Transition Meeting

Transitioning from the Early Intervention (EI) program to the Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) can be an overwhelming experience for a first-timer like myself. But I found ways to make the process less daunting. We had the 6-month IFSP review last week and the transition meeting yesterday. In our state and our school district, the transition meeting was scheduled separately from the final 6-month IFSP review. Overall, both meetings went very well.

Preparing for the Transition Meeting
1. Attend workshops - I attended workshops such as "Your First IEP" at the 2010 Down Syndrome Conference and "Next Steps" at the local Disability Fair. These workshops gave me a chance to listen and talk to other parents about their experiences with the transition process. I picked up great information and tips at these workshops. It was at one of these workshops that I learned about a good resource called "Transition from Early Intervention". There are also helpful workshops such as "IDEA Part C to B" and "Understanding the IEP Process", both of which I was not able to attend.

2. Prepare a Developmental Achievement Chart - This document lists Matthew's can-do's and things he needed to work on in all areas of development (communication skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, self-care/ independent skills, social skills & self-concept, cognitive skills, senses & perception). I typed it up on Microsoft Word, patterned after the downloadable .pdf file is available on the MPACT (Missouri Parents Act) website's resource page. I highly recommend preparing this (or similar document) for the school representative(s) at the transition meeting. I met with three school reps, gave them a copy of this document and they were impressed and grateful to have such specific detail about Matthew's current development. While this document highlights Matthew's many strengths, it also emphasizes the fact that he has developmental delays and still needs help. Hence, he would still need certain therapy services.

3. Prepare a list of questions - I listed all my questions on a sheet of paper. At the transition meeting, I checked off questions as they were answered. My questions were:
- How and when will it be determined what services Matthew is eligible for?
- What does the evaluation process entail?
- Where will the evaluation take place?
- When will the evaluation be? Can we schedule separate evaluations?
- What type of testing may be done? What assessment tool will be used?
- Can a family member be present during the evaluation?
- After the evaluation, when will the results be available? Will I get my own copy?
- Is the Reading of the Evaluation Results scheduled separately from the evaluation day and IEP meeting?
- Are there "typically developing" kids placed in the class at any time during the week?
- Will Matthew be pulled out of the classroom for all types of therapies? Are some therapies pushed in the classroom?
- Are therapies group or individual?
- How can parents communicate with the teacher and therapists? How often?
- What supplies will Matthew need?
- Will the school need hearing and vision information from Matthew's doctors? How current must they be?
- What other information will the school need about Matthew?
- How will teachers and therapists communicate with Matthew, assuming he's still not saying understandable words when he's in the program? Will assistive technology devices be used?
- How will Matthew's classroom placement be determined?
- How many students are there in a class?
- Are there field trips parents can participate in?
- Who can I call if I have more questions?

4. Start a binder - To file everything from communication logs between the school and myself, copies of IEP's (Individualized Education Plan), evaluations, rights and procedural safeguards, and other information pertaining to Matthew's education.

Other helpful tips I picked up from the workshops but didn't apply in our situation were:
1. Visit the early childhood centers or preschools to get a good idea of which one you want your child to attend. - We don't have a spread of choices for special education in our area but the few parents that I had spoken to about our local ECSE program had only good things to say about it. So I didn't feel the need to visit the school or look around prior to the meetings.

2. Explore the necessity of Senate bill 112 - This is for children who turn 3 mid-school year. Matthew turns 3 close to the beginning of the school year so it is not necessary in our case.

The Meeting
Our EI service coordinator, three school representatives, and Matthew's speech therapist, who also works at the school, were present at the meeting. Matthew's other therapists offered to be at the transition meeting but I didn't think it was necessary. I would, however, want them present at our First IEP meeting, which will be scheduled close to Matthew's birthday.

During the meeting, we went over the evaluation process and how services can be center-based or provided at the preschool, daycare, and/or at home. That decision will be made at the IEP meeting. Our preference would be to have Matthew receive services in the preschool setting so that he also gets the benefits of socializing with other kids in his class. Each class usually has a maximum of 12 children, sometimes a few more toward the end of the schoolyear. Each class has "typically developing" kids to serve as role models. I forgot to ask how many there were per class and if they were there during the whole school week, which is every morning for 4 days in the week.

Some therapy services are pushed in the classroom, which means the therapist will work with Matthew in the classroom as they are participating in the class activities. Some therapy services are done in a group and some are individual, depending on factors such as Matthew's needs, effectiveness, and if we choose to specify one way or another in his IEP.

I can expect to receive quarterly progress notes from the teacher and therapists. At the same time, I can contact them anytime if I have questions or concerns. Some parents communicate with the school via a notebook on a regular (maybe weekly) basis if needed. I personally think that a notebook or email would be a good way to communicate with the school so I can have everything in writing.

Since Matthew's current speech therapist in the EI program also works at the school, she will be assigned to Matthew when he is in school. This should make for a seamless transition in speech therapy for Matthew and one less adjustment to make.

The classrooms are packed with toys and activities to stimulate any child's imagination and make learning a lot of fun. As soon as we walked into one of the classrooms, Matthew immediately started investigating the different toys and activity areas. There is a separate area for speech therapy if a child needs to be pulled out of the classroom for it. And there is a separate room for physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT). The PT and OT room had a trampoline, a swing, climbing equipment and other fun stuff.

From what I gathered at the meeting, everyone seems to be excited about having Matthew there. It was pretty funny and cute to hear about how everyone wanted to work with Matthew and they were going to have to fight over him or draw straws. Some of the teachers/ therapists hadn't met him yet or had only briefly met him. Maybe it was his charming, sweet smile that drew them in. Maybe it's because of all the good things his speech therapist has said about him. Whatever it is, it makes me smile.

What's Next?
The school will contact us in August or September to schedule an individual evaluation. This may be done in several sessions, depending on how many areas of development they will need to assess and depending on how well Matthew puts up with the process. If the diagnosticians/ evaluators get enough information about Matthew's development from updated EI progress notes in August and other information I provide them with, they may not have to evaluate him in some areas of development.

I will write about our experience with the evaluation process once we have gone through it. Stay tuned!


Related posts:
Preparing for the Final 6-month IFSP Review

Preparing for the Final 6-month IFSP Review

Being enrolled in the Early Intervention (EI) program involves creating an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) that outlines our goals for Matthew and how we would achieve them. He's been in the EI program since he was a month old. Goals are set with the coming year in mind and based on where he is with different areas of development. I also meet with his therapists and service coordinator every 6 months to review the IFSP and see if anything needs to be added or changed.

We recently met for the final 6-month review. Matthew will be transitioning to the Early Childhoold Special Education (ECSE) program in October this year at one of the local schools. He'll be 3 years old. On one hand, I can't believe he'll be going to school soon. On the other hand, I think he is so ready to be in school.

Preparing for the IFSP Meeting

1. Review previous IFSP before the meeting.
To me, going over the previous IFSP is my least favorite thing to do. The document is confusing and I dare say that the lay-out is not "family friendly", especially when certain outcomes have been "continued with changes". But moving on, I make myself go over the IFSP before the meeting to note accomplished outcomes and necessary changes.

2. Look at developmental milestone lists.
One of Matthew's therapists provided me with lists of developmental milestones arranged by age range and area of development. The lists allow me to generally evaluate Matthew's developmental age based on his abilities. More importantly, the lists help me see what we can or should be working on next.

Other assessment tools such as HELP (Hawaii Early Learning Profile) are available to families. I have no experience using HELP so I wouldn't be able to share any other information about this other than that it exists.

Looking at assessment lists hasn't always been easy. I used to focus on the age specified for a skill and only saw it as confirmation that Matthew was behind. Over time and a conscious effort to look at progress and the road ahead, I can now look at such lists without getting hung up on the age. Matthew is doing what he can and has certainly shown a lot of progress in all areas of development even if he may be behind in certain areas such as speech and language, gross motor, fine motor, and self-help. We just have to keep working, move forward, and celebrate progress.

3. Prepare a summary of abilities and corresponding skills that need to be worked on.
This is actually the first time I typed up a summary of Matthew's strengths and weaknesses. I did it as preparation for Matthew's transition meeting, which is next week, and wished I had done this for past IFSP meetings. It showed everyone that I was on top of things and knew exactly what I wanted for him. I used the Developmental Achievement Chart form, which is available on the resources page of the MPACT (Missouri Parents Act) website. The downloadable form is in .pdf format so I created my own version using Microsoft Word.

I will give a copy of this summary to the school representative at the transition meeting next week and an updated copy of it at Matthew's evaluation, which will be close to when he goes to school. This is also a good document to give to his teacher in October.

Care Notebook, Developmental Journal, and Medical Records

So many doctors appointments, so many therapy sessions, so many milestones and developments to track, so much paper. While I would love to go paperless and e-file all of Matthew's records, it's simply not possible for certain things, for my file organization madness.

Care Notebook
I maintain a separate notebook/ binder for pertinent health information about Matthew. After Matthew was born, I had been looking for a good way to keep track of medical information, doctors visits, and routines, among many other things. I found 2 Special Care notebooks and merged them for my purpose by printing the pre-formatted pages that were applicable to us. It took less time than drafting my own forms. See Complete Care Notebook and Care Notebook at the Center for Children with Special Needs. Searching for "special needs binder" on Google will also locate other pre-made forms that are customizable.

The care notebook makes it easy for me to share health information with Matthew's doctors. In a way, this notebook is my letter of intent for Matthew since it contains:

• Emergency Information - Matthew's medical information, family information & medical insurance details.

• Health History - my pregnancy history, Matthew's birth history, family medical history, Matthew's diagnosis.

• Health Tracking - phone conversations and visits with doctors, immunization record, vaccine information, test results, hospitalizations and surgeries, medications, treatments, allergy record, behavior record, dental care record, growth tracking forms & charts.

• Expense Tracking - medical and therapy expense log.

• Care Team Contact List, with a plastic insert for business cards - primary care physician and specialists, pharmacies and medical suppliers, home care providers, child care providers, community resources.

• Education Plan - education record, a copy of the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), other programs or classes.

• Daily Routines - information for care providers and school about habits, preferences, diet, behaviors, and anything else they should know about.

Developmental Journal for Babies and Children with Down Syndrome
I first came across the link to this journal on Down Syndrome New Mama. I downloaded the journal, printed every page and put it in a binder. I only started using this journal recently so I'll have to backtrack and record Matthew's achievements in the pre-developmental journal days. I have record of his milestones elsewhere, but it's not as detailed as this journal.

One thing I have learned about myself is that I have grown to like lists. Making a short list of Matthew's goals for different areas of development helps me stay focused and not feel too overwhelmed. I like this journal because it is very comprehensive and segregates the different aspects of development such as cognition & play, communication, social-emotional, motor & sensory, and self-help. It also has columns to record dates or general time frames when a skill is emerging, developing, and achieved, as well as a column for notes. The format allows me to see which areas need extra attention. Then I can make a short list of activities we can do for the week or until the next therapy session when I can raise my concerns and get more ideas.


Medical Records File
One folder is labeled "Matthew's Medical and Dental Records" and contains labwork results, information from doctor visits, and other medical records pertaining to Matthew. It is categorized:

• Cardiology - for echocardiogram reports.

• Dentist - for all dental reports, etc.

• ENT - for hearing test reports and any other paperwork from the ENT.

• Geneticist - for the letter from the genetic counselor who talked to us during the week Matthew was born. The letter summarized our meeting and confirms the Down syndrome diagnosis.

• Labwork - for bloodwork test reports.

• Nurses To Go - for records of all the home visits when Matthew was a few weeks old, needing bloodwork.

• Opthamologist - for eye exam reports, etc.

• Pediatrician - for well visit summaries printed by our pediatrician's office.

First Steps (Early Intervention) File
Another important folder is Matthew's First Steps (Early Intervention) folder. In it, I have dividers for IFSPs (Individualized Family Service Plans), invoices received, and statements of services received. This file has a 3-year life span as Matthew transitions out of Early Intervention when he turns 3.

Yearly Medical & Dental Invoices/ Receipts File
A separate folder also exists for Medical & Dental Invoices/ Receipts of the family accumulated during the year. This should make it easier to look up medical expenses for insurance-related purposes in addition to having a separate Health Insurance folder with our claim summaries.

With my current system, it is very easy for me to find health information about Matthew that I may need to share with doctors, future school nurses, and future caregivers. It should be easy to add new dividers or new folders if needed. This works right now but as with anything else, there's always room for improvement. Maybe one day, I'll have all of this on a computer.