Update on ARD...

I wanted to post a quick update on Zach's ARD (IEP - individualized education plan). Texas has to name it something else. Anyhow it was last week on Tuesday and went very well. Brandon was able to attend with me, which was very nice. The ARD team was great and everyone was present...also great. It included the principle, special ed inclusion teacher, his Kindergarten teacher, the speech therapist, the ARD facilitator and the school psychologist. Right away I was happy to have brought cookies and a photo of Zach...two ideas I got from people in the teaching world. Also made a portfolio with his information, his testing and current exams. I think that helped me look and feel prepared.

The team right away commented on how great they thought he was (those that had met him and spent time with him of course) and how smart he is. Which led right into the initial issue that I was dying to deal with and was brought up for me. They felt that he needed retesting. An issue that we have been wanting for a while. When he was initially tested in CA at age 3 he was given the diagnosis by the school district and UCLA simply concurred with it. We were told at that time to have him retested in 2-3 years for sure because some of his issues were very borderline and he might test off the spectrum one day or his diagnosis might change with time and therapy. So we have been waiting to get to a place to do this. We already have an appointment with BAMC (Brooks Army Medical Center) on the 17th of this month. The psychologist right away said that he felt after looking at Zach's test scores he needed retesting. One reason is his IQ was very low...VERY! His abilities don't reflect that at all. He can read over a 2nd grade level with ease...understands concepts of weather, road systems, etc...non of the test made sense when looking at what he can do. So that was a big issue for us and thankfully they want to see some new results. We are hopeful that this will bring better understanding of what is "wrong" and how to "fix" it.

I think that some of the therapies and approaches to dealing with him will change. We have him in private speech here and getting private OT evals completed this week as well...We are hopeful that those will help. ABA is harder bc they have no after school hours for him and we are not wanting to be pulling him out of school several hours a day to work on things at home with him when we feel he can learn so much from other kids at school. We also have him continuing in his swim classes and started in the local soccer league. All to help him interact with others and to be able to learn through the peer models.

One big concern is also ADD/ADHD. We have noticed a lot of fidgeting and difficulty holding his attention. Will work on that testing next....schools don't do that, so we will need to again do a private test for that. The OT is looking specifically at some sensory issues we are concerned with and that I believe make it hard for him to learn.

We are thankful to have a great team of educators working with us and him to help ensure that he gets what he needs....they want to continue to keep him in the gen ed classroom and get speech support...at this point no modifications needed and a small reward system was discussed. The October ARD will be the big deal with goals, modifications and changes put in place along with the new testing results revealed. We are anxious and hopeful that the testing will give us all a new perspective and information to work with and give Zach a lot of options in this school. I just wanted to throw out the update to those of you interested...