IEP - Quarantine Version

We had Teddy's IEP this week. Wisconsin is still safer at home (and will be through most of today as was announced today), contrary to how some people choose to act. So his IEP was done via Zoom, which is how I spend a good portion of my days in meetings with my co-workers. Dave said the IEP was a success from the start because he didn't need to fit into a child-sized chair in a room full of people he barely knows. I felt better prepared than last year since I remembered (last week) to ask for a copy of his IEP at least a day in advance, so we could read it and take notes.

His IEP went much smoother than last year. The person facilitating his IEP knows Teddy rather well, so we avoided some of the struggles from his last IEP when there was a substitute facilitator who knew her stuff but not Teddy.

It is absolutely clear that his team enjoys Teddy for who he is and have all seen solid progress in this shortened school year. They all had positive things to say about him, ranging from his tenacity to his social skills to his sense of humor. It was fun to hear the first grade teacher say how she sees Teddy joking with his classmates, and she also complimented his ability to clean up his garbage from breakfast with only verbal prompting.

I appreciate so much his OT because her care for Teddy is obvious. She enjoys working with him, knows which battles to pick (between socialization with his friends or proper use of utensils at lunch, depending on the day) and recognizes so much of his strengths.

His teacher has done really well with him this year, and we've seen him able to identify some shapes, follow directions much better and increase with so many different little skills. In fact, he's really close to mastering another sign. We've been working at home with him for the sign for candy to use to ask for a treat, and tonight he did it perfectly with us modeling for him!

The best part of his IEP was when his gym teacher shared a picture from what was his last day at school for the year. They tried roller skating, and he said Teddy was persistent, willing to try and made it the length of a mat. I'm not sure where they found that many pads, but oh my goodness!

Anybody else feel like they need this many pads to attempt to roller skate?

And, it was a milestone IEP for me, since I made it through without crying once. I came close when the facilitator reminded us that Teddy is in this particular program, which doesn't mean he's at a particular school if the district moves his program. I made the point that although we understand that, it would be a shame for him to move away from all his traditional classmates where those friendships are established. For now, we'll just worry about whether the kids go to school in the fall, much less which particular school Teddy is at.