OK, so I stole that line from the state's booklet. Real original, isn't it? ;)
If you are looking for information on IDEA and transitioning from Early Intervention to an IEP look here! This is an excellent resource I have only just begun to tap.
Thank you BCshared for sharing your link with me. Wow!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Transition from Early Intervention
So, Toes will be 3 in July.
3.
Three.
3?????
OMG, Toes is going to be 3!
3 is such a big age. I remember 3. I remember being one of those kids that talked nonstop. After barraging my mother with question upon question I can her remember her saying...
"Wendy! I can't hear myself think!"
I remember asking my mother....
"Why can't you hear yourself think, Mommy? Why? How do you hear yourself think? How? Why, Mommy? How?"
So. Toes will be 3 in July.
Will she be at that same point in 5 months? Will she be asking me "Why?" and "How?"
Probably not.
But will she be close?
Probably.
Tonight we had our first meeting in the transition phase from the Early Intervention Team to the School District. It went very well. The Vice Principal of the Primary School came to see us at home, along with our Help Me Grow Coordinator and our RIHP Rep. We discussed what is to come over the next couple months.
Dad to Toes and I will fill out a form reporting what developmental milestones Toes has met or has not met. The school will evaluate the report and schedule an evaluation. The evaluation will be reviewed. Intervention eligibility will be determined.
An Individual Education Plan (IEP) will be drafted.
If warranted.
*If warranted*
So, this is what it comes down to. Toes is measuring only slightly behind what is considered "acceptable" in language development for a child of her age. It is very possible that the school district will find that she is within "acceptable" range for her age.
How is this possible? She is profoundly deaf. She wears Cochlear Implants to hear. Yes, she hears down to 20 db... but it isn't a *clear* 20 db. It is a manufactured 20 db. How can she not qualify for an IEP?
That is our challenge at this point. A challenge to help our school district (one of the best in the state) understand that Toes will need some help...an FM system, an itinerant Teacher of the Deaf, an extra speech therapist... whatever it takes to make sure she is in the mid-range of her age group by the time she is ready for kindergarten.
We are so excited and so anxious. The next few months will be interesting. It is another step. Like our step from new parents of a healthy baby girl to parents thrown into the Help Me Grow and Regional Infant Hearing Program.
We're ready for it. We have so many resources backing us. But it is still so surreal to be here. To be at this phase in the process.
How did it all come so quickly?
3.
Three.
3?????
OMG, Toes is going to be 3!
3 is such a big age. I remember 3. I remember being one of those kids that talked nonstop. After barraging my mother with question upon question I can her remember her saying...
"Wendy! I can't hear myself think!"
I remember asking my mother....
"Why can't you hear yourself think, Mommy? Why? How do you hear yourself think? How? Why, Mommy? How?"
So. Toes will be 3 in July.
Will she be at that same point in 5 months? Will she be asking me "Why?" and "How?"
Probably not.
But will she be close?
Probably.
Tonight we had our first meeting in the transition phase from the Early Intervention Team to the School District. It went very well. The Vice Principal of the Primary School came to see us at home, along with our Help Me Grow Coordinator and our RIHP Rep. We discussed what is to come over the next couple months.
Dad to Toes and I will fill out a form reporting what developmental milestones Toes has met or has not met. The school will evaluate the report and schedule an evaluation. The evaluation will be reviewed. Intervention eligibility will be determined.
An Individual Education Plan (IEP) will be drafted.
If warranted.
*If warranted*
So, this is what it comes down to. Toes is measuring only slightly behind what is considered "acceptable" in language development for a child of her age. It is very possible that the school district will find that she is within "acceptable" range for her age.
How is this possible? She is profoundly deaf. She wears Cochlear Implants to hear. Yes, she hears down to 20 db... but it isn't a *clear* 20 db. It is a manufactured 20 db. How can she not qualify for an IEP?
That is our challenge at this point. A challenge to help our school district (one of the best in the state) understand that Toes will need some help...an FM system, an itinerant Teacher of the Deaf, an extra speech therapist... whatever it takes to make sure she is in the mid-range of her age group by the time she is ready for kindergarten.
We are so excited and so anxious. The next few months will be interesting. It is another step. Like our step from new parents of a healthy baby girl to parents thrown into the Help Me Grow and Regional Infant Hearing Program.
We're ready for it. We have so many resources backing us. But it is still so surreal to be here. To be at this phase in the process.
How did it all come so quickly?
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