), Second Edition, by Diane Bricker, Ph.D.

Copyright © 2002 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Sophie is a 5-year-old who stacks blocks, runs and jumps, and swings on the monkey bars. Sophie received a diagnosis of autism at the age of 3 and attends an inclusive preschool for 3 hours per day. Occupational and speech-language therapy services are provided within the context of Sophie’s preschool classroom. In addition, Sophie attends a playgroup twice per week. In the fall, Sophie will be moving to a kindergarten program, so it is time for her team to review her IEP. The five-step process described previously was used by the team to examine and modify Sophie’s IEP. The team was composed of the family (Sophie’s mom, dad, and grandparents), Sophie’s preschool interventionist, next year’s kindergarten teacher, the occupational therapist, and the speech-language pathologist.

Step 1: Gathering Information

The team gathered information by administering the AEPS® Test: Birth to Three Years and Three to Six Years and the Family Report II: Three to Six Years. They gathered information during routine activities at the home, preschool, and playgroup. Dad talked to the playgroup coordinator to get additional information regarding Sophie’s skills across settings and time. The preschool teacher reviewed Sophie’s medical files, particularly the latest report from Sophie’s neurologist. Finally, Sophie and her mom visited the new kindergarten classroom several times to see how she would respond to the new environment.

Step 2: Summarizing Information

The team reviewed all of the information that they had collected and reviewed changes in Sophie’s strengths, interests, and areas of need. Sophie has learned to run around obstacles, play with balls, and climb on playground equipment. Her favorite activities continue to include movement and music; she also enjoys watching Walt Disney movies and her favorite book is The Little Engine that Could. The team looked for patterns and relationships between skills and across developmental areas; for example, they noticed that Sophie’s comprehension of words and sentences (i.e., Social-Communication Area), and interactions with familiar adults (i.e., Social Area) had changed little. They looked to see which skills she performed independently and those that she still needed assistance to perform.

Step 3: Selecting Potential Intervention Targets

Based on the information collected and summarized, the team identified a list of new behaviors as potential intervention targets for Sophie in kindergarten:

• Use a variety of art materials
  
  
• Use a fork and spoon to feed herself
  
  
• Dress and undress herself
  
  
• Categorize objects, people, and events
  
  
• Participate in group activities
  
  
• Establish joint attention
  
  
• Acknowledge when people greet her or say good-bye
  
  
• Seek out and select desired toys or objects
  
  
• Respond to familiar adults’ affective initiations
  
  
• Use words to describe and inform
  
  
• Meet physical needs of hunger and thirst
  
  
• Play with or near peers

As is the case for most children, Sophie’s team identified more behaviors than could be reasonably addressed as intervention targets, thus requiring the prioritization that occurs at Step 4.

Step 4: Prioritizing the Selected Targets

The list of potential behaviors that could be addressed during Sophie’s year in kindergarten required that the team first combine related behaviors wherever possible and then to prioritize them. For Sophie, this process produced two target behaviors:

1. Increase Sophie’s interaction with others (e.g., respond to greetings, play with or near peers, use words to describe and inform)
   
   
2. Seek out and select toys/objects, manipulate toys/objects (e.g., color with crayons, feed self with fork or spoon, dress and undress)

Step 5: Writing IEP Goals/Objectives

After gathering information, summarizing the information, and selecting and prioritizing behaviors, the team was ready to write the targeted IEP goals for Sophie. The team consulted Appendix B (in this volume) and reviewed the goal/objective guides. The team proceeded to write two target goals for Sophie’s IEP. The first targeted goal addressed the team’s priority of increasing Sophie’s interactions with others. The second targeted IEP goal addressed her need to learn to manipulate materials. These goals and their associated objectives were developed by modifying the goal/objectives guide provided in Appendix B in this volume. One of her targeted goals and associated objective appears next.

Goal: During daily activities, Sophie will manipulate a variety of objects/toys/materials that require use of both hands at the same time, while performing different movements, five times per day for 2 weeks; for example, Sophie will tie shoes, color with crayons, button clothes, cut out shapes with curved lines, and use a spoon and fork to feed herself.

Objective: During daily activities, Sophie will perform any two-handed task using one hand to hold or steady an object/toy/material while the other hand manipulates the object/toy/material or performs a movement, five times per day for 2 weeks; for example, Sophie will hold paper and draw with a crayon, hold paper and cut paper in half, hold a bowl and spoon up food or liquid, thread and zip a zipper, and turn the pages of a book.

After the IEP goals/objectives were written, the team re-examined them to ensure that they were 1) functional, 2) generative, 3) measurable, and 4) understandable by all team members and 5) to ensure that objectives were hierarchically related to the goals. Once this was completed, the team was ready to begin planning intervention and evaluation activities.