I started out by reading my son's current, almost outdated IEP frm the 2007-2008 school year. I typed out all the goals, then put my thoughts next to them in red:

• Jaymes will increase his expressive vocabulary by 50 words-He's getting there, but I don't think this one is met.
  
• Jaymes will ask questions with 80% accuracy- Not met, he doesn't ask questions period.
• Jaymes will put two and three words together with 80% accuracy- They say not met, I say in progress. He says "I eat" "eat horsies" "Want watch Elmo".
• Jaymes will use "ing" words with 80% accuracy- Not met. He doesn't use any "ing" words at all.
• Jaymes will use descriptive words with 80% accuracy- He uses color as a decription, but beyond that, nothing. Not met.
• Jaymes will use pronouns with 80% accuracy- Not met. He uses "I" and "Me" but nothing else.
• Jaymes will use possessives with 80% accuracy- In progress- he says "Mine" sometimes.
• Jaymes will tell how objects are used with 80% accuracy- This is unrealistic, in my opinion and has no place on his IEP.
  
• Jaymes will use a fingertip grasp on a pencil/crayon to participate in visual motor activities by 5/5/08 and will use a tripod grasp by 1/29/09- He got the fingertip grasp, but not by the goal date set and they do not consider it mastered. His OT outside of the school does, however. He is working on the tripod grasp and can do it some of the time.
• Jaymes will imitate lines, circles, and other shapes using a variety of media by 1/29/09- He can draw circles on request, sometimes will do lines. No other shapes. Sort of met? Not quite? Bear in mind he has until the end of January to get that one, so he could (though I can't see it happening) meet that goal in time.
  
• Jaymes will snip paper with scissors with assistance by 9/1/08- Goal met, very recently.
  
• Jaymes will snip paper with scissors independently by 1/29/09- Not met.
• Jaymes will follow all one step teacher commands 4/5 times- Mastered, per school. I agree.
• Jaymes will follow related two step commands 4/5 times- Sometimes
  
• Jaymes will participate in a large group activity for at least 10 minutes 4/5 times- Don't know. School doesn't say it's mastered, but they're always telling me how good he is in group so it's probably close to met.
  
• Jaymes will participate in a small group activity for at least 5 minutes 4/5 times-Don't know. School doesn't say it's mastered, but they're always telling me how good he is in group so it's probably close to met.
• Jaymes will remain on task for a nonpreferred activity until completion 4/5 times- School says mastered, I say in progress.
  
• Jaymes will play appropriately with at least six novel closed ended toys 4/5 times- Met.
  
• Jaymes will engage in simple pretend play at least once per day 4/5 times- He pretends to talk on the phone, does this count?
  
• Jaymes will engage in turn taking activities with a peer for at least 6 turns 4/5 times- No way.
  
• Jaymes will engage in cooperativeplay (ie. blocks/dressup) with a peer for at least 5 minutes 4/5 times-Nooooo way.
  
• Jaymes will initiate interaction or play with a peer at least once per day 4/5 times- He always runs up, says hi, and wants to hold hands. Does this count?
  
• Jaymes will understand verbs in context with 80% accuracy- He knows eat/go/sit/color
  
• Jaymes will increase his receptive vocabulary by at least 50 words- Not met
  
• Jaymes will recognize actions in pictures with 80% accuracy-In progress
  
• Jaymes will understand several pronouns with 80% accuracy- Not met
  
• Jaymes will understand the use of objects with 80% accuracy- He knows how to use everything!
  
• Jaymes will understand part-whole relationships with 80% accuracy- I don't understand what this one means.
  
• Jaymes will understand descriptive concepts with 80% accuracy- Not really...
  
• Jaymes will understand quantity concepts with 80% accuracy- Not met.
  
• Jaymes will identify colors with 80% accuracy- Met at home, apparently not at school
  
• Jaymes will understand negatives in a sentence with 80% accuracy- Not met
  
• Jaymes will identify big/little, empty/full, open/closed, wet/dry, hot/cold 4/5 times- He knows "open door/close door" does this count?
  
• Jaymes will follow commands with and without objects that include the spatial concepts in/on/off/out/under/behind 4/5 times- In progress at Therapy, maybe not at school?
  
• Jaymes will receptively identify at least 6 colors 4/5times- Met.
  
• Jaymes will receptively identify at least 4 shapes 4/5times- He knows circle and star
  
• Jaymes will attend to pictures in a book with teacher assistance 4/5 times- School says met, Jaymes tolerates this at therapy, not at home. Pretty well met.
  
• Jaymes will rote count 1-10 4/5 times- He can't do that at home... He counts to 5 then the numbers get all mixed around.
  
• Jaymes will count using 1:1 correspondence up to 5 objects 4/5 times- Not sure what this one means?
  

Now, I'm going to make some more appropriate goals to present to the folks at the IEP meeting. Hopefully we can make goals that are appropriate for Jaymes, and are attainable.

New goal ideas:

• Jaymes will engage in back and forth conversation with peers (even if that conversation is mostly Jaymes babbling)
• Jaymes will be able to answer personal questions: "What is your name, how old are you, how are you today?"
• Jaymes will be able to ask questions to engage peers:"What is your name, do you want to play"
• Jaymes will communicate his needs (need to go potty, need to eat, need new diaper)
• Jaymes will request things using "I want ____"
• Jaymes will use possessives (identify other's belongings as "his or hers", identify his own possessions as "my or mine")
• Jaymes will demonstrate how objects work (rather than "explaining" per original goal)
• Jaymes will be able to express emotions verbally (sad, angry, happy)
• Jaymes will identify 6 shapes
• Jaymes will use a tripod grasp on a crayon/marker
• Jaymes will snip paper independently
• Jaymes will imitate at least 5 letters of the alphabet using a crayon/marker
• Jaymes will imitate at least 5 numbers using a crayon/marker
• Jaymes will participate in group activites, rather than just tolerating them (singing, dancing, hand motions etc...)
• Jaymes will recognize verbs that he does on a regular basis, (picture of eating, picture of bathing, picture of sleeping)
• Jaymes will follow two step directions, Jaymes will attempt to follow three step directions
• Jaymes will learn a potty routine (pants down, sit on potty, flush potty, pants up, wash hands)
• Jaymes will alert an adult when he needs his diaper changed

Next, I sent these new goals to my teacher friend and to Jaymes Speech Therapist. Their replies are combined and added below, next to each goal in red. Then, i revised my goals accordingly.

• Jaymes will engage in back and forth conversation with peers (even if that conversation is mostly Jaymes babbling) How many turns? The difficult thing may be getting peers to engage, also. I would say maybe just two turns. Perhaps, peer initiating, Jaymes’ response, peer reply, Jaymes’ response. This way a teacher could “prompt” at the beginning.
• Jaymes will be able to answer personal questions: "What is your name, how old are you, how are you today?" “How are you?” is a very difficult question for even typical preschoolers to answer because it is abstract for kids. (Heck, even some adults don’t even know how to answer that appropriately.) I think definitely being able to give his name when asked, and his age.
• Jaymes will be able to ask questions to engage peers:"What is your name, do you want to play" Is your goal here speech related or play skill related? Since from what I read, Jaymes’ social skills are also delayed, you may want to make this about play. In that case, verbal may not be the way to go. First, he will need to learn “join in” skills such as choosing to play close to another child with similar toys. Then engaging with that child. This will need to be facilitated by the teacher at first.
• Jaymes will communicate his needs (need to go potty, need to eat, need new diaper) Do you want this to be verbal or are picture exchange cards or other augmentative communication devices acceptable to you?
• Jaymes will request things using "I want ____" Once again, you may want to start with pictures to help this. Prompt with the words, “I want” and then give Jaymes pictures to use so he can work on mastering the concept of “want” and asking without resorting to tantrums without having to worry about finding the word for what he wants.
• Jaymes will use possessives (identify other's belongings as "his or hers", identify his own possessions as "my or mine")
• Jaymes will demonstrate how objects work (rather than "explaining" per original goal)
• Jaymes will be able to express emotions verbally (sad, angry, happy) Again, I’m not sure what they have been working on with him, but probably he should start with pictures or social stories before working on verbal expression. Once he has the concept, the words for it will come much easier.
• Jaymes will identify 6 shapes Do you want this to be naming them (expressively) or pointing to them when given the name (receptively). I would think that pointing at them would be good for now – just being able to demonstrate that he has this knowledge even if he doesn’t have the words.
• Jaymes will use a tripod grasp on a crayon/marker
• Jaymes will snip paper independently
• Jaymes will imitate at least 5 letters of the alphabet using a crayon/marker Has he mastered writing his name? I think copying his name would be a more appropriate goal than 5 random letters. It will have meaning to him. Along this line, can he identify his written name? If not, that should be an objective prior to this one.
• Jaymes will imitate at least 5 numbers using a crayon/marker I would leave this one out for now. Understanding the concepts of what numbers are is far more important for Jaymes right now than knowing numerals. Numerals are actually one of the last things we teach.
• Jaymes will participate in group activites, rather than just tolerating them (singing, dancing, hand motions etc...) This sounds like a good next step. Now that he is sitting at circle time (or whatever they call it) actually participating will be good. In order to get him to do that, the teacher may have to make a concession to let him choose a song they sing each day until he begins to participate more. I use picture cards that represent the songs and the children get to choose a song we sing each day.
• Jaymes will recognize verbs that he does on a regular basis, (picture of eating, picture of bathing, picture of sleeping) How do you want him to recognize these? Do you want him to point to a picture when prompted such as, “Show me the picture of the boy who is eating?” or do you want him to point to a picture and say, “Eating.”
• Jaymes will follow two step directions, Jaymes will attempt to follow three step directions Make these two separate objectives. Jaymes will follow two step directions independently 2/3 tries. Jaymes will follow three-step directions with physical or verbal prompts 2/3 tries. (or something like that).
• Jaymes will learn a potty routine (pants down, sit on potty, flush potty, pants up, wash hands) I would add something in here about using a picture schedule to teach the potty routine. One year, I had a boy with autism who we had been trying to potty train for months. I finally got the bright idea to make a picture schedule. He took one look at that schedule, followed each step and was potty trained that day. Now, I’m not saying this will happen for Jaymes, but it definitely is a step in the right direction.
• Jaymes will alert an adult when he needs his diaper changed Do you want this to be verbally, or can he use a picture or other sign?

And my revised goals:

• Jaymes will engage in back and forth conversation with a peer at least 2 turns, either initiated by peer or teacher, and with necessary prompting, once per day.
• Jaymes will be able to answer personal questions: "What is your name, how old are you"
• Jaymes will initiate play with a peer once per day.
• Jaymes will communicate his needs (need to go potty, need to eat, need new diaper) verbally OR using PECS or other augmentative communication devices, while working toward doing so verbally.
• Jaymes will request familiar items (blanket, a cookie, juice) using "I want ____"
• Jaymes will use possessives (identify other's belongings as "his or hers", identify his own possessions as "my or mine")
• Jaymes will demonstrate how objects work (rather than "explaining" per original goal)
• Jaymes will be able to identify emotions in a picture or social story (sad, angry, happy)
• Jaymes will identify 6 shapes receptively.
• Jaymes will use a tripod grasp on a crayon/marker
• Jaymes will snip paper independently
• Jaymes will imitate the letters in his name using a crayon/marker, working toward writing his name.
• Jaymes will count to 10 (without mixing up numbers) 2/3 times
• Jaymes will participate in group activites, rather than just tolerating them (singing, dancing, hand motions etc...)
• Jaymes will follow two step directions 2/3 times
• Jaymes will attempt to follow three step directions with physical and verbal prompts 2/3 tries
• Jaymes will learn a potty routine (pants down, sit on potty, flush potty, pants up, wash hands) using a picture schedule.
• Jaymes will alert an adult when he needs his diaper changed, either verbally or using signs or pictures.

Now, I emailed these goals to my friend, the therapist, and noticed that Jaymes came home with something new: they went ahead and made a draft of the IEP ahead of time... Which is fine as long as they're aware I might want things changed around a bit. I wrote out my thoughts, and then commented on each goal in red.

A lot of their goals are fine, but some I don't see the point of, some things he can do but chooses not to (behavioral), and some things are pointless in my mind. Obviously I'll have them explain the reasoning for the goals I don't really love, then make a decision everyone is happy with...

One thing I'm unsure about.. On the IEP there is a yes/no check box that asks "Does student have behaviors that impede his learning or that of others." If that were put to me, I would wholeheartedly say YES. They are telling me he won't hold a marker for more than a few seconds... That is a behavior, and it is impeding his learning. I think I'm going to ask for the Functional Behavior Assessment.

They state he does not understand to put items in/on/under. This is considered mastered (or at the very least, close to mastered) in therapy and he does it just fine at home. Another behavioral thing? Maybe.

There is a check box that asks if the student requires assistive devices or services and is checked "no." He wasapproved for one of those augmentative communication device speech board things (Can't remember what they're called) and might benefit from the use of the Picture Exchange System. So I will suggest these things, I guess.

They say he needs hand over hand assistance to draw a line. This is totally wrong. he even draws lines for ME, and that's saying something!

Their goals are as follow, my thoughts in red:

• Jaymes will answer yes/no questions to indicate preference for an activity or object with 80% accuracy- Good goal, I like this one.
• Jaymes will answer who/what/where doing questions during classroom and therapy activities with 80% accuracy- This one seems a little advanced for Jaymes, but i don't know.
• Jaymes will point to the correct picture or person to show understanding of the pronouns me/you with 80% accuracy
• Jaymes will follow directions to place an item on/under/in without prompts or repititions with 80% accuracy- He does this consistantly at home and in therapy. I don't think this goal should be on the IEP. His not doing this is purely behavioral.
• Jaymes will imitate a variety of 2-3 word utterances such as "I want" "noun+ verb" etc- This was one of my own goals, so I'm all over it!
• Jaymes will spontaneously use a variety if 2-3 word utterances such as those stated above with 80% accuracy-Goes along with the other one, a little repetitive in my opinion, but still appropriate.
• Jaymes will identify numbers to ten and increase his print awareness- Not sure about the print awareness part, but he's getting there on his numbers. This is an easily attainable short term goal.
• Jaymes will identify the descriptive concepts big/little, empty/full, open/closed, wet/dry, hot/cold with 80% accuracy- I'm not sure Jaymes is ready for this yet.
• Jaymes will rote count to ten 4/5 times- Good goal
• Jaymes will count using 1:1 correspondence with 80% accuracy-What does this mean?
• Jaymes will identify his name in print 4/5 times- He used to do this consistantly, it's a skill he lost. Good goal.
• Jaymes will identify numbers up to ten 4/5 times-Good goal, he's well on his way to accomplishing it.
• Jaymes will participate in functional fine motor classroom activities- Such as what? I think this should be more specific.
• Jaymes will use a name stamp with prompts to mark his classwork by 3/27/09- Wouldn't it be better to work toward drawing the letters in his name?
• Jaymes will use a name stamp with prompts in a designated space on classwork by 11/06/09- Same as above.
• Jaymes will complete a 2-3 step fine motor task with less than 85% assistance by 6/10/09
• Jaymes will complete a 2-3 step fine motor task with less than 60% assistance by 11/06/09- Such as what? How will this be accomplished?
• Jaymes will hold and use a variety of classroom tools for more than 30 seconds by 1/23/09
• Jaymes will hold and use a variety of classroom tools for more than 60 seconds by 11/06/09- These are ridiculous unless they are thinking of them in a purely behavioral way, in which case they should not be arguing with me over the FBA... He can, but he chooses not to a gets away with it.

That done, I went in and changed some of my own goals around to come up with a compromise between their goals and my own. I presented these are the IEP meeting and it went over reasonably well.  Once I get the official new IEP, I will post it here. But for now, this is a great example of how we as parents can analyze our kid's IEP's, get the help to make our own goals, and have them incorporated into the IEP.

Ta-Da! The product of cooperation between all members of the team! Hooray!

When your kids start school, you'll be introduced to the joy of IEP meetings. Ok, they're not all horrible, but I dread them. I've found that once you have a decent grasp of what will happen at the meeting, what you want, and some understanding of school and general education law, it's a lot less stressful.

At left is the evolution, so to speak, of my son's IEP for this school year (2008-2009, age 5 years in Dec). This was originally posted on the blog, in several separate postings. Each post, the IEP goals I had changed slightly. I had a friend working with me who is a Special Education teacher in another state, as well as Jaymes' excellent Occupational and Speech therapists. I cannot stress enough, if your child is in outside therapy, please please ask the therapists for input on the IEP! They will have ideas that will sound great to the teachers, and know how to word things so it's in the correct lingo! I found that after doing this, for the first time, my ideas were treated much more seriously and I got a great deal more respect than I otherwise would have received.

What is the Individualized Education Program (IEP)?

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) describes the educational program that has been designed to meet that child's unique needs.  Each child who receives special education and related services must have an IEP.  Each IEP must be designed for one student and must be a truly individualized document.  The IEP creates an opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, related services personnel, and students (when age appropriate) to work together to improve educational results for children with disabilities. The IEP is the cornerstone of a quality education for each child with a disability.

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legally binding document, and you as a parent need to pay attention and make sure that the school is following the IEP. If not, you should contact the school and discuss why the IEP is not being followed to the letter. Remember, we are our children's advocates, and even though it's awkward, intimidating, and sometimes downright scary, we have to speak out and get what our kids need.