IEP

I've realized that acronyms are weird. You sometimes know what they mean, but rarely get all the words and letters lined up. My brother-in-law is in the Army...they use so many abbreviations that I think they can have an entire conversation without saying anything that a civilian can understand. I have decided that having a special needs child is the exact same way, but then throw in medical terminology that you can't even pronounce...SO confusing.

Ella had an IEP today for her PPCD school education.
IEP=Individualized Education Plan: A detailed description of the educational goals, assessment methods, behavioral management plan, and educational performance of a student requiring special education services.
PPCD=Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities

Here are some of the goals that Ella has "mastered" which means that she performs them 70% of the time during observation:

• Identify an object from a choice of two by looking or reaching with visual, verbal and physical cues. (she picks what she wants between two objects by looking at the one that she wants)
• Follow simple 1-step classroom directions with visual, verbal and physical cues. Example:
  "sit up", "come here", "put in", etc.
• Identify 1 target word or object of unit vocabulary by reaching or looking during classroom activities with visual, verbal and physical cues. (they work on different things during the day and Ella answers the questions by looking at her answer either on a board, button, or the actual object)
• Demonstrate purposeful reach to touch a switch to activate a recording or toy, with visual, verbal and physical cues (she can reach to push a button that will activate a toy)
• Shake head "no" or nod head "yes" appropriately to answer a yes/no question with visual, verbal and physical cues (she does "yes" VERY well and we are working on "no"...hard to find things she doesn't like)
• Vocalize to obtain another persons attention during classroom activities, with verbal prompts (she will start talking if someone focuses their attention on someone other than her!)
• Imitate target Consonant + Vowel syllables, with visual, verbal and physical cues (getting her to say one combo "ma" and then another combo "ba" right after each other and switching it up)
• Wave "hi" and "bye" in response to a greeting from a familiar adult, with visual and verbal cues (she says "hi" and will sometimes waves, but we are working on "bye" and consistency)
• Imitate 1 word following a model during classroom activities, with visual and verbal prompts ("Ella"...she working on saying her name when they say it)
• Track presented objects horizontally and vertically with as little head movement as possible (she can do this better when in her chair than sitting alone, she tends to move her head to help with her vision)
• Demonstrate shift of gaze when presented with two objects (to look at each object as they are identified correctly and then fixating on one that she wants)
• Visually attend and fixate on a novel object (like looking at a book while you are reading it to her, she tends to look at the reader)
• Regard familiar face when voice does not compete (just to look at someone familiar even if they aren't talking..."where is mommy" and then finding me without me saying anything)
• Place objects out of reach so that movement toward them objects is attained (works best with her sippy cup because she LOVES it)
• maintain sitting posture in good alignment with feet on floor or footrest in adapted classroom chair with hip prompt only for 15 minute activity (they are working on taking out as much as possible in her chair and making her work more while sitting...they also have her sitting on a bench during story time (video to come)
• develop reach, grasp, and release of toys w/ Left hand w/ verbal prompts (she grasps pretty well, she doesn't like to let go)
• Activate a button or pop-up toy independently with either hand (always better with her left)
• Voluntarily release objects into a container w/ minimal assistance in supported seating position (getting her to put a block into a bin while sitting on a bench with very little support...hard to multi-task with gross and fine motor skills)

We also talked about a lot of her goals for next year, but I'll give you those when I get the official report. It was so great to see that she's made progress and her them talk about her. It's amazing how little these steps seem in a typical child's development, but how important they are in Ella's progress. It will be so fun to compare this in a year from now.