strength based IEPs

"In educational situations, it is essential that parents understand
the nature of the weak areas, what skills need to be learned to
strengthen those areas, and how the strong areas can be used to help
remediate the child's weak areas."
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/tests_measurements.html

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IEP_guide/links

Subject: Do teachers' lesson plans reflect children's IEP goals and
objectives?

the IEP journey are listed below in question form. Answering yes to
these questions and the ones posed in a later section (reviewing the
IEP) indicates that our destination may be in sight.

Do teachers' lesson plans reflect children's IEP goals and
objectives?
Is the staff person responsible for teaching an objective(s)
monitoring the child's progress as indicated on the IEP?
Are the periodic reviews taking place as scheduled or as needed?
Are related services being provided as indicated on the IEP?
Has an IEP meeting been scheduled to discuss expected changes in
objectives, goals, services, and/or placement?
Does instruction focus on the child's strengths and needs?
Are team members working together to implement IEP goals and
objectives?
Have friendships and natural supports been facilitated within the
school and community for full implementation of the child's program?
Has the team made appropriate instructional modifications in order to
support the child's participation in integrated school and community
settings?
http://www.hyperlexia.org/iep_roadmap.html

Using the PEPSI
to identify Student Strengths and Growth Needs
Once a PEPSI profile is established, there is a graphic
representation of a student's strengths and weaknesses. Use the
following example of a seven year old youngster to practice looking
for student strengths and areas that might be important to focus on
as part of an individual education plan.

Area Strengths Build-ons
Physical Good large muscle coordination
Dresses self
Prints own name
Not washing hands after toileting
Needs help tying shoes
Runs out of energy before tasks are completed

Emotional Very trusting
Enjoys helping when asked
Tattles to solve problems with peers
Has frequent tantrums
Very stubborn, willful

Philosophical Wants to be praised
Usually tells the truth
Very loving
Bossy with others
Takes others' things and cries when confronted
No recognition of others' needs

Social Likes to please the teacher
Loves to organize things
Tends to interact with adults or play alone
Possessive

Intellectual Counts to ten
Writes own name when asked
Reads twenty sight words
Likes to copy from the board
Preschool grade level work
Five minute attention span
Not able to follow two consecutive directions

Now, write two objectives for each of the PEPSI areas. Stay focused
on strengthening the student's potential. Try to address one of the
objectives toward strengths the student already has.

Physical

1.

2.

Emotional

1.

2.

Philosophical

1.

2.

Social

1.

2.

Intellectual

1.

2.

Building on a Child's Strengths
When I'm called upon to assist a child who is struggling in
school, I find the spotlight is often focused on a child's
weaknesses. This is particularly common for the child with poor
social skills, communication skills, learning disabilities, and/or
any other disability. Children with disabilities already feel they
are different. It is up to us to teach all children that different is
not bad, and that each of us has special strengths. We can help that
process along by showcasing every child's special interest and
strengths.

Years of remedial effort have been poured into fixing what's
broken, the deficit, rather than capitalizing on the strength and
what works. In other words, if a child can't read, hours are spent
teaching that child with methods that didn't work in the first place.
If there are behavior issues, the same punitive measures are used
over-and-over, yet there's no improvement.

When the spotlight shifts onto areas where your child shines, in
his/her areas of strengths and personal interest, there are often
very dramatic changes in work effort and negative behaviors often
dramatically diminish.

Child psychologist and recognized authority on ADHD, Dr. Robert
Brooks, developed the term "islands of competence" in reference to
these areas of strength. I interpret his concept in the following
way:

Everyone has strengths, but sometimes they're not obvious. We must
find those areas of strength and build on them. Every person must
feel they are making a contribution to their environment. If we
accept both these concepts, the obvious thing to do is to build upon
them. Every child must feel important and every child must taste
success.
Once academic needs are determined and appropriate services are in
place, it's extremely important to begin building self-confidence and
self-reliance. It's essential to have a concerted effort both at home
and at school, with clear communication between the school officials
and the parents.

Dr. Brooks likes for each of his young patients to have a special
job at school in an area related to the child's interests and needs.
It can be something like feeding pets or taking attendance to the
office monitor. This can take creativity and ingenuity, but it's
essential.

The schools I visit are sometimes resistant to this effort. After
all, only recently has there been such emphasis on this positive
approach to resolve behavior issues or low self-esteem problems.
Sometimes school personnel look at us like we've lost a few screws.
But it works! Inappropriate behaviors diminish, the child walks
taller, often begins to show improved self-confidence, and
demonstrates reliability. He feels needed and recognized for his
efforts.

Sadly, the child with a disability that impacts behavior and
social skills is often the last picked to help out with different
tasks. In reality, it's one of the single most effective tools to
help your child gain self-confidence.

The focus of scholastic effort must also be on the child's
strengths. Following, are just few examples and suggestions for
compensating effectively for weaknesses and building on strengths.

If your child has excellent verbal skills and creativity, but writing
is a struggle, you might ask for daily use of a computer. If a child
demonstrates such a need, (and I see this often in ADHD and learning
disabilities), than the school is responsible for providing that
assistive technology. Remember your child doesn't have to settle for
the broken computer in the corner of the room (which happens all too
frequently). Any needed equipment must be in working order and be
made available in the regular learning environment. If you're
concerned about the condition of equipment, you can stipulate in any
504 plan or IEP that the equipment be in working order and located in
an area immediately accessible to the student.
Perhaps your child grasps math concepts, but has difficulty
performing the actual calculations on paper. A calculator is a great
assistive device for such children. There might be complaints that
the child has to first learn math the "old fashioned way." Practical
experience has taught me that if a child can't perform very basic
math calculations by, say, the fifth grade, it will probably always
be somewhat difficult. Is he/she going to suddenly become proficient
in this area when an adult or count fingers? Most likely not. This
person will buy a calculator for as little as $5.00 and finally
become successful in performing practical arithmetic calculations.
Why not start early to help the person with a math disability
progress rapidly with the concepts by using a calculator to bypass
the disability? This is not to say a child should not continue to
work on mastery of calculations as well.
Or take the fifth-grader who's struggling with second-grade spelling,
perhaps spending as much as two hours a night trying to learn a list
of twenty words. The most common modification, if any is made at all,
is to cut the list in half. What if we let that child spend spelling
time becoming computer literate? With the use of a spell checker and
word processor program to offset organizational difficulties and
spelling difficulties, children suddenly blossom into creative
authors.
A child who is very distractible in the classroom can show dramatic
improvement when work is produced on a computer. Headphones can also
enhance learning. Many children with ADHD tend to lose the thought
somewhere between brain and pencil, but are excellent writers when
using a computer. There seems to be an instant direct connection
between brain and screen. Organizational skills show improvement.
Problem solving skills are also honed on the computer, bypassing
faulty circuitry that gets in the way of real learning. In each of
these instances weaknesses are diminished by technology that levels
the playing field for people with disabilities. The spotlight then
shifts from the writing weakness to the content strengths.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1580/strengths.html

An excellent way to actively involve all those invested in the
inclusion process is to implement the MAPS process when developing
the child's IFSP/IEP. MAPS stands for Making Action Plans or the
McGill Action Planning System. The Kansas State Board of Education
has available a manual and videotape which describes the actual MAPS
process in detail entitled MAPS: A Plan for Including All Children in
Schools (1990). The MAPS manual and videotape might prove to be
helpful in developing strategies for creating a user friendly and
functional IFSP/IEP for children attending inclusive early childhood
programs. Information presented in the MAPS manual is geared toward
older students, however we have found that by using a modified MAPS
system we have been able to create IFSP's/IEP's which are built upon
the child¹s strengths and prove to be functional within the inclusive
setting.
http://www.circleofinclusion.org/pim/seven/maps.html

2. What happens next?

Development of Goals and Objectives

Goals and objectives should be based on assessment, and should focus
on using a student's strengths and interest to address areas of
identified need. The best objectives contain specific information
about what we want a student to achieve, how instruction will support
the mastery of the goal, and are measurable.

http://www.parentsinc.org/newsletter/S98/SEQUENC.html

IDEA 1997 brings several changes to the IEP and the IEP team. Not
only will the role of the IEP team dramatically increase, the IEP
will move from a deficit-based educational plan to one that is
strength-based. IDEA 1997 is based on the belief that the majority of
students with disabilities can participate in the general education
curriculum to varying degrees.

http://www.cec.sped.org/pd/sbsre

The student's areas of strength and need. Whereas a statement of
needs identifies the student's weaknesses, a statement of strengths
identifies the student's own "tools" which can be used to address the
weaknesses. The basis for these statements should be the description
contained in the IPRC's statement. These statements might take the
form "Student demonstrates significant strength in..." and "Student
requires significant instruction/ support to ...."For
example, "Student demonstrates significant strength in auditory
learning"; "Student requires significant instruction/support to
develop reading skills."

Goals for the student. Goals should be based on the strengths and
needs of the student and represent the best prediction of what the
student should be able to accomplish by the end of the school year
http://www.ldao.on.ca/articles/newiprc.html

The IEP is a written document outlining the who, what, when,
why, where and how of instruction and related services that
are to be provided to a student with disabilities. IEPs are built
upon the strengths of individual students and are
designed to help each student achieve success in school, at
home, at work, and in the community.

The IEP Implementation Checklist
p The IEP has been shared and discussed with appropriate staff
members and service providers.
p Instruction focuses on the student's strengths and needs.
p Instruction reflects stated IEP goals and objectives.
p Identified modifications and accommodations are being provided.
p A designated IEP team member is monitoring the student's progress.

http://www.msde.state.md.us/specialeducation/IEP%20Handbook2001.pdf

Strength Based Planning

Identify the strengths and resources of the student and student's
family and use these strengths and resources to develop an effective
IEP and / or other service plan. One full day offered once in the
fall and once in the spring.

Target Group: Administrators, SPED teachers, social workers, FSWs,
Counselors, CSSS, 504
Site: District
Trainer: Felix Training Institute
http://rrsc.k12.hi.us/sped/kauai/kwsp2.htm

D. Exceptionally Appropriate Practices
1) Writes IEPs using a strength-based approach
http://www.bgsu.edu/org/focus/preschool.pdf

Strength-based assessments

Create Strength-based Functional Behavior Assessments/Interventions
Train on the development of Strength-based IEP's
http://www.air.org/TAPartnership/consultant_pool/bios/w_hussey.htm

A good IEP has objectives that focus on a student's strengths and aim
for positive outcomes
http://www.acl.on.ca/Daily_News/2001/oct01/oct17.htm

The result of the teamwork is and IEP that embraces John's strengths
and the team's goals
http://www.region3.net/Region%
20_III/Ann_Rpt/99_annual_report/annual_report11.html

Based on the child's needs while building upon the child's strengths,
the team drafts both annual
goals and short term learning outcomes.
http://star.nm.org/deafblind/forms/facts/IEPDevelopment.pdf

The focus of the IEP should be the development of strategies to build
on the child's strengths in order to remediate weaknesses and build
self-esteem. Educators agree that the best strategy for helping the
child with learning disabilities is to concentrate on strengthening
the child's existing abilities, while working steadily to improve
weaker skills. For example, if the child has excellent verbal skills
but is totally frustrated putting thoughts on paper, the IEP might
specify that his reports be given orally. If the child is strong in
math and poor in reading, the IEP might specify having him coach a
classmate who is struggling with math; reading support might include
reading two key paragraphs in the sports section of the newspaper
each night to a parent.
http://www.ldac-taac.ca/ldindepth/six.htm

5. What are the individual's strengths, gifts and abilities?
So often when educational teams get together, they dwell upon the
things that the individual cannot do as opposed to identifying and
building upon the strengths and abilities of the individual. The
facilitator asks the participants to review the list which described
the individual as a way to identify some of his or her strengths and
unique gifts. In addition, they are instructed to think about what
the individual can do, what he or she likes to do and what he or she
does
http://ssd.k12.mo.us/Inclusion/maps.htm

This full-day workshop is designed develop participants' skills in
the implementation of research-validated educational programming
for students with Autism and other significant disabilities according
to IDEA `97. It is intended for all staff working
with this population in an elementary through secondary environment.
First, participants will learn to develop and monitor IEP's using a
strength-based approach, implement proactive behavior and
integration plans, and identify the major research-validated
strategies used with this unique population.
http://www.nasponline.org/pdf/prel_prog02_thurws.pdf

The student's areas of strength and need. Whereas a statement of
needs identifies the student's weaknesses, a statement of strengths
identifies the student's own "tools" which can be used to address the
weaknesses. The basis for these statements should be the description
contained in the IPRC's statement. The statements might take the
form "Student demonstrates significant strength in…" and "Student
requires significant instruction/support to …" For example, "Student
demonstrates significant strength in auditory learning"; "Student
requires significant instruction/support to develop reading skills."

Goals for the student. Goals should be based on the strengths and
needs of the student and represent the best prediction of what the
student should be able to accomplish by the end of the school year.

http://www.ldany.on.ca/Special%20Ed/individual_education_plan.htm

Based on the child's needs while building upon the child's strengths,
the team drafts both annual goals and short term learning outcomes.
http://www.usdb.k12.ut.us/fss/hand7.htm

A child's strengths should be a part of any IEP and these strengths
should be drawn upon when developing goals and objectives.

Strengths should be identified in all five areas described on page 1.
In addition, strengths should not be limited to only academics and/or
physical abilities. They can, and should, include interests skills,
hobbies, peronal traits, etc.

Examples:

* Matt is great at basketball.
* Dylan is trying really hard to talk.
* Benjamin knows how to use the computer.
* Emily likes to play board games with other girls.
* Nicole can read 4th grade textbooks.

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Village/9021/articles/iepplanning.h
tml

GALLERY
8:00AM-12:30PM
Strength-Based IEP
Sharon Gage
http://ww2.stclair.k12.il.us/cgi-bin/roomres/rreventcal.asp?%
5BVMonthNumber%5D=3&%5BVYear%5D=2001

Ash,
as always your research and insights into building a good IEP is well appreciated. Mind if I link it to my page?

Anitya,as always the gladiator for all teacher's out there. When did she suggest no teacher uses this approach? BTW a token system, if not mistaken, is dependent of negative consequences,ie no token.

I have to argue that "no token" is not a negative consequence. It is the natural consequence in such a management program. Negative consequences involve the adult actually doing something of a punative nature: removing a token, rescinding recess, denying participation in a preferred whole class activity. A token system simulates life, if we work we earn money for the things we want and need (though I submit that the welfare system teaches children the opposite, unfortunately), if we don't earn money, we don't have the coin with which to buy that which we want. Token economies or point systems can teach youngsters valuable lessons about the way life is and also helps them to develop money management skills.

It is a classic example of a positive behavior manage system. Classroom teachers all over my building use point systems liberally to reinforce and encourage the appropriate behaviors they are teaching and expecting.

Negative consequences really just plain don't work very well. We see the same children over and over again in the same situation: missing recess for whatever. Most teachers realize this in time.

My sons LD self contained class has a unique reward system for good behavior. It is both a classroom wide program and individual program at the same time. Let me explain. The children have to earn 30 "good behavior" points then get to choose from a list of rewards what they want to use them for. Some examples are ice-cream, lunch with the teacher, excuse from a homework assignment, 5 points on a test, to miss a "special", and to invite a student of their choice into the classroom. My son always chooses to invite a friend into the classroom. It has been great for all involved since he usually picks a regular education student. The teachers have noticed that the students invited to spend the day with the class have better respect for the LD students since they see they have the same classroom rules as they do and also learn the same material just in a different fashion and a little slower. The LD kids love having these kids in the classroom and alway make sure they are well behaved. The kids in the regular classes also have a reward system but this is in the form of a marble jar or the like and the class is rewarded as a whole when the jar is full with a Pizza party.

hi
i did not suggest it.

hi,
it was disappointing that this got narrowed into just a behavior plan issue.
how about discussion on strength based IEPs that do not have a behavior plan?

Amen

Karen,
I am now having to start getting seriously involved with our school and getting them to educate themselves with NVLD.
I had a meeting with the teacher friday--she is believing that my 7yo dd is behavioral/oppositional. She said that 75% of the day went fine but the 25% that my girl was asked to do something she would not. My frustration lies with the fact that everyone at the school (spec. ed teacher, teacher who has a masters in LD's, and the pricipal) have never heard of NVLD, and the psychologist that did the physc. evalv. on her has just enough knowledge to diagnose but not to offer any true follow up. If they do not know what is really going on with her, how can they say that her actions are behavioral? She is still melting down before and after most school days and the response I got from the spec. ed teacher was that our family may want to look into family therapy! I was so shocked--I let her know that I was not apposed to that if I thought that would help--but would the counslor know how to guide us with working with NVLD--or even heard of it?
I am still pretty upset about what all took place on Friday--I have some phone calls into a few places in Portland, OR that should be able to help us out.
In the Source for NVLD by Sue Thompson it stated that NVLD is a "Low incidence diability and that public school districts are required to ensure that regular and spec. ed. staff are adequately prepared to provied educational instruction and serviices to these individuals and that the assessment of a pupil with a suspected low incidence disability shall be conducted by persons knowledgeable of that disability." pg. 71. Have you ever had to deal with NVLD it that way? I am going to read some of your past posts for some quidance--if you or anyone else has anything to share, I would appreciate it.
Thank you, CD

I just cannot thank you enough for your replys. You have been so faithful to me sharing your knowledge.
Yes, my girl does melt down, but not at school-at home before and after school at least 2 days a week--many times it is more. At school it is the shut down, dig heals in, "wont do anything that is asked of me". That is the teachers look on it. The student teacher started sending her to the pricipals office to talk to him about why she was not doing the work that "the teacher" knew she was capable of doing. I quote her as saying, "I am aware of her learning disability, and nothing we are doing in the classroom is new to her, she did it all last year and is more than capable"
I get so frustrated when the school is saying the parents are the most valuable part of working with the child, yet they do not listen to you when we have concerns. The student teacher is done now and I am trying to get some instuction for our IEP team so we can do all we can for my girl.
I have spoke with 3 people on the phone and have gotted nowhere yet--just more numbers to call, more voice mail messages to leave, and more on line sites to visit. I have yet to talk to anyone who knows more than me about NVLD. Only one person had heard of it and she recomended me the book I already have with notes and dogeared pages. (The Source for NVLD, S. Thompson) I got the feeling that the only thing she knew about it was that there was a book available.
After reading this over I realize how upset I am sounding. I am so frustrated with all of this. I know you too are feeling it too. Thank you for your time.
CD