IEP Time!

In school, I have a set of goals that my teachers and therapists follow to work with me and that help them to have a plan of the things that we are going to be working on. These set of goals is what is called an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan).

The IEP contains, besides the goals, a description of the things that I am doing presently. It is called the Present Level of Performance. It was written by my teacher, Ms. Lauren with the inputs of my Speech therapist at school, Ms. Patty and my Occupational therapist at school, Ms. Sabia. This section was read in the IEP meeting and received the approval from my Mom and Dad. I will transcribe a little part of it, so that everybody who knows me and is interested can see where I am right now:

Diego adapted to the new school year very easily... Diego enters the classroom with excitement.... Diego does very well learning new activities... Morning circle and circle time are two of his favorite activities. He follows along with every song and movement visually by looking at his morning cirlce flip book... Diego also enjoys "Specials" especially P.E. and Art time... He loves the interaction with classmates during physical activities... Diego shows awareness and interest in daily classroom activities... He has made excellent progress with following daily routines and transitions well.

The IEP also has other interesting sections. It contains the services that I receive in school like Speech and Occupational Therapy. It even specifies services like the School Bus picking me up every day and that besides being in the classroom with other children with Autism, I also need to spend part of my day with other kids that do not attend Special Education.

My IEP says that I can receive 2 hrs of Speech Therapy and 40 minutes of Occupational Therapy in one week. This amount of time is really low and is not even close to what I need to progress, but this is what is offered in the state of Florida.

My teacher, Ms. Lauren and my teacher aid, Ms. Angie, know a lot about what we do in therapy and they practice things with me every day. Also, my teacher sends homework home and my Mom and my therapist at home, Devoni, can continue practicing skills with me.

Some of the goals in my IEP this year are:
* identify lower and upper case letters in the ABC
* identify colors, shapes and numbers
* learn new words and use picture symbols to communicate

This year is very exciting in school because I am receiving Specials. These are classes that are not offered everyday but that complete the curriculum of our class. They are offered my different teachers and they are P.E., Art and Music and even Science. I LOVE SPECIALS and have a lot of FUN with them.