Monday, July 29, 2013

Power To The Parent (your chid's PLP)

I cant restate it enough intensive behavior therapy first to get the most out of any intervention then ask yourself one question consistently. What is my child's present level of performance or priority educational need? PLP is the most important piece of information you can have to obtain true measurable success for your child. Simply put, you must know where their at to understand where you need to go. I loved this step because it gave me a clear measure of what my child could do and what could be done about what she couldn't do, gratifying for every parent. The most important gift you will get from a clear PLP though is how his/her learning difference affects their progress in the general curriculum. Please pay close attention to the PLP as it is usually on the first page of an IEP and this is where you ask the question about how low or high your child's test scores are. For example if you have a test score way < level in comprehension obviously it is impacting your child's educational future everyday. A PLP statement should also be at the beginning of each domain (academic, behavioral, social, etc.).  A PLP is only as good as the concrete data used to create it. If you feel your child has more needs than are being addressed always have your own independent evaluations done. Every educational and non Ed therapy we have ever had begins with an evaluation. If your child is high functioning you can wait for the every three year evaluation. The school will usually only accept outside evaluations not more than a year old. If your child is struggling I would get some type of independent eval yearly, to be presented at the IEP meeting. Get to the root of the issue by watching test scores closely. One year our total focus was on comprehension, the year after it was oral comprehension, the following year it was math word problems. Always check the states standards for the grade level so you don't waste time on academics that are not meaningful for success.

Steps to a great PLP

1)Create and combine all sources of data. Do not rely solely on the schools testing and information. Get your own outside professional eval. Types of evaluation are OT, speech, auditory, educational, samples of students work,.

2)Out of  all the data you will get a picture of your child's priority educational need.

3)Now that you know why your child needs special services and where the deficits are set attainable goals within each domain that can be reached within a reasonable amount of time.(NOTE) If scores are 25% and under treatment will need to be intensive meaning many hours a day, probably more than a public school can provide even if not mainstreamed most of the day.

4) Working on the goals outside of school will help you prove mastery. Ask the ESE teacher "What specifically is keeping my child from meeting this goal sooner?".



Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Proud to be in PA




  Inner Imaging Instruction LLC

Gouldsboro PA
           Proven Academic Improvement for All

                               Educational Therapy for Learning Differences

Reading, Reading Comprehension, Basic math, Spelling, and Creative Writing. I get results using the Seeing stars®, Visualizing and Verbalizing® and On Cloud Nine programs®.

Instruction includes parent training, progress reports, Individualized lesson plans, reward system if needed and educational support dealing with school meetings.

Call Melissa for details at (570) 252-4165 or E-mail Misbood@aol.com

Check out my blog http://autismadvocator.blogspot.com/

Resume and references available upon request

Bell,Nanci. Visualizing and Verbalizing® for language comprehension and thinking,Seeing Stars®, On Cloud Nine®. California:Gander Publishing, 1986,2007 All rights reserved