We had our meeting with the school today to draft Maria’s IEP. We were pretty happy with how things went. They seem in tune with what she needs and how to address her issues and balance them with what the other kids need. For example, they want her in the morning class because the afternoon class already has a kid with multiple needs so it would be hard to give both of them the attention they require.
Cathy brought up the possibility of a private aide for Maria and they were resistant to the idea. They were nice about it and brought up a number of valid reasons why a private aide might actually make things harder for Maria. We agreed to set aside the idea for now and see how they handle her. We were relieved to hear the student ratio isn’t as bad as we thought. In theory they could have 17 kids (12 special, 5 typical) in a class with a teacher and two aides, so nearly a 6:1 ratio. Maria’s class should actually have only about 8 students and there is a therapist there just about every day (different therapists on different days) so that gives a ratio of 8 kids to 4 adults, which is more acceptable. They realize Maria will require more attention than anyone else in the class and are prepared for that.
Like we’ve said before, it’s almost like they teach kids for a living!