IEP amendment goes right!

Andrew and I went to the new school to amend the IEP written in May. Although my conversations have gone well with the school staff and I have been shocked by their responses (in a good way), I was still nervous. None of our meetings went well last year so I was on edge.

We were escorted into a small room with the compliance specialist, the ESE teacher, the assitant principal, and the teacher. "Okay, 4 against 2, I can handle this," I reminded myself. I had my huge red binder with all of Gabriel IEP information, medical information, and more. I made a list of parental concerns. I even had a cute folder with Gabriel's work from this summer. It turns out, I didn't need any of it. They amended his IEP to include time in a sensory room and to have social skills taught in the classroom. The meeting was light and casual. At the end of the meeting, they asked if I had any questions or concerns. I glanced at my list of concerns and didn't feel the need to bring any of them up. Woah! This is new - after combative IEP meetings last year, I could not think of one thing that I wanted to discuss. I asked if Gabriel would need to wear a belt to which they responded, "a belt is a nonissue here." Huh? After 40 minutes of arguing at his last school, a belt is a nonissue?! AWESOME! They could not believe that Gabriel was forced to wear a belt last year and we were told that it's a necessary life skill. I'm still shellshocked - we are working with people who love their jobs and understand special needs. We did not hear once that "Gabriel should be in the autism room." In fact, his teacher told us that she welcome Gabriel and her specialty is reading. She likes to see the transformation in boys in the second grade year and looks forward to helping Gabriel reach his potential this year. We were given a tour of the school that included the boys classrooms and the Smile Lab, the sensory room. I asked how they were able to get the Smile Lab at the school because none of the other public schools I've been to have one. They were suprised and said that all of the schools were given training and the necessary equipment to have a Smile Lab. I'm not surprised after what I've experienced this past year. For a system that believes that inclusion, rather than segregation, is the best way for special needs kids, the majority of the stories are quite the contrary. I experienced it and I know many other people who have as well. I think these wonderful teachers and staff would be even more surprised if I told them everything I heard and experienced last year.