Down syndrome IEP - 4 year old

Well, the big boy is 4 years old. He did great with his goals last year. Time for a new IEP. Again, there are no academic goals, still out-of-district placement. See a previous explanation here. However, you can get an idea of how academic goals might look like for a 4 years old by looking at our parental input to the IEP linked below.

Compared to last year, two more speech and language goals were added and the speech service was increased from 2x30min to 2x45min per week.

Agreed upon Service Delivery
Speech Therapy - 2x45min/week
Physical Therapy - 2x30min/week
Occupational Therapy - 2x45min/week

Before the IEP we sent the team our parental concerns. This is a practice we intend to keep. Letting the team know before the meeting what are our concerns and expectations. Usually two weeks after the meeting we receive the first IEP draft. We send our comments and requests for modifications in writing. If they can be addressed without a meeting, we receive a second IEP draft. This iteration receive draft/comment on draft continues until we accept the IEP.

See:

• parental input to 4 years IEP - sent prior to IEP meeting
• accepted IEP
• parental comments to IEP draft - these requests are usually reflected in the accepted IEP 

I'm putting a lot of thought/effort/time into my communication with the team, especially during the IEP season. In fact, I think that spending time getting the plan right it's saving me a lot of time during the school year. There are a couple of books that I found particularly useful during this process.

• Wrightslaw: All About IEPs - pretty much the IEP bible; an incredible useful book, especially if you are just starting this journey. Good to have it as a reference too, because the issues and questions change every year.  
• Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy - The Special Education Survival Guide - one thing we need to understand as parents is that the special education process is driven by data and not by emotion. It is not about the perfect plan, it is not about the best outcome, it is not about reaching the maximum potential. It is about about fair and appropriate services. I think this book does a good job in helping parents understand the difference. 
• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In - amazing book, that I've read several times. Related to how to negotiate without emotion. Putting yourself in the other person shoes and finding the best outcome for everybody. Works in every aspect of our lives. Gives you power and keeps the process  non confrontational.

Keep the cold away

It is not winter yet, but I am getting ready. My son always ends up having to take a couple of rounds of antibiotics, because any little cold ends in pneumonia. I am getting better at preventing this and hopefully we will have a good winter. Here is what I am using to get him through the winter.

Nasal spray with xylitol - really amazing. I wrote about this before, still the best remedy I've found for runny noses. You can buy it, or make your own using this recipe. More about xylitol benefits, uses, and safety here and here.
Zinc, vitamin C and echinacea - for about 10 days to increase metabolism. I like the lozenge by Windmill, they have a good amount of zinc.
Elderberry syrup - every day or when the cold starts. You can buy it, but also make your own using this recipe.

Down syndrome IEP - 3 years old

When my son was 3 years old and transitioned from early intervention to public school, I've searched the internet for some guidelines on how his first IEP should look like. I was lucky to see the IEP of a couple of friends (with children with DS) and get an idea. Obviously, as the name says, the IEP is a highly individualized document, each child has different needs. This is merely to give you an idea how it might look. The IEP is a long, detailed document - here are some selected sections. I have edited out my son's name and replaced it with "the student". Hopefully, that doesn't sound too weird...

You will notice there are no academic goals and normally there should be. However, my son has an out-of-district placement in a full time, fully inclusive private preschool, as opposed to the silly, 3 hours a day / 3 days a week program available in our district. Per our agreement, the public school is responsible for my son's therapy, but not for his academic development. However, you can get an idea of how academic goals might look like for a 3 years old by looking at our parental input to the IEP linked below.

Agreed upon Service Delivery
Speech Therapy - 2x30min/week
Physical Therapy - 2x30min/week
Occupational Therapy - 2x45min/week

Before the IEP we sent the team our parental concerns. This is a practice we intend to keep. Letting the team know before the meeting what are our concerns and expectations. Usually two weeks after the meeting we receive the first IEP draft. If we have any comments, we send them in writing and wait for a new draft. If not we accept and sign the IEP.

For details see:

• parental input to 3 years IEP - sent prior to IEP meeting
• accepted IEP

I'm putting a lot of thought/effort/time into my communication with the team, especially during the IEP season. In fact, I think that spending time getting the plan right it's saving me a lot of time during the school year. There are a couple of books that I found particularly useful during this process.

• Wrightslaw: All About IEPs - pretty much the IEP bible; an incredible useful book, especially if you are just starting this journey. Good to have it as a reference too, because the issues and questions change every year.  
• Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy - The Special Education Survival Guide - one thing we need to understand as parents is that the special education process is driven by data and not by emotion. It is not about the perfect plan, it is not about the best outcome, it is not about reaching the maximum potential. It is about about fair and appropriate services. I think this book does a good job in helping parents understand the difference. 
• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In - amazing book, that I've read several times. Related to how to negotiate without emotion. Putting yourself in the other person shoes and finding the best outcome for everybody. Works in every aspect of our lives. Gives you power and keeps the process  non confrontational.

Research article - effect of low dose curcumin

Low dose of bio-available curcumin (80mg curcumin, equivalent of 1 Longvida® Optimized Curcumin pill) has statistically significant effect on blood and saliva markers. This is great news for mothers like me - I was never comfortable with giving my son high doses of curcumin, but I also wondered if low doses have any effect. Apparently they have. This is not to say that low dose of curcumin is guaranteed to have positive effect on neurodegenerative disorders, but still this study is a good start.

We stopped curcumin about 6 months ago because of drooling issues. I am tempted to start again. This is the curcumin we used.

Diverse effects of a low dose supplement of lipidated curcumin in healthy middle
aged people

Journal: Nutrition
Article first published online: 26 SEPT 2012 (doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-11-79) 

Robert A DiSilvestro, Elizabeth Joseph, Shi Zhao, Bomser Joshua

Abstract

Background - Curcumin extracts of turmeric are proposed to produce health benefits. To date, human
intervention studies have focused mainly on people with existing health problems given high
doses of poorly absorbed curcumin. The purpose of the current study was to check whether in
healthy people, a low dose of a lipidated curcumin extract could alter wellness-related
measures.

Methods - The present study was conducted in healthy middle aged people (40–60 years old) with a low
dose of curcumin (80 mg/day) in a lipidated form expected to have good absorption. Subjects
were given either curcumin (N = 19) or placebo (N = 19) for 4 wk. Blood and saliva samples
were taken before and after the 4 weeks and analyzed for a variety of blood and saliva
measures relevant to health promotion.

Results - Curcumin, but not placebo, produced the following statistically significant changes: lowering
of plasma triglyceride values, lowering of salivary amylase levels, raising of salivary radical
scavenging capacities, raising of plasma catalase activities, lowering of plasma beta amyloid
protein concentrations, lowering of plasma sICAM readings, increased plasma
myeloperoxidase without increased c-reactive protein levels, increased plasma nitric oxide,
and decreased plasma alanine amino transferase activities.