What a difference a year makes

This year's IEP meeting for Natalie was SO much different from last year's meeting, which resulted in a second IEP meeting to resolve her speech therapy questions.

First of all, Tom and I knew more what to expect, so that made it easier.  Last year, I did so much research and preparation, attended a seminar to prepare for it...you name it, I did it!  This year, I spent about 30 minutes preparing for the meeting.  Not that I should have spent so little time, but we didn't really have many concerns...and everything worked out great.

With Natalie's improvement in speech, I suspected that they might cut her individualized speech therapy in half, or at least try to put her with a small group during therapy instead of one-on-one.  But the speech therapist recommended keeping the same amount of one-on-one therapy as last year!  And the OT and PT also recommended the same as last year, and the school district approved it!  With the recent budget cuts, I was sure they were going to try to cut some part of her therapy, but it didn't happen.

It was also a joy to have her teacher and therapists talk about how much fun Natalie is to have in class and to work with, and how everyone likes her.  They mentioned (and we agree!) that her social skills make her a winner.  I've thought over the last several months that her cooperative nature and pleasant disposition makes it easier for her to focus and learn what's being taught, and also makes people want to help her more.

Then we broached the subject of her preschool class for next year (her 5th birthday is 3 days after the cut off for Kindergarten, so she'll have another year of preschool next year).  Tom and I have always wanted her to attend a blended preschool where 12 of the kids have IEPs and 12 of the kids are typical.  I asked when we could start talking about whether she qualified for that program, and the program director said we should schedule a transition IEP next spring to see where Natalie is and see if it would be the best program for her.  While he was talking, Natalie's SLP said to Natalie's teacher, "I think she would be great for that class!"

I asked what qualifications Natalie needed to be considered for the class (since there is limited space in this program), and it comes down to Natalie needing to stay on task and keep attention to the task she's working on when others might be working on something more interesting.  She does fine in a group when everyone is doing the same thing, but when they split into three groups and she's bored with what she's doing, she leaves the table and goes to another table.  So this staying on task is one of her goals for next year, and Tom and I are going to be more aware at home to try to train her in this skill.

Even though the IEP meeting went well, it was still 2.5 hours!  That's longer than I thought it would go, but maybe they think we would be disappointed if it went short?  Anyway, it's a relief to have it over...and we won't have to wait a whole year to do it again...joy!