Dear Parents,
We will be having our first family picnic on July 18 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. This picnic will be at the Marie English Early Childhood Center (MARCA) 2387 Harding Hwy E. Please bring your family and join us for food fun and relaxation.
The Autism Connection will be having its second annual yard sale fundraiser. This sale will be on July 24 and 25 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The sale will be at the home of Michelle Wagner 240 Homer Street. Please stop by and see us and maybe pick up something. If you have items you would like to donate please contact Michelle 740-262-1614.
We will be having a short meeting on July 6 to discuss the family picnic. The community sponsors we have so far are Wal-Mart and Wyandot popcorn. I look forward to seeing everyone in July.
If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter please contact Michelle mwagner@theautismconnection.org or 740-262-1614.
DREAMS
By Pat Linkhorn
Parent and Advocate
A dream is not necessarily a "full-blown vision of what a parent wants for a child."
It may only be a tiny slice of their future life...
"A moment in time" -
For me, it was: Krystal crossing the street in a big city with her seeing eye dog. (alone)
Krystal listening to an audio tape of a book I’ve read.
Kim at a school dance with friends.
It is the professionals job to see beyond the 9 month commitment they may have with a particular child and help the parent see how what they’re doing at this point in time will help to make that dream a reality.
I wrote that for an overhead I used for a presentation several years ago. I happened to come across this overhead one day last week. As I read it, I realized
that my dream for Kim to attend a school dance with friends had occurred not once, but many times during her "school career."
Now when she went to her first dance, I was a bit skeptical. But we had been working on building a circle of friends for her for several years. Camp Fire,
Brownies, 4-H, etc. She had some pretty neat friends and a lot of kids who spoke to her whenever we were out in public. So I'd asked one of them to kind
of watch her at the dance and help her with her money. Kim was a little timid about going into the dance, but when she saw her friends, she decided she'd
stay. Her dad came home after dropping her off and we both acted as if it was the most natural thing in the world; neither of us voicing our concerns.
We went to pick her up and all the kids and teachers told us what a good time she'd had and how well she'd behaved. It was a pretty big landmark for us.
Even though we realized we'd accomplished something, we didn’t place too much importance to it. When I read what I'd written though, it brought back all
the memories of how she'd been when I'd written it. At that time I really thought it would be one of those events that would never occur, but I'd still
had a vision of it happening. I'm sure many of her former teachers never thought it would happen either.
Kim is autistic. She used to run out into the road chasing butterflies, eat glass, bang her head on the wall, and hide under tables when things got too
hectic. I used to have to use the mixer and vacuum when she was asleep. Fire drills would send her up the wall literally, and she never used to play with
kids, just beside them. She had some pretty severe behaviors. The thought of her actually being away from me and with other kids, at a place like a dance,
for any period of time was unthinkable. But I did have that vision, although it seemed pretty unrealistic when I wrote it.
Kim is twenty-three years old now and I’ve been working on what she might be able to do as an adult. We haven't found the right job for her yet, but she's
not much different than a typical kid who is just now getting out of college. She has time and I know the perfect job will come along.
I want her to be independent, have a job and live a full life. To be honest though, I have these horrible visions of where she may end up living and what
she may end up having to do when I’m gone. I talk about her future, but do I think she'll be able to have a good one? Well, now that I’ve seen my dream
about the dance come true, I can finally move on to my next dream and be able to really believe that it will come true.
Krystal, who is twenty-one, now, has also fulfilled some of the things I wrote about her in my dream statement. She regularly listens to the same audio books
I've listened to. She even has her own Audible membership and can download her own choices to her iPod. She doesn't have a seeing-eye dog yet, but we're
still working on that one!
If I hadn’t written my dreams down, I still wouldn’t be able to fully believe in my next dream. We tend to forget how far our children have come because
it’s such a slow process and perhaps it’s sometimes too painful to remember the past and all its painful memories. I don’t usually like going back there
and remembering all those things. This time was different though. I was able to see how far they have come and believe me, that was a good feeling. Remember
to celebrate your children’s successes and dream some impossible dreams. Write them down somewhere and read them every so often. And aim high, because
it’s not impossible.
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IEP - SOME BETTER (but not new) Tricks for an Old Dog
Adapted from New Forms Training, Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children
In case you haven't heard, there are new IEP forms out there. The Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children (ODE/OEC) has revised the
individualized education program (IEP) form to align with the revised federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and state law.
The new revised IEP is a mandatory form and must be used by all school districts in the state of Ohio beginning with the 2009-2010 school year. Schools
had the option to use the new form this spring, so some of you may have already seen it. If your school district used the old form, it will still be valid
for next year unless you need to revise an IEP that has been written on the old form during the coming school year.
The new IEP form can be filled out by hand or electronically, using a computer. It is what is called a dynamic file when used on the computer. This simply
means that it has the ability to change its format based on the information that is entered. It is NOT to be confused with, or compared to a program that
automatically enters goals that have already been written. All the information entered is individual for that child.
One example of this would be in the parent/guardian section. The computer form has the option to add another parent name and information, which is useful
when divorced parents share custody. Another example of what this electronic file does is that as each section of the IEP is completed, the form will automatically
place a check mark in the IEP form status section. This feature allows supervisors, administrators and parents the ability to easily see and identify the
additional issues that need to be completed to have a finished IEP.
Future planning is on the second page. This is an opportunity for the parent and the child to provide a statement about what they would like to see happen
in the coming school year and (when applicable) plans for the child's life after graduation. For younger children, the emphasis will be on the education
component. For older children, the emphasis will be on postsecondary education goals and outcomes.
library/cartoon
The transition component of the IEP isn't new, but the placement and emphasis have changed. There is a place to enter a statement of transition service
needs for children 14 years of age (or younger if appropriate) that focuses on the child's courses of study. If a vocational school or tech center is part
of a child's future plans, then the course of study would reflect this.
The section for children 16 years of age is optional for those children who are younger than 16, but is required if a child will turn 16 before the next
IEP review. This whole transition section is easier to see and understand in the new form. The great part about it is that these goals will be fresh in
your mind as you continue on to write measurable annual goals.
The entire set-up of the measurable goals page is much easier to read and understand. Present levels, annual goals, methods for measuring progress, benchmarks
and the method for reporting to parents are all clearly identified. The annual goal page can display objectives or benchmarks.
* "Benchmark" means a specific statement of what the child should know and be able to do in a specified segment of the year. Benchmarks describe how far
the child is expected to progress toward the annual goal and by when. Benchmarks establish expected performance levels that allow for regular checks of
progress that coincide with the reporting periods for informing parents of the child's progress toward achieving the annual goals (3301-51-01(B) (5)
* "Objective" means a smaller, more manageable learning task that a child must master as a step toward achieving an annual goal. Objectives break the skills
described in the annual goal into discrete components that, when mastered, allow the child to successfully obtain the goal (3301-51-01(B)(39)
The IEP team must determine whether the annual goal will be measured with benchmarks or objectives, and this will be clearly listed.
There is also a page that lists the descriptions of specially designed services such as specially designed instruction, related services, assistive technology,
accommodations, modifications, support for school personnel and services to support medical needs. Once again, this dynamic form has the ability to add
as many related services, accommodations, etc. as are necessary. The goal addressed, the name of the provider, the location of services, as well as the
beginning and ending dates, the amount of time and the frequency are all in one place in an easy to understand format.
Transportation as a related service is also a more visible section in this new form. There is a box to check that says the bus driver will be notified of
the child's behavioral and/or medical concerns, as well as several other choices. Typically, bus drivers have often been left out of the loop, and many
may not know that some of their passengers have special needs.
Nonacademic and extra curricular activities are also addressed prominently in this new form.
There is much more to be said for this new form. On the whole, it is a more understandable document. As the title of this article suggests, we haven't taught
it new tricks; we've just improved on the old ones. You can download the new IEP form from the following website:
www.edresourcesohio.org
to find the forms you then click on Ohio Required Forms (See new IEP and ETR) link. This website is a little easier to navigate than the ODE website.
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Autism Connection Newsletter.