The Road to First IEP

So much has happened I’m not sure where to begin. Sweet Pea is doing really well. The novelty of school has worn off and she still loves going to school. So that’s a good thing. Many of her classmates at school wave and say “Hi” when she’s on campus, but it’s their parents that she’s most interested in. I’m happy she seems well liked by peers but there’s always a part of me wondering “when will she be as interested in them as they are in her?” Sweet Pea does keep her emotions close to her so it maybe that she is interested and hasn’t quite figured out a way to communicate it yet. The bonus is the Montessori charter school provides ample opportunity for her to practice and that’s a good thing.

In the last 30 days I’ve had a lot of conversations, emails, academic assessment, and observations in order to prepare for the IEP. Here are some things that I’ve learned.

Parent Observation and IDEA

The school had a policy of not allowing parents to participate in their own children’s classrooms. They felt that it would be too distracting for students. I wanted to respect the wishes of the school community but I felt this rule worked against the spirit of IDEA and my right as a parent to be involved in the IEP process. To be fully included and active participants, I needed to observe Sweet Pea in her classroom in order to make informed decisions about goals and any accommodations that needed to be made on her behalf. Thankfully, they consented without much issue and since the IEP they have changed their policy to allow parents to volunteer in their own children’s classrooms. Yay!

WIAT Achievement Test

I visited with a child psychologist this summer to get advice on when and how best to screen for learning disabilities. She recommended Sweet Pea take the WIAT achievement test annually and a cognitive test every three years. When combined, they can help to identify a learning disability. When I sat down with Sweet Pea’s RSP teacher she told me they conduct the WIAT for all their students right before their annual IEP. For Sweet Pea that would be in the spring. I felt spring time was too late in the event we could identify issues she needed to work through – the team could develop a strategy to support her learning earlier in the year instead of the spring when there’s only 2 months left of school. The downside of doing it at the beginning of the year is the possibility of Sweet Pea regressing over the summer time and not performing as well as she should. I personally don’t think this is an issue so we went ahead and had her assessed before our first IEP.

The results weren’t that surprising to me. I wanted to make sure the team understood that Sweet Pea works really really hard at academics but progress is slower due to the fact of her speech and fine motor delays. My husband and I do not believe that the academic assessment correlates to her cognitive abilities and have every expectation that she do chronological age appropriate work with as many accommodations as she needs.

Montessori Teacher Credential

The Montessori teachers at our school did not have enough preparation for children with special needs (this is my subjective opinion) and are not required to learn about IDEA, FAPE or what an IEP is. Or at least that’s been my experience so far. The charter school does have a third service provider that is responsible for providing special education services but I don’t believe this goes far enough. If Montessori teacher credentialing programs really want to make Montessori accessible to ALL children, they should include a course about children with special needs and their right to a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment.

Limitations of the Montessori Classroom and the Child with Special Needs

I met with Sweet Pea’s service providers and chatted about the accommodations she would need to access the learning environment. Some of the accommodations are pretty straightforward like a step stool to be used under her feet for stability while writing. Some Montessori classrooms do not have chairs and tables. Instead children work at low tables and on the ground – that’s not the case at our school thankfully. So yes, Sweet Pea needs the support of a table and chair for writing. ;-) A clipboard for her visual task list and small pencils. Since the Montessori materials are multi-sensory, we all wondered if any other accommodations needed to be made. Well….after observing Sweet Pea in the classroom, I decided that she does need additional support. Turns out Sweet Pea was not engaging with the reading, writing, and language materials. I believe she does have a lot of interest and motivation in these areas but she requires a LOT of 1 to 1 instruction and support (prompts) especially when using her journal, conducting investigation and research.

I believe that her Montessori teachers may have misinterpreted her behavior as her not being interested (or intrinsically motivated) and would prefer to see her behave as if a typically developing child with no risk for learning disabilities would engage with the materials.

Here is a video clip about intrinsic motivation and leveraging natural interests.

So my question for the Montessori folks – what happens when the child has the intrinsic motivation from a cognitive level but doesn’t have the speech and fine motor skills to match their cognitive abilities? When it comes to the engilsh language arts materials, I think you’ll find that children with language disabilities might act out and are frustrated…or they simply disengage. They may not ask for help because they simply can’t say the words. Montessori teachers may misinterpret this behavior as not being intrinsically motivated when in fact students like Sweet Pea benefit from intense 1 to 1 instruction with a plan to help students learn independently with the materials.

In terms of group instruction like following directions when transitioning activities or during circle time, children with special needs may need some extra supports. For Sweet Pea, I would like to see the use of way more visual aids and physical items the kids can touch (pass around). While sweet pea does follow multi-step directions she does get very distracted with unrelated visual stimulus. If the teachers use related visual stimuli then I think Sweet Pea will be extremely engaged for longer periods of time.

The Offer of Services

I believe Sweet Pea is getting the appropriate level of speech, OT, RSP, and aide services to help her access the Montessori learning environment. She is in general ed 90% of the time and 10% out of class. Services are pushed in as much as possible. Sweet Pea is developing and happy in this model of learning. Yay!

The greatest challenge is for the team to work together in order for her to progress academically and socially. In the IEP meeting I asked a lot of questions about they way service providers communicate with classroom teachers and vice versa. We set up a few strategies so that everyone can share best practices and be on the same page. So I think the team is on the road to working together more instead of in isolation of each other.

Emotionally Sweet Pea's a happy kid and as long as she stays that way, I think she is on the right path.

Other Inclusion Challenges

I have mixed emotions socializing with the other parents at the school. I feel so much more alone than I did when Sweet Pea was in a special day class. I never had to explain myself or how I felt with other SDC parents. We had common experiences and that helped to develop a shared understanding. I felt normal…

But now, I hide so much of my complex feelings now that Sweet Pea is in an inclusive environment. My feelings are secrets – not because I’m ashamed but because typical parents have deeply rooted anger and fears about children with special needs. We don’t have a common understanding and I don’t let them know that I think and feel different. Normalcy is nowhere to be found for me at the inclusive school but the upside is – normalcy is found for Sweet Pea in her classroom, at art and music class, and with her Mandarin teacher. That’s what’s important.

Hope Blooms Here!