IEP

[A and A]

Hi there we have a son who will be 3 at the end of october and has 3 weeks at a specialist nursery for assessments by the MDT team and then we have a meeting with them after where we have been advised that Liam will receive a diagnosis of Autism which we think we are prepared for but guessing it will be different on the day when we hear this. The nursery that Liam attends has asked for information about writing an IEP but really don't know anything about them and not sure what to say. Any help would be appreciated.

 

A and A

[NickyB]

Hi there we have a son who will be 3 at the end of october and has 3 weeks at a specialist nursery for assessments by the MDT team and then we have a meeting with them after where we have been advised that Liam will receive a diagnosis of Autism which we think we are prepared for but guessing it will be different on the day when we hear this. The nursery that Liam attends has asked for information about writing an IEP but really don't know anything about them and not sure what to say. Any help would be appreciated.

 

A and A

 

Hi

 

The NAS website has information about IEPs. They are basically a way of recording your child's additional needs and what the nursery are going to do to help him. Here's a link to the website : NAS

 

Hope that helps

 

Nicky <'>

[Sally44]

You can also ask your local LEA Parent Partnership for advice and they can come with you to nursery meetings to make the IEP targets and record progress made. It is a bit disconcerting that they don't know about IEPs. Are they an SEN nursery? I would also talk to other professionals involved with your child and ask them 'who' would advise the nursery about IEPs. I don't know much about the 'nursery' stage as my son wasn't diagnosed until age 6. At mainstream school they have the 'autism advisory teacher' - don't know what the nursery equivalent is.

Have you also looked at other nurseries that have experience of children on the spectrum. You might feel much better dealing with a nursery that actually already knows what the issues and difficulties are and how to address them and how to teach skills. And where all the staff are already experienced and have expertise. It isn't just about the nursery learning about IEPs, it is about them identifying what his difficulties are and drawing up suitable SMART targets and setting aside the time and staff provision to teach the skills needed to meet the target. To do that you need experience and expertise to know how to address the difficulty. For example you won't improve social interaction just by encouraging a todder to remain in a room with other toddlers. You need to identify the skills that are poor or absent and work on them. And those difficulties will be different with each child. That requires a suitably qualified person to identify those needs and put a suitable programme into place.