First ISP meeting in a week for 2 year old

[MeaganS]

I mentioned a few weeks back that my daughter was getting evaluated for services. She qualified for the maximum they offer (2 hours/week) in developmental, occupational, and speech therapy. I guess she was evaluated at being around an 18 month level (she'll be 3 in August). I have our first ISP meeting next Thursday, and I was just wondering what I should expect and if there's anything I should do to prepare?

 

My other question is about the Early Intervention Program in general. In our state, as in others I've heard about, it ends at 3, and some other program takes over once they turn 3. Since my daughter is so close to three, does anyone know what happens? Do they put her in some sort of preschool class? I'm going to ask about it, but I'm not particularly interested in her being in preschool unless there is a really good reason for it, like that's where they do therapy or something.

 

I'm totally in the dark about how this all works, and any information would be helpful.

[LittleIzumi]

At least here, around 3 you are assigned a "transition coordinator" to help you transition from EI to the school district. It is the school district who handles 3 & up. The school district performs its own, much more extensive evaluation, and EI performs an exit evaluation, and you get recommendations & services from those and switch into the new system. At least here in UT. Dd "graduated" right before she turned 3 so she had the school district evaluation just before her paperwork went through and they said she didn't qualify and we were done.

[SkateLeft]

I'm not sure how things work in your state. We went through the process in California, and then in Minnesota.

 

In California, Early Intervention services are provided by a regional center. At 3, services transition to the school district, in most cases. In some situations and with particular disabilities, services may continue to be provided through the original agency. My son didn't have an IEP until he turned 3. Prior to that, he had an IFSP ("Individual Family Service Plan"). However, transition planning began when he was about 2.5yo. Within 30 days after his 3rd birthday, his services needed to be completely transitioned by law.

 

I'd clarify when they expect services to start. If her services are set to begin sooner than her third birthday, I'd ask them what the transition process will look like. If she has to transition to a different agency or the school district, then you might be in for a review meeting in a couple of months.

 

As far as preschool goes, they may offer to put her in a preschool class where services will be provided. After turning 3, my son attended two years of special education preschool, where he got classroom support of his IEP goals. He also got pulled out of class for the amount of individual speech and OT allotted for in his IEP. You don't have to choose the preschool option, if they offer it. We had an wonderful experience with special ed preschool.

 

Oh, and I'd suggest making up your own list of goals before the meeting! It can be a little overwhelming when you're sitting at a table with a whole mess of people spouting off things like percentiles and test scores.

[MeaganS]

As far as preschool goes, they may offer to put her in a preschool class where services will be provided. After turning 3, my son attended two years of special education preschool, where he got classroom support of his IEP goals. He also got pulled out of class for the amount of individual speech and OT allotted for in his IEP. You don't have to choose the preschool option, if they offer it. We had an wonderful experience with special ed preschool.

 

How academic was your preschool? Was it mostly play with therapy thrown in, or something else? I wasn't planning on putting my daughter in preschool, but I'm open if there's a good reason or if it would be fun for her.

 

I'm interested to see what they suggest we do. Because she's less than 2 months from her birthday, I have a feeling they'll go ahead and transition her to the school system rather than get her started for a month, but I'm not sure.

[Murmer]

We are in Special Education through the school district with dd...for the last 6 months they have been coming into my home to do the services so I know that they will. but they also have the funding to help pay for preschool at a private preschool or if they have a public preschool then they will do it there. DD will be going to the public Pre-K next year and then I will have to officially decided about homeschooling which may mean she will not get services in Kinder.

[SkateLeft]

How academic was your preschool? Was it mostly play with therapy thrown in, or something else? I wasn't planning on putting my daughter in preschool, but I'm open if there's a good reason or if it would be fun for her.

 

It wasn't academic at all. I would not have been interested in an academic preschool for this kid, and it would not have been a good placement for him. He was completely non-verbal and still needed help with basic self-care skills. Teaching him letters and numbers isn't really a goal when I'd much rather he learn to feed himself! :lol:

 

A special ed preschool class ideally is set up to support the IEP goals of the kids in the class, so they can vary pretty widely. Our district in California only had one special ed preschool class. Student abilities ranged from severely disabled to high functioning, with most kids in the middle. It was a very small class, only about 8 kids with two teachers and a speech therapist. It met for 2 hours, three times a week, and was play based. They spent lots of time outside.

 

Our district in Minnesota offers a variety of special ed preschool classes. Last year, I choose a collaborative 3-4 year old class, which was team taught by a special ed teacher and a general ed teacher. It had half special ed kids, and half neuro-typical kids. There was also a full-time assistant in the class, and a speech therapist and OT who visited regularly for group activities. It met for 2.5 hours three days a week. They did things with shapes and colors, listened to stories, and learned to write their name (well, sort of), but there was very little seat time. It was heavily play oriented. They had a couple of indoor gyms, a playground and a sensory room. It was awesome, and he really progressed a lot!

 

This year, we tried putting him into a regular 4-5 year old district pre-K class, and it was a disaster. There were too many kids in a smaller room, and since these were all neuro-typical kids going off to K next year, they spent too much time doing seatwork. We pulled him out in November.

[Dobela]

In my state the only difference at age 3 is in how the program is funded and the look of the paperwork. That is unless the school district starts 3 year olds in their building then. Other wise it is business as usual. We did have a meeting to sign the new paperwork at age 3, but that is it. Before age 3 EI is funded as EI. After age 3 the department of education funds the program and therapies. Even though both require testing and simeilar paperwork, the paperwork doesn't transfer.

 

Some goals do change as they near school age to help prepare them for school (like counting and recognizing ABCs and such) but because the child is on the ISP, they have theor own goals. When I taught the 4-5yo transitional class it looked more like a preschool in decor and layout and we did more preschool kinds of things as a group (like circle time and art) but most was play time with teachers and therapists working with kids 1-1 either in the room or in separate locations. During individual time it was all about that child and their needs.

 

As far as the meeting, you may hear a lot of job specific lingo. Make certain that you stop and ask what everything means. Technically goals and objectives are not supposed to be written until the meeting but we always had them written and offered them as 'suggestions'. If the parents agreed it just meant we had that part of the paperwork finished. As a parent, you also have the right to have goals and objectives added that you want or that are important to you. I attended meetings that lasted an hour, and some that lasted 3 hours.

[ZeldaRules]

As others have said - at 3 your services come from the public school system. They will test your child and then make recommendations. You don't have to take their recommendations. You can just ask for walk-in speech, if that is all you want if your child qualifies for it.

 

When my son was 3, we moved to Houston but had to live in a hotel for 6 months until our house was sold. He did qualify for school every day and I turned it down. I wouldn't have been able to get him to school on time on Monday's, and sometimes we left early on Friday's. I was very resistant to deal with the school and their terms anyways. I have come a long way though. :)

 

So he did walk-in speech twice a week. He had a one-on-one session once a week (I was lucky to get that), and the other day, he had a session with one other child. I wasn't happy about that, but I made a great friend from it. That school was nice and let me go to the library while my son had his 25 minute session...unless there were TAKS tests going on. However, when we moved, we weren't allowed to go to the library at the new school. But I have had a better experience with this school. The other school wasn't a bad experience (it was a different district), but this one is just better. The speech teacher is better and I get more feedback.

 

When he was 4, he still qualified for school every day and I still wasn't open to that. He was in a 2-day a week program that was 2 hours each day. He was with 5 kids and there were 2 adults. That is a great teacher/student ratio. When they tested him mid-school year on a small test, he had low scores, so his teacher recommended that he get more testing. So I agreed to that. My husband wanted him in school every day. It was 1/2 a day, 5 days a week. There were 8 kids in his class, one teacher and 2 aides. It was still a great ratio, and he wasn't in school too long.

 

Now he is 5. Technically, he is Kindergarten age. However, the school didn't think he was ready for K, and he isn't. I don't know that I would have put him in school at all this year had they wanted him to go to K because I know he isn't ready for it. He will go all day, however for the first part of the day, he will be with the same teacher he had this year. Then he will go to Pre-K and he will have an aide in the class to help him. If he is way too cranky when he comes home, I can change him to only go 1/2 day. They put him in Pre-K as an attempt to mainstream him. He is speech/developmentally delayed.

 

They do a lot of cutting, coloring, little art projects, learning ABCs, learning to draw/write letters. It's like K used to be when I went to K, but even scaled down from that. They do put the Early Childhood (special ed) class with the Pre-K classes for some activities to mainstream them as well. It is not academic driven. I think it is more life skills driven. He isn't potty trained, and they take him to the toilet and stuff.

 

So as you can see, there are a lot of options on what direction you can take depending on what your child qualifies for. You don't have to take their advice. Just do what you feel is in the best interest of your child.

 

And my son takes the bus home. I take him to school. There are only 7 kids on the bus, they have an aide, and he is in a 5-point harness. :) Seriously, I've come a long way.

 

Just stand your ground. If you think something is wrong that they tell you, then ask to have it in writing (I had them do this regarding speech services if the child was homeschooled - it turns out I was right, and I had it in writing-if your state views homeschooling as a private school, the school has to provide services to your school-aged child if they qualify). I would read some other threads about dealing with the school system just to get some advice and figure out your rights. Ask for twice as much as you want, and if you don't agree to something, you can sign the IEP and not agree to it. They will work harder to make you agree, so stand your ground. :) For your first time, I would take someone with you if you can.

 

Good luck.

 

Vicki

[gingersmom]

How academic was your preschool? Was it mostly play with therapy thrown in, or something else? I wasn't planning on putting my daughter in preschool, but I'm open if there's a good reason or if it would be fun for her.

 

I'm interested to see what they suggest we do. Because she's less than 2 months from her birthday, I have a feeling they'll go ahead and transition her to the school system rather than get her started for a month, but I'm not sure.

 

If your daughter is 2 months away from turning 3 I would almost guarantee they are going to make you go with the school district. At least that is what happened with my son. Because it will take them at least 2 months to line up therapists and getting anything going anyways.

 

My son at 3 was in a special ed classroom at the pre-school (there was only 1 class). The next year he split his time between the special ed class and a regular class.

 

He received his services at the school. By the age of 3 they stopped doing them at your home and you had to go to the school.

[gingersmom]

One other thing........

 

Do not sign anything. Take it home and think about it. Talk it over with your spouse.

 

They are always in a big hurry to have you sign on the dotted line. Do not sign until you are 1000% sure you have gotten what you want. They will try to give you as little as possible.

[Crimson Wife]

My 2 yr. old has been in Early Intervention preschool since March. I was a bit dubious about it at first, but it's been great. She is in a class with 3 other kids, a teacher, and an assistant so it's actually a lower child/adult ratio than she'd have here at home. They do 2 pull-out sessions per week with speech and OT. She's not delayed in her motor skills so her OT goals are more about following the therapist's directions.

 

The preschool does a good job IMHO teaching academics through play. They do teach colors, shapes, parts of the body, etc. but it's all very naturalistic, similar to what I do at home.

 

I know our district has a special ed preschool program but don't know whether DD will qualify for that when she transitions next winter. From what I recall when DS went through the IEP assessment process, it's really hard in CA to qualify for an IEP based on just speech & language alone without any other issues.