Another year, another IEP

It seems kind of like kismet that our IEP fell within National Autism Month. The beloved, the necessary, the dreaded IEP. For those of you who don't have special needs children or are not special educators, IEP stands for Individual Education Plan, a federally mandated process and document for all special ed kids. Don't fall asleep yet!

The IEP is a wonderful thing, yet it is surrounded by controversy, tension, stress, debate, sometimes legal action. Even with Evan at a wonderful school, I always have a bit of a stomach ache before and during the annual IEP meeting. Sometimes afterwards, too.

Essentially, the IEP is intended to ensure that each child in the public school system with autism (for example) gets an "appropriate" education. What this comes down to is debate and discussion on what accomodations are necessary to help the child succeed in (or out) of the classroom. Should the autistic child be in a "self-contained" classroom with other special ed students or should he be "mainstreamed" into a typical classroom setting with accomodations like an aide ("paraprofessional"), pull-out Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy services, special circumstances surrounding testing (especially standardized tests), etc.

Needless to say, parents, teachers and administrators do not always see eye-to-eye on what's best for the student - and there are other factors involved, like the fact that having an aide in the class costs the school extra money. Ah-hah!

Happily, Evan is an IEP success story, although it's not a story without heartache and drama along the way. Evan started out in a self-contained classroom during his first run at kindergarten. After a rough start, he had a good year and then transferred back to our neighborhood school for another round of kindergarten in a "mainstreamed" situation. Overall, it went well. However, the transition to all-day first grade was a nightmare up until about February. I will always adore his teacher Ms. Raven for loving him through it all and telling us that she had "learned so much as a person from Evan." Each year has had its different challenges based on where Evan has been emotionally and maturity-wise at that time.

Today's meeting was fairly smooth and I'm just so proud of the progress Evan has made. We've all agreed that he no longer requires an aide in the class, doesn't need OT services (at least in a school setting), but will continue with Speech Therapy and a Social Skills group with the Special Ed teacher. We are working toward figuring out ways to reduce his test anxiety and to increase his self-confidence with schoolwork that he's capable of doing, but says is "too hard."

Every significant change in the plan has to be documented, so sometimes these meeting happen several times each year. I am familiar with many families who have been so unhappy with their school's plan and performance that they have hired attorneys or IEP specialists to accompany them to the meeting - or have sued the school to get what they think is necessary.

All I can say is that God has been good to us in this area. We have a school that has been flexible with all of us and wonderful to Evan - plus, they really and truly care about his success personally and academically. What more could you ask for any child? The best thing in the world is to hear how much Evan is cherished at the school, that most of the staff in this school of 1,000+ kids know who he is, and that they think he's a sweet, polite kid. It doesn't get much better than that. I guess my stomach ache can ease up a bit for now. :-)

Natalie