November 27, 2006

I held my best MAPS/IEP session to this point. The student, his mother, his speech therapist, transition and job experience coordinator, specially designed phy ed teacher and myself met to discuss our student. Everyone shared information freely, and I felt I really began to understand the student. I realized that his mother was very informed on his options for the future, and she was really looking ahead at the options available. She told us that she had some new ideas based on the meeting. The student said, "I wish IEPs did not take forever!" His mother said, "It was really nice. Different people had different ideas. It makes it all a little more personal. It gave some time for (the student) to have a little input. It was more spontaneous for him." This session was the longest yet at almost two hours, but I really felt that it was worth it to truly understand this student better. He is a very unique individual, and we all walked away with more understanding. I also had input from one of his regular education teachers, which is not always the case. Everyone seemed much more involved than in traditional meetings.