IEP

We met for Olivia's IEP yesterday morning. Luckily, Jeanine came and talked with me Thursday night and helped me make notes of things to discuss and ask for. I felt prepared for the meeting, thanks to her.

The preschool coordinator, sped teacher, Jeanine, Jeannie, and the speech teacher were there. The meeting lasted two and a half hours, but I'm glad it did, because we really talked in great detail about her needs and goals. It was obvious from the start that they were going to offer her extended school year so that she doesn't lapse in services over the summer. But, they were also trying to figure out how to prove that she regresses without therapy. It was clear that they were struggling to prove need. I would say that was the only time of the meeting when I felt like I had to push to get answers. I asked who we were trying to convince that she needed these services and what we needed to do to make it happen. The decision was made to get documentation from Jeanine and Jeannie as well as Dr. Frick stating that a lapse in therapy has caused Olivia to regress in the past. Problem solved.

After the meeting, the sped teacher explained a little more about that issue. She said that therapists don't get paid if a child doesn't show progress. Therefore, all documentation shows a child is making progress, not regressing. So, proving the need for extended school year for a child becomes very difficult because often there is no documentation showing regression. Once again, bureaucracy rears its ugly head. The paperwork was just as I remembered it as a classroom teacher- overbearing and redundant and not necessarily helpful.

Her exceptionality was listed as Orthapedically Impaired, but Jeanine had suggested to have it be Developmentally Delayed. We discussed it in the meeting and we had it changed to DD.

Jeanine had said to me that it's best to get as many services as possible on the first IEP, as it is much easier to decrease services over time than it would be to convince that we need more later. I hope Brian and I did well yesterday getting what she needed. She will have speech 3x/week for 30 minutes, PT and OT 1x/week each for 30 minutes and an academic teacher 1x/week for 30 minutes. Her speech teacher was also Jacob's speech teacher (and her son is one of Jacob's best friends).

I was reminded yet again how much of a blessing Jeanine is to our family. She was able to come for most of the meeting and she spoke up for Olivia on many occasions. She always has the right words to say. We were asked how often Jeanine will be coming this summer, but since our outside therapy should not have any bearing on how much therapy she gets from the school system, we told them that we were unsure because of finances. Not a lie, as we are going to have to check with insurance, but we also have no intentions of stopping services with Jeanine. I swear we would sell our house before stopping therapy with Jeanine.

Jeannie (her developmental therapist) will now be her service coordinator. Shela, her speech therapist, will be in charge of her speech services (though she will probably be seen more by an assistant). We didn't get to meet her new PT as she couldn't come to the meeting. She has talked with Jeanine already, though.

Olivia turns three on Monday, so services start next week. Mom's morning out ends on Wednesday (so sad!), so I don't know the plans after that- we'll either have therapy at the house or take her to a school. I'm excited about the team approach to her services, but I'm sad that we won't be actively involved in the sessions anymore. One great thing about the IT program was that therapy was at the home, and the famliy was very involved.

I think the meeting was a success. I hope I'm right.