This morning we had Nicholas’s annual IEP meeting at his school. An IEP is an Individualized Education Plan, a document for students in special education that’s designed to meet their educational needs. It’s created by a team (parents, teachers, therapists, etc.) and is reviewed yearly to talk about strengths, weaknesses, and goals. Nicholas has had two IEP meetings so far and they have both been very positive.
Before Nicholas was in school, I used to read horror stories about how horrible IEP meetings are. Kids wouldn’t get the services they need, or teachers were really mean and didn’t abide by the plan, or weaknesses were discussed more than strengths. Just overall horrible experiences.
Luckily, the toddler program Nicholas was attending at the time had a talk on how to prepare for IEP meetings. I learned how it can get really emotional, so it’s best to bring someone with you to listen and help write things down. I learned to have a support team with you to help advocate for your child. I learned to not sign anything until you’re absolutely comfortable with the plan.
I prepared for the worst. I planned to fight and argue until my voice my heard and I was blue in the face. I was going to bring everyone we know as advocates for my son to help stand up my family. I wasn’t going to sign anything until I was completely comfortable with the plan and everything was written my way.
Turns out I didn’t need any of that. I’m glad I was prepared but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Granted my son is only in preschool right now. I’m sure it’ll get tougher the older he gets, but for now it’s been nothing but positive. We are also in a good school district, which is helpful.
Other than my husband being present both times (which is exciting in itself) we’ve had one other person there with us to help support Nicholas. I’ve never had to argue about anything, just discussed things that needed clarification. We’ve always discussed his strengths first, which always outweigh the weaknesses.
Nicholas has improved so much in just one year. At school he’s pretty much outgrown the walker and mostly walks with one hand with his teachers. That’s how he prefers it.
They’re really working on vocalization and working on picture cards and trying to discriminate between the two pictures. Nicholas is also working on drawing lines on a piece of paper and ripping paper. He really likes building with blocks and doing puzzles.
Nicholas is wearing his glasses more and more but we’re really trying to push it to where it’s all the time. Some of the things he’s doing at school require him to use his vision more like the walking with one hand, and trying to determine between two pictures.
Nicholas loves going to school and really likes his teachers. Overall he’s doing really well in the special education program. He hasn’t regressed at all even after two-week breaks away from school during holidays. This has been a really good experience for our family.