Final IEP today!

[Guest guest]

Can you believe it? I have 's final IEP meeting today! Can't believe it

myself! Kind of bittersweet. Can't believe he's graduating! I've been on this

group since he was in 4th-grade and now here he is-graduating in June!

It really amazes me how different the PLOP has changed since middle school! I

used to get so depressed and sad when I'd read this on his IEP. It was so full

of negatives and made him sound like he had a very low IQ. Now they are so full

of positives and how great he's done and how far he's come. Very little is even

written because there is so little negative or things he needs to work on.

Behavior chart is gone. Anxiety hasn't been an issue for the past 2 years! He

was even passed on to another case manager because the old case manager-who he

has had for the past 3 years said that didn't need him anymore and could

be passed on to someone else so he, the case manager, could pick up students

with more issues/needs than !

Not sure what is going to happen after this. He plans to take graphic

communications II as a post-graduate. He is applying for a job at the vocational

school over the summer. It's a full-time job. Come fall, though, he'll have to

find something else. But it will give him some experience. Hopefully it will go

okay. He still tends to have issues with having to take suggestions on changing

his work. But this is something he's going to have to get used to in the field

he plans to complete. He LOVES his graphics class and loves being there. They

said he works at 100% in that class and has above average grades/test scores in

the class! I've never seen him so motivated!

He does want to go to the Art Institute the following year, but we are looking

into other colleges as the tuition there is $90,000 for 4 years! So not sure

what's going to happen on that note. He is good at doing graphic communications

and I'll be anxious to see how he does in the 2nd year. Some students are

offered a job if they are top in the class. And the facility that will hire even

does stuff for Disney!!!

He failed his driver permit test 3 times, so he has to take a class in order to

re-take it. He'll be 18 in June. I don't know when he'll get his license. He

doesn't seem too bothered with getting it, so at least he's in no hurry, but he

will have to do something to get to work and school next year. His sister is

able to get hers in May, so I'm afraid she'll have hers and will start driving.

(We don't have the extra $250 for the class for him at the moment.)

But, this is a big day. Last IEP meeting. I'll still have them for now

that she's gotten further services beyond the speech/language. So that fight

won't go away. But we have crossed another " goal line " ! Graduation is just down

the road!

-Melinda