example might be:PLOP: R does not turn in his paperwork or follow along with the class.While others are opening their books or handing assignments in, hedoes not appear to notice what is going on around him and does notparticipate.Need: R will take notice of what others are doing in the classroom andparticipate as appropriate. He currently does this 0% of the time.Goal: With prompting from aide or teacher ("What are the other kidsdoing now?"), R will notice what classmates are doing and join them 90%of the time.Future goals were written to reduce the amount of prompt and increasehis ability to notice and participate on his own. I must

say, itworked fairly well. Half his problem was autism, the other half wasauditory processing problems. But he learned to pay more attention tocompensate for both. He did not realize he could watch his peers toget clues on what was going on. This was a big key. By asking himthat question, he started to take note and understand that he needed tobe doing what everyone else was doing. Data was taken according to thegoal - in the beginning it was telling him every time and marking downhow often he was able to tell what they were doing and do it himself.Another goal for another ds with hfa was about staying on task. ThePLOP read that he had a terrible time staying on task, was easily boredand unable to break (chunk) assignments down into manageable segments.Several goals were written. One was an accommodation that the sped/LDteacher would work

with him once each day and part of that would be herjob to chunk his assignments for20him. So she would make him a writtencalendar schedule and also work with him to get things done on time.This was put in place and worked well for that issue.Need: R needs to increase his ability to stay on task and finishassignments. Currently, he can stay on task for only 2 to 3 minutes ata time.Goal: Using a timer, R will stay on task for 5 minutes at a time.Again, this was increased as he met with success. A reward system wasput in place for meeting his goal. Success was made easy to startwith. Also, this kind of goal did not workfor him in the earliergrades. He would hyperfocus on the watch/clock and obsess about thetime rather than use it as a guide to get his work done. But later, heuses it as a challenge and it works. So that is what I mean by

nottaking goals meant for someone else because it might not fit yourspecific child even ifit's the same problem.Incidentally, this is still a goal! He can work up to 10 minutes onhis own now, sometimes up to 15 minutes if he is having a good day.I'd like to see that increase. We've also implemented meds to helpwith attention, reduced repetitive assignments, I still chunkassignments for him and he sees that I will rush through things healready knows so that reduces boredom. I'd like to increase hisability to "put up" with boring things as a specific focusin thefuture. And once his attention span increases, he can start learningto chunk his assignments. But that is not in the immediate future forhim right now.The basic gist is to write goals based on need. You must have abaseline to write a goal. How often is this not

happening, how oftenis it a problem? You have to know where you are starting in order tomeasure progress. Break the need down into smaller skills,ifnecessary. Teach smaller skills before putting them together to formthe main need/skill.Next you write what you want to see corrected, learned or implemented."R WILL (skill we want to see)"20followed or preceded by how that'sgoing to happen. For instance, many social goals were written for myds that began, "With appropriate instruction in social etiquette, Rwill...." Or you might need to state, "With prompting, R will...."So you need to state how this goal will be taught or implemented.Sometimes this is written separate from the goal - in a servicessection.Services should state what he needs to meet this goal. ST? Aide?Prompting from teacher? What resources will be put forward, how

muchtime will be focused on teaching this skill.And finally, you want to specify how you will measure progress.A really wonderful book on writing goals is "How well does your IEPmeasure up?" Roxanna"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to donothing." E. Burke0D

[Guest guest]

-,

I don't have any specific goals to share, but I would like to share with you

what is working for my 13 y.o. son, in grade 8.

He is in regular classes, except for a " resource class " at the end of each day.

In the resource class, there is a special ed teacher, who is also my son's case

manager, and an aide. The sutdents get organizational help, weekly bag and

binder checks, to make sure everything is in its place and that they have all

the supplies they need. The teachers help them to prioritize their homework and

to get started on the more difficult work, so that they can get assistance if

needed.

All the students in the class must write their homework assignments in their

school organizer for each class, and get the subject teacher to sign it at the

end of every class. I am also required to sign his organizer every day, to

ensure that I am seeing all of his assigned work.

This system seems to be working very well. He has gone from mostly D's and C's

to all A's and one B so far this year.His poor grades were entirely due to late

or missing work, he blitzed his tests and exams. He is happy to get a start on

homework before he gets home and it also reduces his workload, as he has one

less academic class each day. he is graded for the resource class, but it would

be very hard to fail it!

Many of his teachers have websites where they post the homework, so I can easily

check to see if anything is coming up, or if he has not written down the full

homework.

We have also taken the drastic step of cancelling all before and after school

activities. I know this isn't ideal, but we will look at reintroducing some

activities as long as he stays on top of his workload. This makes for a more

predictable day every day.

With an entire class devoted to organization and study skills, I feel that my

son is getting the support he needs and hope that he will start high school next

year on a much sounder footing. Of course, that may be a whole new battle!

Cheers

Kylie in CA.

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Kylie

"Over-optimism is waiting for you ship to come in when you haven't sent one out."

From: KylieM <kyliemonty@...> Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 1:13:31 PMSubject: ( ) Re: EF goals

-,I don't have any specific goals to share, but I would like to share with you what is working for my 13 y.o. son, in grade 8.He is in regular classes, except for a "resource class" at the end of each day. In the resource class, there is a special ed teacher, who is also my son's case manager, and an aide. The sutdents get organizational help, weekly bag and binder checks, to make sure everything is in its place and that they have all the supplies they need. The teachers help them to prioritize their homework and to get started on the more difficult work, so that they can get assistance if needed.All the students in the class must write their homework assignments in their school organizer for each class, and get the subject teacher to sign it at the end of every class. I am also required to sign his organizer every day, to ensure that I am seeing all of his assigned work.This system seems to be working very well.

He has gone from mostly D's and C's to all A's and one B so far this year.His poor grades were entirely due to late or missing work, he blitzed his tests and exams. He is happy to get a start on homework before he gets home and it also reduces his workload, as he has one less academic class each day. he is graded for the resource class, but it would be very hard to fail it!Many of his teachers have websites where they post the homework, so I can easily check to see if anything is coming up, or if he has not written down the full homework.We have also taken the drastic step of cancelling all before and after school activities. I know this isn't ideal, but we will look at reintroducing some activities as long as he stays on top of his workload. This makes for a more predictable day every day.With an entire class devoted to organization and study skills, I feel that my son is getting the support he needs and hope that he will start

high school next year on a much sounder footing. Of course, that may be a whole new battle!CheersKylie in CA.

[Guest guest]

How did your meeting go? Sounds like you have articulated what you see

as his needs so ask for them!

We set up the same kind of system as Kylie wrote about. My ds had a

sped teacher and she pulled him out once a day to chunk his

assignments, help him do things he needed help with and keep him

organized.

I think with regards to planning out larger assignments, you have to

walk through it with him or have a teacher or aide available to do

that. I was reading a book recently about executive functioning and it

used the example of learning to ride a bike - how we hold on at first,

then get behind, then slowly start letting go as they take over

control. But we still hover a bit. Well, this is a skill like any

other. I have found that providing full support at first, then pulling

back as he takes over to be the best idea for my own kids as well.

I know my own ds (13 yo, hfa) has a really hard time not only breaking

his assignments into pieces but if I give him one big page to do, he

freaks out just looking at it. It is just so overwhelming to him.

When he was younger, we would have a paper covering up some of the

problems at a time so only so many were showing at any time. Another

idea is to let him delete a problem for each one he does. He gets to

pick. We also have had some success with " only do the odds " which

makes20him feel like he is getting to bypass half the work right there.

Set a timer and work for X minutes, then break. But like you said,

they need a lot of reassurances along the way.

I often had it written in his IEP to have the teacher or aide check

with him on a regular basis because he would get sidetracked or do the

work but get it all wrong. Like, earlier in his education, he actually

had teachers who would get upset if he underlined instead of circling

because he wasn't " following the directions. " lol. So then it became

someone's job to check in with him a lot to make sure he was on task

and doing it correctly as well. I had to get this put in place for our

older ds as well. Neither of them would ask for help if they were not

sure what to do.

 Roxanna

" The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do

nothing. " E. Burke

(AspergersS

upport) EF goals

 

I don't think it is that helpful to share specific goals because people

will

take them to use without thinking first about present levels and

needs. I know because I would do that. lol. You see a goal, then you

say, " My kid has that same problem! " and next thing you know, it's

sticking out in the IEP like a sore thumb whether it is practical or

not.

I encourage everyone to focus on the PLOP = Present levels of

performance. You identify and write

goals from this information. It

also supports the need for specific goals. So if you get a well

written PLOP, you can argue later when people say they can't do that,

they don't need that, or any number of excuses. There are no set goals

for things. Each should be written with that child's needs in mind.

Do not make the mistake=2

0of letting goals be written based on what the

school has available or a specific program the school has available,

unless those

programs available meet your

child's specific needs.

Canned goals can work, but again, only if they are tailored to your

child's specific needs.

We've had a number of EF goals/organizationa l goals in IEPs over the

years. One example might be:

PLOP: R does not turn in his paperwork or follow along with the class.

While others are opening their books or handing assignmen

ts in, he

does not appear to notice what is going on around him and does not

participate

..

Need: R will take notice of what others are doing in the classroom and

participate as appropriate. He currently does this 0% of the time.

Goal: With prompting from aide or teacher ( " What are the other kids

doing now? " ), R will notice what classmates are doing and join them 90%

of the time.

Future goals were written to reduce the amount of prompt and increase

his ability to notice and participate on his own. I must

say, it

worked fairly well. Half his problem was autism, the other half was

auditory pr

ocessing problems. But he learned to pay more attention to

compensate for both. He did not realize he could watch his peers to

get clues on what was going on. This was a big key. By asking him

that question, he started to take=2

0note and understand that he needed to

be doing what everyone else was doing. Data was taken according to the

goal - in the beginning it was telling him every time and marking down

how often he was able to tell what they were doing and do it himself.

Another goal for another ds with hfa was about staying on task. The

PLOP read that he had a terrible time staying on task, was easily bored

and unable to break (chunk) assignments down into manageable segments.

Several goa

ls were written. One was an accommodation that the sped/LD

teacher would work

with him once each day and part of that would be her

job to chunk his assignments for20him. So she would make him a written

calendar schedule and also work with him to get things done on time.

This was put in place and worked well for that issue.

Need: R needs to increase his ability to stay on task and finish

assignments. Currently, he can stay on task for only 2 to 3 minutes at

a time.

Goal: Using a timer, R will stay on task for 5 minutes at a time.

Again, this was increased as he met with success. A reward system was

put in place for meeting his goal. Success was made easy to start

with. Also, this kind of goal did not work

for him in the earlier

grades. He would hyperfocus on the watch/clock and obsess about the

time rather than use it as a guide to get his work done.

But later, he

uses it as a challenge and it works. So that is what I mean by

not

taking goals meant for someone else because it might not fit your

specific child even if

it's the same problem.

Incidentally, this is still a goal! He can work up to 10 minutes on

his own now, sometimes up to 15 minutes if he is having a good day.

I'd like to see that increase. We've also implemented meds to help

with attention, reduced repetit

ive assignments, I still chunk

assignments for him and he sees that I will rush through things he

already knows so that reduces boredom. I'd like to increase his

ability to " put up " with boring things as a specific focus

in the

future. And once his attention span increases, he can start learning

to chunk his assignments. But that is not in the immediate future for

him right now.

The basic gist is to write goals based on need. You must have a

baseline to write a goal. How often is this not

happening, how often

is it a problem? You have to know where you are starting in order to

measure progress. Break the need down into smaller skills,

if

necessary. Teach smaller skills before putting them together to form

the main need/skill.

Next you write what you want to see corrected, learned or implemented.

" R WILL (skill we want to see) " 20followed or preceded by how that's

going to happ

en. For instance, many social goals were written for my

ds that began, " With appropriate instruction in social etiquette, R

will.... " Or you might need to state, " With prompting, R will.... "

So you need to state how this goal will be taught or implemented.

Sometimes this is written separate from the goal - in a services

section.

Services should state what he needs to meet this goal. ST? Aide?

Prompting from teacher? What r

esources will be put forward, how

much

time will be focused on teaching this skill.

And finally, you want to specify how you will measure progress.

A really wonderful book on writing goals is " How well does your IEP

measure up? "

 Roxanna

" The only t

hing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do

nothing. " E. Burke

0D

[Guest guest]

We just reviewed his current IEP and discussed the additional testing Dylan will have done (really just retesting b/c technically he's due for retests.) I shared some of my concerns about EF and had your email about PLOP, Need, and Goal printed out on a word doc, ready to discuss goals, but realized that won't happen until November when the FBA has been done and we also discuss/modify his BIP. At least I felt prepared though. Dylan was in there with us when we were discussing everything and he was anxious so he was being silly; saying random things, making random noises, generally getting on my very last nerve, and in front of everyone! I talked about how this is how he acts when he's anxious or nervous about something or he's in a little sensory overload but normally, I don't see this side of him. I typically get the more mature, calm side that I can have a conversation with and whom

listens to me. His science teacher was in there too and at one point I turned to her and said "does he act like this in your classroom?" and she said "No, I've never seen him like this before. I see the more mature side too." That was a huge relief to hear! I don't think it's always been the case in past years, but maybe he's able to control it a little better now. I also told everyone he's not taking the Daytrana patch anymore (hasn't for a few weeks) and everyone was surprised to hear it.

On a side note, Dylan now has a good friend at school named . She called here last weekend asking Dylan to go to the mall with her! It didn't work out (and I don't think D was sad about it either, he's not a "mall" kid) but they are planning on going to a haunted house together and hanging out on Halloween. He even called her yesterday, just to talk. This is so huge for him. It's the first person from his school who has called here asking him to do something outside of school since 4th grade (he's in 8th now.) He has one other friend who he talks to sometimes and they hang out, but that boy isn't in Dylan's school. He eats lunch with her and a few other kids every day and I think Dylan just knowing he has someone who likes him and sticks up for him and laughs at his jokes (she apparently thinks he's hilarious, which he is!) has made a big

difference in his ability to settle down in class. It's my theory, at least. And it sounds like she has a lot of friends at school so by association, he's being accepted by more kids. I hope it stays this way!

"Over-optimism is waiting for you ship to come in when you haven't sent one out."

From: Roxanna <MadIdeas@...> Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 9:20:01 PMSubject: Re: ( ) EF goals

How did your meeting go? Sounds like you have articulated what you see as his needs so ask for them!We set up the same kind of system as Kylie wrote about. My ds had a sped teacher and she pulled him out once a day to chunk his assignments, help him do things he needed help with and keep him organized.I think with regards to planning out larger assignments, you have to walk through it with him or have a teacher or aide available to do that. I was reading a book recently about executive functioning and it used the example of learning to ride a bike - how we hold on at first, then get behind, then slowly start letting go as they take over control. But we still hover a bit. Well, this is a skill like any other. I have found that providing full support at first, then pulling back as he takes over to be the best idea for my own kids as well.I know my own ds (13 yo, hfa) has a really hard

time not only breaking his assignments into pieces but if I give him one big page to do, he freaks out just looking at it. It is just so overwhelming to him. When he was younger, we would have a paper covering up some of the problems at a time so only so many were showing at any time. Another idea is to let him delete a problem for each one he does. He gets to pick. We also have had some success with "only do the odds" which makes20him feel like he is getting to bypass half the work right there. Set a timer and work for X minutes, then break. But like you said, they need a lot of reassurances along the way.I often had it written in his IEP to have the teacher or aide check with him on a regular basis because he would get sidetracked or do the work but get it all wrong. Like, earlier in his education, he actually had teachers who would get upset if he underlined instead of circling because he

wasn't "following the directions." lol. So then it became someone's job to check in with him a lot to make sure he was on task and doing it correctly as well. I had to get this put in place for our older ds as well. Neither of them would ask for help if they were not sure what to do. Roxanna"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." E. Burke ( ) EF goals I don't think it is that helpful to share specific goals because

peoplewilltake them to use without thinking first about present levels andneeds. I know because I would do that. lol. You see a goal, then yousay, "My kid has that same problem!" and next thing you know, it'ssticking out in the IEP like a sore thumb whether it is practical ornot.I encourage everyone to focus on the PLOP = Present levels ofperformance. You identify and writegoals from this information. Italso supports the need for specific goals. So if you get a wellwritten PLOP, you can argue later when people say they can't do that,they don't need that, or any number of excuses. There are no set goalsfor things. Each should be written with that child's needs in mind.Do not make the mistake=20of letting goals be written based on what theschool has available or a specific program the school has available,unless

thoseprograms available meet yourchild's specific needs.Canned goals can work, but again, only if they are tailored to yourchild's specific needs.We've had a number of EF goals/organizationa l goals in IEPs over theyears. One example might be:PLOP: R does not turn in his paperwork or follow along with the class.While others are opening their books or handing assignments in, hedoes not appear to notice what is going on around him and does notparticipate.Need: R will take notice of what others are doing in the classroom andparticipate as appropriate. He currently does this 0% of the time.Goal: With prompting from aide or teacher ("What are the other kidsdoing now?"), R will notice what classmates are doing and join them 90%of the time.Future goals were written to reduce the amount of prompt and increasehis ability

to notice and participate on his own. I mustsay, itworked fairly well. Half his problem was autism, the other half wasauditory processing problems. But he learned to pay more attention tocompensate for both. He did not realize he could watch his peers toget clues on what was going on. This was a big key. By asking himthat question, he started to take=20note and understand that he needed tobe doing what everyone else was doing. Data was taken according to thegoal - in the beginning it was telling him every time and marking downhow often he was able to tell what they were doing and do it himself.Another goal for another ds with hfa was about staying on task. ThePLOP read that he had a terrible time staying on task, was easily boredand unable to break (chunk) assignments down into manageable segments.Several goals were written. One was an

accommodation that the sped/LDteacher would workwith him once each day and part of that would be herjob to chunk his assignments for20him. So she would make him a writtencalendar schedule and also work with him to get things done on time.This was put in place and worked well for that issue.Need: R needs to increase his ability to stay on task and finishassignments. Currently, he can stay on task for only 2 to 3 minutes ata time.Goal: Using a timer, R will stay on task for 5 minutes at a time.Again, this was increased as he met with success. A reward system wasput in place for meeting his goal. Success was made easy to startwith. Also, this kind of goal did not workfor him in the earliergrades. He would hyperfocus on the watch/clock and obsess about thetime rather than use it as a guide to get his work done.But later, heuses it

as a challenge and it works. So that is what I mean bynottaking goals meant for someone else because it might not fit yourspecific child even ifit's the same problem.Incidentally, this is still a goal! He can work up to 10 minutes onhis own now, sometimes up to 15 minutes if he is having a good day.I'd like to see that increase. We've also implemented meds to helpwith attention, reduced repetitive assignments, I still chunkassignments for him and he sees that I will rush through things healready knows so that reduces boredom. I'd like to increase hisability to "put up" with boring things as a specific focusin thefuture. And once his attention span increases, he can start learningto chunk his assignments. But that is not in the immediate future forhim right now.The basic gist is to write goals based on need. You must have

abaseline to write a goal. How often is this nothappening, how oftenis it a problem? You have to know where you are starting in order tomeasure progress. Break the need down into smaller skills,ifnecessary. Teach smaller skills before putting them together to formthe main need/skill.Next you write what you want to see corrected, learned or implemented."R WILL (skill we want to see)"20followed or preceded by how that'sgoing to happen. For instance, many social goals were written for myds that began, "With appropriate instruction in social etiquette, Rwill...." Or you might need to state, "With prompting, R will...."So you need to state how this goal will be taught or implemented.Sometimes this is written separate from the goal - in a servicessection.Services should state what he needs to meet this goal. ST?

Aide?Prompting from teacher? What resources will be put forward, howmuchtime will be focused on teaching this skill.And finally, you want to specify how you will measure progress.A really wonderful book on writing goals is "How well does your IEPmeasure up?" Roxanna"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to donothing." E. Burke0D