IEP Time

While it's not an 'official' IEP, because those take place in the fall for Ruby, an end-of-year IEP amendment is a big deal for us because they shape the start of the next school year. And this year is a biggie, as Ruby will be transitioning into Kindergarten in the fall.

We waivered initially on that big step, but listened as Ruby's teachers reminded us of her comprehension of all preschool concepts. That, and we prayed, and researched, and talked with other parents (hello, T21 Tribe!) who have gone before us, both pushing ahead and holding back. In the end we agreed with her team that moving ahead would be the best for Ruby at this time, as it would allow a higher ceiling of academic content for her (even if she ends up repeating Kindergarten). And we know that it's not realistic to expect her to catch up to her peers in the areas she has weakness in (fine motor skills, speech) before moving ahead.

Our experience with Ruby's school (her zoned elementary school) and her team has been encouraging in the past year and a half. While we know that Ruby's educational road may have some bumps and roadblocks along the way, so far this school has given us a lot of green lights. The IEP meeting reflected that as we discussed the assessment of Ruby's performance in this last year. Here are just some of the great things that her team documented on her progress report:

• Ruby does a great job counting 1-10 without help.
• Ruby is independent in the bathroom (with an adult checking on her) and verbally communicates her needs to use the bathroom throughout the day.
• Ruby counts the correct number of objects from 1-6 consistently.
• Ruby is independent in the lunchroom, unpacks lunch and feeds self.
• Ruby has really caught on to the concept of making patterns. She has done an amazing job of completing simple color patterns. 
• Ruby is able to trace her first name with accuracy. Goal mastered!
• Ruby is able to cut large shapes from construction paper with some assistance to turn at the corners.
• Ruby is very social in the classroom and loves to be part of all activities.
• Ruby has grown tremendously in her ability to participate in her SNP classroom this year.

This is a big deal to me because these are things that are typed into the system, in Ruby's team's own words. They are not passing comments made on a note home to make me feel good about her day. And her teacher and OT provided several samples of work that I had not seen yet, all giving great color to her fine motor growth: shapes drawn totally on her own and letters written without being traced. We work on those things at home, but I'd never seen her perform as well as the samples they pulled out. (Yay!)

We discussed placement for Ruby's Kindergarten year and agreed on the inclusion classroom (a typical classroom that includes a few kids that will need some extra support INSIDE of the classroom). She will be pulled out for speech and OT a few times during the week, and she will get pulled out for one Language Arts (ELA) segment each day. They initially wanted to pull her out for two ELA and one math segment, but I asked if we could try the first quarter without any pullouts (to allow her to show us what she could do). Due to the ramped up fine motor requirements during the ELA segments, they worried Ruby would become frustrated quickly, so we compromised.

All in all, it was a great meeting; we are happy with the outcome, and we know Ruby is going to rock it!

World Down Syndrome Day 2018

A few years back, Eli asked to talk to his 4th grade class about World Down Syndrome Day. This year, Maddux followed suit. (She claims she did this last year, but none of us remember that, and surely we would!) Just after Christmas, Maddux started talking through a power point presentation she planned to put together to show her class. She was granted permission by her teacher, and went to work. In true Maddux fashion, it was 300% heart with just about 80% work: the night before she was to present, the power point was still being worked on. But that is to say nothing of the sentiment of it all. While Maddux wanted to do this 'big' thing in her class, what she has done in every class, and in the whole school, is introduce kids to Ruby in a way that is all things good. She always brags on her sister and introduces them to her friends and teachers. The whole school already knows Ruby, and it's largely in part to her amazing big sister.

The day before World Down Syndrome Day, Maddux got up in front of her class and gave the presentation she practiced at home. She said there were a few questions, but mostly the kids just listened and agreed to participate by wearing different socks (and red, for Ruby). The morning of, I went to Maddux's class to get a picture of her and her friends. It was so cool to see all of these kids participating in something they might not have known anything about before Maddux's presentation. We reminded her how cool it was that she impacted those kids in such a big way; their interactions with people with Down syndrome - or maybe just people who are different from them - will be forever changed.