Sam's IEP

Whew! I survived Sam's IEP meeting. Of course, the normal drama before: Sofia woke up at 4am with a stomach bug, and I spent all morning (while I was getting a massage!) trying to find a sitter since my morning sitter had to leave for work by noon. Sofia ended up watching Disney movies at my friend's house - and barfing on their carpet. But I was very appreciative!

Anyway, the meeting was good. There is NO DOUBT that Sam still qualifies for services. We were able to highlight the specific problems - anxiety, self esteem, reading, processing speed, word retrieval, etc. We only spent about 10 minutes on the actual IEP document, but we brainstormed a lot. David is in Baltimore, so I had him write out his statement, which basically boils down to "Whatever we're doing, it's not working. Sam can't read or write."

So.

We discussed some of the other teaching methods for dyslexia, and will be following up with several. We are also going to have Sam go to the public school for some reading support (yeah, more driving for me), which will not only get him support, but will also get him to start interacting with other kids who he will probably be with in high school.

So.

I'm satisfied. Maybe I'm naive, or we are just charmed. I hear from my friends who are either IEP parents or advocates how tough the public schools can be about services. Yet for my kids, it feels like they give us everything we ask for.

I also asked the public school OT, who has been involved with Sam's IEP since the beginning and who is also on Sofia's plan, to attend, and she was able to voice the question about whether he should stay at the day school, which eventually led to the compromise of having him come for some services.

Whew!

So now I have a sick child sleeping on my bed. Hopefully she'll be better and sleep longer - I'm tired!