Making sure Harrison Has a Voice and Stake in the IEP Process!

To My First Grade Teacher:

My name is Harrison I am going to be in your class this year and I will be 8 years old in December. I live with my parents David and Gerriann Armstrong.

I love to be outside, monster trucks, construction equipment, rescue vehicles, and sports. I am a season ticket holder for the Spokane SHOCK. I love to swim and take lessons often. When I am overwhelmed I like to ride my scooter to help me put things into perspective year round. When the weather is bad I swing on my therapy swings, especially my platform swing.

I have a dog named Buddy. I live 5 blocks from school. I have a friend named Jared (Ferris is his camp name) who hangs out with me to give mom and dad a break. He may come to school one day a week to help out in our classroom . We just need to decided which day of the week works best for us to have him! He can help with all kinds of things not just working with me! My mom is an approved volunteer and plans to help out often.

I have been in school since I was 3 years old.

I have a diagnosis of Autism that I received when I was 4 years old. My parents have invested a great deal of time, energy, effort and money in helping me to be the person that I am today and the person I will become in the future. I go to private Speech and Occupational Therapy on Wednesday afternoons from 1 PM to 3 PM.

This Past Summer Accomplishments:

• I went to summer day camp by myself for the first time. I swam everyday and played at Mission Park.
• I attended all the Spokane Shock Games except the playoffs- it was too loud. I have an autograph book that my mom made that I asked the players to sign for me.
• My dad and I completed many wood projects at Lowes Build and Grow Clinics. I made a monster truck, race car, a bug box, and a UFO to name a few.
• I attended 13 Spokane Indians Baseball Games. I have an autograph book that I asked the players to sign for me with their baseball cards.
• I spent some time with classmates from last year going to Discovery Park, Splash Pads, and Green Bluff.
• I spent a week at Grandma and Grandpas in the TriCities where I made a pine wood derby car with Grandpa using power tools.
• I had a great summer!

My biggest Accomplishments Last Year:

• I have learned to demonstrate the skill of reading to my teachers this past school year.
• I have attended multiple birthday parties outside of school with my classmates.
• I have walked to school alone with older kids from our neighborhood
• I have play dates with my classmates outside of school without my mom, dad or Andrea being there.
• I learned to dive into the deep end of the swimming pool at the YMCA.
• I spent Spring Break at my grandparents house in the Tri-Cites alone and had a great time riding my scooter with Grandma.

Areas for Improvement:

• Even with my medication, I have a hard time with directions if they are too long or have many steps.
• Penmanship is hard for me. I have a hard time making the letters and words appear appropriately. I know the correct strokes for the letters but they don’t always come out correctly.
• I don’t often color in the lines and drawing is hard too. I can trace well and I try hard to copy pictures or drawings when others work with me.
• I have a hard time waiting, especially in a line, while the rest of my classmates are joining us.
• I have not figured out how to demonstrate the skills required in math yet. Yet I can count and I recognize both large and small numbers in context of the community and money.
• I have a really hard time being first, I like to see what is expected and then follow along. A good example is roll call with a last name of Armstrong I am certain to be first or close to first most of the time.

Some things you should know about my character:

· Anxiety causes me to chew on things. I have rubber bracelets to chew. I will not swallow them or choke on them. Mom wants to work with you on moving to chewing gum instead of pencils, markers, the bracelets, etc. She will work with my team to get something in place.

· I do not compete for attention unless it is my parents or Jared/Ferris’.

· I am a follower and will do things that my classmates ask me to do just as easily as if it came from an adult.

· Without prompting, I will not volunteer to answer questions, even though I know the answer.

· Just because I am not looking at you does not mean that I am not listening to you. I find it hard to look at you and listen to you at the same time.

· I am always listening to things around me. I have a hard time filtering out noise.

· Too much noise makes me nervous and makes it hard to do what is asked of me.

· I do not like to be spoken to loudly or be witness to others being spoken to loudly-it scares me. Mom sternly uses the phrase “Harrison NO!” when she needs me to stop immediately. I will stop.

· I hum or whistle uncontrollably when happy or nervous. It is a self calming response. It is not intended to make you crazy or be disruptive. I can not stop it, please don’t make me try, it just makes it worse.

· I love to be around other children, I do not always understand how to play or join in with them. If you see that I want to play or my classmates want to play with me, please give me the words or cues needed to join in with my peers.

A special note:

My parents believe in me and my abilities. They subscribe to the models of inclusion set by Temple Grandin and her mother Eustacia Cutler. Mom shares the “Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew” article and books by Ellen Notbohm with all who work with me…please don’t be offended it just explains why she does the things that she does and it has worked for both of us so far.