Triennial Review

d.f

Ours is coming up in Oct. What should I expect?  Is it like the initial where they evaluate in all areas of concern?   Are there any evals I should request?  

For reference his Dx is PDD-NOS.  He's currently in general ed with some accommodations and about 3 hours of pull outs (OT, ST, SpEd/Early Literacy, and Psych/Social Skills). He's repeating Kindergarten because he's a Sept b-day, we lost about 4-6 weeks to a rough transition last year that left him behind, and he's not quite where he needs to be for first in the early literacy skills department.

He's still classified as a preschooler with a disability so I know the classification will change.  Is there any reason/benefit to pushing for the ASD category?  I'm not sure the point person on the IEP really understands more subtle presentations of ASD (she's asked if he has the autistic component of PDD-NOS) so I don't know if she'll be looking at other categories.  There's also two new team members who don't really know my DS and the one member who I felt really got him left at the end of the year.  I'm a little nervous.

Thanks

ET fix title mistake that was bugging me. :-)

lite-bright

For us, about 4-6 weeks before the scheduled meeting, I had to sign a permission form for them to collect data that would be used for the review. They may have pulled DD1 out a bit, but I also got the impression that there was in-class observation of things like how she worked in a group. They also took her grades from the year into consideration on whether she was performing academically where she needed to be. 

I don't know about the benefits of pushing for the ASD category vs. something else because we've had our dx since her first IEP, so there was never a question. I think I mentioned that having the medical dx was good for us because they wanted to remove her IEP and we argued that even though she was at or above grade level academically, she was still having issues common to ASD even though they were relatively subtle -- but that could easily change as work and expectations ramp up. We didn't want, say, her above-grade-level decoding skills to mask the fact that she was average-to-slightly-behind in comprehension and argued that difference in and of itself was an area of concern. It also helped, I think, that her school has the ASD lab so everyone at the table was pretty well aware of the fluctuations over time and different presentations. So this year she's getting help with social skills and reading comprehension and that's pretty much it. 

Just don't do what I did, ie. assume it would only last as long as the usual annual, which took about an hour. :P It was more like 3 hours and DH had to take over because I had a work event that day. Luckily he's a good at logical arguments and sticking to his guns.

I think you've got excellent timing working in your favor, though, as far as the meeting. If he has any transition issues this year, they'll be apparent, and you can certainly bring up last year's as a reason to maintain the IEP; the new people have a chance to get to know him, too. Is his teacher the same this year and will have that frame of reference -- and if not, could you ask last year's teacher to maybe attend or at least write something up about his classroom functioning, the transition issues and his progress over the year? 

d.f

LB-

Yeah our last IEP was 3 hours since we met with the psych for 45 minutes prior.  I never after that I won't be assuming length.  I'll be sure to order cupcakes again to keep everyone in sugar.

We're still in the honeymoon period.  I'm really hoping we don't have the transition issues.  I'm not super worried about him losing his IEP.  Not after last years transition and where he's currently at with early lit.  I want to make sure he gets what he needs and it's appropriate.

He does have the same teacher :-)

Thanks!

d.f

-auntie- said:

d.f said:

Ours is coming up in Oct. What should I expect? 

Hard to say. Triennials can be all over the place. Sometimes they're a mere formality. This can happen when the team doing the evals are the ones working with the student and are collecting data as part of the goals measurement. Or it can happen when a student is one who has recently been assessed because of emerging needs that weren't evident when they were younger. Sometimes they're more rigorous as the students is old enough for more scales and expectations are higher across the board.

Is it like the initial where they evaluate in all areas of concern?  

They should. Don't forget that you're a part of the CSE/CST and should be submitting your list of concerns to the rest of the team. Remember, it's about educational needs, so any issues you see at home that are related can be included- things like homework problems or school refusal are fair game.

 Are there any evals I should request?  

As a new six, he's old enough for TOPL-2 which is excellent for teasing out pragmatic language glitches. Ask the SLP about this one.

Pragmatics is basically where it's all at. He's only ever had minor articulation issues.

I always like a full Vineland and BASC-2. Vineland will reveal how the social and emotional immaturity impact expected skills in kids who are bright but nowhere near as competent as same aged peers. (Vineland can really help put a number on the 1/3-1/2 delay in social/emotional maturity).

BASC-2 includes a student report for 6+ which can help the team understand how the child is doing emotionally and behaviorally from their perspective. 

If he's had a year of reading instruction and hasn't caught on to reading, you'd want at least a basic screen for learning differences. WISC and WIAT might help reveal a potential LD issue.

Thank you so much.  I really appreciate you spelling these out for me.  I really need to learn more about the actual evals. Researching these ahead of time will definitely make me a better advocate.

For reference his Dx is PDD-NOS.

So he's been grandfathered in under ASD since PDD-Nos is no longer a dx in the U.S.

Yes he was Dx'ed in 2012.  His DP says he would likely meet the criteria for ASD in DSM 5 but there's not really a need for another private eval at this point.  

  He's currently in general ed with some accommodations and about 3 hours of pull outs (OT, ST, SpEd/Early Literacy, and Psych/Social Skills). He's repeating Kindergarten because he's a Sept b-day, we lost about 4-6 weeks to a rough transition last year that left him behind, and he's not quite where he needs to be for first in the early literacy skills department.

That's a robust list of services. The downside being that he's out of the classroom a lot even for a full day program. Could some of those services be pushed in instead? If he's working on fine motor, could the OT come to him during a writing part of the day? Could the SLP/psych do social skills on the playground or a lunch bunch group?

They're not really big about pushing in services.  I've asked a few times.  I think it's because they have huge loads and they can pull kids from several classrooms when they do pull outs.  I know his social skills group last year consisted of another Kinder in the 1/2 day, a first grader and a typical peer from a 4th classroom.  One of the new members is the psych.  I'm still feeling him out.  He comes from the HS level.  I'm a little nervous.  The OT is only on property once a week.  She has 7 schools :-l.  She did do whole class push ins a few times last year and she gave DH and me a quick tutorial on HWT.

He's still classified as a preschooler with a disability so I know the classification will change.  Is there any reason/benefit to pushing for the ASD category?

Because it would be most accurate? Because it's harder to "pull" an IEP from a kid with ASD than one with OHI?

Good points.   I know it's most accurate I'm just evaluating if it's a battle worth fighting.  I did make sure his Dx made it into the IEP first page summary last year.  It was one of the edits I requested.

  I'm not sure the point person on the IEP really understands more subtle presentations of ASD (she's asked if he has the autistic component of PDD-NOS) so I don't know if she'll be looking at other categories. 

wut?

This is part of why the APA brought Aspergers and PDD-Nos under the autism umbrella- because schools and RACs were being sketchy around these two dxs and service delivery saying they weren't really ASDs so they didn't have to help. 

Yup.  I had to remind my self that a snarky comment is not worth straining the relationship.  I very nicely explained that it IS an ASD diagnosis and there is no "non-autistic" component.  If it continues to be an issue I will push to get his medical Dx changed even if it means I have to shell out for another eval at Children's.  

 There's also two new team members who don't really know my DS and the one member who I felt really got him left at the end of the year.  I'm a little nervous.

A mix can be good. A fresh set of eyes can sometimes make a team stronger. Good luck.

Thanks

So far we have a very good collaborative relationship with the school.  I just don't have an education background so it's a learning curve to determine what to even ask for.  Again Thank you.