Go In With Solutions

As you may remember, our last IEP meeting- which was supposed to produce a BIP- was... well, a disaster. I had requested to get the eval info ahead of time, but the school psych wanted us to "hammer it out in the meeting" and didn't send anything, so I went in with no info. When I saw the info, I realized I still had no info. What they called "data" was nothing of the sort- and even the interpretations and notes provided were basically "variable- variable-variable"- in other words, they failed to note any pattern in Joey's behavior. Which, of course, makes no sense and is completely useless when trying to figure out how to intervene. The only thing suggested looked to me like a data collection they should have been doing in the first place, trying to learn to read Joey emotionally by checking on his well-being regularly. This isn't an intervention. There was no plan for what to do if he had another meltdown.

I have been feeling like an idiot ever since. And I didn't sign that waste of time. I need to get together a letter about why.

And as I mull that letter, I struck upon an idea I should have remembered when I went to the meeting in the first place: I need to provide solutions. I need to state what I think needs to happen, what I want an intervention to look like, what services I believe are required should there be another issue. I need to be clear that suspending him is not appropriate. That when he is so overwhelmed that he loses skills and control of his mouth and his behavior, what needs to happen to calm him, guide him, and help him. We need a clear understanding that screaming obscenities is not OK in a classroom, but we also need to be sure we are doing what is needful to not let things get that far. What are the red flags, and what can be done for each one? What should be done so that you avoid escalation?

And since no one was interested in doing that at the meeting, obviously I need to do it myself. They can then try to tell me no.

Snow Day

Lookie! Snow!

The boys were totally excited. I was totally unprepared. I can't find the bag of gloves anywhere. Joey wore my boots, because he doesn't have any. But we still managed to hit the local slope this morning and enjoy the powder- perfect for sledding, especially if you have a metal snow saucer. We got to see how much faster they are than the plastic ones- and so did everybody else. Woo-hoo!

Then home for hot chocolate and movies, and in and out to play in the back yard for the day. The boys decided to start adding milk to the snow to make "milkshakes." Yum. Then they added M&Ms, so they had a chocolately, milky boy delight.

And at one point, I had two boys on me, with two warm, furry kittehs. That, friends, is what snow days are all about.