We had Molly's annual IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meeting yesterday. For those of you that don't have a special needs child, this is a formal way for everyone that is involved with your child's education to get together in one room to set and review goals for the coming year(s).
We typically fill up a small conference room. Both Brooke and I are there, the school psychologist, the speech therapist, the special ed teacher, the para professional who works with Molly, a member of the schools administration, a regular ed teacher who has Molly (in this case her PE teacher), an occupational therapist in years past, Molly some years (though we think that it stresses her out as we are all talking about her and she can't easily participate meaningfully. She isn't there every year but is always invited. Going to PE class is WAY more fun for her) and whomever else we'd like to include. Sometimes families request a professional from an outside organization to come support them.
In the early days, these meetings could be very contentious as we were asking for more than the district would normally provide a child with autism. These meetings began when Molly was 3 years old when the district then took over legal responsibility for her education until she turns 21 years old. I'm sure they were hoping that we'd move to another city along the way as we asked for A LOT! :) And graciously the school district has provided. Molly has been blessed with teams throughout her elementary, middle and high school years that have worked hard to give her the best education and feelings of inclusion and well being that they could. Some years were better than others and I can only sing our highest praises for the current team that Molly now has as a senior at Manitou Springs High School. All I can say is "wow". They are hard working, think outside the box, pushing Molly as far as she will go and backing off when they are at that "about to break into tears" line. They find places to include her with her typical peers but also make the special ed area a lot of fun too.
Our goal in every meeting with the team is "what is best for Molly and how do we get there?" I always try and keep my ears open to the team as I know that my first reaction will always be for Molly's safety and I tend to overprotect. I need to be encouraged to let go and I appreciate the teams efforts to nudge me along. An example of this was in a meeting last year when we were talking about job placement options and they suggested the Marion Soup Kitchen. I immediately pictured every scraggly, homeless beggar with a sign at all of the on and off ramps to Colorado Springs, staring at my daughter. I vetoed the idea immediately. Then the team told me that Molly would be on the family side to serve meals where the moms and kids ate and I immediately relaxed (a little). Also the paraprofessional (I will use the term "para" from now on) that Molly knows would be with her at all times. However I still pushed back and asked if Molly could do this sort of thing in either the elementary school or middle school where everyone knows her (and it's safe). The sweet special ed teacher reminded me that Molly needs to branch out into the bigger community and practice being around others that DON'T know her situation. YIKES! Protective Kathy feels the grip in her stomach but knows that this is true. To learn new skills, we have to practice them....even if you can't talk and will hop into a random car with a total stranger. :) The final decision this year is to include Molly in a protective work environment up in Woodland Park where teachers and her para can work together in the recycling environment sorting and I'm not sure what else. Not even sure what they are recycling? But there are no homeless men there and for that I am thankful.
We begin the meetings with where Molly currently is and sometimes this can be a bit of a wake up call as we tend to focus on what she can do as opposed to what she can't. BUT we need to acknowledge the hard as that is how she continues to receive services as she grows up and out of the protective school environment. "Molly continues to be a student with autism and is identified in the severe range for social pragmatic communication. By the state guidelines she carries a level 4 (the most affected) in all areas to include significantly impaired social interaction, social communication, academic communication, non-verbal communication and perspective taking". Oof. Tough to hear as she has SO many things that she IS good at but I want you to be aware of the baseline that we are working with and that I am writing about.
So that's enough of the bad stuff....onto the good stuff and all the gains that Molly has made in the last couple of years. "One area of steady growth is Molly's oral speech. Her speech has made noticeable change despite the challenges of her apraxia of speech. Molly can imitate with increasing accuracy many 2-3 syllable words and up to 5 word utterances. She has approximately 35, 2-3 syllable words that are consistently intelligible. Her ability to articulate sounds is also growing." There is a lot of speech therapist jargon that I'm slowly understanding myself ""vowels and diphthongs' (what the heck is that?) "her increase in consonant phonemes", "she can continue to use words using a multi-phonemic approach".....see what I mean?
"Molly enjoys using her iPad, doing puzzles, and coloring. She enjoys her interaction with a student that comes to work on her speech, paint their nails and play speech games. She loves crafting and cooking. She loves to swim and hike. She is very athletic and chooses to shoot baskets in PE. She enjoys games and taking turns. She loves to share her belongings. She loves music in particular Disney and Mickey Mouse. She loves to dance. She seeks to appear like everyone else. She observes behaviors of others and mimics other students." The team shared numerous stories of how Molly is appropriately gathering with her peers and hanging out with them during down times filling up her water bottle like they do and bringing her iPad to the table since they all have their phones. :)
We all agreed on the many challenges Molly faces due to her autism. She gets paralyzed when schedules are changed and she isn't sure what is expected or what to do next (without being told). She continues to be challenged about initiating activities (she waits to be told what to do). She needs to learn to initiate asking for help from a trusting person who can help. Every 5 minutes a member of the team guided the conversation back to life after Molly turns 21 and how all of these skills will be useful in the job world. So every 5 minutes my stomach would clinch again.
WHERE did the years go? How are we facing these issues already? Molly is happiest when she is engaging in a meaningful activity surrounded by people. Molly is happiest when she can get out of our home and have a fully scheduled day (currently school is what she adores). Brooke and I will be happiest when we can find that perfect placement for Molly. This will be a fun year as we all explore what that might look like and the team continues to work hard to prepare Molly for that day. We have 2 1/2 years. The time starts now!
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| One of my favorite pics from Molly's senior photo shoot. |
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| Today's jeeping adventure up Rampart Range Road (scene of the Waldo Canyon fire). |
