Success in the Stack of IEP’s

Declan’s class was walking a straight line through the halls on their way to the gym.  Having volunteered that afternoon to be the parent helper, I was happily walking along with them.

As we traveled farther down the hallway a student was being talked to outside his classroom.  The adult encouraged the student to continue with his work, but the student refused.  He sat back in a chair and threw his pencil to the floor.

The adult continued to encourage the student to stay focused, but the student was unable.  He pushed his chair back and pushed the desk.

After we turned the corner Declan’s teacher leaned to me and mouthed, “See, Declan doesn’t do that.”

I smiled and whispered back, “Declan doesn’t do that ANYMORE.  He used to spend a lot of time in the hallway for behavior.”

Declan’s teacher gave me a “wow” look and nodded.  And we continued the class’s journey to the gym.

If you were to come to my house, you would see I have a lot of pictures around of my kids.

The pictures that do not make it to a frame but are still ones I want to see every day make it to the refrigerator.  I have turned our refrigerator into a bit of a scrapbook.

It’s kind of messy, I guess.  Everyone in our house likes to look at the pictures.  One will enjoy a picture so much, they will remove the photo for closer inspection.  Relocating the photo is pretty haphazard.

One of my favorite photos of Declan is on the refrigerator.  Declan at his preschool graduation.  After singing “A, B, C you later” he was happy clappy adorable.

I started to think back to that time and realized it wasn’t that long ago – just 18 months.  Declan was 6 years old in the picture.  We were in the final stages of potty training.  Leaving his special education preschool, we were secure in and going into the great unknown – kindergarten.

Sometimes I marvel at how much growth Declan has been able to accomplish.  When I think about the things Declan was working on in his preschool to now it really is a big change.

When I went to Declan’s first IEP meeting for kindergarten, I brought every IEP I had been through with Declan.  Lord knows I am not the best talker especially in a group – so I wanted a visual.  I wanted my message to be clear:

“Declan has a history.  He’s come a long way.”

So, a ginormous pile of papers sat next to me.  Occasionally I would sift through the papers for gusto.  But really – I wanted the stack to send a message.

“With support, you will see great things from him.”

If you were to read Declan’s IEP like a book, and start with the very first one you might think, “Who is this kid?  Who is this physically aggressive kid who is spending most of his days being removed from the classroom?”

That’s Declan.  The kid who couldn’t hold scissors let alone use them.  The kid who only used a handful of words to try to get whole messages across.  The kid who couldn’t use his words to express his feelings and hit instead.

That WAS Declan.  Declan was supported and met those goals.

Each day he moves farther away from the boy in that picture.  Eventually, he will be working with a new teacher and other new professionals.  He will continue to work on his goals.  He will achieve some, and they will no longer be of focus in the IEP.

Someone working with Declan today doesn’t know all that Declan has struggled with in the past.

But it will be in my stack of papers, that will just continue to get bigger and bigger, as a constant reminder of what awesome change can occur with proper support.