Life Skills

[Guest guest]

Carla,

I fully understand where you are coming from because this is a battle I have

been fighting for years and continue to fight as we speak. I have filed a

state complaint regarding the district not providing a read evaluation even

though it was requested in writing agreed upon by the IEP team and put into the

IEP and this is just the smallest tip of the iceberg. I have always fought

for academics to be taught and that they come up with more for vocational

skills other than sweeping floors, folding clothes and wiping tables. I am

tired and frustrated but at the same time I am even more determined that they

give my child the opportunity to learn whether they think she can or not and I'm

especially tired of all the excuses, procrastinations and out right lies.

So from now on, if it takes filing one state complaint after another then that

is what I will do until such time that they get it right. None of us knows

what our children's potential will be, but the one thing I do know is that if

they are not taught, they most definitely won't learn. So take this with a

grain of salt from an old mom who is very biased at this point and my

suggestion is do not give in to them because that is what they want you to do.

While they may think they are wearing me down in reality they are to a point

but

at the same time they have royally ticked me off and when that happens watch

out because I will dig my heels in even deeper , now I am mad actually that

isn't true I am livid with what has been going on and I just am not going to

take it anymore! Trisha is far too important to let them get to me and I am

more determined than ever. I sure wish I had some sage advice to give you

or a miracle pill but all I have to offer is my moral support and

understanding and willing to lend a listening ear or shoulder if needed.

Sorry, :-(

Carol

Trishasmom

She isn't typical, She's Trisha!

If we always do what we always did, we'll always get what we've always

gotten! (this is so true!)

In a message dated 5/8/2008 12:29:51 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

ammayer@... writes:

I have been reading some of the recent posts and they have given me some

calm about our path. is 12 yrs old and has not made lots of

progress thru the years in the academic field and also her speech is still

hard to understand and she does a lot of repeating and answering " NO " .

Her IEP meeting is set for Monday and everything I get in writing at some

point comes back to pointing her school time towards " functional life

skills " . I have come to despise that term. I am so torn between what to

push for her to have as goals and whether I should let them have their

way. I want what is going to benefit her most to be as independent as

possible. But I believe she can achieve some academics also with more

patience and a willingness to get in there and try different things. Her

physical therapist has recommended stopping PT as has not shown

much cooperation in their sessions and she believes the time would be

spent better working on " functional life skills " . Isn't being able to

walk down steps a functional life skill? In my opinion she just doesn't

want to put in the time and effort it takes to find what it takes to get

to try new things. I'm sorry. I know this doesn't make much sense

but I felt you guys would understand. Sometimes living in a rural area is

very tough. So far I don't know of another child in this area with the

DS/Autism/Sensory diagnosis.

Thanks for reading!

Carla

**************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family

favorites at AOL Food.

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[Guest guest]

I have been reading some of the recent posts and they have given me some

calm about our path. is 12 yrs old and has not made lots of

progress thru the years in the academic field and also her speech is still

hard to understand and she does a lot of repeating and answering " NO " .

Her IEP meeting is set for Monday and everything I get in writing at some

point comes back to pointing her school time towards " functional life

skills " . I have come to despise that term. I am so torn between what to

push for her to have as goals and whether I should let them have their

way. I want what is going to benefit her most to be as independant as

possible. But I believe she can achieve some academics also with more

patience and a willingness to get in there and try different things. Her

physical therapist has recommended stopping PT as has not shown

much cooperation in their sessions and she believes the time would be

spent better working on " functional life skills " . Isn't being able to

walk down steps a functional life skill? In my opinion she just doesn't

want to put in the time and effort it takes to find what it takes to get

to try new things. I'm sorry. I know this doesn't make much sense

but I felt you guys would understand. Sometimes living in a rural area is

very tough. So far I don't know of another child in this area with the

DS/Autism/Sensory diagnosis.

Thanks for reading!

Carla

[Guest guest]

>

> I have been reading some of the recent posts and they have given

me some

> calm about our path. is 12 yrs old and has not made lots of

> progress thru the years in the academic field and also her speech

is still

> hard to understand and she does a lot of repeating and

answering " NO " .

> Her IEP meeting is set for Monday and everything I get in writing

at some

> point comes back to pointing her school time towards " functional

life

> skills " . I have come to despise that term. I am so torn between

what to

> push for her to have as goals and whether I should let them have

their

> way. I want what is going to benefit her most to be as

independant as

> possible. But I believe she can achieve some academics also with

more

> patience and a willingness to get in there and try different

things. Her

> physical therapist has recommended stopping PT as has not

shown

> much cooperation in their sessions and she believes the time would

be

> spent better working on " functional life skills " . Isn't being

able to

> walk down steps a functional life skill? In my opinion she just

doesn't

> want to put in the time and effort it takes to find what it takes

to get

> to try new things. I'm sorry. I know this doesn't make

much sense

> but I felt you guys would understand. Sometimes living in a rural

area is

> very tough. So far I don't know of another child in this area with

the

> DS/Autism/Sensory diagnosis.

>

> Thanks for reading!

> Carla

>

Dear Carla,

I totally understand. We have fought so hard for academics! (I

want to curse real bad, I really do.) Not rocket science, just a

chance to try and explore new things.

is supposed to transition to high school and in our school

district it means, go get a job folding towels or you do not get it

the way we get it. Ahhhhhhhh..........

In middle school a patient Art teacher had soooo many hands on ides

for with the coolest art projects, he became interested and

happy and not only that, but, PROUD. PROUD of what he could pull

out of his backpack. He made this great bowl out of glue and

string. it is a centerpiece on our kitchen table.

I asked the High School if could attend an art class. They

said that it has never been done, but they would consider it!!!

Consider it!!!! I just stood there with my mouth hanging open.

loves art, he love picaaso, Van Gogh, the Mona , Botero.

We have brought him to many museums. I am going to sign him up for a

special needs art class. But his high school will consider it!????

I am going to fight for an art class for him all the way.

This will be his academics!!

Also still has stair problems. One leg at a time. Ok we are

gettin there. I have seen him go right, left, right on the bottom

three steps. We know he can do it. But we had the same PT problem

as you are having. But this IS LIFE SKILLS.

It is so much better that he can go down steps every other leg than

not, and he can do it. It is faster and safer. And if there is a

fire he can get out of the building faster. I am not giving up on

this until he is 21, and his birthday is in November so 22.

I will put my thinking cap on and come up with other life skill

academics.

I will not let THEM fool me!!!

Let me know what you come up with.

Sarno

[Guest guest]

Ugh, Kayla is only FOUR and we're having this battle. I wanted to put

Kayla in the integrated preschool class this summer and for next

school year. The preschool director felt that Kayla was too " low

functioning " and it wasn't an " appropriate " placement because the

integrated class does more " academic Kindergarten readiness " skills

and Kayla should learn " self-help " skills.

I argued that it wouldn't hurt to TRY the integrated class during

Extended School Year this summer, after all it's only six weeks. By

then we should know if it's " appropriate " or not. Fortunately, most

of the IEP committee feels the parents' wishes carry a lot of weight

so we got Kayla in the integrated class over the objections of the

preschool director! And they put the integrated class in for

September as well, assuming that we won't have to change it. PLUS

they increased Kayla's speech from 3 group/1 individual to FOUR

individual/1 group to begin in the SUMMER. I was surprised because

they rarely increase services during the summer.

I love our IEP committee chair. He's the most reasonable person to

work with. He almost resigned for a new position a few months ago and

I (and a lot of other parents in the district) was devestated. But

the school district counteroffered and he's staying -- hopefully for

a while!

BTW, we live in a very rural school district as well. And in our

entire district PreK - 12 there are 600 students, at least 3 of them

have DS and 2 of those have DS/Autism. Must be something in the

water. ;-)

Ecki

Mom to Kayla (DS/ASD, 4/5/04) and Laurie (PDD-NOS, 7/12/01)

http://oppositekids.blogspot.com/

>

> I have been reading some of the recent posts and they have given me

some

> calm about our path. is 12 yrs old and has not made lots of

> progress thru the years in the academic field and also her speech

is still

> hard to understand and she does a lot of repeating and

answering " NO " .

> Her IEP meeting is set for Monday and everything I get in writing

at some

> point comes back to pointing her school time towards " functional

life

> skills " . I have come to despise that term. I am so torn between

what to

> push for her to have as goals and whether I should let them have

their

> way. I want what is going to benefit her most to be as independant

as

> possible. But I believe she can achieve some academics also with

more

> patience and a willingness to get in there and try different

things.

[Guest guest]

Our Jake went to a typical preschool program with the help of an aid. He was 5

but was in the 3 year old class with an aid. It really helped him be amoung

kids and the kids that were in his class still love to see him. He is now 9.

We chose Life Skills because Jake cannot do the academics at this point, but he

does good work in the Life skills. We are lucky that our life skills is not a

strickly babysitting class. The do many acedemics but at a level he can

accomplish. He cannot tell you who the president is but he can read the word

emergency, exit, etc.

I think our preschool underestimated Jake and in the end they all agreed that it

was a great process for everyone. I just tried to be as open and honest about

Jake and his abilities and my expectations. At the time, it was just to get him

amoung typical peers.

Holly

Re: Life Skills

Ugh, Kayla is only FOUR and we're having this battle. I wanted to put

Kayla in the integrated preschool class this summer and for next

school year. The preschool director felt that Kayla was too " low

functioning " and it wasn't an " appropriate " placement because the

integrated class does more " academic Kindergarten readiness " skills

and Kayla should learn " self-help " skills.

I argued that it wouldn't hurt to TRY the integrated class during

Extended School Year this summer, after all it's only six weeks. By

then we should know if it's " appropriate " or not. Fortunately, most

of the IEP committee feels the parents' wishes carry a lot of weight

so we got Kayla in the integrated class over the objections of the

preschool director! And they put the integrated class in for

September as well, assuming that we won't have to change it. PLUS

they increased Kayla's speech from 3 group/1 individual to FOUR

individual/1 group to begin in the SUMMER. I was surprised because

they rarely increase services during the summer.

I love our IEP committee chair. He's the most reasonable person to

work with. He almost resigned for a new position a few months ago and

I (and a lot of other parents in the district) was devestated. But

the school district counteroffered and he's staying -- hopefully for

a while!

BTW, we live in a very rural school district as well. And in our

entire district PreK - 12 there are 600 students, at least 3 of them

have DS and 2 of those have DS/Autism. Must be something in the

water. ;-)

Ecki

Mom to Kayla (DS/ASD, 4/5/04) and Laurie (PDD-NOS, 7/12/01)

http://oppositekids.blogspot.com/

>

> I have been reading some of the recent posts and they have given me

some

> calm about our path. is 12 yrs old and has not made lots of

> progress thru the years in the academic field and also her speech

is still

> hard to understand and she does a lot of repeating and

answering " NO " .

> Her IEP meeting is set for Monday and everything I get in writing

at some

> point comes back to pointing her school time towards " functional

life

> skills " . I have come to despise that term. I am so torn between

what to

> push for her to have as goals and whether I should let them have

their

> way. I want what is going to benefit her most to be as independant

as

> possible. But I believe she can achieve some academics also with

more

> patience and a willingness to get in there and try different

things.

[Guest guest]

Carla,

Remember that just because you choose the Life Skills path does not mean you

cannot put many academic goals. Jake is learning to read, write, do math, count

money, and all the stuff we tend to take for granted that people learn. This is

now his academics.

As for the PT, I agree, they have just not found the correct motivator. Our PT

says that Jake can't throw a ball so many feet, etc. Well, give him a rock on a

river or a lake and he will thrown a rock as far as possible. He can't

jump....unless he is imitating you. Then he can jump, do jumping jacks, a

somersault, and just about anything. He just needs to correct motivators.

good Luck!

Holly

[Guest guest]

I have to be honest here....We had Tori fully included (except for some little

pull-outs) from the age of 5->6.5 and found it to be killing her.

Unfortunately, she was not able to function in an inclusive setting (she could

not handle the busi-ness of the classroom, the size of the class, and the

distraction of the other children) She also became too much of a distraction to

the other kids - taking the staff away from them to settle her down. It took us

a really good hard look and alot of crying to make the change, but in the long

run we did right by moving her to a more self-contained settting. Her behaviors

got way too crazy preventing her from being able to concentrate long enough to

learn academics. We are now a road with much better behaviors (God, keep your

fingers xd) that we can actaully start to reintroduce academics and push them.

She is able to stay a bit more focused..and there aren't as many distractions

(Kids, noises, whatever) I am the biggest advocate for inclusion, but for our

Tori, it just didn't work. Hoping, if her behaviors stay in check, we can head

down that road again in the future.

Liz

Re: Life Skills

Ugh, Kayla is only FOUR and we're having this battle. I wanted to put

Kayla in the integrated preschool class this summer and for next

school year. The preschool director felt that Kayla was too " low

functioning " and it wasn't an " appropriate " placement because the

integrated class does more " academic Kindergarten readiness " skills

and Kayla should learn " self-help " skills.

I argued that it wouldn't hurt to TRY the integrated class during

Extended School Year this summer, after all it's only six weeks. By

then we should know if it's " appropriate " or not. Fortunately, most

of the IEP committee feels the parents' wishes carry a lot of weight

so we got Kayla in the integrated class over the objections of the

preschool director! And they put the integrated class in for

September as well, assuming that we won't have to change it. PLUS

they increased Kayla's speech from 3 group/1 individual to FOUR

individual/1 group to begin in the SUMMER. I was surprised because

they rarely increase services during the summer.

I love our IEP committee chair. He's the most reasonable person to

work with. He almost resigned for a new position a few months ago and

I (and a lot of other parents in the district) was devestated. But

the school district counteroffered and he's staying -- hopefully for

a while!

BTW, we live in a very rural school district as well. And in our

entire district PreK - 12 there are 600 students, at least 3 of them

have DS and 2 of those have DS/Autism. Must be something in the

water. ;-)

Ecki

Mom to Kayla (DS/ASD, 4/5/04) and Laurie (PDD-NOS, 7/12/01)

http://oppositekids.blogspot.com/

>

> I have been reading some of the recent posts and they have given me

some

> calm about our path. is 12 yrs old and has not made lots of

> progress thru the years in the academic field and also her speech

is still

> hard to understand and she does a lot of repeating and

answering " NO " .

> Her IEP meeting is set for Monday and everything I get in writing

at some

> point comes back to pointing her school time towards " functional

life

> skills " . I have come to despise that term. I am so torn between

what to

> push for her to have as goals and whether I should let them have

their

> way. I want what is going to benefit her most to be as independant

as

> possible. But I believe she can achieve some academics also with

more

> patience and a willingness to get in there and try different

things.

[Guest guest]

is in a life skills classroom in first grade for most of his academics, but

he has 30 minutes each day in the general ed first grade room, and does art,

music, gym, library, lunch, and class parties with the gen ed class. This works

well. His life skills teacher does work on academics, and if you insist on that

in the IEP, they have to do it in the class. has good nonverbal test scores

and has few behavior issues, but his lack of verbal skills and his flat

disinterest in anything that he doesn't want to do makes it hard for him to do

any group academic work, so the individualized instruction in life skills is

better for him. The time in gen ed is great for socializing, though, and the

first grade teacher said it's been a positive thing for and for her class.

In his case conference, the teacher took out that 30 min. for second grade, but

I insisted, and it's back in. (That's a very long and controversial story boiled

down to one sentence.)

Beth, mom to , 8, DS, ASD, leukemia survivor

[Guest guest]

Holly,

If you don't mind, can you give me some examples of how they are doing

this with Jake? Especially the reading and writing. I am working to be

very prepared with ideas to present.

Thanks,

Carla

> Carla,

> Remember that just because you choose the Life Skills path does not mean

> you cannot put many academic goals. Jake is learning to read, write, do

> math, count money, and all the stuff we tend to take for granted that

> people learn. This is now his academics.

>

> As for the PT, I agree, they have just not found the correct motivator.

> Our PT says that Jake can't throw a ball so many feet, etc. Well, give

> him a rock on a river or a lake and he will thrown a rock as far as

> possible. He can't jump....unless he is imitating you. Then he can jump,

> do jumping jacks, a somersault, and just about anything. He just needs to

> correct motivators.

> good Luck!

> Holly

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I am lucky that I do not have to implement academics within the IEP his class

just does stuff.

However, they use the Edmark Words Program for learning meaningful words. We

label as much as we can with the words, table, chairs, door, bathroom, etc.

They do this in class as well. He learns to read words that mean something to

him. Jake reads about 40 words right now and he is learning to point to each

word and make his own approximations for words. Many words he reads and very

clearly. This also helps us on enunciation and repetition. If we know he can

say the word we practice. Jake also knows his alphabet both upper and

lowercase, can match and identify letters, numbers, words, knows the day of the

week, months of the year, etc. Their class also counts money according to the

day of the school year. Once they get 5 pennies, they change to 1 nickol, then

trade 2 nickols to 1 dime, etc. They count money everyday. The higher

functioning kids have spelling words, they all have to read, write, and do real

spelling tests. Jake practises with flash cards, magnetic letters, and matching

words. The more function kids also do basic math, measuring. The way I look at

the most successful lifeskills classes is when they run more like a homeschool

envirnment that sterile school environment. A good teacher uses every

opportunity to teach.

Holly

Re: Re: Life Skills

Holly,

If you don't mind, can you give me some examples of how they are doing

this with Jake? Especially the reading and writing. I am working to be

very prepared with ideas to present.

Thanks,

Carla

> Carla,

> Remember that just because you choose the Life Skills path does not mean

> you cannot put many academic goals. Jake is learning to read, write, do

> math, count money, and all the stuff we tend to take for granted that

> people learn. This is now his academics.

>

> As for the PT, I agree, they have just not found the correct motivator.

> Our PT says that Jake can't throw a ball so many feet, etc. Well, give

> him a rock on a river or a lake and he will thrown a rock as far as

> possible. He can't jump....unless he is imitating you. Then he can jump,

> do jumping jacks, a somersault, and just about anything. He just needs to

> correct motivators.

> good Luck!

> Holly

>

>

>

>