by beagooddad on March 17, 2010
BeAGoodMom already did a write up about our latest IEP meeting.
I only have a couple comments to add.
First, a couple (or maybe even three years) ago, I argued for a bit at the IEP with his teacher. It was a very mild argument but the teacher stated that Pookie is so busy talking all day that he frequently isn’t paying attention. I agreed that the echolalia is a huge distraction and is constant but argued that he was almost always paying attention. Since it was only partially relevant to what was going on, I let it go.
This year at the IEP meeting his teacher brought up the echolalia and how constant it is but made a special point of mentioning how amazing it is that he can be fully engaged in his own echolalia AND paying attention to the teachers at the same time. Then a couple of the other teachers started talking about just that and how no matter what he is saying if they ask general questions to the class, Pookie is frequently the one to answer no matter how little it looks like he is paying attention.
Second, I have been fighting to get Pookie’s IEP to include some scheduled time in a regular classroom. They keep saying he is not ready for it and that his echolalia would be a distraction to the other kids, etc. etc.
We brought it up again this time and they instantly said that they are working on making it a goal of the ILP program in general to get the kids to spend part of their week in the regular classroom with an aid. It will probably start very small. Something like 5-15 minutes at a time maybe 2 or 3 days a week. I gently reminded them how important this issue is to me and they wrote a blurb about it in Pookie’s IEP. So after the first couple of weeks next year, if they haven’t already started to experiment with getting him in a regular class for a few minutes once in a while I will start bugging them about it.
Why is this so important to me?
I love the special ed department from the administrators down to the aides. They do great work with the kids they are responsible for and Pookie definitely needs that kind of attention right now for the bulk of his school day.
However, one of the main goals of special education for most kids with autism is teaching them social skills. Kids in a regular classroom learn a ton just by watching how other kids respond to each other and with their teachers. Pookie has very few good peer models for those types of behaviors. Just like Pookie is not the best model for the kids in his class, they are not the best models for him either. By definition, they aren’t which is why they are in the class they are in.
Pookie is definitely starting to pay attention to kids his age and watch what they are doing and often doesn’t know what to do about it. There was a kid in his swim class last session that kept coming up and trying to talk to him. Pookie tried a little bit but did a horrible job talking to this new kid. He just didn’t have any idea what he was supposed to do. I tried to help but it didn’t work very well. But, during class, the boy frequently would start to splash Pookie trying to get him to play. Pookie almost always would try to splash the kid back while jumping up and down in excitement and making eye contact with the kid and smiling. He needs to be around typically developing kids more often to start seeing how they behave in places like a classroom and to learn how to learn from them.
All in all, one of the better IEP meetings that we have had and yet another one where their plans for next year meshed well with our goals for next year.
by beagooddad on March 10, 2010
Dear School Office People,
If a dad calls in and asks if there have been any known chicken pox cases and you don’t know but will ask the nurse and then ask for the dad’s phone number so you can call him back with the answer, don’t say “Your wife should keep the kid home until that mom can get the kid to see a doctor.” And then after taking that dad’s phone number, don’t end up having the nurse call the kid’s mom’s cell phone instead of the kid’s dad’s cell phone whose number you just wrote down.
Just a friendly reminder that not all sicknesses will be handled by the mom especially when the dad is the one that initiated the phone calls.
Thank you,
A Dad Who Sometimes Uses Sick Days To Take Care Of His Sick Kids
by beagooddad on February 17, 2010
I decided to double up on classes this spring. I am taking MAT415 (Advanced Calculus) and MAT421 (Statistical Methods).
Here is the description of the statistical methods class:
Introductory course for statistical analysis techniques. Topics may include review of basic statistics, multiple linear regression, analysis of enumerative data, analysis of variance, multiple comparisons, design of experiments, and analysis of covariance. Additional topics may be chosen from principal components, factor analysis, discriminant analysis, and nonparametric tests.
And here is what we are going to do in the advanced calculus class:
- Advanced technique in Calculus; including a section on Fourier Series
- Functions of several variables
- Vector calculus/Analysis
- Integral calculus of functions of several variables
- Integral Theorems (Green’s Theorem, Stoke’s Theorem, the Divergence Theorem; with proofs)
- Gamma functions
- Partial differential equations and applications (it time permits)
I’m loving the math!
My company had an "economic adjustment" last month that cause a bunch of our people to start looking for new employment. I was one of the people who made the cut and inherited a really badly managed project. So, I’m working about 50-60 hours a week until I get get it all sorted out.
The projects have me doing a few things that I either haven’t done before or don’t get to do very often. I love when I’m not just pounding out the same kind of work over and over so that’s kind of neat.
I’m also working on 5 work orders for 3 different clients at work. I am a really good singletasker and an absolutely horrible multitasker and frequently forget which client I’m supposed to say I’m working for when I am on the phone. I really need to get better at juggling projects, so this is a good experience, too.
If you are ever in the position to take two fun 400 level math classes while being married and raising 3 kids while working 50-60 hours a week at projects that are both interesting and that give you the chance to improve your multitaksing, I recommend that you not do it. It’s not as fun as it sounds.
by beagooddad on February 15, 2010
Geetle and I are reading The Wind in the Willows
together. Before bed, I read a few pages to her out of the paperback copy that we have.
I just remembered that I have a copy of it on my iPod Touch and the kids love when we read books on the iPod. I mentioned that we could switch to the eBook version if she wanted.
She was excited but then she came up with an even better idea. I will be reading the book on my iPod and she will be following along in the paperback.
I think.
I just realized that she said that one of us could read the iPod version and the other could read the paperback. I bet I’m supposed to read the paperback and she’s supposed to read the iPod. Hmm. She’s a sneaky one.
by beagooddad on February 15, 2010
BAGM did a metric ton of spring cleaning yesterday while I did an imperial ton of stats homework and laundry last night. I think I got the better end of that bargain.
During the cleaning, BAGM decided it was time to take one of the sides off of Giggles’ crib to turn it into a day bed with a wall for the headboard, footboard, and one side. So, Giggles would have free access to getting in and out of the bed by herself. If you had ever watched Giggles eat a meal in a chair without being tied or duct taped to said chair, you would know how questionable of a decision this was.
So, we removed the sidewall and made sure we kept track of all the pieces…just in case.
She got home right at bedtime, squealed with glee at the new, more mature bed, climbed up and down about ten times…and went to bed. When BAGM let Teddy out of the room a couple hours later she was still there.
This morning, she got out of bed, got a book from the bookcase and went back to bed to read it.
So far so good. We’ll see how nap goes this afternoon. She’s been getting a little let’s-climb-out-of-this-crib-because-I-don’t-think-I’m-really-tired before naps so it might be interesting.