IEP: Now that I think about it...

it's the first time I'm disappointed with the school's handling of the IEP. Dropping the speech therapy and leaving nothing much left on her IEP to work on seems lazy to me. The speech teacher is great, but she is teaching to the test. Sure, Little Squirrel can perform brilliantly when it's scripted and expected and prompted and rewarded. I don't see the same progress they do. But I'm not sure the public school system has the capability to drill down on all the gray areas, and insurance doesn't pay for enough therapy sessions to make any long term difference either.

IEP results

The IEP meetings get smaller in attendance and the IEP itself is a third of its original size from when it began 4 years ago. They are keeping her in the social group but now her speech therapy is being reduced to once a month and "check ins." I didn't argue because she is a different person at school and as long as she is performing to standards there I can't really prove what goes on outside of school. She really does live two lives. School gives her the structure and routine she needs. She is successful there but I'm also concerned that they are overestimating her since her fierce survival skills seem to enable her to cope and blend in. Yet that can leave kids like Little Squirrel vulnerable, when given less supervision and support that they actually do need to navigate complicated social situations.

However, the progress has been huge and this is the first year I haven't had a single call or email from the teacher already by this point.