IEP, round two

A few days after B's IEP meeting, it was time for S's meeting.  Unfortunately, there were no toys for Iz there but she soon discovered the white board and markers LOL  The OT also had some cards she uses with the kids and let Iz look through those, too, so Iz was reasonably entertained so we could talk.

This year has been up and down.  Sometimes things would go well and sometimes they just weren't :\  Part of it was they had some staff turnover that affected S and things were lost in the transition.  It was frustrating that we had a plan in place to help him but lack of communication between old, new, and transitional staff meant it wasn't always working.  I dunno, perhaps starting off the meeting by stating how frustrated I was may not have been the best but on the plus side, I have seen an effort on several of the staff's part to communicate better and more clearly.

Over the last several months, we have gotten several "hints" that we need to be thinking about medications for S for his ADHD.  No one has come straight out and said it but reading between the lines, the implication is strong.  At this point, I'd rather see them fully carry out his IEP and see if we can get back the results we had at the end of last year!  And after the IEP meeting, I am not at all convinced we are at the point of medications since we didn't even talk about his ADHD affecting his learning and performance in school.  Everything was centered around his sensory processing disorder and his ability to learn.  I would really like to say learning disability but nothing is diagnosed and their evaluation says he does not have one.  However, the OT is at a loss because he should have outgrown seeing/writing letters and numbers backwards but he has not.  And she is in agreement that he doesn't seem to see a difference between a correct letter and a backwards one--put them next to each other and they look the same.  And letters that are similar, such as b and d or p and q all look the same to him so he has a fifty fifty shot of picking the correct one :\ She is working with him on writing them correctly but unless we can find a way to teach him to distinguish between backwards and forwards, he will still struggle to read because sounding out the wrong letter means he doesn't get the words :\  I see many of the same letters/numbers backwards as well but the similar ones look different to me so I can distinguish between them.  I'm not sure how to help him with this and frankly, the staff is at a loss as well.  The head of his IEP team is researching and hoping he can find someone out there who wrote about it and has some tips.  I am hopeful the new pediatrician (if we ever score a new patient appointment--how many hoops does one have to jump through?  And why can't the people who schedule appointments tell me everything I need to do the first time I call instead of giving me one more thing every single time I call :\  I know the office is busy and it is supposed to be one of the best in the area but can't you make your own appointments instead of outsourcing the hospital customer service staff who can't seem to make this easy?  :p) will have some insights and suggestions and give us a referral for services since reading difficulties are one of their "things".  Fingers crossed that when I call again today, all my Ts are crossed and my Is dotted and they give me an appointment LOL

Overall, though, I am pleased with how the meeting went.  We had a nice discussion of things that work with him and I brought up some things we do at home that are successful--those are now part of his IEP and with the improved communication I am seeing, I can see them implementing and having success with it :)