December 9,2008

Well, today I received my copy of Olivia's IEP (individual education plan). Let me breathe here.....OK, We called the meeting early because she was/is having behavioral issues at school. Not listening, not paying attention, & meltdowns. Luckily, her special Ed teacher and myself are on the same page when it comes to Olivia and how she ought to behave at school. So we called the IEP meeting early to see if we could figure out what was causing these disturbances. She is not on any medications.

We tried that route last fall....Let's just say shell shock both of us! It was horrible. ups and downs and trying to find ways for her to take her pills, the patches didn't have much affect, and the liquid made her physically aggressive.

Needless to say that was all for naught we figured out that we'll never know what is going to set her off. She has no triggers. What sets her off is what sets her off no way for the rest of us to know.


Ok the real reason I started this post today was one little itty bitty thing (if your a parent of a special needs child you know there's nothing that itty bitty)

It was this paragraph:

"6. Description of points made by parent including the parent's description of their child's progress.Parent ask about extended year service. At this time there is no plan to have extended year services in the district. If the district decides to have extended year services Olivia will be able to participate. The parent also has concerns of Olivia's transition to the fourth grade. Olivia will have anew teacher as well as a new special education teacher. The special education teacher will work on transition over the year".

Does anyone see what's wrong?

According to the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT and IDEA 2004:
Extended Year Services
(a) general
1.Each school shall ensure that extended years services are available as necessary to provide free appropriate public education.(FAPE)

2.extended school year services must be provided if a student's IEP team determines on an individual basis, that services are necessary for the provision of FAPE to the student.

3. in implementing the requirements a school may not--
i. limit extended school year services to participate categories of disability; or
ii. unilaterally limit the type, amount, or duration of those services.

(b)definition. As used this section, the term extended year services means special education and related services that:
1. Are provided to a student with a disability:
i. Beyond the normal school year of the school;
ii. In accordance with the students IEP; and
iii. At no cost to the parents of the student;and
2. Meet the standards of the state.


So this means as of this moment my school district is breaking the law. I will get ESY services for my daughter. I do not doubt this. If they have to bus her to another school district to do it they will. In about 2 months I will request another meeting to see what's going on and where she will be going for ESY.

Ahh the joys of parenting a child with special needs!!

Thanks for hangin on thru my rant. I appreciate it!!

December,5 2008

Yikes! I have really neglected this mission of mine! I don't want people thinking Olivia's been a dream these last 6 months or a nightmare either. Although..these past few days it seems like there is an exploding volcano in my house and if you don't watch what you say you're going to get hot lava all over you.

Her biggest lava inducer lately is spelling homework. We (Olivia's helper and I) have just implemented a new reward chart. There's lots of fun stuff happening this month and don't forget Christmas. We are hoping the chart will help it's to be used with her behavior chart which I came up with this past November when she began escalating her meltdowns. (Alright, I used the behavior chart that Olivia's teacher has set up in her regular education room.)

Hopefully this will help. She's already lost being able to march in our towns Christmas light parade with her Girl Scout troop. Because of the yelling and screaming she's had the past 2 days over her spelling homework. which turns into yelling at us for any little thing because she just shut her mind off and refuses to listen anymore.

Anyone would of thought that she'd already learnt that this behavior was unacceptable. My other daughter is well aware that meltdowns are not an acceptable way to express ones emotions.

And so it goes on with Olivia.

We also are trying to get her playing more grown up all she wants to do is play that she is a baby.
At nine she should be finding other ways to play.

I can't help but wonder if all this crying and fighting has anything to do with her seeing differences between herself and other kids her age. Also maybe she's pretending she's a baby so much is because it is a lot easier to be a baby then a big kid. And she's really looking for ways to avoid all the work she has to do to succeed.

It's hard to tell. I'm sure the up coming holiday has something to do with it too.

I'm always open to new ideas on how to teach Olivia the right way to behave.