IEP Success

Alex has met ALL his IEP goals before the school year is over. According to his special ed teacher, he is able to stay on task, sit up appropriately at his table (without slumping or fidgeting), complete his work, retell a story, and have on-topic communication with peers and adults with at least 3 back and forth exchanges. In other words, he is doing great!

When I am in his classroom volunteering, which I do once a month, I see him having good days and bad days. On good days, I have gotten to watch him play appropriately with 2 girls at the play kitchen, talk with his table-mates at snack time, contribute appropriately to classroom discussions, and join in with other kids' play durning free time.

Bad days - I have seen him isolate himself by "hiding" behind the giant whiteboard and look at a book while all the other kids are playing together, not be able to keep up with multiple instructions during art projects, stare out the window and at the calendar, and fail to greet peers in line in the morning. The thing I notice most about him that is "different" is that he takes a lot of interest in his surroundings, but not as much in the the other kids as is normal. He seems constantly distracted by "things". First thing in the morning, he goes through his routine, walks around and looks at everything, but doesn't seem all that interested in the other kids. He will respond appropriately if someone speaks to him, but he doesn't usually initiate conversation. He sometimes seems out of it.

He is making progress - he is doing well academically, he loves school, his behavior is good, his teachers really like him. However, he still has some work to do!

Kindergarten is only 3 hours and we do a lot of sensory input in the AM before he goes: OT, gymnastics, therapeutic listening, swinging, trampoline, jump rope, etc. I don't know how he will do next year when he is there all day. I think he will need sensory breaks.

But back to the good news!! He met all his goals!! He only has one goal for the rest of the year. It is that he will stay on task and complete work, with no reminders, 9 out of 10 times. That, to me, sounds like what any "normal" kid would be expected to accomplish. We will be adding social goals regarding lunch and recess next year when it is relevant. My fear is he will spend recess by himself getting his sensory input. I need to ensure they are providing that so he can play with the other kids at recess. I am also a little concerned with the smells in the cafeteria. It can be a little overwhelming to my nose at times and he has no tolerance for smells. I don't know how or even if they can address that in an IEP but it is definitely going to make socializing at lunchtime a challenge if he is gagging and dry heaving. I hope his class sits at the table furthest from the food...