So after getting Iraq's IEP meeting out of the way just a week or so ago, it was already time for The Skink's IEP. We got her updated IEP a few days prior to the meeting so that we could go over it and highlight any questions or concerns we had.
Both my husband and I looked over the pages and pages and pages of goals, but aside from laughing our back-sides off over some of the goals, didn't feel any changes were necessary. I did start to wonder, though, if after writing IEP after IEP, the teachers lost track of how some of the goals sounded to the outside world. These are a few of my favorite goals:
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The Skink will increase cognitive skills through participation in activities that emphasize conceptual development, reasoning and academic skills, memory, and perceptual discrimination, achieving at least 80% accuracy on the following objectives by 3/8/2012.
Great! Not sure I caught all that, but it sounds... great...
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The Skink will listen to a simple story presented to the group without engaging in disruptive behavior, on five different occasions by November 2011.
Without disruptive behavior? They're taking all the fun out of story time! And 5 WHOLE TIMES in the next 8 months? I'm glad they're challenging my daughter so nicely!
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The Skink will name all the primary colors when asked, "What color is that?" with 80% accuracy by March 2012.
It's wonderful the school has faith she'll have recovered from color blindness by then!
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The Skink will maintain her balance on cafeteria seats without falling off due to distractability each day.
Oooops! Sorry, I didn't catch that one. I seem to have fallen off my chair.
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The Skink will carry her lunch tray with hand over hand adult assistance each day without milk on tray and without "fussing" by 10/14/2011.
Hmmm... I'm not sure I wouldn't fuss under those circumstances, too.
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The Skink will correctly respond the the question, "Are you a boy?" and "Are you a girl?" by December 2011.
Seems kind of sexist, doesn't it? I bet they don't worry about that "goal" with kids who happen to be hermaphrodites. (Yeah - Freud would have a ball with my response - LOL)
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The Skink will assert herself in socially acceptable ways (e.g., no screaming, asking for objects or declining objects) at least 80% of the time by March 2012.
Well... that one seems pretty straight forward. It also gives a lovely mental picture of what must be the current "norm."
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And yes, there were at least 673 more "goals" lined out in the pages, but I just felt these particular goals possessed a little something extra! Speaking of goals...
We're reaching some goals here at home! Like WALKING up and down the stairs, with at least 80% accuracy, without being disruptive, while wearing every color in the rainbow, looking feminine and without falling off her chair due to distractability! Yay!
Remember... goals are our friends, and as with our friends, we should feel free to laugh at them as needed!
Both my husband and I looked over the pages and pages and pages of goals, but aside from laughing our back-sides off over some of the goals, didn't feel any changes were necessary. I did start to wonder, though, if after writing IEP after IEP, the teachers lost track of how some of the goals sounded to the outside world. These are a few of my favorite goals:
**
The Skink will increase cognitive skills through participation in activities that emphasize conceptual development, reasoning and academic skills, memory, and perceptual discrimination, achieving at least 80% accuracy on the following objectives by 3/8/2012.
Great! Not sure I caught all that, but it sounds... great...
**
The Skink will listen to a simple story presented to the group without engaging in disruptive behavior, on five different occasions by November 2011.
Without disruptive behavior? They're taking all the fun out of story time! And 5 WHOLE TIMES in the next 8 months? I'm glad they're challenging my daughter so nicely!
**
The Skink will name all the primary colors when asked, "What color is that?" with 80% accuracy by March 2012.
It's wonderful the school has faith she'll have recovered from color blindness by then!
**
The Skink will maintain her balance on cafeteria seats without falling off due to distractability each day.
Oooops! Sorry, I didn't catch that one. I seem to have fallen off my chair.
**
The Skink will carry her lunch tray with hand over hand adult assistance each day without milk on tray and without "fussing" by 10/14/2011.
Hmmm... I'm not sure I wouldn't fuss under those circumstances, too.
**
The Skink will correctly respond the the question, "Are you a boy?" and "Are you a girl?" by December 2011.
Seems kind of sexist, doesn't it? I bet they don't worry about that "goal" with kids who happen to be hermaphrodites. (Yeah - Freud would have a ball with my response - LOL)
**
The Skink will assert herself in socially acceptable ways (e.g., no screaming, asking for objects or declining objects) at least 80% of the time by March 2012.
Well... that one seems pretty straight forward. It also gives a lovely mental picture of what must be the current "norm."
**
And yes, there were at least 673 more "goals" lined out in the pages, but I just felt these particular goals possessed a little something extra! Speaking of goals...
We're reaching some goals here at home! Like WALKING up and down the stairs, with at least 80% accuracy, without being disruptive, while wearing every color in the rainbow, looking feminine and without falling off her chair due to distractability! Yay!
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Love it! Thank you for giving me a good laugh!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I love your sense of humour! Some goals on IEP's are totally ridiculous; they seem more an exercise in creative writing than realistic goals! What sweet pictures! :)
ReplyDeleteROFL! Those are hysterical! Does she really have that many goals? When we did Goldie's preschool IEP they only wanted one goal for each domain.
ReplyDeleteAs a former preschool special education teacher, those rank among some of the worst goals I have encountered. A lot of those issues can be addressed without a specific IEP goal - the goals need to be the key functional skills that need to be addressed and there usually shoul dbe no more than 5-7 because then it is unrealistic to work on them and collect data. Goal writing is as much art as science, and apparently the art is missing here...as well as the science! :)
ReplyDeleteBrandie - so I counted and there are actually 57 goals... which seem like 673 when you expected to familiarize yourself with the goals prior to the IEP meeting.
ReplyDeleteBethany - Part of me wonders if IEPs are mostly just for show. You know: Show the parents, show the principle, show the other teachers, show the therapists, show the school system, and show the government to insure the school system, therapists, teachers and principle receive adequate funding to keep working with the kids.
At any rate, regardless of the quality of the goals, we just love the school the girls are attending this year!
I like writing ITPs....Individualized Teaching Plans ;-) ....and putting down some goals for Ash's team. You know, things like:
ReplyDelete1) We will, with 80% accuracy, address and resolve discrepancies between what the child's parents have told us said child was already capable of at home, and what we have seen evidence of their capacity for at school, BEFORE planning therapy around an assumption that they are not yet capable regardless of contextual circumstances.
2) We will experiment with suggested tactics and adaptive measures that make sense, regardless of whether or not we are the ones that thought of them, at least 5 times before the next IEP meeting.
3) We will remember at least 20% more of the time, that budgeting crises are not resolved by only thinking reactively, not proactively.