IEP Meeting Report

After hearing one horror story after another about IEP meetings, I was very nervous about this morning to say the least. I worked very hard to mentally prepare myself for a fight. I just went over the reasons to myself why I wanted her in the classroom for children on the autism spectrum, and decided that it was the one area where I would not bend! I was willing to "go with the flow" on goals, but I wanted her in the classroom for children on the autism spectrum, and I wanted her to get speech, OT, and PT. I was willing to bend on how often she'd be getting the various therapy, but the most important was the classroom.

I guess I really lucked out with the meeting. None of the horror stories played out for me. I thought all the goals set were reasonable, as well as how often she'd be getting therapy. I plan to have her continue the private speech therapy at Towson University because they have done such a good job with her so far.

I can't remember all of the specific goals they had, but they had at least 2-3 in each area. As far as the type of classroom, they described the two (there's one for kids with developmental delays of all kinds, and one specifically designed for children on the autism spectrum), and asked for my opinion. I wanted to know if I was in for an argument at all, so I said I had an opinion, but I wanted to hear theirs first.

The school psychologist stated that she thought Sarah would do best in the classroom designed for children on the autism spectrum and stated her reasons. I readily agreed, as did the teacher Sarah's had through Infants and Toddlers for nearly two years. So, we are set for 5 mornings a week in that type of classroom setting. She will be pulled out for speech, PT, and OT. All of which is fine with me.

So, after the horror stories I heard about how hard it is to get what you want in the county, I'm pleased to say they did not ring true for me.

Sarah is set to start school on February 19. We don't have the official word on which school, but there are only two in our region of the county that have the classroom she needs. One is closer than the other, so that is where she is most likely going. It's up to the placement office as to specifically which one, but I'll be surprised if she goes to the one further away. It doesn't terribly matter as she'll be riding a bus (in a car seat, don't worry!).