Finished IEP

Memphis and I went to the school yesterday to "finish" his IEP. He was very excited to check out the early childhood development classroom with all the bright colors and the cool ABC rug. I on the other hand was not so excited. As you may remember we tried to do Memphis's IEP on 9/11 but they did not have all the information from the therapists and no one knew how to run the new easy IEP program. The meeting did not start out well because the teacher was 15 minutes late to the meeting. She has been consistently inconsistent before on her arrival times for visits in the past so this did not surprise me. Irk me yes, surprise no. The teacher is kind of flaky and that has been confirmed by other parents of children in her classroom and school personnel. I have also been told she is VERY good with the children in her classroom and that makes me feel a little better about sending Memphis to school next year, but a not a lot. I do not want someone "flaky." I want someone who is organized, on point and an eagle eye watching over my child. On the other hand, I want someone loving, caring and understanding with him as well and she is all of those things.

The content of the IEP is pretty bland. Memphis will continue get PT, OT, ST and the teacher will come to the house as well. We will see how next fall's IEP goes, as that will be more in depth as he will be starting in the ECD classroom and the school will have to make provision for him and his needs. I have heard horror stories but North Branch seems to be pretty good.

There was one snag. On the 11th the teacher was doing her assessment, which consists of asking me if Memphis can do a certain thing and circling that thing on a chart if he can. This is how she makes he goals for the coming year. So she asked all her questions and was telling me how happy she was that Memphis had learned so much and how excited she was she could circle so many activities. Then she says something that completely took the wind out of my sails. The teacher said "Memphis is doing really well, he is functioning at the 5 month level right now." I felt like some had just punched me in the stomach. So all these thoughts start going through my head, "Only at the 5 month level, really. I know he is smarter than that, I know he can do a lot more than what your silly chart says. Then the teacher asks me what my concerns are and at that point I kind of break down and a few tears escape. I explained to her that no one had ever told me an age equivalent before and it was kind of a shock. I told her that my biggest fear is that I know Memphis is smart and understands a lot and that he cannot communicate it. That he will be trapped inside because his body will not cooperate. That is my biggest fear.