Re: Great IEP meeting!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/29/2003 9:19:14 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

rwinters@... writes:

> Johanna,

>

> I am SSSOOOOOOO happy for you!! I've been sweating this one out

> right along with you! I know you just wanted to run away a few

> times. But see, sometimes things do work out...and without a

> fight!!! I am thrilled. Keep up the good work.

>

> Kathy

>

Thanks, Kathy!!! I DID want to run away several times and even ran the idea

past my dh to go in there for me with tape recorder in hand....that wasn't a

very good plan, but I did try the escape route LOL!!! Prayer helped big time.

It calmed me down a lot and the meeting was in a small room versus the big

conference room....much better environment.

Isn't it funny that even though you know you are under stress, when its over

you REALLY feel it in your body. I feel like I've been hit by a

truck.....today is the day to relax and this weekend I'm going to see my mom for

a couple

days.....alone. Ahhh.

Johanna

[Guest guest]

Johanna,

I am SSSOOOOOOO happy for you!! I've been sweating this one out

right along with you! I know you just wanted to run away a few

times. But see, sometimes things do work out...and without a

fight!!! I am thrilled. Keep up the good work.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Johanna,

I'm thrilled for you!

a

[Guest guest]

Thanks Lynn and ...... I really felt supported by the folks on this site

and thought of you as the meeting was happening....glad its over

[Guest guest]

> In a message dated 5/29/2003 9:19:14 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

> rwinters@b... writes:

>

> > Johanna,

> >

> > I am SSSOOOOOOO happy for you!! I've been sweating this one out

> > right along with you! I know you just wanted to run away a few

> > times. But see, sometimes things do work out...and without a

> > fight!!! I am thrilled. Keep up the good work.

> >

> > Kathy

> >

>

> Thanks, Kathy!!! I DID want to run away several times and even ran

the idea

> past my dh to go in there for me with tape recorder in hand....that

wasn't a

> very good plan, but I did try the escape route LOL!!! Prayer

helped big time.

> It calmed me down a lot and the meeting was in a small room versus

the big

> conference room....much better environment.

> Isn't it funny that even though you know you are under stress, when

its over

> you REALLY feel it in your body. I feel like I've been hit by a

> truck.....today is the day to relax and this weekend I'm going to

see my mom for a couple

> days.....alone. Ahhh.

> Johanna

Johanna,

Well, rest up and enjoy that visit with you mom!! Sounds like

fun..especially the " alone " part! LOL!

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Johanna,

Yeah!! Happy to hear that everything worked..and that the picture idea worked

for you..pretty powerfull isn't it!

Lynn

sjparvin@... wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I have come out of my cave and am able to breathe again!!! We just had our

annual IEP meeting and it was amazing. I was praying a lot on this one and

frankly speaking I'm giving Him the credit ....

My son scored high on the tests the sped teacher had given him, the OT scores

were great~in their idea of normal, the Speech report was as if she didn't

see my child.....I had hints that he was going to be exited and that he didn't

qualify for the sped preschool class....I was backpedaling as fast as I could

trying to write up a synopsis of my son so they could truly see what I see and

am concerned with. Meanwhile the school decided to do their own neuropsych

eval by the school psychologist (yes, she has a Phd) and I had no idea what they

would unearth. It could go either way....test him in certain areas it could

look great, test in others and it could be low....They were putting me off

about getting the report before the meeting and I was thinking this was not

good.

Well, I got the report the day before....all 14 pages, and it was wonderful.

I actually skipped to the end because I couldn't stand it anymore and I just

had to know.....the eligibility part was filled in with PDD-NOS and thus, his

eligibility~ YES!!! This is actually the dx I expected from Siegel's office,

but they came up with the language disorder. Finally, I'm getting someone in

the school district to see the extent of his issues and I didn't hear too much

of " He is only 4 " ......The report and testing was detailed, insightful, and

in my opinion right on. I now wish I had gone to a neuropsychologist instead

of the doctors we went to that gave him dx of AS and dx of Expressive Receptive

Language Disorder. I really don't know if the diagnosis of PDD will stick,

and frankly I have my own ideas of what " label " would apply, but its close

enough for me and its the " in " to continue services. Also the report was able

to

give us details in drafting appropriate IEP goals/objectives that would have

gotten missed.

The program director went briefly through the assessments and asked the psych

her placement ideas and it was the same conclusion she had come to....so we

have him in a sped preschool classroom for next year with high

functioning/speaking kids....this is exactly what I wanted! I realize that

meetings generally

do not go this smoothly or easily and the neuropsych report was key, but I'm

thankful that it did and I did a lot of prep work in advance which I would do

again. Without the report I would have had a fight on my hands which I might

have won.

The interesting thing is spending the 15 hrs doing prep over the weekend

(besides countless others) was really good. I know have a document that gives

whomever is looking at it a detailed picture of my son at age 4.5 yrs. I wish I

had done this every year so I would be able to see the changes or areas still

troublesome.

You guys were all there too! I was definitely thinking " borg " and all your

ideas for the prep were great! I had the 4 page synopsis, and a shortened

agenda that I handed out in the meeting....it did make a difference. I put

Joe's

pictures all over the binder (thanks for that idea) including one with him

sliding which would have been unheard of at the beginning of the year. If

anyone

wants to look at the synopsis to use as a key, I'd be open to sharing that.

The psych did say that he presents as a very mixed picture and is not going to

be easy to completely figure out....yep, that's my boy!

I still think the Borg traveling advocacy is a great idea.

Johanna...breathing a much needed sign or relief and 300 emails behind~

[Guest guest]

Hi Johanna,

Wonderful!

[Guest guest]

Johanna, I'm so glad it went well! That must feel like such a relief. Time now

to hit the

chocolate and relax!

Liz

sjparvin@... wrote:

> Hi Everyone,

> I have come out of my cave and am able to breathe again!!! We just had our

> annual IEP meeting and it was amazing. I was praying a lot on this one and

> frankly speaking I'm giving Him the credit ....

> My son scored high on the tests the sped teacher had given him, the OT scores

> were great~in their idea of normal, the Speech report was as if she didn't

> see my child.....I had hints that he was going to be exited and that he didn't

> qualify for the sped preschool class....I was backpedaling as fast as I could

> trying to write up a synopsis of my son so they could truly see what I see and

> am concerned with. Meanwhile the school decided to do their own neuropsych

> eval by the school psychologist (yes, she has a Phd) and I had no idea what

they

> would unearth. It could go either way....test him in certain areas it could

> look great, test in others and it could be low....They were putting me off

> about getting the report before the meeting and I was thinking this was not

good.

> Well, I got the report the day before....all 14 pages, and it was wonderful.

> I actually skipped to the end because I couldn't stand it anymore and I just

> had to know.....the eligibility part was filled in with PDD-NOS and thus, his

> eligibility~ YES!!! This is actually the dx I expected from Siegel's office,

> but they came up with the language disorder. Finally, I'm getting someone in

> the school district to see the extent of his issues and I didn't hear too much

> of " He is only 4 " ......The report and testing was detailed, insightful, and

> in my opinion right on. I now wish I had gone to a neuropsychologist instead

> of the doctors we went to that gave him dx of AS and dx of Expressive

Receptive

> Language Disorder. I really don't know if the diagnosis of PDD will stick,

> and frankly I have my own ideas of what " label " would apply, but its close

> enough for me and its the " in " to continue services. Also the report was able

to

> give us details in drafting appropriate IEP goals/objectives that would have

> gotten missed.

> The program director went briefly through the assessments and asked the psych

> her placement ideas and it was the same conclusion she had come to....so we

> have him in a sped preschool classroom for next year with high

> functioning/speaking kids....this is exactly what I wanted! I realize that

meetings generally

> do not go this smoothly or easily and the neuropsych report was key, but I'm

> thankful that it did and I did a lot of prep work in advance which I would do

> again. Without the report I would have had a fight on my hands which I might

> have won.

> The interesting thing is spending the 15 hrs doing prep over the weekend

> (besides countless others) was really good. I know have a document that gives

> whomever is looking at it a detailed picture of my son at age 4.5 yrs. I wish

I

> had done this every year so I would be able to see the changes or areas still

> troublesome.

> You guys were all there too! I was definitely thinking " borg " and all your

> ideas for the prep were great! I had the 4 page synopsis, and a shortened

> agenda that I handed out in the meeting....it did make a difference. I put

Joe's

> pictures all over the binder (thanks for that idea) including one with him

> sliding which would have been unheard of at the beginning of the year. If

anyone

> wants to look at the synopsis to use as a key, I'd be open to sharing that.

> The psych did say that he presents as a very mixed picture and is not going to

> be easy to completely figure out....yep, that's my boy!

> I still think the Borg traveling advocacy is a great idea.

> Johanna...breathing a much needed sign or relief and 300 emails behind~

>

>

[Guest guest]

<<<<<> Well, I got the report the day before....all 14 pages, and it was

wonderful.

> I actually skipped to the end because I couldn't stand it anymore and I

just

> had to know.....the eligibility part was filled in with PDD-NOS and thus,

his

> eligibility~ YES!!!>>>>>

Yay!!!! good for you !!!

F

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/29/03 11:33:59 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

sjparvin@... writes:

> Johanna...breathing a much needed sign or relief and 300 emails behind~

>

>

Yeah!! Yeah Johanna! You did it! Prepared for the worst and got the best!!

Excellent! I'm so glad that he gets into the class you wanted for him.

What a relief! pdd-nos is good enough. This is the actual dx they gave my

oldest when he was in pre-k, later it was changed to HFA. Back then they did

not

know what pdd-nos was (neither did I!!!) but I think nowadays, this is

changing. At least they are on the same page as you are at last!

Roxanna

ò¿ò

It makes sense to go up the molehill

dressed for the mountain

Nan, the Wiser

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/29/03 2:52:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time, sjparvin@...

writes:

> Isn't it funny that even though you know you are under stress, when its

> over

> you REALLY feel it in your body. I feel like I've been hit by a

> truck.....today is the day to relax and this weekend I'm going to see my mom

> for a couple

> days.....alone. Ahhh.

> Johanna

>

Good for you! I know that feeling - after the meeting no matter if the

meeting is good or bad, I feel the same way. I am totally exhausted and can

hardly

speak in English. ugh. I just need to vegitate for a bit. Maybe we put

forth too much energy on this stuff?? But I don't know how not to.

I just had Reece's IEP meeting on Wednesday afternoon. I wrote his IEP again

and the teacher put her input in next, then all we did was meet to sign

papers and go over his progress this final quarter and to meet the next years

teacher too. His sped teacher is just fabulous and he gets to have her again

next

year. yes! His ST is good too and he gets her again too.

I also had a meeting at the MR/DD that was AWFUL and will have to tell later

when I have gathered my wits about me. And I had a phone conversation with

the sped head over Ryder's IEP and ESY that did not go well all told. We are

very nice and polite, but in grave disagreement. So I have to work on that

too...follow up letters...ugh!

Enjoy your weekend and soak up some sun!

Roxanna ôô

What doesn't kill us

Makes us really mean.

[Guest guest]

Thank you Liz, Roxanna and Fania....and everyone else that helped me out

during this stressful time!!!!

No one can tell me that stress does not affect your body...oh, boy. The day

after the meeting I was walking through jello (you know that feeling?) and

barely got anything done which was fine. The next day I left for L.A. to see

mom

and relax....she takes me out to lunch, we go home and I fell asleep on her

couch while she was talking to me!!! I slept for hours and woke up with that

fibromyalgia feeling....ugh. The next day I was fine but it took 2 days to

recover. Wow.

I'm still behind in emails, but I wanted to say to those of us who haven't

taken some " me " time it is really important and should be done often....in

whatever capacity you can manage.

Fania, I loved the sound of your trip....reading your email before your trip

and after was quite different. Glad to hear it. Roxanna, you're next!!!

Johanna

[Guest guest]

Johanna,

I'm glad your trip went well! We all put so much into our kids that we tend to

neglect caring for ourselves.

My inlaws have offered to send dh and me off " someplace nice " like Hawaii this

summer, and they will take care of . (This is in honor of 's and my

FIFTIETH BIRTHDAYS!!!) I turned fifty a couple of weeks ago; 's comes up in

Oct.

Even if you can't get away to Hawaii, it's important to hire a babysitter once

in a

while and get out. For those of you who don't feel comfortable using teenage

babysitters, we used to have a former psych tech come to our house once a week

to be

with while and I got out for a bit. We found him through 's

psychiatrist, but you could probably find somebody through university psychology

departments or schools of social work.

I'm rambling more than I meant to. I'm so glad you had a good time at your

mom's.

You deserve it.

Liz

sjparvin@... wrote:

> Thank you Liz, Roxanna and Fania....and everyone else that helped me out

> during this stressful time!!!!

> No one can tell me that stress does not affect your body...oh, boy.

[Guest guest]

> Even if you can't get away to Hawaii, it's important to hire a

babysitter once in a

> while and get out. For those of you who don't feel comfortable

using teenage

> babysitters, we used to have a former psych tech come to our house

once a week to be

> with while and I got out for a bit. We found him

through 's

> psychiatrist, but you could probably find somebody through

university psychology

> departments or schools of social work.

Good advice. I should take it. My dh and I never have had much

opportunity to go out. I already had my oldest when we were dating.

Later, after marriage, we had . We don't have any nearby family

members. And w/ 2 special kids, finding the right sitter seems near

impossible. Maybe I'm just too picky. It's been over a year since we

even took a couple of hours together for dinner or whatnot. For the

most part I don't mind. My dh is great about giving me breathers. He

hates to shop anyways. And we do plenty of family time. It's just

that uninterrupted alone time just for us that's hard to come by. Esp

as my youngest has an extra sense. He senses mommy and daddy trying

to cuddle! a

[Guest guest]

Happy 50!!!!

F

Re: ( ) Great IEP meeting!

> Johanna,

> I'm glad your trip went well! We all put so much into our kids that we

tend to

> neglect caring for ourselves.

>

> My inlaws have offered to send dh and me off " someplace nice " like Hawaii

this

> summer, and they will take care of . (This is in honor of 's

and my

> FIFTIETH BIRTHDAYS!!!) I turned fifty a couple of weeks ago; 's comes

up in

> Oct.

>

> Even if you can't get away to Hawaii, it's important to hire a babysitter

once in a

> while and get out. For those of you who don't feel comfortable using

teenage

> babysitters, we used to have a former psych tech come to our house once a

week to be

> with while and I got out for a bit. We found him through

's

> psychiatrist, but you could probably find somebody through university

psychology

> departments or schools of social work.

>

> I'm rambling more than I meant to. I'm so glad you had a good time at your

mom's.

> You deserve it.

>

> Liz

>

> sjparvin@... wrote:

>

> > Thank you Liz, Roxanna and Fania....and everyone else that helped me out

> > during this stressful time!!!!

> > No one can tell me that stress does not affect your body...oh, boy.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Fania! You know, it's not so much turning 50 that's hard. It's having

children who are 15 and 20 that's throwing me for a loop. My daughter has

chosen to live and work in Boston this summer - even though I *told* her it

would be cheaper for her to live and work at home! LOL She's really spreading

her wings. She was here for a couple of weeks, and looked great. She is

definitely her own person. Gulp. Am I ready for this? Does it matter whether I

am ready for this? And the world marches on...

Liz

beitchazen wrote:

> Happy 50!!!!

> F

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/30/2003 10:16:03 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

kneeleee@... writes:

> Maybe we put

> forth too much energy on this stuff?? But I don't know how not to.

Me, either. All I know is I've got one shot at helping him and I have to do

all that I can. There are no do-overs or repeat performances, though I would

love to hit the rewind button at times.

>

> I just had Reece's IEP meeting on Wednesday afternoon. I wrote his IEP

> again

> and the teacher put her input in next, then all we did was meet to sign

> papers and go over his progress this final quarter and to meet the next

> years

> teacher too. His sped teacher is just fabulous and he gets to have her

> again next

> year. yes! His ST is good too and he gets her again too.

Yea!!!! Its great that he gets her again....consistency of a good teacher is

wonderful.

>

> I also had a meeting at the MR/DD that was AWFUL and will have to tell later

>

> when I have gathered my wits about me. And I had a phone conversation with

> the sped head over Ryder's IEP and ESY that did not go well all told. We

> are

> very nice and polite, but in grave disagreement. So I have to work on that

> too...follow up letters...ugh!

>

Mom to five and professional advocate.....I think a raise is in order!!! LOL!

I wish it would all be easy....unfortunately I know it doesn't always go

that way.

Johanna, slowly catching up

[Guest guest]

<<<<<Johanna, slowly catching up>>

JOhanna, not so slowly, I msut say i am impressed with you, lol!!!

Fania