You may or may not remember last year when I had L’s first IEP meeting, but it was a disaster. Actually, L’s whole school year last year was kind of a waste of time and a hassle. I think by the end of the year, her teacher had suggested at least 8 different diagnoses (ADD, ADHD, Motor apraxia, Diabetes (!?!?!), Dyslexia, etc.) She waffled between suggesting L has very serious issues and denying there was anything remotely out of the ordinary with her.
We were thrilled when the principal suggested that L have a different teacher this year. The new teacher works with a new occupational therapist too. After only 2 weeks in school, the OT pulled me aside and asked to revise L’s IEP. L’s primary reason for receiving an IEP was “differences in sensory processing”, yet her original IEP did not address sensory issues at all. (Thus my crying at the meeting and L receiving private-pay vision therapy and OT over the summer).
One of the key issues L had at school was her complete failure in all aspects of circle time. After only two weeks, the new OT realized that L has a problem focusing in circle time because she is sensory seeking and has vestibular issues. It takes a massive amount of effort for her to keep her body still and in her spot. The new plan calls for “heavy work” right before circle time, a wiggle chair and a weighted object or blanket to help her body stay grounded. I am so relieved to have a team working with us instead of against us, I could cry.
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Today we also had a bit of a school issue with M. At school, they were told to write a story about apples. Most kids wrote 2 pages, M wrote 10 loooong pages. They were supposed to make a “sloppy copy” and then recopy it in their best writing.
Even though she knew she would have to recopy it, when it came time to do the work, M had a breakdown. She became obsessed with doing it perfectly. She erased just about every third letter she wrote. It took 45 minutes for her to rewrite half a page, complete with moaning, complaining and eventually sobbing.
I was not pressuring her at all. I was trying to help her get one page done so she could take a break and learn to pace herself, but she was all worked up into a tizzy despite my attempts to downplay getting the whole thing done. I also tried to convince her it didn’t have to be perfect, just a nice effort. She refused to listen to me.
After 40 minutes of drama, I called M’s teacher and explained the situation. Kind woman that she is, she explained that M chose to write such a long story on her own. She also talked to M and told her she could either edit the story to make it shorter or take a few extra days to get it done. Only then did M calm down.
I am not sure if it is a good for M to learn that sometimes it is better not to show off going so far above and beyond the minimum requirements of the assignment. I have never been a perfectionist, so I can’t relate to M’s angst. I think she inherits the perfectionist gene from my mom, Ms. “I have never satisficed in my entire life”.
