SJ's speech therapist ran the meeting, which was also attended by the school principal, Mr. Gold, his therapist's supervisor, my husband and I. She went over the document page by page. SJ's therapist explained to us that he gets one 30 minute session a week. She also went over some of the exercises that she utilizes during her sessions.
She gave us a worksheet that SJ fills in with his speech goals. He wrote that his speech goal was for vocabulary and turn telling and big sentences. For the question, how is he going to meet this goal, SJ answered that he can work hard in classroom and in the speech room. He responded to the question of when I want to achieve this goal by saying "in 5th grade". For his progress report, she has him fill in where he thinks he is. In October, he wrote that "No, I'm not because I don't like writing. Writing isn't more fun. I like games because games are fun. I dislike writing because writing isn't fun." In January, he wrote that "Yes, I am because I look at people while I am talking. I like vocabulary and it is easier to write. I hate doing work at speech. I like having fun because fun is cool. I dislike writing sentences because I don't like writing."
She gave us a copy of a story they read. By listening to the story, SJ was supposed to pick up on details to answer the included questions. Depending on how he answered, he had to cut or fold his paper that would eventually be a snow flake. This is a great activity. He is not only listening and answering questions, but he gets to do a hand-on activity that is directly dependent on him comprehending the story. Concrete activities are always more effective for him.
She told us they had worked on synonyms and antonyms. She said he is doing very well with them. She also showed me a worksheet that she had done with him. It was a small non-fiction paragraph that had 5 sentences. SJ had to then answer the questions. She had SJ underline the key points of the paragraph, so that he would be able to answer the questions correctly.
She also uses visual diagrams to have him write key points. For example: She had SJ write "Making an apple pie" in the big circle. He then had to write a few things that you would need to make an apple pie. He wrote 1. The boy likes apples. 2. The boy hands an apple to Mom. 3. You slice an apple and put them in the pie crust. 4. She put the pie in the oven. 5. He is eating the pie. She then had him write the points into a paragraph. This is what he wrote. "The boy's picking apples from the tree. The boy's holding an apple. His mom is slicing and peeling the apples. She made squared apples. She put the pie in the oven. Finally, he's eating the pie."
She has him describe an item to his partner using categories. This was his description. 1. It's a think. 2. It's a tool. 3. It's gray. 4. It's metal. 5. It hits nails. His partner had to answer that his item was a hammer. She works on sequencing with him as well. He does very well with this.
She also went over his testing results. He had improved in both the receptive and expressive vocabulary. She was extremely pleased with these results. In 2010, he had a raw score of 62, where the standard is 79. This year, he had a raw score of 94, where the standard score is 94. That moved him up to where most of his peers are. (He is still slightly behind.) He didn't increase as much in expressive, but he did improve there also. His raw score in 2010 was 73, where the standard score was 91. Now, his raw score was 90, where the standard score was 95. I was almost excited about this as his therapist!
When we got into the accommodations section, SJ gets extra time and a scribe when they do the PSSA testing. He is allowed to go into a quiet room. His aide is allowed to read for him (for Math) and he is allowed to read aloud to her (for Math and Reading). She also scribes his answers for his written portion, since writing is very difficult for him. We also left the behavior reward component in his IEP. He hasn't had to utilize it this year, but I never know what we are going to see at the beginning of each new year.
His teacher told us how well SJ is doing. Besides the occasional grumbling, SJ is very compliant with him. He said he almost forgets at times that he is on the spectrum. (Bless him!) He is doing very little adapting and he is helping SJ develop great homework habits.
SJ will also get a monthly observation from the occupational therapist. I asked her to be open to meeting with him again at the beginning of 5th grade. I am trying to prepare for any difficulty that he may have with the 5th grade transition.
Overall, it was a great meeting. My husband and I are very pleased with all that the school district has done for SJ. He has great teachers and therapists. Hopefully, his luck will continue next year.
Thanks! That is very kind of you to say. As long as we are moving in a forward direction, I feel we are helping him to become a successful man one day!
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