What activities occur in the students natural environments that enable progress toward mastery of identified IEP goals?
What is actually happening here that will enable the student to move toward mastery of his or her goals? If the answer is “Nothing,” then assistive technology will do nothing either. Assistive technology is simply a means toward participating in activities that build skills. Think back on my comments about attitudes and how my expectations as a first-grade teacher fostered the creation of an environment in which progress could be made. If there are no tasks that provide meaningful practice, mastery cannot possibly occur. I have been in conversations with people who have said, “Nothing is really happening here. All we do is feed and change.” Well, in that case there are two areas to be explored: (1) How might the environment be enriched for all students? and (2) How can the students be more actively communicative, participatory, and productive within the daily feeding and changing tasks? It’s far better to have some control over the tasks of the environment than to just be “done unto!”
Related Questions
- In IDEA 97, the "general curriculum" is mentioned often. What does it mean that an IEP must address how the student will be involved and progress in the general curriculum?
- After class my para-ed and I discuss the progress of a medical component of a student’s IEP. How do we code this activity?
- What provisions must the IEP include to assess the progress the student is making in achieving the goals?
