All fired up and nothing to fight for
Remember that IEP meeting I had yesterday? The one where I was all prepared to go in fighting for what I thought Joseph needed? Well, I marched into that meeting all fired up and ready to go. I sat down at that table full of people and in my firmest, most confident voice I said "I want cursive dropped from Joseph's curriculum!"
Joseph's teacher and IEP case manager glanced at each other and said "Yes. We agree. We were already thinking that."
"Oh" I said, my firm, confident voice faltering. "Well then. Ok. I also want him to ...."
"Learn to use a keyboard?" they asked. "We already thought of that. And to have summer school? And access to a separate dining area at lunch from him and hs friends so that he's not overwhelmed by the noise of the lunchroom? And to continue adaptive phy. ed. services while remaining in his regular gym class? And to have meetings once a week with our special education counselor to help him deal proactively with any issues or anxieties that come up for him? And to have continued access to a shared paraprofessional?"
"Yes please." I said. "All of that thank you."
And then I quietly snuck out of the room before anyone could change their mind.
I am beyond happy with how the meeting went. We are so lucky to have people on Joseph's team who really see his needs and recognize how to best meet them. I can't come up with a single complaint about that meeting, everything went better than I could have hoped for.
Well, I guess I have one complaint. I had all this nervous energy built up over this meeting and it all turned out to be for nothing. Now I'm all fired up with no where to go. All this wasted energy is making me irritable. (Also making me irritable is the fact that there's a blizzard going on outside on a day I have appointments scattered all across town.) I'm in the mood to kick ass and I have no ass to kick. Anyone need any asses kicked? Preferably in warm, blizzard-free climates? I'm free later today.
Seriously. You would be doing me and the people around me a favor.
One year ago today I shared funny avatar with you and it looks like it was snowing that day too.
Jen
10 comments:
That is so awesome! I remember when my daughter was younger, I had to bring an attorney with me to her IEP meeting for the school to realize that I was DEAD SERIOUS about all of it. It just warms my heart.
YAY! Good news!
That's great!
Maybe someone on his team is reading your blog???
Fantastic! I kinda want to move Jack to your school now.
Fabulous. You can come over to my house and kick some ass any time you want. No good reason. I would just like to see you kick ass. :)
That is so awesome you've got a great team for Joseph's education. I'm currently taking a course to be an advocate for children in their placement and IEPs, and there sure are a lot of bad stories out there about non-caring teachers and such.
Also, I definitely have a couple of people whose asses you can kick for me, thanks.
First... YAY! Glad the meeting went well and that you have such a great team working with you. This way he can get his printing down without stressing about cursive too!
Second... I think Mother Nature is begging for a whooping... you should track her down! I came home last night to a little snowman by my car... hubby made it for me because the "snow was right", but he could only make a little one because only the top two inches were right, the botton 8-10 inches were hard as a rock because they are still ICE!!! Seriously, why do we live this far north? Can you give me a good reason? I'm having a heck of a time thinking of one this spring.
That's wonderful. I was involved in a lot of IEP meetings as a teacher and I can say that it helps a lot when a parent actually cares what is happening at school and with the IEP.
That is sooooooo cool that you had such great success! After 2 schools per grade since 1st grade and no end of IEP battles we walked into our most recent school for our 9 year old and had a meeting very close to yours. For our oldest child this school is wonderful in regards to his needs.
Now we have our second half of a failed IEP meeting for our next child. Here's hoping we have better luck this time around.
i always hated iep meetings because the parents were so sure i was their enemy when usually i was doing exactly what was best for the kid. so glad you got all you need!
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