One of the goals for the coming year on the IEP is to get the Monster to ask for help when he needs it.
Asking for help doesn’t necessarily come naturally to anyone, but the issue here is getting him to verbally request assistance from another person, be it a classmate or an adult. Continue reading
As a technologist, I look at the IEP as something of a requirements document – it specifies the goals for his services for the coming year, and the acceptance criteria to decide whether or not the goals have been met. As everything out there reminds us, these goals should be SMART – Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. Continue reading
We’re very blessed, I think, that during the school week, the Monster’s able to cope with how things vary on what’s supposed to be a fixed schedule. Continue reading
The problem for the weekends in general is the lack of structure.
I’ve mentioned this before – the Monster works better with a concrete structure in his life rather than the disorder of a weekend. So during the school week, he has things he can do and then only a few hours of unorganized time, but then Saturday comes around and everything’s left open. Continue reading
When I started going to the Dads’ Talk support group that I’ve been infrequently attending (infrequent if only due to my own winter schedule), the first thing that they ask new members to talk about is their situation – what’s the situation at home that brought them to the group, what is their home life like… and what do you do for a release? Continue reading
New IEP or no (and at the moment, it is ‘no’), the Monster’s doing alright in school on an academic level. Continue reading
I’m so used to what the Monster does and doesn’t do that it throws me sometimes when he starts to do something different. Continue reading
About two weeks ago, we got notification for the Monster’s IEP review meeting.
For those of you who follow my tweet feed, you’ve heard me whining about how the paperwork was all late. Maryland state law requires paperwork to be delivered five business days before the meeting to be admissible for discussion, and none of it arrived on time. Still, we had enough time to review the IEP with the Monster’s advocate, and felt adequately prepared for today’s meeting. Continue reading
Normal families have Super Bowl parties.
We’re more fortunate than a lot of families that are dealing with an ASD, in that the Monster really is not sensory adverse. We’ve taken him to plenty of places – amusement parks, fireworks displays, bowling alleys and the like – where other children with Autism have trouble coping with all of the sensory overload. Continue reading
The Monster’s IEP meeting is on Tuesday. Yesterday’s meeting with his advocate was very effective – it’s always nice having someone who isn’t directly involved like we are to have a second-set of eyes on the paperwork, more so to look at things that really are quite out of whack. Continue reading