Khalid and Sasha have recognized the stress they have been under, and they are considering attending couples counseling. Sasha has not been as comfortable with the couple's differing religious orientations since Ahmad was diagnosed with Lyme's. Khalid is not sure about the process, however, and they have yet to make a final decision.
* Given Ahmad's struggles, what label would he likely carry if he were identified as needing special education services in his school? Be sure to consider all of his needs in responding to this question.
* From the standpoint of the school and the IEP, what is transition? Describe at least 3 transition goals for Ahmad. When would the IEP team have started to consider and include these?
* Describe the cognitive developmental changes that take place during puberty, and hypothesize how these apply to Ahmad based on this week’s installment.
DECISION POINT ::: Do Khalid and Sasha attend couples counseling? Why or why not? How does the special education eligibility process resolve for Ahmad? What is the outcome?
* From the standpoint of the school and the IEP, what is transition? Describe at least 3 transition goals for Ahmad. When would the IEP team have started to consider and include these?
ReplyDeleteTransition services must be provided on the IEP at age 16 or younger if deemed appropriate by the IEP team. The transition is a set of activities and skills learned to help the student transition from being a student to being an adult. They include such areas as secondary education, vocational skills, employment, and daily life skills. If one area of the IEP is not going to be included because the IEP team deems in unnecessary they must provide the proper documentation as to why it is not necessary. The transition documents are not a separate set of documents but a part of the IEP that must be provided by the school district; there is no provision for a waiver of this.
Helping Ahmad earn his driver’s license could be part of the transition easily because it would allow him to transport himself to and from places such as work.
Self advocacy should be included in almost all transitional paperwork to educated the student on their rights as they go out into the world, so Ahmad would benefit from this knowledge as well.
Ahmad could also include either post-secondary studies or vocational studies in his transitional plan depending on whichever they see most fit for him and which he would prefer to do following high school.
The IEP team would have started by determining Ahmad’s individual needs in regards to instruction, community experiences, employment and other post school living objectives.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/trans.legal.bateman.htm
* Describe the cognitive developmental changes that take place during puberty, and hypothesize how these apply to Ahmad based on this week’s installment.
Adolescence is the beginning of a more advanced stage of cognitive thinking and includes:
-abstract thinking
-considering point of view
-ability to reason
-the ability to think about thinking
Adolescents begin to verbalize more formal opinions for themselves, to question authority, question and analyze, making plans, making long term goals, and then later thinking about career goals, life goals, society, and global thoughts.
Ahmad is still a sixteen year old male and is still experiencing many of the same cognitive markers of the common sixteen year old. He is somewhat behind cognitively but still wants to be able to drive, set goals for himself through the grades for the car, and still wants to become more independent through driving. He is still very similar to the common teenager in many ways.
http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/adolescent/cogdev.html
* Given Ahmad's struggles, what label would he likely carry if he were identified as needing special education services in his school? Be sure to consider all of his needs in responding to this question.
ReplyDeleteIf he were identified for special services at school, Ahmad’s case would have to be looked at very carefully. While he does present with emotional/behavioral problems, he also has physical issues and is more recently presenting with cognitive issues. While all of these have their own specific labels, Ahmad would probably be best suited to receive services under the label of “Other Health Impairments.” This label can account and have a plan for not only the issues that may present in a classroom, but also for days when Ahmad is too weak or fatigued to make it to class on any. Clearly Ahmad’s disease is debilitating in more than one aspect of his life and he could really benefit from services that could be provided by an IEP.
http://www.naset.org/2248.0.html
Decision Point:
ReplyDeleteWhile Khalid was reluctant to attend at first, but upon Sasha’s insistence and his desire to keep his family together for Ahmad the two do decide to attend couples counseling. Khalid remains skeptical, though. Sasha sees the counseling as an opportunity for an outlet to express all of the feelings that she has held about numerous issues for a long time. She hopes that this will help to fix their relationship but also worries that unloading years of feelings on Khalid will just put more strain on their relationship. Regardless, she is still optimistic. Khalid sees counseling as more of a last resort and puts significantly less effort into the process. He wants to save his family but is too afraid and ashamed to face the issues that abound, and for this reason does not have the motivation to put the effort necessary into the counseling process.
Ahmad goes through testing and it is clear to some that he needs an IEP, but to others he just seemed to be a problem child. After consulting the teachers he has had throughout the years and seeing the progression of his disease, the school system decides to give him an IEP under the label of Other Health Impairments. While this label does grant him certain services, he could have been eligible for more that would have improved his quality of life and ability to perform in school. While Sasha wanted to fight for more services for her son, Khalid ignored the problem. With no support from her husband and the stress she already had with their existing problems, she settled for the IEP that Ahmad received and hoped that it would be enough.