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Sooze2

IEP contents - is this acceptable

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Hi All

 

Sorry, editing to say this is very very long!

 

I hope you are all well in this crisp weather, its nice to be back.

 

Ive not been around for a while due to major things happening at home, my Dad died at the end of November, DH was hospitalised the week after and was very ill for 2 weeks and then he had a major op 4 weeks ago which it turns out he is still in pain from! this is signifficant to my post by the way. I not looking for sympathy over that :)

 

Anyway, now to my reason for posting.

 

I have just got my son's IEP and I can't beleive what I have read so I would like people more experienced than me to tell me if I am just being paranoid or wether what they have written is totally out of order. He has ADHD and Autism and takes concerta XL during the day and menatonin at night - these meds work great and he is a lovely happy boy most of the time since being put on meds this time last year. School maintain that he is a lovely boy and acts like "an averge child in class now" - their words.

 

TARGETS

To improve abilty to follow instructions carefully....

Review

Ongoing - ability to follow instructions depends entirely upon outside factors such as if he has taken his medication, enough sleep, or things that are beyond his control outside of school

 

Target

To Ensure he has all his belongings before leaving the classroom at the end of the day

Review

Still needs prompting - finds it a problem to organise his belongings and take everything home - even though he is constantly prompted and aided during this time - he also seems to wither (not dure what that means lol) forget to take things home or takes them out of his book bag before he goes!

 

So, he takes all his homework out of his book bag in the time it takes to get from the classroom to the playground - aparently! He swears this is not the case and believe me he is brutally honest (as most of our kids are) in most areas so I beleive him plus he knows full well that I will take him into class to get the stuff he should have if he hasn't got it much to his embarrassment. Also on his statement and his last IEP is says "Target - to ensure he has all his belongings before leaving the clasroom at the end of the day by getting ready 10 minutes before the bell so that he is ready with the other children" - not happening because his TA leaves class 20 minutes before the end of school. The other TA who is there for another ASD boy tells her boy the get ready 10 minutes before the end of school every day but not DS, he is not allowed!

 

As for the improving following instructions comment - I am shocked - He has missed 2 sleeping tablets in the last year - one the other week because the chemist messed up his script and the person who writes said script wasn't around for a couple of days to issue another. He has never missed a day time pill but I have had to take one in for him a couple of minutes after school started. The things happening at home have been unavoidable (sorry teacher that my dad was so selfish to go and die and cause you so much inconvenience, etc). As you can tell I now feel terrible and feel like I am a terrible mother, I have been shouting lately and weve been late a couple of times but my head has been messed up by all the illnesses,death and worry - I have told them about all of it and asked for there understanding but I fail to see why this is now on his IEP which will be on his records till he leaves school!

 

Could anyone advise me on weather these obviousely personal comments towards me are on and "Educational Plan"

 

I don't know is anyone remembers the problems I have had with school in the past but I am now totally fed up because I thought this sort of thing was why he has a statement in the first place!

 

Perhaps I am wrong and someone will tell me I am being paranoid and should just ignore it.

Edited by Sooze2

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Just asked DH, who is a senior teacher at a special school.

 

First target: for a start, IEP targets shouldn't be 'ongoing', they should be timed. There should be a success criteria, especially with something as unclear as to 'improve an ability'. The other point he raised was the comment that his ability to follow instructions rests entirely on outside factors seems rather unlikely!!

 

Second target: at his school, the child would be supported with a picture strip, removing the picture of each item once it was packed in the bag...empty strip=full bag.

 

Overall, IEP targets are meant to be SMART: small, manageable, achievable, realistic and timed.

 

DH also pointed out that these targets don't relate to anything that directly helps your son academically. This is meant to be an Individual Education Plan. For example, it would be more relevant to specify that he has his homework at the end of the day rather than 'all his belongings'.

 

Bid :)

Edited by bid

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Agree with above - these targets fail to meet any of the SMART criteria - the first one particularly is too vague to be of any use at all.

 

See the Code of Practice 5:50 for guidance on IEP's . If you're really enthusiastic, get hold of the accompanying SEN Toolkit (the DFES will send you a free one: 0845 6022260)and look at booklet 5 which focuses entirely on IEP's and gives a lot more detail on how they should be written.

 

K x

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the comment that his ability to follow instructions rests entirely on outside factors seems rather unlikely!!

 

Bid :)

 

Thats what I thought too. At the beginning of September his new teacher said he needs to be more organised and concentrate more - I mentioned this to Autism Outreach when they phoned me about something and they said that he can't which is why he has a statement. Surely a neuralogical contition or 2 that he has had from birth can't be based entirely on outside factors can it? Plus prior to being on medication he only got about 5-6 resless hours sleep per night and they always said he was fine so why now that he sleeps well and is "like a nornal child (!)" have they suddenly said his behaviour is related to sleep?!

 

At the Statement review meeting just over a week ago I said that one of the teachers could do with some training and asked if she had read the ASD folder I had give SENCO which she wanted so she could help teachers understand the condition. After that they they closed ranks and a very obvious chill came over the rest of the meeting. I feel this could be something to do with it.

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I agree with the above.

The only comment I would make is that IEP targets don't have to be only educational. There can be other targets as well, such as the organisational or social ones. However they are not saying 'how' they are going to achieve this target. When a target is not SMART you have no idea if your son meets the target, or even could meet the target if it was done correctly. SMART targets are brilliant at showing both areas of progress and areas of real difficulty.

 

At my son's current school they would state that they would work on this target every day using visual timetable etc and would prompt him, and then gradually reduce the amount of prompting as he began to achieve this target himself. However I know of another mum at the same school who says her child does have 'ongoing' targets. That is very naughty of the school. Unfortunately this is always the case - parents that know how things should be done and say so, tend to get things done correctly. So I would advise you to use the PP to get IEPs SMART.

 

I would also add, that I have been told by professionals that they need to achieve targets 100% ideally. So any target that talks about 50% of the time does not demonstrate the skill has been learnt because they also don't do it 50% of the time. So it has to be demonstrated nearer to 100% of the time to prove it is learnt.

 

Can you ask the PP to be involved with IEPs. Personally I probably would not sign an IEP worded like that. Do you go to IEP meetings? I think you should be allowed to go with a rep from the PP. Can the PP turn this IEP into a SMART one with school?

 

Sorry to hear things have been so tough lately. >:D<<'>

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When you say PP do you mean Parent Partnership? Parent Partnership was in the Statement review meeting and made a couple of sarcastic comments directed at me. She works in the school and said she wanted to come and support me but said nothing apart from the sarky comments, I have had a feeling for a while that she is not impartial and tries very hard to dissuade me from seeing the head master.

 

There is NAS support meeting on the 5th so I think I will go along to that and talk it over with them too because I really feel now that this is becoming a personal issue within the school because I keep on insisting that they do what is on the statement and they are now blaming me personally or him for them not doing what they are suposed to!

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Hi

 

It seems like the school are making a poor attempt at assisting with organisational skills. I would most definitely take exception to the fact that they've said that his ability to concentrate and follow instructs depends entirely upon outside factors ie sleep, medication, etc. School have no way of knowing this and they are in my view effectively removing any responsibility for this from themselves. The nature of your son's disorder make him predisposed to have such issues. My son has issues with concentration. The type of things that should be put in place are time out breaks or very short breaks ie kiddo works for 15 minutes and gets a 5 minute break, which can be helping office staff collect register, help teacher look after younger pupils, etc. May be worth contacting IPSEA for further advice:

http://www.ipsea.org.uk/

I'd certainly recommend in the first instance speaking with the HT. If you get nowhere, I'd recommended contacting the Head of your LEA. I did that and he contacted my son's school about his IEP. Basically, it hadn't been written properly (it has short term targets, but no long term targets).

 

 

Just looked at the NAS website:

 

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=528&a=7000

 

It says the following:

 

 

Education: individual education plans (IEPs) (England and Wales)

 

Introduction

 

Your child may be experiencing difficulties at school. In your discussions with his1 class teacher or with the school's special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) you may hear the term 'individual education plan' or the commonly used abbreviation 'IEP' mentioned. This will be in reference to the support which is to be put in place to help your child. Here. we explain what IEPs are and how you can be involved when they are written and reviewed.

 

What is an IEP?

 

An IEP is a document that helps teaching staff to plan for your child, teach him, and review his progress.

 

IEPs are different for each child and should set out what should be taught, how it should be taught and how often. There isn't a standard UK format for IEPs and some local authorities use different names for them, such as a personal learning plan (PLP) or provision mapping. Whatever term is used in your local area, the information on this page is still relevant.

 

The IEP should contain details of short-term targets and strategies for a particular pupil, which are different from or additional to those in place for the rest of the group or class. The document must be accessible and understandable to all concerned. It should be agreed, with your involvement and, wherever possible, your child's. It's important for you to be fully involved at this first stage.

 

What should be in an IEP?

 

* What the agreed targets are.

* What help should be given.

* How the help is to be given.

* Who will give the help.

* How often the help will be given.

* How it will be decided if the help has been successful (you may see the phrase 'success criteria').

* How it will be decided if the help is no longer needed.

* When the help is to be reviewed.

* A section for recording what help has actually been given and if progress has been made, which may include suggestions for future action.

 

IEPs should focus on up to three or four key short-term targets for your child. The targets should relate to the following areas:

 

* communication

* literacy

* mathematics

* behaviour

* social skills.

 

For children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) targets are likely to focus on communication, social inclusion and flexibility.

 

An IEP shouldn't set too many targets at one time and should limit itself to current, agreed priorities.

 

Targets should be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

 

If specific targets set in an IEP are achieved, it means that the extra help has been successful. New targets then need to be set at an IEP review (see the section 'Reviewing IEPs' for more details).

 

Alternatively, it may be decided that the help given has been so successful that an IEP is no longer needed.

 

When should IEPs be used?

 

IEPs should be used to set out the kinds of extra help offered to individual students and pupils who need it through Early Years Action or Early Years Action Plus, or School Action or School Action Plus. They should also be used for children with statements of special educational needs (SEN)2.

 

If a child moves from Action to Action Plus or from either of these to a statement he should have a new IEP. It's likely that a new IEP will be drawn up after each review too, as the targets on them should be short-term.

 

If a pupil has a statement, the short-term targets and strategies set out in his IEP should be linked to the overall objectives and provision set out in his statement.

 

 

Berst wishes

 

Caroline

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Hi

 

It seems like the school are making a poor attempt at assisting with organisational skills. I would most definitely take exception to the fact that they've said that his ability to concentrate and follow instructs depends entirely upon outside factors ie sleep, medication, etc. School have no way of knowing this and they are in my view effectively removing any responsibility for this from themselves. Caroline

 

 

Thats exactly what I thought Caroline. I am thinking of bipassing the head and going straight to the LEA, just had a long conversation on the phone with DH and he said he is just so bored with it - as in he doesn't understand why this is still going on! We thought that once he got his Statement (July 09) that this wouldn't be an issue anymore and all they had to do was put everything said in the statement in place but it appears not. I am so sick of having to deal with this constantly because it shouldn't be happening anymore, its a small thing in the great scheme of things but it's like the straw that broke the camels back for me. Add to that DS coming home all the time saying that he feels like he is invisible at school it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

When I asked the Parent Support woman what literacy help or program was being put in place for him she said "I'm not supposed to tell you this so don't quote me but they only put it in place for kids who they think will improve" !!!!!!! Now, since DS has been on Concerta XL his writing and all round literacy has improved a lot - he's gone from a minus 2 to 3.4 since September (so they say) so surely he has proved that he can improve she has just lost her own argument and how many other kids are not being helped just because the school won't get good SATs results out of them - I know of at least 3 in my cirlce of freinds this is happening to! Also I know of a boy with dyslexia (DS's freind - I know the mum very well) who has 1 to 1 literacy help and he has come on leaps and bounds this year - I assume DS's TA does this because she works with this boy a lot - in fact I had to force them to take DS's TA out of this boys morning groups which were for the whole moring because she wasn't there at all for DS due to being in a completely different class!

 

Sorry I'm now ranting.

Thanks for replying

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Hi Sooze,

 

If you have an issue with the way the school is meeting the provision in the statement, definitely complain to the LA. It's also worth knowing that the powers of the local government ombudsman have recently been increased: they can now look at wider aspects of LA maladministration with regard to SEN, including individual cases where LA's are failing to deliver provision in statements.

 

K x

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Just asked DH, who is a senior teacher at a special school.

 

First target: for a start, IEP targets shouldn't be 'ongoing', they should be timed. There should be a success criteria, especially with something as unclear as to 'improve an ability'. The other point he raised was the comment that his ability to follow instructions rests entirely on outside factors seems rather unlikely!!

 

 

 

Bid :)

 

Thought I would add.Even if the ability to follow instructions was entirely linked to outside factors this would then be irrelevant as an IEP.

There is no point school having a plan to manage factors over which they have no control. :rolleyes: and which they cannot resolve.

Karen.

 

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just had a long conversation on the phone with DH and he said he is just so bored with it - as in he doesn't understand why this is still going on! We thought that once he got his Statement (July 09) that this wouldn't be an issue anymore and all they had to do was put everything said in the statement in place but it appears not. I am so sick of having to deal with this constantly because it shouldn't be happening anymore, .

 

Oh how I dearly dearly wish that this was true.I could get a job.............. :whistle::whistle::whistle::whistle::whistle::whistle:>:D<<'>

Edited by Karen A

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Targets should be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

 

 

Caroline

 

Thanks Caroline for the correct mnemonic! :)

 

Bid :rolleyes:

 

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Yes PP means parent partnership.

Sorry yours sounds not so good.

Is she the only one you can use?

If the support you talk about is detailed and specified in the Statement and is not being provided and you have evidence of this the you do need to contact the LEA. IPSEA have a template letter you can use.

But I think it would be useful to talk it through with the NAS or IPSEA - if you can get through.

I have also found ACE to be helpful.

It is very difficult to know exactly what is happening in school unless you are there sat next to your child all day. I too recently found out a couple of things that were not being done as per the Statement. Some has now been done. In another area I have found that I need additional needs to be added to the Statement.

Is your child's placement in a mainstream school?

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Hi

Check about the Parent support person who works in school - this is probably not someone from Parent Partnership (supposed to be at arms length from the LA). In both my schools we employ Parent Support workers who are supposed to do what their title suggests. The big difference is they are employed and based in school. Parent Partnership/Advice are usually located in a LA building- not in a school. It's worth checking as you may be missing some impartial advice.

 

AV

 

PS I would not be happy with the statements on the IEP either- good luck and hope 2010 will be better for you

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Hi everyoe has already given some good advice. I just wanted to say I work in education and write many IEP's and what others have said about them being SMART is so true.

 

 

To improve abilty to follow instructions carefully....

 

 

This target isn't clear-what instructions is your son supose to be following-for example instructions during circle-time or instructions to put on his coat-this target could mean anything!!!

 

The targets need to have arrangements which say clearly how each target is going to be carried out for example by who, what is to be used, how long for etc etc

 

If I were you I would contact the SENCO and discuss it and if it still doesn't get sorted you should contact the LA and explain your concerns. XXX

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It does sound like the school are trying to justify why they haven't made much progress with the targets. The target should be something like "focus on an activity for x minutes with minimal prompts by TA, at least three times each day", then it woudl be achieveable even if he has bad days.

 

Failure to achieve the target reflects badly on the school, as all targets should be achievable or else either the target was wrong or the help was not provided.

 

If it says he will be allowed to get ready early, then he should be. Most schools woudl automatically have put a visual prompt into place for end of day organisation.

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First of all thanks a lot for replying

 

I went to see the head about it on Friday and although he seems quite nice and smiley when passing he is actually quite scarey and had this tense red eyed/red faced furey going on which he tried to hide but didn't manage it very well, in fact he looked like my son does before he's about to go into one!!

 

Anyway he defended everything, said that ADHD kids often feel invisible and say they are being bumped into in the palyground a lot when in fact they are the ones running into eveyone (I can see that bit) and I should talk to the teacher about the wording if I want it changed. I chickened out of giving him the really good letter I wrote because I realised that there would be no point as he is obviousely the world authority on my child and would know better. He went on to ask me about his sleep and said he wasn't getting enough when I said he has around 10 hours a night now - I said considering he has a sleep disorder and was getting half that before medication I think he is doing very well - he said he needs 12 hours every night and that is probably why he can't concentrate! I know 7 year olds who get a lot less sleep than that and are fine!

 

Basically he is right and I am wrong - end of and if you challenge me I will get a crazy look in my eyes until you agree with me and go away :huh:

 

As for the home work, I eventually got last weeks yesterday, it needed to be in this morning, we haven't done it due to me doing his sisters' and running out of time so he will get a timeout now. When we went in to school to find the diary that the homeowrk is stuck in was nowhere to be seen then later the TA came to my house to give it to me saying it was on his desk which it wasn't - I looked!

One of the TA's said that they remind everyone each day to do their homework and it has now occurred to me something which we all know about a lot of ASD kids it that don't know they are included in the term "everyone" and need their name used - which school know applies to DS because I have told them about a million times before. :wallbash:

 

So, tonight I need to go in AGAIN to tell them that they need to ensure his homework is in his book bag - they must have forgotten that - I wrote it in his homework diary which the teacher signs last week but still........ :wallbash::wallbash::wallbash::wallbash:

 

Autism outreach are phoning me tomorrow so I will talk it over with her just to confirm I am not going mad and get advise on how I am supposed to make the teacher see the error of her ways.

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Have you found out about the Parent Partnership, which should be part of the LEA. They are not based in schools. They should know about SMART targets for IEPs. So check them out.

 

I'm sorry but those IEP targets are not SMART. They should be. I know it is frightening to mention anything about this, but if you don't it will just continue.

 

Have you spoken with IPSEA or the NAS. If they are happy with the contents of your letter ask them if it would be sensible to send it to the school SENCO, the PP and the SEN officer at the LEA.

 

The autism outreach teacher should support you in this as what you are saying is correct.

 

The problem I had with my son's previous school was that all this 'autism knowledge' did not exist, and everything seemed to depend on what the teacher 'remembered was said' or 'how she interpreted it' - as although the AOT and a specialist teacher for social communication went into school - they never produced anything in writing for the school to refer to.

 

There are some useful leaflets that the NAS could send you, but again will school read them.

 

If they are as 'sure' that they know everything and are right, then you really are banging your head against a brick wall.

BUT IEPs are written evidence. You can write in a letter and ask for it to be put on your child's school records that you are not happy with the IEPs because they are not SMART and do not show any understanding or autism or how the targets are going to be achieved.

 

Must be very frustrating for you. But we have probably all met teaching staff like the Head you mention so you are not alone. And you are not going mad.

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