My "100th" Blog with Big News!

I find it hard to believe I have written 100 blogs about my sweet boy! When I started this blog I would never have guessed we would be where we are today, but I love that I can look back and see how far we've come and all of the events that have taken place since I started!

I am pleased to inform you all that Logan was approved for an IEP!!! This is HUGE!!! This is what we have been trying for since the beginning of the school year and after many, many, many meetings and teacher phone calls. I have to give TONS of credit to the special education teacher as she was on Logan's side from the beginning, but we had to have the administrators, school psychometrist, psychologist, etc on board as well...and had to get all of the people on the same page. After those lovely people (who don't know/work with Logan) were able to observe and assess him themselves (and with mention we had been in contact with a lawyer), they seemed to change their tune.

Logan's 504 was put into place at the end of November of 2012. His behavior intervention plan was set. This included using visual prompts, a ticket reward for recognition of good behavior, and getting to pick a prize/positive note with school counselor twice a day (before lunch and at the end of the day) if he remained on green or yellow. While discussing our results of the observations - the school counselor was asked by the school psychometrist how the system had been working and the school counselor shocked us! Her answer was that they had tried it for a couple of weeks and didn't notice it helping him at all and she didn't really "have time" to do this on a daily basis. I think every.single.person in the meetings jaw dropped a little, and ours dropped a lot! I saw the school psychometrist write on her pad of paper "meet with counselor after meeting." The special education teacher also told her that she disagreed with that due to the fact that you cannot change behavior in a matter of two weeks. They were NOT happy with her!!! So not only was his reward system followed for just 2 weeks, she and Logan's teacher never informed any of us that this happened and never set up an alternative positive reinforcement. That made me super GROUCHY! In the "notes" after the meeting where literally everything is documented that is discussed - she conveniently left out that ENTIRE discussion. I kindly spoke up and asked that she add in the notes that she failed to comply with the behavioral support plan that we had all agreed upon. What a crock! Hence the reason we NEVER wanted the 504 to begin with because it is just recommendations. The 504 doesn't have to be followed by law. I am sure she was in quite the awkward position and got in some trouble after the meeting....as she should have!!!

After that nonsense we were told that they had found Logan eligible for services and an IEP would be put into place. We continued on and set up the IEP. The accommodations that will be provided are as follows:

• A timer (to help Logan stay focused on the task and to visually see he is making progress)
• Visual Aides (the special ed teacher will take pictures of Logan and insert them into a program called "boardmaker." This will allow Logan to visually see what comes "next". There will be a series of pictures with Logan reading, writing, doing gym, music, computer, etc. and after each of these things he will flip the card over and know what activity comes next.)
• An iPod with soothing music and headphones for his independent work time
• Small group testing to provide frequent feedback and to keep Logan on task without distractions
• Logan will be in close proximity to an adult during transitions and carpool
• STAR technique will be used to help Logan when he is getting anxious/upset "Stop, Take a deep breath, And Relax"
• "Body Awareness" prompts will be given "find your quiet place" (this technique is used when he is sensory seeking, hyper, etc. Logan places his hands on his belly, closes his eyes, and takes deep breaths allowing him to tune into his body and physically feel himself relax. His PT taught us this and it has worked AWESOME!).
• We will be notified by email or phone anytime Logan has an incident that requires him to go to the office.
• An assistant will be provided daily for the 90 min reading block, 40 min math block, and recess.

I am very happy with what was put into the IEP. Even though it has taken SO LONG, I am thankful that we have finally gotten to this point. They also recommended that we go ahead with the Full Autism Evaluation - because after working with Logan they feel this is appropriate. We have wanted that, but needed the IEP more, so that came secondary. It will be completed within 50 school days - which means it might not happen until next school year. I am okay with this because he is still getting his help through a private OT, PT, and SLP. We are also going back to his neuropsych that we saw a few years ago to get his take on things.

I hope/pray this makes a difference in his schooling - he deserves the BEST!!! :) Thank you for catching up on our latest journey!

Autumn

"The Meeting"

 What was supposed to be a 45 min meeting turned into a 2 hour meeting. Our behavior meeting turned into starting the "official" steps towards the IEP evaluation. The tension was high, and so was my anxiety. We held our own and were advocates for our special boy. It was challenging, it was emotional, it was exhausting!

I will start by saying that I am the non-confrontational personality, Neil on the other hand has a strong personality and will tell it like it is. We really do balance each other out. The longer our relationship grows, the more we can just read each other without speaking a word. It's amazing to have such a relationship. Going into this we had our little "pep talk" about how this is our job, we are Logan's voice, and that this is his future. A strong educational foundation is a must to advance. Establishing a working relationship with the school is also a must.

The meeting started out completely crappy. The first things spoken were that they feel Logan is trying to "gain attention and escape non-preferred tasks." It was like this: He "wants" one-on-one attention, he will hide in the bathroom if he doesn't want to do the task at hand, he has a hard time staying in his seat, and he has an "attention span of less than 3 mins." Neil and I both disagreed stating that the behaviors were caused by the Aspergers, not Logan intentionally trying to tick them off or trying to manipulate the situation. We expressed our concerns that Logan is being misunderstood.

It was awful - the psychometrist argued Logan's diagnosis with us for AT LEAST 5 mins. I finally told her that we provided the recent diagnosis IN WRITING on Dec 11, 2012. We did that specifically so that she could be prepared for this meeting and it wouldn't be a surprise. She kept holding his OLD papers and shaking them saying "RIGHT HERE IT SAYS IMPULSE CONTROL AND ADHD - ASPERGERS IS NOWHERE LISTED." "You're right lady, we just dreamed up a label to slap on our son" is what I felt like saying. We tried giving her our copy to look at to no avail. Just as I was zoning out and daydreaming of getting up and banging my head repeatedly against the concrete wall - she happened to find them. No apology, of course! She was on a serious power trip and even the other staff looked embarrassed by her mannerisms. It was quite the headache.

We did let the school know that we had contacted an attorney as instructed by Logan's psychiatrist. She feels that we have been fighting a losing battle and that it is time to stop the nonsense and get the show on the road. She said usually if you even mention getting an attorney they will quit messing around, however, we really did contact one because we are fed up.

We have another meeting this coming Wednesday to start the IEP evaluation process. I am not even sure what this is going to consist of...but I am sure it's more paperwork!

After the meeting the principal did personally call my husband and apologize for all of the miscommunication (think it was because of the attorney?). He could tell we were upset. He asked Neil what it would take to fix this. Neil told him all we are asking for is help for our son and that we (including Logan's pediatrician and psychiatrist) feel that an IEP is going to be necessary to help Logan become a successful student and be protected. Neil also expressed our frustration with the school psychometrist. It seems as though every time we tried to express our opinion she would try to quickly cut us off and change the subject. The principal did apologize for her behavior and said that we would soon be dealing with the main psychologist (not psychometrist) and she has a son with Asperger's/Autism Spectrum Disorder. It will be nice if when we are past the struggle to get him services.

I must say it feels good to stand up for what I believe in. Before this journey there is no way I could have voiced my opinion to 8 other people that might not have agreed with me. Gradually I am becoming stronger and it feels fabulous. We are Logan's voice, we are his advocates, and we only want the best for him. We know how smart he is and what he is capable of. It is time that we work to teach him the way he learns vs. teaching the traditional black and white method. Our job is to find what works for him and build upon that.

I think that is it for now - even just thinking about the meeting exhausts me! Ha!

Thank you all for being our support, we couldn't do it without all of the love and prayers. Xoxo.

Autumn
 

Our Meeting (and afterwards)...

I know, I know,  I am a little late getting around to filling you all in on the meeting we had last Wednesday. Boy oh boy has it been completely crazy! I finally have a moment to blog because unfortunately I have two sickly (or kind of sickly) kiddos that are napping. Guess it's that time of the year - and being 65 degrees in December probably isn't helping with the germs. :)

We walked into the meeting with the request in writing for a special education assessment and a functional behavior assesment. That was quickly shot down because they didn't feel that he needed the special education assessment and asked if we would hold off on that request if they agreed to do the functional behavior assessment. I looked to Logan's advocate to see if this was okay or not, because I honestly STILL don't understand all the lingo associated with the assessments, 504's, BIP's, IEP's, etc. I did hand them the request for the IEP for Logan and they said they want to try the 504 first. I don't really know - I just agreed. It was going to be a fight (even with the dr's note to get them to even consider the IEP) and I just don't want to fight. I want everyone to get along, to be a team, and to work towards what is best for my Logan. They will be assessing Logan over the next few weeks in the classroom and in the unstructured settings such as gym and recess. We also agreed that instead of sending home Logan's negative daily report that it either gets e-mailed or we get a phone call. No more of him dreading to show us these negative papers every single day. We left the meeting and I had no feeling at all. It wasn't an exciting feeling like I got lots accomplished, but it wasn't a complete failing feeling either. It was kind of like - I hope this works?!

Wednesday I received a phone call from his teacher stating he left the lunchroom and no one knew where he went. They looked all over and his class had to head out to recess without him. They finally found him in the bathroom and when the lunch lady confronted him he got very irritable. He had to pee extremely bad and said he couldn't hold it. They told him that was unexcusable, and that he has to ask an adult to use the restroom. He just didn't understand why that was such a big deal. When his teacher came in and asked him to take a time out for it - he flat out told her "NO". She asked a second time and he laid on the floor and said "NO" again. She then had the principal come and get him. They discussed why it is important not to leave the lunchroom.

Thursday he was again sent to the office for "choking" another child. Logan's story is that B was upset because Logan wouldn't quit touching him. Logan didn't want B to be mad at him so he was trying to hug him and apologize...and the teacher saw it as choking. He was then sent to the principal and had to sign a contract. READ CLOSELY: The principal wrote a contract stating "I, Logan, will never touch another child again." and then he had to sign his name on it. What a silly contract - a child with IMPULSE CONTROL DISORDER - signing something that states that he will never touch another child. Geez...It is almost comical. I still believe that Logan did not choke the other boy and that everything he said to me was accurate. He never wants anyone to be upset with him - so I am just positive that Logan was trying to give the child a hug even though that child didn't really want a hug. Logan really doesn't read others well. He doesn't know personal space or boundaries. 

Friday afternoon I received a phone call from the principal asking if I was close by. I quickly headed over to his office to find out what was going on. Apparently there was an incident on the playground where they were playing tag... Logan was pulling the other boys shirts and getting angry that he kept getting tagged. The playground monitor had asked Logan several times to stop and he didn't. She then tried to seperate him from the other kids and he started swinging at her and yelling "get off!" The principal took him to his office again and Logan refused to cooperate with the principal - thus me getting the phone call. I tried to calm Logan down in his office, but he was already "over his limit" and talking wasn't going to accomplish anything. The principal was just getting more frustrated by watching Logan pull his own hair and cover his ears and growl. He said "We aren't getting anywhere with this, I think you need to take him home." When I asked him to put his coat on to leave he threw himself on the floor and refused. The principal then threatened that if he didn't leave with me (I was in my sling so I couldn't just scoop up my 60 lb boy) that instant he would call the police and have him escorted out. I was devastated and completely embarrassed because we weren't the only ones in the office. We had a few children, office ladies, and a parent as an audience. Ugh. I brought him home, talked a little bit to him, and then explained that he really needed to take a nap and rest (which he did w/out any issues).

I am just praying that last week was just a bad week and that we can move forward w/out being sent to the principal everyday and/or getting sent home. That was awful! We have a meeting with Dr. B this Friday and I am going to discuss this with her and see what she recommends. I am really at a loss of what to do.

Here is a sweet picture of my sleepy head:

 

 

Hope you all have a great week. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share! This parenting thing is a TOUGH job! :)