IEPs, Data Collection, & Goal Writing

IEP 

• Special Education Law

  • governed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

• must impact an individual's ability to access education and impact their ability to perform in the classroom, and require specialized academic instruction

• OT is considered a related service

  • OT can never practice on their own under an IEP; there will always be other professionals (special education, PT, psych etc.) that will be involved

• Can sometimes be referred to as a PPT meeting (Planning & Placement Team Meeting) 

504 Plan:

• governed by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• ensures that students with disabilities have equal access to education

  • A disability impacts a student's ability to access education in the general education classroom, but does not require specialized academic instruction

• OT is considered a stand-alone service

  • OT can be the only service a child receives and does not require the presence or involvement of other professional services

  • may have OT for a short amount of time -- services are typically supported by accommodations

IEP Components

• Present Levels of Performance (PLOPs)

  • • explanation of current performance

    • strengths

      • a goal should not address anything that is considered a strength

    • needs

      • **The concerns/needs written need to align with the goals set within the IEP

    • impact of deficits

  • Includes areas: academics, fine/gross motor, adaptive/self-help skills, communication

  • A PLOP can be applied to different areas on the IEP (e.g. OT may be responsible for the self-help PLOPs or fine motor/writing PLOPs, but special education would more likely be responsible for reading-based PLOPs)

Goals

• written for one calendar year

• Each goal is assigned to a primary party who is responsible for the goal's implementation

• Typically, goals can be pretty broad, discussing the general area that the service will focus on, and the following objectives can be 

• If goals are met early, the involved professionals of the specific goals will meet for another IEP meeting to set up an addendum/revision of the plan

  • This will not reset the annual revision -- the yearlong meeting will remain at the same start time

  • E.g. If OT and PT goals set in June is met in September, an IEP revision meeting with the OT and PT will be held shortly after (ex. Nov) to revise those specific goals that will then be addressed and reviewed the following June for the annual 

Objectives

• related to each goal

• can be shorter periods of time OR are smaller components of the overall goal

• Typically, objectives are more measurable and specific than the goal it is related to, representing a step towards/component addressing the goal

  • The objectives can have different tasks (write name and use dynamic tripod grasp) to measure the same overarching focus of the goal (improve fine and visual motor skills)

• Can also be scaffolded in which the objectives focus on one task with each objective measuring different levels of mastery of that particular task (e.g. first objective will set up for the next objective and you cannot complete the third until the second is mastered)

  • Scaffolded objectives typically align with more specific goals

  • Can be difficult to guess where a student will be at a year out based on their rehab potential

Nonparticipation Justification

• specialized instruction and supports cannot be adequately provided within the general education classroom

  • if removing a student from a classroom, this justifies why they are being pulled out and why the service cannot be provided in the classroom

    • e.g. access to specialized tools or decreased auditory or visual inputs 

• the goal is to develop the student's skills so they can participate more fully in the general education setting in the future

• removal from the general classroom occurs only when necessary to address specific needs with the goal of strengthening participation and eventual reintegration into inclusive settings

Accommodations

• Allows the student to complete the same assignment or test but with changes in the timing, formatting, setting, scheduling, response or presentation of material

• Expected to do the same task as the rest of the class, just delivered or completed in a different way (e.g. longer time or movement breaks or flexible seating)

• E.g. if a child can spell the word "firetruck" but has trouble physically writing to demonstrate their ability to spell, you could give them options with one listing the word spelled correctly, and the child can choose the correct one to still demonstrate they can spell

Modifications

• An adjustment to a test or assignment that changes, lowers, or reduces what is measured or learned

• E.g. if a child has trouble spelling the word "firetruck", they will give the word "arm" instead to lower the level of difficulty of the task being asked -- they can demonstrate they know how to spell, just not at the same level of difficulty as the classroom

• *Further examples on Clark (p 224)

• SMART Goals

• • A- Audience (learner)

  • B - Behavior (What we want them to do)

  • C - Condition (How we want it achieved)

    • given a handwriting checklist...

    • after participating in a sensory break ...

    • given hand-held assistance...

    • during recess ...

    • upon transitioning to class ...

    • after demonstration ...

  • D - Degree (the amount expected [trials, percentage])

    • ... 4 out of 5 consecutive trials

    • ... for 5 minutes

    • ... with 80% accuracy

    • ... complete all steps over 10 consecutive trials

  • Typically, are formatted as CABD

  • Ex. Given modeling & verbal cues, Henry will engage shank of a zipper at tabletop level in 3/4 trials.

• DO NOT include minimal, moderate, or maximum levels in goals-- they do not translate well into schools because they can be subjective 

• Documentation needs to be specific (especially when recommending verbal cues) because they can be interpreted differently (e.g. percentages, trials)

• Prompting & cueing is not interchangeable

• Ask the following questions: 

  • what are we actually doing when we provide minimal, moderate, and maximal levels of physical assistance?

  • can this be replicated amongst therapist who measure the data?

  • is this understood by all disciplines and the parents

• Be sure that conditions do not restrict your achievement of objectives (e.g. student achieves level of accuracy but requires 3 verbal cues, instead of 2)

• Be sure to describe the strategies being used (e.g. handwriting checklist, editing rubric, modified lined paper, wedge cushion).

• Documentation for evaluation procedure and performances criteria on the IEPs conflict with goals/objectives