6.26.2009

Observation Day Part 3

Today the SLP (Liz) and Special Ed. teacher (Jeff) came for my requested observation. It was MUCH lower stress than Wendy's observation and in my opinion, they saw a LOT of stuff they needed to see.
Jeff did the play. Liz did the notes.
He knew all the right questions to ask and the right way to go about all their interactions to get the desired responses. When Liz wanted him to do something specific to address a specific concern, she would let him engage. DS can't mask his pronoun reversals, echolalia, delayed choices, deflecting coping mechanisms, labeling, and rigidity. I am very pleased that they came to observe because now it's not just ME saying it - they saw it with their own two eyes. It was actually QUITE a different experience with these two. They seem to understand HFA a bit more than Wendy b/c they picked up on real subtle things that I felt I had to show to the other lady OR she would pass them off as typical.
In the end Jeff said we would work hard as a team to figure out what would help him best to get him up to speed with other kids 'well before it's time to enter school'. Sounds promising. I think I can de-stress and relax a little now.
Here's one mama who is ready for Monday (the IEP) to come and go. At that point, we will have a plan in place. We will continue with SLP and OT during the summer. We have goals all worked out with the both of them. And we can return to somewhat normal life.
Lord, thank you for some rest and peace. You know this is what I have been asking for! I am thankful for harder times like these because I get to see you more fully. Your rest, your peace, your kind of JOY and wisdom are all I really need. Forgive me for getting so worked up!
"we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, HOPE."
romans 5:3-4

2 comments:

Laura said...

Good luck. I'll be thinking of you.

I wanted to leave you with a story. One of Brad's peers qualifies for more services than Brad but doesn't appear to be in need of them - one on one, ABA based therapy. By outward appearances, the kid is pretty social - much more so than Brad. Turns out, during his observation, he was so distraught, he threw up on the SLP. I guess educators don't like that!

Shari said...

Wow, what a frustrating process. All of this for a preschool IEP. I am finding that the transition time from Early Intervention to preschool age has been a very stressful time, but not nearly what you've been through. I hope he's able to get the services he needs. So your IEP meeting is on Monday?

A lot of the moms in our group are talking about which preschool their child got in to. Most of them just had a delayed child so they won't have an IEP. One mom has a Downs Syndrome child, and with that the necessity is obvious. But I'm the only mom who has a potentially autistic child. Autism, unless it is severe, is really hard to spot. Any time I tell someone about Ben they do a double take and try to "see" the autism. You can't notice it that quick. I can understand it in the average Joe on the street, but you would think that professionals would know better and take their time. I'm glad Jeff and Liz knew what they were doing.