Tuesday, May 12, 2009

IEP Day and the Testing Begins

Today is Christian's IEP review day at his school (not our county program, our private school that we send him to). I'm not too worried or nervous about it, as the school bends over backwards to ensure Christian's success.

What I am a bit nervous about is the testing that is starting today, in preparation for our discussions about possibly going bilateral. Christian's school SLP and audiologist will be working on some speech perception tests. He'll also have audiograms that focus on his aided ear. Our last audiogram that we had just using his aid showed him hearing at 50-55db aided, and 80-90 unaided. It will be interesting to see what that ear is doing. It is so hard to tell without these tests, as Christian uses that aid well, and I know he is an incredible lip reader. He'll have a couple days of testing at his school, and then we'll take the results to Hopkins and see what they say.

4 comments:

tammy said...

Good luck with the bilateral decision path Christina! It has to be comforting having such an incredible team at Christian's school and Hopkins. I'll be praying for you all and know that either way Christian will always be the rockstar he is!

Are you going to the CI picnic?

Apraxia Mom said...

First of all, please let me say that I think you are an amazing, strong mother. Your children are so lucky to have you. What a gift you are to them! Tina, get ready for a L-O-N-G IEP Meeting when the testing is done! Our initial IEP with our daughter lasted over 3 1/2 hours! Remember: you are his voice. Push for minutes. It is so different than the county program. My brother is an SLP and I took him to a meeting. I never realized that speech is broken down into so many categories (expressive, receptrive, pragmatics, etc....). I believe there are 6 in all. If they find deficits in all of these areas, they MUST allot time for each area to focus on a specific goal.

I found your blog on Leah's links. I have been following you since the day before the implants went in. You have an amazing story and that little boy is even more amazing! Because of you and Leah, I blog now too! Like I don't have anything else to do, right?

Good luck! I am looking forward to seeing what comes of this!

God bless you and your family,
Pattie

Apraxia Mom said...

First of all, I just want to say that you are such a strong woman and incredible mother. I have been following your blog since the weeks before the surgery (found you on Leah's links...our boys were born at the same time!). You sound like you have a great plan in place and I applaud you for that! You always seem to be one step ahead of everyone...how do you do it? I need some pointers!

One suggestion: my daughter's initial IEP lasted over 3 1/2 hours. It is rough. Speech is her biggest issue. I never knew that speech has 6 components (expressive, receptive, pragmatics, etc....). Make sure that they are giving him the minutes that focus on all of those sub-groups. It is so different than the county program. Don't let them tell you that they can only give so much time since the SLP is only in the room so many days per week. That is NO excuse! They have to provide the minutes or pay for him to receive the remainder of the service minutes outside of school.

I am a blogger now thanks to you and Leah. Like I don't have anyting else to do?

Good luck! I am sure you will rock that meeting!

God bless you and your family!
Pattie

leah said...

Good luck with the bilateral evaluation! Christian is doing so well. I'm still envious of the River School- it sounds like an amazing learning environment.