1. Claire does "qualify for early childhood special education services in the area of Developmental Delay"
2. A structured and consistent educational program within a school classroom should be considered to address Claire's delays. Services should be provided within the least restrictive environment that meets Claire's needs.
3. Consultation with the diagnostics should be made available to Claire's caregivers at the multidisciplinary team meeting
4. National Association of School Psychologists handout was given to Claire's parents to address temper tantrums.
"A child with developmental delay means that a child is under the age of 6. The child demonstrates a delay of at least two standard deviations, one or at least one standard deviation in two or more, of the following areas: receptive and expressive language, cognitive abilities, gross or fine motor skills, self-help, or social or emotional condition. It is determined that the child needs special education services. Claire demonstrated delays in each of the areas, with the exception of gross motor function.
A child may no longer be identified with a developmental delay if the child maintains appropriate developmental functioning in all developmental areas for 6 months of more and the eligibility team concludes that special education services are no longer necessary."
This means, she will be go to the local elementary school, 4 days a week, 2 1/2 hours a day, and will be in the early childhood development special education program. This is something that will be assessed each year to determine if she needs it or not and what we want out of it. The team also created an "Individualized Educational Program" or (IEP) for Claire. This is a plan stating where she is at currently in all areas, and what the goals are for a semester, every 6 months, and yearly.
She is eligible to start school on her 3rd birthday. Her birthday is December 21, which is during the Christmas break, so she will start in January as soon as school starts back up.
I will share where she is at, according to the evaluation done in October 2014 when she was 34 months old. This is called the "Multidisciplinary Team Report." (I know using months to determine age is annoying after 2 years old but this is just how they have it written out)
Language - Receptive Language - Claire is at a 11 month level
Expressive Language - Claire is at a 9 month level
.....Typing that out makes my heart hurt.
Voice: Vocal pitch, quality, and loudness levels appear appropriate for age and gender.
Fluency: No evidence of atypical disfluencies is reported.
Cognitive - Delayed
Communication: no score
Daily Living Skills: Moderately Low
Socialization: Moderately Low
Motor Skills: Moderately Low
Adaptive Behavior Composite: no score
Then I completed the "Parent Scales (PRS) of the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition" The scores comprise the Behavioral Symptoms Index and this index reflects the overall level of problem behavior.
Hyperactivity: average
Aggression: average
Anxiety: low
Depression: at-risk
Somatization: low
Atypicality: at-risk
Withdrawal: average
Attention Problems: average
Adaptability: average
Social Skills: clinically significant
Activities of Daily Living: at-risk
Functional Communication: at-risk
Externalizing Composite: average
Internalizing Composite: average
Behavioral Symptoms Index: at-risk
Adaptive Skills: at-risk
The options of placement are below:
1. Regular Class with supplementary aids and services (no removal)
2. Regular Class and special education class (e.g. resources) combination
3. Self contained program
4.Special School
5. Residential
6. Hospital
7. Home
The team and I agree and think Claire would do best in the "Self Contained Program" where she will be in the Special Education Class with a max of 12 students. There will be the special education teacher and assistant in the classroom. It will be a mix of kids who are all there for some reason. (Wheelchair bound, hearing problems, sensory issues, developmental delay, autism etc)
Speech Pathologist
She will have a speech pathologist work with her one on one twice a week (40 min a week/160 min a month) She will also be getting all of this help with her teachers daily. But it is more one on one with the speech pathologist who will also direct teachers on specific things they need to be doing with her.
Here is some key points written on her Individualized Educational Program (IEP)
STATEMENT OF STUDENT STRENGTHS:
Claire has made improvement with intervention. (speech therapy) She has age appropriate gross motor skills. Claire is engaging in more pretend play. She will attempt to imitate words at time.
STATEMENT OF PARENT EDUCATIONAL CONCERNS
Parent is concerned about Claire communicating effectively with others. Parent is also concerned with safety. (Claire learning to be more aware of common dangers - she wanders off.) Maintaining control of seizures. Compliance.
. . . . . .
MEASURABLE ANNUAL GOALS
1. By annual review, in a classroom setting, Claire will INCREASE RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE SKILLS and EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE SKILLS, achieving a criteria of 80% as measured by observation and documentation as implemented by Special Education Teacher and supported by Speech/Language Pathologist.
2. By annual review, Claire will demonstrate improved PRE-ACADEMIC SKILLS and demonstrate INDEPENDENT SELF HELP SKILLS, achieving a criteria of 80% as measure by observation and documentation as implemented by Special Education Staff.
3. By annual review, Claire will demonstrate AGE LEVEL FINE MOTOR SKILLS and SOCIAL INTERACTIONS WITH A VARIETY OF PEERS/ADULTS, achieving a criteria of 80% as measure by observation and documentation as implemented by Special Education Staff.
4. By annual review, Claire will demonstrate APPROPRIATE CLASSROOM BEHAVIORS achieving a criteria of 80% as measure by observation and documentation as implemented by Special Education Staff.
BENCHMARK OR SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVES
(These are all at different times, for example "by the end of the third quarter" or "by end of second quarter") I am just going to list them all.
Follow one step verbal directions
Identify 6+ body parts
Identify actions (eat, sleep, etc)
Identify 2-+ objects (ball, baby, etc)
Imitate vocal play, sounds and words
Label 20+ Classroom objects
Use words to request classroom objects and activities
Use 2-3 word phrases to request and comment
Identify a variety of classroom common objects/units
Identify circle, square and triangle
Identify ref, yellow and blue
Touch 4-6 body parts on self/others/pictures
Indicate the need to use the toilet
Push pants down/pull pants up for toileting
Remove/put on coat/backpack
Toilet independently
Complete a variety of bilateral hand activities increasing in complexity (pop beads, peg boards, stringing beads, lacing cards, blocks, etc)
Complete a variety of non-inset puzzles of 3-5 pieces
Demonstrate a functional grasp when using crayons/pencils
Open/Close a variety of containers to access educational materials
Allow others to play with the same toy/objects
Engage in imaginary play
Participate in basic turn taking activities
Play simple interaction games for 3 or more exchanges
Attend to teacher directed activities
Complete a variety of teacher directed tasks/activities
participate in a variety of group activities
Transition from preferred activity to a teacher directed activity appropriately
She will get direct help in these 5 areas (In order of priority. 1 & 2 tying for 1st)
1. Communication
2. Behavioral/Social Skills
3. Cognitive/Readiness
4. Self Help
5. Fine Motor Skills.
The staff will be aware of her seizures and know how to handle them and what to look for etc.
My Prayer Request:
Praise God for all of the people who have donated to her gofundme account which has allowed us to completely pay off a TON of her medical bills. Praise God that she is progressing, and that we have had access to all of the wonderful therapists and opportunities for preschool for Claire. Praise God that she has been seizure free for most of the year, which has allowed her brain to be able to take in information, process it and develop SOME language. Praise God that she is one happy girl!!!
Please pray for peace for Austin and I. Pray that we would see God's hand on everything going forward and learn and fully understand that HE is the only one in control. Help us to give up the control and lean 100% on God for all of our needs- emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially. Pray that Claire would adjust and LOVE school -that she would progress and learn lots and be caught up before she starts Kindergarten. Pray for Claire's new teachers to SEE Claire, to understand her, to make her feel known. Pray that when we get her EEG done on December 17, that it would be a GREAT test, and that whatever IS going on in her brain, that it would be obvious to the doctor. We see her neurologist, Dr, Wilfong, on December 19. Pray for clear answers and that he would be able to tell if she is having seizures that I am not aware of. (I am worried this is the case because seizures can be something like blinking eyes or staring off into space for a second and Claire has started to bite her fingers again which is something she only did during a seizure) Pray that when I tell him things I believe are side effects of the seizure medication, that he would make a smart decision on the dosage we give her, or the decision to change medication, or even wean her off the medication. I just want it to be the best decision for Claire. . Pray for our first appointment with the geneticist on Dec 18. and that they would also have some clear answers from her Whole Exome Sequencing Genetic test done last year. Pray for our trip back to Texas to be pain-free, smooth flight, and that it is filled with quality time with family and friends.
