Stop, Look and Listen
May 3, 2006
Yesterday was a big day. Spiff was staying home from school so he could attend his Articulation Meeting (a fancy term for “changing the front page on an IEP”), then a long-delayed trip to the dentist.
The school is nice, the people welcoming and friendly, so it looks like a good fit. Only time will tell if this is the best choice for Spiff; but all signs point that we might be on to something.
I was so caught up in making sure he was okay with all of this change that I overlooked some important stuff in my IEP meeting. One of those things was the omission of several key accommodations that his old IEP had. I should also point out that it looked like the middle school we had our meeting at wasn’t expecting the IEP part, they just wanted to explain the kind of services he would be getting at the middle school level. It was all very rushed, and I was disappointed in myself that I didn’t find my voice to stand up and point all of this out until after it was over. Luckily for him I did find my voice and demanded another meeting so we can rewrite this thing.
What I was more disappointed in was the person who developed the new IEP for him. It was as if they really didn’t know my son at all, and they have been working with him (and me) for almost 3 years now. The entire team, by now, should know my expectations, as well as his needs. They clearly didn’t. Most importantly, it seemed like they didn’t really care to know, and that he was just a number. That breaks my heart.
It was a sad day for education for me. But Spiff really enjoyed the tour of the school and meeting some of the people he’ll be working with next year.
He’s growing up so fast.
