Joy's Autism Blog

I had Adrian’s IEP meeting this afternoon and it went really well. They kept a lot of his goals from last year because honestly, he still needs to work on those things. They did add a couple new things that I’m really happy with.

I got to know his teacher a bit better, I’ve met with her a few times but I think IEP meetings really help you figure out what the teacher is all about. I can’t believe it but we have lucked out once again and have another great teacher for Adrian. He’s had so many amazing teachers in his life all these years and it’s just a really special and amazing thing. Praise God for good teachers, nothing beats a great teacher when you have a child who is struggling in so many areas like Adrian.

So the deal is, I was worried because Adrian’s teacher was really having trouble getting him to work and I was worried that she was just letting him kind of do what he wanted (play on the computer and draw) but as it turns out Adrian was really having trouble adjusting to the new environment and teachers and now that he has adjusted he is making more strides with everything.

As always Adrian is a ladies man. He sits with a little girl at lunch everyday and tries to share his lunch with her and apparently he kissed a little girl at lunch today. Adrian has always loved the ladies ever since he was a little tike.

I will share more about his goals in case you need ideas for your IEP goals when I get the completed copy. I have a draft that needs to be edited a bit.

One thing I was surprised about is Adrian is reading at a late 1st grade level. Adrian is only in the 2nd grade. How amazing is that?

His teacher explained that they were really working on their months and days of the week and I had noticed that because Nevaeh asked one night if we could get out the Halloween costumes and play dress up and when Adrian heard this to my surprise he said, “It’s not Halloween! It’s January!” It’s already come in handy because Adrian happens to know that there is a new Spiderman movie and he was asking about it every.single.day (note misery) and now we can say “Spiderman comes out in July. It’s not July! It’s January!”

I had Lincoln’s meeting this morning. I was a wreck last night, these meetings can really take an emotional toll. I was scared they were going to see more “wrong” with him then what I see. I was just scared I was going to disagree with them about something or that the plan wasn’t going to be up to the standards I was used to in Iowa.

All the memories of Adrian’s past IEPs came up. Don’t get me wrong, our IEP meetings overall have been great but it always takes an emotional toll. I usually describe as a slap in the face as to how far he was behind. Something that was said in a meeting was ringing in my ears too. One time, before our meeting, one of the ladies at the meeting was talking to another lady and in regards to people with autism she said “well usually they can talk” and it rubbed me wrong the way because Adrian was completely nonverbal at the point. It made me feel terrible and I just kept thinking about that event.

This morning Nevaeh asked me why I was crying last night. I had to explain that sometimes I have hard time because Adrian has autism and Lincoln is not talking yet. That is not an easy thing to explain to a five year old. I will hear Nevaeh making the excuse for Adrian that “well he has autism”, it’s sweet in a way but a bit sad to me too.

I was very happy with Lincoln’s IEP meeting. I’m very happy with the goals and we are all on the same page in regards to what he needs to work on. Lincoln is very delayed in communication and socialization. He is behind in some other areas but honestly I don’t think they’ve seen all his great skills yet. I noticed he was talking quite a bit more today and sat with me for a long time tonight looking at books. I’m lovesick with that little boy. I love sitting and rocking him and cuddling with him. He helped me bake a cake today and we had some good quality time.

The ultimate plan for Lincoln is to figure out this hearing situation. Our appointment is fast approaching. As soon as that is figured out, and if there is something that needs fixing with the hearing then we will see if that helps him in the areas he’s having trouble in. I see an autism evaluation in his future but since he’s already receiving all the interventions he needs I’m not concerned with a formal diagnosis at this point.

Adrian had an awesome (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) day at school today. Can you tell I’m excited? He had all smiley faces on his report, something I think we’ve only seen maybe one other day so far this year. He got extra computer time today for a reward and he was very happy.

I went to Lincoln’s IEP this afternoon and it was comfortable and went well. I knew everyone there…between Adrian and Lincoln I know quite a few people so it was good. Normally they only fill out the little developmental forms once a year. This is what they filled out during his evaluation and Lincoln scored at a 14 month age level in February. Since Lincoln has made so much progress they decided to edit these evaluation forms and he came out scoring at a 26 month level. That is really amazing progress for about 4 months time. Lincoln is almost 3 years old so about 10 months delayed.

I am happy with his goals. He has a transition goal for moving around the classroom without assistance. This was one of Adrian’s first goals too. It’s good for them to be able to move from place to place in the classroom independently for the teacher and the students so that was good.

Another goal is that he will follow one step commands (example-Lincoln, hang your coat up) and eventually follow two step commands (example-Lincoln, hang your coat up and go sit down)

Then his third goal is a speech goal. It’s kind of a 3 step goal

1. Lincoln will name objects/photos with 80% accuracy (example-teacher points to flower and Lincoln says “flower”)
2. Lincoln will point to named objects/photos 80% accuracy (example- teacher asks “Lincoln where is the flower?” and Lincoln is able to point out the flower picture)
3. Lincoln will make requests (first by using one word following an adult model, then by using one word on his own, then by using 2-3 word phrases following adult model, then by using 2-3 word phrases on his own)

These goals are attainable for Lincoln. If he zooms through them too quickly when he starts preschool in the fall then we will have to meet and establish some new goals. I am happy with how it went and I’m happy with his goals though so I’m feeling great!

So I got a call from the nurse yesterday morning. Our test results from Sanura and Adrian’s blood work came back from the Fragile X testing and our kids do not have Fragile X. I am very happy. I cried a lot yesterday, I guess just the relief and emotion from it all and I feel so good now. One less thing to worry about.

Today is Lincoln’s IEP. I’m feeling good about it. His progress has really been amazing. I usually get really stressed and sad about Adrian’s IEP meetings because naturally I’m worried. This one I’m just kind of excited about. I’m looking forward to what his teachers have to say about his progress and what they want his plan to be for the next year.

Adrian drew this picture the other day and I just think it’s adorable so I have to share:

And lastly I just have a link that someone emailed me that I found interesting so just passing it along:

10 Impressive Special College Programs for Students with Autism

I had Adrian IEP this morning at 9, it went really well and he has some great people at the school who love and care for him.

First I talked to a teacher who teaches “normal” 1st graders. Adrian goes to her classroom for science and social studies and also has art, music, and recess with her class. She said he’s having very few outbursts and is trying in class. She said the children in the class really like Adrian and they like to sit with him and read stories with him. (Happy Happy!)

Next I heard from the speech pathologist. Her goals for this year for him are working on how he pronounces some of his letters. Now this is new for him. His speech goals have always consistent of trying to get him to say new words or teaching how to use back and forth communication. I’m excited for this goal because there are times that I can’t understand what he’s saying and the language that he does have, I want people to be able to understand! I know some of the letters he’s having trouble with is “f” and the blends, example “slide” is said “swide” by Adrian. Her other goal she’s going to work with him on is reading him a story and getting him to answer the “w” questions (who, what, where,when) which I think will be great for speech and reading comprehension.

His goals from his great teacher are for him to be able to respond to basic questions for his safety. Being able to answer what his name, address, phone number, parents names, etc. Another goal for him that I thought was cool was in the past Adrian would be asked to identify pictures. An example would be showing him a picture of a flower and expecting him to say “flower” now she wants to take that a step further and when she shows him a picture of a flower he’ll be able to identify the parts of a flower, like stem, petals, etc. She has 15 different items that she’s going to be working on with him and I think that’s great to expand his vocabulary and make him think more! His last goal from her has to do with singing the songs in class and getting him to participate more and she’s going to be making the songs more interactive.

I’m excited about these goals and I can’t wait to see his progress this year. He’s been moving forward so fast since he started kindergarten and it’s just really exciting to see! I’m very happy with how the meeting went and there is nothing I’m feeling bad about today! If I can help you with anything or if you have questions about anything in our IEP meeting feel free to ask!

Wow that came fast! I have Adrian’s IEP meeting tomorrow at 9am. I’m excited to see what their plans are and excited to share my ideas. I will update after I get home!

Lincoln is due for his 2 1/2 year check up and I’m probably going to call on that tomorrow. His speech is still not where it needs to be. I’m not sure if it’s behind enough to warrant preschool or speech therapy. I’m curious to see what the doctor thinks about it but I’m kind of nervous. I don’t see signs of autism with him but the speech delay makes me feel very uneasy!

And that’s about it around here, just a quiet weekend of laundry, cleaning, and hanging out with the kids. Sanura is complaining of a tummy ache and Nevaeh’s tonsils are swollen so just hanging around home.

We have our IEP meeting on January 24th. I am excited to see what everyone has to say. This meeting is a month early because of Adrian’s great progress!

Sanura is going to a clinic for development and disabilities on February 25th to look at possible Asperger’s Syndrome or ADHD possibly. I am looking forward to seeing what they say too, and probably more nervous about that meeting.

If you could keep our family in your prayers for the next couple of months about these very important meetings we would sure appreciate it. Prayers for both good outcomes and emotional peace because I get a little crazy during these things.

Everything is great around here, I’m feeling good and just enjoying being home with my children and taking care of my husband and house. I love it. So not too much of an update but I had to mention our meetings since I got to talk to the teacher yesterday.

Oh she did tell me one thing. That Adrian has been saying at school: “No more Santa Claus. Santa Claus is all done” I never told him that, he must have just thought of that one on his own.

I wanted to update yesterday about Adrian’s conference but I ended up getting the stomach flu. It was so horrible. I’m still not 100% better today but I’m much better than yesterday. So anyway…

First the teacher was telling me she wanted to move Adrian’s IEP goal meeting up to December, it’s due in February. She wanted to move it up because he’s making all his goals!! I’m so excited about this. He’s following directions a lot better, he’s not running out of the classroom like he used to, and he’s talking way more at home and at school. He’s doing so good!

Adrian has a few girlfriends at school. There is one in his class and he holds her hands and always wants to sit next to her. At recess a couple of the same two girls chase him around the playground and he loves that. So he’s popular with the ladies still. I can see why.

Adrian’s teacher is amazing, I can’t say enough good things about her. She’s using a new kind of software made for students with autism. Here is the link to it http://portal.wpspublish.com/portal/page?_pageid=53,108852&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

It looks really cool!! I think this software is really really going to help on choosing what skills are best for his IEP. I’m just excited about the future and in good spirits!

I had Adrian’s IEP meeting yesterday morning. They are always hard for me and I try to just walk away from it without crying, I didn’t cry yesterday but it was very close.

Present at the meeting was Adrian’s teacher, speech pathologist, school counselor, a representative from the area education agency, and school principal. First they just went through everything from when he first started receiving services from the AEA until present day. We talked about his progress and whether or not he is still eligible for special education services, summer school, and door to door bus pickup. He’s still eligible for all of those services.

Next the school counselor brought out the Conner scale that myself and his teacher had filled out. He is rated “high” on many areas that would indicate ADHD but the counselor said you can’t be sure whether or not some of those high ratings are from the autism or ADHD. She just said it’s up to me, I can take this to the doctor and have him evaluated, it’s just our choice how to proceed. I will take the charts to his doctor either next time we go or I’ll make an appointment in the next month or so, I haven’t decided yet because I think we’re going to have to get a referral and go out of town to have him evaluated for ADHD.

Next I talked to the speech pathologist. She just gave her report and is really impressed with how well he started to come along because apparently they had a rough start. Then his teacher discussed his goals, I think I’ll write up a separate post about his actual goals because this will get too long.

The only thing I was kind of surprised about was that the AEA rep was talking about how we need to make sure Adrian’s goals will help him function in his life. For example, rather than teaching Adrian his days of the week we should be teaching him things like telling the difference between a men’s restroom and a ladies restroom or that you should stop at a stop sign to be safe. It kind of turned into a thing where we were discussing whether or not he should be taught to read right now or not. I want Adrian to read, I think he’s capable and he loves letters. The question is will he just memorize the words or will he really understand the meaning behind the words? I just didn’t know what to say or think, I guess I wasn’t prepared for that. I just assumed that the next step, since he knows all his letters and the sounds, that he would start to learn to read. Eventually we came to an agreement that the would add an extra goal, one for learning his sight words AND one for learning more functional skills. Basically it boils down to I want him to HAVE IT ALL!

It was also a big joke that Adrian REALLY likes girls. He cuddles up next to girls, he approaches girls in the hallway, he tries to cuddle with all the female teachers. His teacher made the comment that they were having some college girls coming in to help in that classroom and that Adrian “was going to just love that!” They were all talking about how lovable he is and even when he’s having a rough day it makes it so much easier because he’s such a loving and sweet boy. Music to my ears.

When I receive the actual IEP in paper I will post his goals. I wish I would have done more research on what I wanted his goals to be before I went so maybe our goals can help someone in the future. They had to make some changes to the IEP so I didn’t get a copy yet.

I haven’t been keeping up with the blog very well. I’ve been spending much less time on the computer than I used to but thought I could update real quick.

Adrian’s IEP meeting is this coming Friday. I’m always nervous for these and generally have a very “emotional” week during his IEP meeting weeks. We’ll see, last year it went very smoothly. School is going great, his teacher is amazing. I really wasn’t sure at the beginning of the year but he’s made more progress these last few months than he has ever made. He’s chugging right along, he can read some simple sentences, he can say anything that we ask him to say but spontaneous conversation isn’t there yet, he can write his name. His stimming is still wildly out of control and he can’t sit still. His teacher had me fill out a paper for the Conner’s scale to see about possible ADHD. We’ve always thought he may have ADHD as well and we have talked to a developmental pediatrician about that and he had told us they don’t like to diagnose ADHD until at least first grade. It seems like the teacher is really hoping we can talk to his doctor about this possibility and see if there is anything we need to do to help him in this area. We’re going to talk about this more at the IEP and we’ll probably be scheduling a visit to the doctor and possibly the Iowa State University hospital to look into this more if we need to.

The girls are good. I took Nevaeh to the art center the other day and she loved it. Her favorite thing by far was painting. She also made a necklace and played in shaving cream. There was a lady sitting in there playing a keyboard for the kids and she was holding a cute fuzzball of a dog. Nevaeh loved that. Usually Nevaeh is scared of dogs but this one was so tiny and quiet so Nevaeh was actually petting it which surprised me. Sanura got her report card. She’s doing very very well. Her teacher made a note that Sanura was doing better socially but needed to “use her time wisely” Sanura wasn’t sure what she meant by that so we talked it over and hopefully she understands that she needs to be staying on task. The only part I saw that was concerning was Sanura’s subtraction facts…I guess she’s having trouble with that so we’ll be practicing that at home. Sanura always gets very good marks in music. She loves to sing and she’s good at it too. I’m trying to come up with a way to help her expand on that and practice that more since it’s something she seems to enjoy so much and something that she’s good at.

Mister Lincoln got another hair cut today. He was so good, barely moved throughout the whole thing. He’s talking more and more. He’s even saying a few sentences now, the other day he actually told me “Open the door!” I was kind of surprised by that one!