Willow's End of the Year IEP

Willow’s last day of school is tomorrow and this morning we had her last IEP meeting for the year.  If you aren’t familiar with IEPs, I’m going to tell you a few things we talked about and how Willow is progressing. 

She has made SO MUCH progress, it’s wild!  I know this because we went over every word of a 20 page document noting how each therapy is going haha.  I’ll give you a few of her stats to show you what we talk about in these meetings.

*Willow is currently 45 months old (no, I’m not THAT mom haha, this is for reference)

*Self-care she functions at 24 months old

*Adult interaction she functions at 34 months (woohoo)

*Peer interaction, 25 months old

*Gross motor skills, 28 months old

*Fine motor skills, 13 months old  (this and speech are her biggest issues)

*Attention and memory, 22 months old

This year, she has learned what hot means and not to touch things that may hurt her, but she still has trouble demonstrating caution and avoiding common dangers. 

She sits on the potty at school and occasionally pees (how awesome is it that potty training is in her IEP?!).

She struggles with being in a group and doing things without constant reminders. If the classroom gets too rowdy, they told me she covers her ears and screams, “TOOOO LOUD” which made me giggle and made me proud that she’s letting them know.

She still has some low muscle tone issues in her left arm and around her mouth.  The speech therapist used the word apraxia a lot so that diagnosis is officially on the table now (childhood apraxia of speech).  She can’t round her lips well in speech, so duck face selfies were prescribed (um, no haha j/k).   The IEP says she has a “moderate to severe communication disorder indicating a significant performance gap between her and her same age peers.”

As for occupational therapy, this is what it says: “Willow exhibits a performance gap in the areas of visual-motor, visual perception, fine-motor, strength and endurance, motor planning, bilateral coordination, sensory processing and modulation, and self-help skills as compared to typical same-age peers.”  She can’t use both of her hands together very well and they work on her toleration of her sensory environment at school.  Her attention and memory need some major work for her age but her reasoning, perception and concept skills have really come a long way!

It was interesting…they pointed out that when you look at her at play you may not notice her deficits as much because you just see a running, laughing toddler, but when you sit down with her, it becomes more obvious.  This is good because then we know what to work on and how to help her. I am so thankful for the people in this meeting, and all of the therapists that have spent so much time investing in her future.  All of her therapists and New Beginnings have changed her future.

I heard so many good things about my Willow Gracen today from people who not only teach and help her, but who love her.  She’s obedient. When she wants something she likes to offer to trade and if it doesn’t go her way, she just moves on (some adults don’t do that haha), She’s starting to use the word “I” in sentences (that is brand new, just this week). She likes to make sure others are included at times.

And as always, Willow loves Timmy with all of her heart. #iep #yeahyouknowme #willowandtimmyforever