Now thats what I call handwriting without tears!

Sadie has a very hard time with some fine motor skills, such as writing. Her behaviors always spike during writing assignments and we seldom get by without an incident. We have been trying different programs like Handwriting Without Tears with little success. Her writing legibility has improved but her fatigue levels have not. Our neurologist told me that Sadie should be using an iPad in the classroom. Her words were "asking Sadie to write that much is like asking her to run a lap before learning a lesson" And so she wrote a letter to the school recommending "assistive technology".

The school has finally approved Sadie to use an iPad for her writing assignments in the classroom. We had to have a little meeting about it with the "team". At first I felt like the Principle and RSP teacher were fighting against it. I could be wrong but the meeting started off with "an iPad is typically not used at the elementary level..bla bla bla..." I really should give them the benefit of doubt maybe they were just going into formalities but I couldn't wait to find out so I interrupted by saying "We will provide the iPad" That changed the tune of the meeting and we were able to go into exactly when and where we would use it. Some of you hard core special ed law knowing folks would probably call me a push over. The district probably should provide Sadie with "assistive technology" and after a bit of pushing and a million lengthy IEP meetings maybe I could get them to provide that, but the reality is this; that would take so much precious time that we don't have. The district has kind of already forked out a small fortune in services and a one on one aid for my kiddo and hopefully will continue to do so. This was a battle I didn't see any reason to fight. Sadie's grandparents gave us our iPad last year during all the hype about how they help autistic children in hopes that it would benefit Sadie. The iPad has so far been a tremendous tool in her development and using it in school is yet another huge way it can help her. To me it was a no brainer. Sadie's kindergarten teacher is very supportive about trying this out. She is very "Apple Savvy" and is convinced that she needs 23 iPads in her class:) I'm not going to lie this makes me love her even more. During the meeting Sadie was in her wheel chair playing on the iPad. At some point she wanted to show me what she was working on. She had typed "The mall is fun. The mall is a store." "See that" said her teacher. "No tears, no hitting, she did that all on her own. Thats why she needs the iPad!" By the way I totally didn't plan that, she was playing Wheres my water? last I checked.

An IEP idea

I consider myself an IEP beginner. I'm not totally naive but I'm certainly not an old hand at this yet. When Sadie first started kindergarten we switched to a new school that was worlds closer then her autism preschool program. This meant a completely new team. I decided to make a list for each team member with a picture of my daughter on it. I also made extras to have in her binder for any substitute aids or teachers that would need to know her quirks. The list was titled 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SADIE. This was a way to give everyone a small snap shot of the special little girl they would be teaching and helping through out the year.  When you make your list, it has to pass the "stranger test".  What are the 10 most important things a stranger (who is going to be working with your child at school) needs to know about your kiddo? Sadie's ABA therapists helped me come up with this list and number 10 is sort of strategically worded for a particular goal the school was trying to delete from her IEP. I plan on doing this every new year as not only will teachers and aids change but Sadie will too.