Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
Gwendolyn HillParticipant
Hi Melinda, I really like your goal. I think I may borrow it, or a close faximile of it. I like the added alliteration and rhyming piece.
Gwendolyn HillParticipantBaseline: Child can currently name the following 5 actions: eat, drink, sit, run, walk.
During a small group lesson, and given a picture or the action of a peer, child will imitate the action and say the name of the action for 20 new verbs, with 80% accuracy over 3 data collections per month, as measured by the SLT, and/ or special education teacher.
1. Yes, it has a beginning and end. Beginning is date new IEP and end is when the child has imitated and named 16 actions on at least 3 separate occasions. Both imitating and naming actions are observable.
2. Yes, # of actions imitated and stated can be quantitatively measured. 16 verbs, on 3 separate occasions can be counted and written down.
3. Yes, the child needs more than a 5 word action vocabulary to interact verbally with peers and staff in the pre-academic early childhood special education classroom. Since this child is 3 and my district does not have a gen. ed. program for 3-year olds, there is no opportunity for inclusion at this time. But adding more expressive vocabulary can help with interactions at home and the community at large.
4. Yes, building a larger expressive vocabulary is a precursor to expanded talking in all environments.
5. Yes, it is using words to communicate.
6. Yes, the child can generalize this when talking at home, at the store, etc.
7. Yes, child can be taught to imitate and name actions that occur at home, at the babysitters, at sunday school, in the cafeteria, etc.
8. Yes, it is designed for the SLT and sped teacher to record data, but it can also be taught and supported by parents, babysitters, and other school staff.Gwendolyn HillParticipantIn your own words, consider whether there is always a distinction between functional and academic goals. Does an IEP goal need to be one or the other, or both? Provide at least one real or hypothetical example to bolster your argument.
I do not see how there could ever be a definitive ALWAYS or NEVER answer to the above question about goals: functional, academic, or both. My opinion is that, if needed, both academics and functionality can be present in a goal, but by far the functionality part is most important. And, whether academics are even functional skills for a particular child/student depends solely on the developmental level and needs of that child. Case in point: I was just discussing with a co-worker (sped teacher for intensive students) an IEP that we inherited from another school district. The child is on the Autism spectrum, is 8 years old, but functioning right now more like a 3-year old. She had been one of our students the year before, but taken away for foster care in another city. Her IEP had a couple very academic goals for reciting the alphabet, and saying the sounds for so many letters. The IEP had only one apeech/communication goal which was an articulation goal…the child is not even able to communicate she wants to eat. Reintroducing this child to using an AAC device so she can communicate again is the most functional and most humane course of action right now. Reciting the alphabet…not so much.Gwendolyn HillParticipantHi Olena, I would agree with you that practicing phonemic awareness and phonics skills of blending, rhyming and the like can be very beneficial for those whose auditory modality is functional. However, as a speech therapist and reading specialist, I have come across many children who have been “beaten over the head” with phonics, when they have an auditory processing disability. Using a visual, whole word approach is much more appropriate and functional. For preschool and pre-kindergarten children, I feel that singing songs, telling stories, filling in blanks in predictive stories/songs, or finger plays with songs are more functional and participatory. Sorry, you got the brunt of my dissatisfaction with my current school district’s curriculum who pushes letter names and sound recital for 4 year olds, at the expense of more whole language activities.
Gwendolyn HillParticipantHi Olena,
I am in agreement that Filter 1 has not been met. We have no information on what skills this child has, doesn’t have, etc. Without some background, we do not know if not being able to pair labels, etc. with people or actions is from lack of experience or actually a part of a disability. I also agreed with your assessment that filter 2 & 3 had been met, but not filter 4. Our reasons were slightly different, but along the same track.Gwendolyn HillParticipant“During a variety of daily activities, (insert child’s name) will correctly pair a label/name, a symbol, and/or an action of one object, person, and/or event to another. The child will correctly pair five different labels, symbols, or actions each day for two consecutive weeks. For example, the child will correctly pair number tags with corresponding objects by counting, child will select a buddy to read with when directed to “find a friend”, child will pair matching letter tags with letter sounds, child will name each animal in a story, child will give each child a napkin during snack, child will hang their backpack on a hook).”
Filter 1: Does the need arise from the child having a disability?
As has been mentioned in previous posts, without a PLAAF, any baseline information, or even background eligibility information, we just have to assume that since there is an IEP being written, this child has been determined by the team to actually have a disability. But, I cannot say definitively that Filter 1 has been met.Filter 2: Is it having an adverse impact on their access, participation and progress? The skills listed within the goal are definitely skills needed to function in a basic 3 or 4-year old educational environment. Our student not having this basic ability to pair names/labels/actions with another event, person or action would definitely impair their access to activities, etc within their environment. Filter 2 has been met.
Filter 3: Does it require specialized instruction? If he child has not yet picked up these very basic skills just by observing his surroundings, then yes specialized instruction is needed to help him/her make the necessary connections. Filter 3: is met.
Filter 4: Can it reasonably be met in a year’s time? I would say it could definitely be met in a year or far less for a typically developing child, but I have no background information to know just how atypical our chlld is or how developmentally delayed he/she is. I cannot give a definitive met or not met answer on this.
Gwendolyn HillParticipantMy reply is to Rebecca’s post. I liked many of your suggestions on how to make the statements less opinion and more observation-based. I myself like information that is data driven, such as frequency or percentage of accuracy. I also like more information about the environment and circumstances of the events. I especially liked your comment about Elise’s vocalizations: I would give anecdotal examples on what vocalizations and word approximations look/sound like for further understanding. Being a speech therapist myself, I appreciate that level of information.
Gwendolyn HillParticipantGreen or Red? Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited. I do not see this one as a full-on red, but it is not green either. As least the statement has examples of what “upset” means, but I agree with Rebecca that “prefers” is not an observation, but an opinion. It would also be helpful to have some specifics on how close is too close, and how often during a day or a week does this happen.
Green or Red? As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.Totally RED…This is information for the ESER. I also have a pet peeve about just using abbreviations for test names.
Green or Red? Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch. I vote this one basically GREEN. It is an inclusive list of her forms of communication. What would also be good to know is which forms she uses most often, or rank order them from most used to least used, with some actual data of frequency of each per day. Some of these forms may also be situational, such as only used with specific people, or for specific activities.
Green or Red? Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities. Mostly RED…Saying attention problems right at the start is a very negative opinion, and bound to make any parent feel defensive. Even though a couple examples of his “problem” are mentioned, there is no indication of how often this happens to what degree and what responding inappropriately means. Could be anything from farting to giving an incorrect answer.
Green or Red? Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well. I rate this one a bit more red than green. It is just too vague. We need to know how much more effective auditiory input is than visual for Zung, such as, After listening to a short story, Zung is able to verbally state 4 details and answer 2 “wh” questions with 100% accuracy. When reading a similar level story, Zung is able to restate one detail and answer 2 “wh” questions with 50% accuracy.
Green or Red? Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.Red and green…the colors info is very vague, by “know” does that mean he cannot identify or match ANY colors, or is this a naming colors issue? At least with the counting information, there are a couple specifics. -
AuthorPosts