... I am going to throw a huge party. What a relief that will be.
So, of course, Russ had his IEP (Individualized Education Progam) because he still has delays in fine motor skills, speech and language. Without going into great detail, I think this district has many issues with their special ed type services and their management of those services. And let me say that this IEP meeting was disorganized, again, and I have still haven't received my copy. That irritates me beyond belief.
Russell's IEP is renewed every year and last Friday we renewed what is essentially a contract with the district to provide Russell with appropriate services for his disabilities/delays. Like I said before, I wasn't expecting a surprise and I got several!! Let's start with the good ones. Russ's fine motor skills (handwriting and scissor cutting, etc.) have improved greatly this year and his therapist expects to release him at the the end of next school year. Terrific! Russ's speech and language therapist expects/hopes Russell will be released from those services by the 3rd grade. So, that was exciting to hear. They have never said anything like that before. Russell has done very well this year and we are glad that he may be caught up to his age level in these areas sooner rather than later.
The other surprise we have mixed feelings about. Russell is both speech and language impaired, meaning his speech (main issue is making correct sounds while speaking so he can be understood) and language (main issues are oral sentence structure, answering questions directly, making statements out of context) are behind grade level and he usually gets pulled from class to get therapy in school. Well, next year they have decided that all the children that will be in first grade who get pulled for language therapy will be put in one class together and the remainder of the class will be regular ed students. Apparently there are only three students now in Kindergarten that receive language therapy. So, the thought is that they will get more therapy in class together than being pulled out. We are not so sure about this for many reasons. For one thing, it seems weird that if there are only three students and they all aren't grouped together now and they are all doing well, what is the point? Our other issue is taht we want Russell mainstreamed in the sense that he is exposed to as many non-disabled peers as possible. I can understand that if they are all together and need the same type of assistance in class that it might be beneficial. The other pro is that the teacher of this class has experience with these types of kids and wants to teach the class. So, I know he won't get one of the old-school teachers that needs to retire. But, we still feel a bit wary.
It is a situation I will definitely watch and I have already let the principal know that if it doesn't work well for Russell (meaning his current success level isn't maintained) we will want a change in placement. Talking to Russell's principal is interesting. He is one those that isn't a real straight talker, but I make him give me straight answers to my questions. He's got a good sense of humor and he'll laugh when I am really making him to get to the point and not letting him talk around it. I don't think he used to that.
Anyway, I just thought it was funny that I wasn't expecting any surprises this time and even wrote that in this blog. But sure enough, I got one. Like I said in the beginning when Russell is released from all these services and we have our final IEP, it will be PARTY TIME!!
Okay, Saturday we're off to Orlando. We'll give our regards to Mickey Mouse and Shamu for everyone!!
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