Individual Education Plan

“Effective educational programming for students with ASD should be based on the student’s abilities and gradually increase in complexity as skills develop…programs should be carefully planned & constantly evaluated using a variety of formal & informal assessments.” Effective Educational Practices for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Resource Guide

Objective: This module is designed to provide support with the development of effective Individual Education Plans for students with Autsim Spectrum Disorder.

The IEP is a written program plan that describes the special education program and/or services required by a student on the basis of a thorough assessment and understanding of the student’s strengths and needs. The information gathered to understand a student’s individual learning profile will be an important resource in the development of an appropriate program plan for the student. The IEP should be reviewed and updated regularly, at least once in every reporting period, and based on ongoing and continuous evaluation of the student’s progress. Effective Educational Practices for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Resource Guide

The IEP Thread

The IEP should tell a story about the student. The assessment data should contain information about the student’s learning strengths and needs. The strengths & needs will then guide the development of appropriate goals & learning expectations.

IEP Assessment Data Should

• Be directly related to the reasons that give rise to the need for special education program or services for the student (eg. communication, social, behaviour)
• Support the identification of the student’s exceptionality and should contain diagnosis of autism
• Include the date, source, & results/recommendations (a brief summary statement of the report’s finding)… “See OSR” is not adequate
• Should include information on both areas of strengths and deficit areas
• Be current & relevant
• Contain enough detail to give clear, concise profile of the student

• Should be taken directly from assessment data
• Strengths should include their passions
• Needs should recognize deficits in communication, social and behaviour
• It is not appropriate to include information about what the student needs (eg. EA support) or what the student needs to do (eg. Use their planner)
• Most needs will not change significantly over time

Careful thought should be given to the tyoe of programming the student requires:

For students with ASD, the most appropriate program is based on expectations from the Ontario curriculum with accommodations or modifications. Other students may require a program that includes significantly modified expectations or is mainly composed of expectations that are an alternative to the Ontario curriculum.

The IEP Baseline of Achievement Should

• Be gathered for modified &alternative goals
• Describe behaviour in observable & measurable terms
• Involve the use of baseline data
• Provide the starting point for each annual goal
• Only include the behaviours related to each annual goal
• Be taken from the June Provincial Report Card

IEP Annual Goals Should:

• State the desired observable behaviour
• Be written in measurable & observable terms
• Contain the grade level (for modified goals)
• Be achievable within the school year
• Address the highest priority needs of the student (not the entire program for the student)

Behaviour	Condition	Criterion
What will the student do?	When, where or under what circumstances will the student do?	How many times or for how long will the student do it
Sarah will initiate a play interaction	With at least two peers who are playing alone during recess	Over two recess periods per day. 3days/week

IEP Learning Expectations

• Narrow down an annual goal to realistic expectaton(s) for one term/semester
• Clearly define the desired skill(s) in positive terms
• Be written as performance tasks (ie. What the student is expected to be able to do to learn the skill)
• Be measurable & observable
• Must contain the grade level (for modified goals)
• Should be stated in a way that parent/student can understand exactly what will be evaluated on the report card
• Be revised for the subsequent term/semester based on the data collected during the previous term/semester

Creating Measurable Goals in the IEP

• Once a day, Sarah will walk up to a peer who is playing alone and say “Hi (name). can I play with you?” over 3 consecutive days.
• Once a day, Sarah will walk up to a peer who is playing alone and say “Hi (name). can I play with you?” with reinforcement but no adult prompting over 3 consecutive days.

• Can I see this action? (did it occur or not)
• Can I measure it? (count the number of times? time it’s duration)
• Can I put it on a scale or range? (more or less? faster then before?

IEP Teaching Strategies Should

• Include Applied Behaviour Analysis
• Include other relevant universal supports (eg. visual schedules, communication system, social stories)
• Include strategies beyond those used for the rest of the class
• Not identify staff personnel

Teaching Strategies That Use ABA Techniques

• Prompts (direct, indirect, verbal, physical, visual)
• Modeling
• Reinforcement
• Task Analysis
• Chaining
• Shaping

IEP Assessment Methods Should:

• Include specific types of data collection procedures (eg. weekly tally, daily checklist)
• Be kept specific, simple & practical
• Be chosen based on personnel available
• Avoid extensive anecdotal recording in favour of procedures which can be interpreted more readily

The IEP Team

School Team

• Principal
• Special Education Resource Teacher
• Classroom Teacher(s)

Enhanced Team

• Special Education Consultant
• Behaviour Team
• Speech-Language Patholigists

Additional Supports

• ASD Consultants
• CCAC
• Parents
• Community Agencies/Supports

Collaborative Planning: Parent/Student Consultation

A collaborative planning approach to support students with ASD is most effective and promotes the best outcomes for students. Keeping this in mind, it is important for school staff to invite input from and the participation of the parent(s) and, with parental consent, other professionals who have previously worked with and those who are currently working with the student. Students with ASD have a broad range of needs and abilities. The perspectives, information, and resources from parents and various in-school, school board, and community professionals will enhance the effectiveness of the program planning process.Effective Educational Practices for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Resource Guide

• Must have input into the IEP & be included on the Contact Record (at minimum within the first 30 school days & once each reporting period)
• Should be included in Section11 of the IEP
• Should be included in the transition plan

Transition Plans

“A Transition Plan must be developed for all students with ASD regardless of age.”

The purpose of transition planning is to determine the considerations, goals, and actions that will be required to support the student in making a positive transition to the new setting and experiences. It also provides an opportunity for those within the new setting to become familiar with and prepare for the student. Effective Educational Practices for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Resource Guide

Levels of Transitions in the IEP

• between activities & settings within the routines of the school day
• entry into school
• between grades & divisions
• from elementary to secondary school
• from secondary school to post secondary, community & work

Each transition should be seamless and represent a: prepared family, prepared student, prepared educator, and prepared environment.

Transition Plan Should:

• Begin to prepare the student well in advance
• Plan to transition steps to allow the student to gradually become familiar with change
• Use consistent cue or routines to signal transitions

To Facilitate Transitions	Examples
Begin preparing the student well in advance of the expected transition.	A calendar is used daily to count down the days until a class trip. Pictures and stories of the trip destination are reviewed for several days prior to this trip.
Sarah will initiate a play interaction	With at least two peers who are playing alone during recess
Plan transition steps to allow the student to gradually become familiar with change	A schedule of visits is arranged for the student to adjust to the new school. Scheduled timelines and things to see are increased for each visit.
Use consistent cues or routines to signal transitions	A “transition” object is carried by the student during the move to the next class. The same song or phrase is heard by the student before the start of a routine activity

Effective Educational Practices for Student with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Resource Guide

IEP Review

Your IEP Should

• make sure tasks are broken down into manageable chunks
• offer choice
• create behavioural momentum
• ensure predictability
• contain positive reinforcement strategies
• have annual goals & learning expectations expressed in observable & measurable terms & based on assessment
• contain a transition plan (strategies must be in place to support transitions at all levels)
• contain evidence of data collection & analysis
• support the transfer & generalization of learned skills & concepts
• contain evidence of universal supports for students with ASD
• should be reviewed in the first 30 school days, at the beginning of each term/semester, and following IPRC

Before Sending an IEP Home, Ask Yourself

• Is this IEP written in clear language for parents?
• Is there a thread throughout the IEP (assessment > strengths/needs > annual goals > learning expectation)?

References

Autism Intervention Manual (one per school)

Includes IEP goals, objectives, & interventions

Every Avon Maitland  should have the following resource guide:

Primary Resources

a href=”www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/asdfirst.pdf” title=”Download the Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders pdf”>Effective Educational Practices for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Resource Guide

Secondary Resource
• E-Learning
• Practical Classroom Strategies
• Workshop Materials
• Discussion Materials

Geneva Centre for Autism

Thames Valley Children’s Centre Resource Kits (one per school)
• Transition Kit
• Visual Strategies
• Reinforcement Kit