IEP Cliffhanger

So a team of six (myself included) met this week for James' annual IEP. An hour was allotted. We talked for an hour and a half. We're still not done.

One of the reasons the meeting went so long was that we all had a lot to share and say; the atmosphere was friendly and relaxed, yet professional. James has met all but one of his goals from last year, and we were all excited that the ground he gained opened up new areas for goals.

We hit a snag on the last goal, which was tied to behavior in class. We discussed the heck out of that one and referred to a therapist's report and still had to adjourn without consensus. We all acknowledge there is a goal or two in there that needs work.

It reminds me of a dangling participle (or cliff hanger, if you are not fascinated with grammar):
"The antecedent—that is, the noun to which the participle refers—must be clear to the readers in order for them to understand what's being said. Otherwise, an action may be subscribed to the wrong player. That's called a 'dangling participle,' because it's left 'dangling' without a clear antecedent."
(Ta, USU!)

I think the next step is to identify the desired behavior and then work to support it. It sounds like that will be to get him to stay seated and focus on work for longer periods of time and more independently. The motivator is a mystery. The Behaviorist made suggestions that the teacher and aide say they have tried, but do not find effective. Motivating James ... now there's a subject to explore!

To be continued ... (like his IEP meeting)