Gavin's IEP

Whew...this post has been a long time coming....not sure where to begin.

On September 1st Gavin had his first evaluation/IEP meeting at the public school. When he turns 3 he no longer qualifies for the Early Intervention services we've been receiving in our home. So...onto bigger and better??

We arrived with Gavin at 8:30 in the morning where a team of 8 therapists (social worker, child psychologist, early ed teacher, early ed aide, speech pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist and nurse) gave Gavin a play-based evaluation for one hour. Chad and I returned without Gavin at 1 pm to determine if he qualifies and if so, for what services. We were then joined by what would be his new coordinator, the principal and our current speech therapist. It was quite intimidating.

Each therapist verbally went through their report and their findings regarding Gavin. All of them reported great socialization, problem solving and receptive language. He tested within the normal limits for his age in all the categories except speech. The speech pathologist tested him at a 24-30 month age level in his expressive speech and language. There was also some concern about Gavin's ability to "attend" to certain activities. They recognized his desire to quickly move from one activity to the next.

After reading the reports, they gave us their recommendation: 120 minutes of speech per week. They recommended the Early Childhood program. School from 8:30 am to 11 am 4 days a week in a special education classroom. My heart sank and immediately tears were lodged in my throat.

I can go on and on about this day....it was terrible and difficult and heart wrenching. It was so hard for me to be pointed out over and over and over again how delayed he is. Its a serious problem. One that I informed them I was not ignorant to but was unsure this was the best method of treatment for him.

Concerns: (1) He is 3 YEARS OLD!! He's little. He stays at home and to up and send him to school 4 days seems too much. (2) The class is a special education class and he will be of the higher functioning. I don't want him to BE the model, I want him to have peers with speech he can learn to model. (3) Very little individual time-although he will have group and the class is language intensive, very little one-on-one time.

Benefits: (1) Super language intensive--He'll be saturated with language and auditory bombardment which he needs. (2) He will have exposure to socialization which will facilitate speech. (3) The classroom setting will help him learn to attend better, gain independence and learn to follow through on expectations of him.

When I came home, I started calling everyone I knew that was in a similar situation and starting weighing the pros and cons of the class, private speech, park district classes or some sort of combination of each. And I prayed and prayed for the answers and clarity and that God would present me with the right people and path for Gavin. Slowly he presented me with moms and professionals that were encouraging and offered hope.

We visited the school...and were impressed! I had prayed God would give me a very clear answer as to whether it was a good fit for Gavin. Chad and I both left feeling great about the program. However...4 days was still too much. We began calling therapists and setting up appointments and looked for recommendations.

We finally came to our conclusion: We are sending him to preschool two days and I'll be taking him to private therapy two days...hopefully leaving our Fridays free for fun outings, MOPS and time for us.

Gavin's IEP was hard. The reality of it was hard. The decision was hard. After I got through the first 24 hours of severe anxiety and tears over this...we prayed for clarity and answers and that God would present me with the right opportunities and people for Gavin. And we prayed for Gavin. God answered...day by day we began to feel better and be presented with options we preferred and success stories...and in the middle of all that, was Gavin being his silly, funny happy self to remind me...his speech isn't what defines him.

The IEP is made to focus on the negative but what they don't see is that my little guy is made by our Great Creator....perfectly in his image....words or no words.