IEP Goals Dyslexia for Homeschooler

[GoldenState]

Hi all,

I need some tips in preparation of our upcoming IEP meeting. We homeschool through a public charter school and I was wondering what I have to be aware of when it comes to services we qualify for or how to phrase goals.  DS is 2nd grade with suspected Dyslexia and possibly underlying APD. Of course every kid is different and the plan is individualized but I’m sure that families who have been through this could provide me with some important tips since this is still pretty new to us. What would be some typical measurable goals for low working memory according to the Gibson Test? Has anybody had success requesting specific software? OT?

I appreciate any insight.

Edited September 28, 2023 by GoldenState

[kbutton]

I am not sure about the Gibson test, but working memory is usually tested by repeating letters and numbers. If the child had APD, then that can absolutely affect working memory. I would try to get goals that include APD programs—I’d be asking for the audiologist to be present. He might need amplification and other age-appropriate modifications. My son’s APD presented as hearing everything too slowly. When speech could be slowed down to 70% speed without distortion, he could keep up. Remediation fixed that for him. There are a variety of presentations.

Have you done and evaluation for APD? I would prioritize that. Igaps.org is where you can find professionals trained to diagnose AND remediate (depending on type of APD).

You want multi sensory remediated with phonics/Orton-Gillingham methodology.

I always have trouble translating things to goals—there are goal banks online you can search and look at.

OT—they care only about basic handwriting and ability sit in a chair for x amount of time. My son had wildly hypermobile hands with disproportionately long fingers (genetic condition), and he didn’t even qualify. You probably have to go private for a good eval and therapy for OT issues. 

[PeterPan]

The school is going to write the goals for what *they* would do if the dc were enrolled. The need to do it this way because the IEP is technically a legal document that you could compel them to do if you enrolled him. 

What usually happens with our IEPs is the intervention specialist listens to everything about where he's functioning right now and she translates that into IEP goals. They have lots of experience doing this so they know the types of things to look for. They want goals that require a year of work to accomplish (not super easy, not super small), that reflect where he could get to by the end of the year with enough work, and that reflect some kind of intervention that wasn't happening in the gen ed classroom. 

So (I'm just making this up) they might have a goal that says "will dictate a personal narrative with a beginning, middle, and end". If they're looking at reading, they're going to set some intervention goals like "will read with x fluency words of x number syllables". 

It's usually very next step, whatever the next step is for where your dc currently functions. Just take where he is now and add one grade level. The goals are not typically really in the weeds, like working memory, because that's the small thing the therapist knows to work on to get to a larger goal. However they might have a goal like "follows 2 step instructions" or 3 steps or whatever. So working on working memory is *implied* there but the goal is actually the functional outcome you need. Every person working with him then sees that goal and integrates it into ALL their interaction. So the SLP, the intervention specialist, the gen ed teacher, everyone gets the vision of the big picture progress you're working toward. 

I like to have goals like this that become a theme, something everyone who works with my ds can target. It makes for a focused team, a focused year.