Runninghead: SOCIAL EMOTIONAL IEP III

Social Emotional IEP Presentation III

Gerardo Sanchez
March 26, 2015
Pedro Olvera, PsyD, LEP

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL IEP III

The triannual IEP for Mike Jones was to determine if another school setting that
specializes in intense interventions may be a better fit for him rather than his current SDC
placement. Mike is a fifth grader who is an Emotionally Disturbed (ED) student who has an
extensive history of anxiety, paranoia, somatic symptoms, eloping, and defiant outbursts. The
members present in the IEP meeting were the SDC teacher, the Resource Specialist (RSP), the
school principal, mikes mother and father, the school psychologist, and myself. I presented the
results of the Basc-2 (TRS & PRS), the Vineland and my observation. Again, I was faced with
the critical task of observing a student in his natural environment to understand the function of
his behavior and describe what I observed to the IEP team.
Mike was observed in the SDC classroom on 03/06/20015 from 11:00 to 12:30pm. Mike
sits on a sensory cushion in the back of the room adjacent to another student. As the students
transitioned back to the classroom from recess, they were instructed to clear off their desks of
everything except certain sheets of papers that were to be used for a geometric shape activity.
Mike did not comply. He worked on the activity while his desk was cluttered with pencil boxes
and a book. Several times during the activity, Mike accidentally knocked things off his desk.
The observer did not notice any defiant behavior, but did witness other problematic behaviors
that may impede learning for Mike and his peers. During the 90 minute observation, Mike
blurted out comments 71 times. He initiated conversations with other students during instruction
14 times and got out of his seat eight times. Mike would tend to involve himself in conversations
that did not pertain to him. As the class transitioned into a math lesson, the teacher had computer
difficulties. Mike offered a solution on how to solve the problem. Mike appeared to exhibit
concern when other students spoke when they were not supposed to and he would ask them to
stop talking. Mike mostly blurted out answers to questions asked by the teacher regarding the

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL IEP III

math lesson, but he also exhibited self-control by raising his hand six times without blurting out.
Mike's transition to lunch was longer than his peers because he was clearing off his desk and
putting things where they belonged. During one hour of the observation, Mike was off task for a
total of eight minutes and 26 seconds or 14% of the time. His off task behaviors included talking
to other students, getting out of his seat, and looking around at his environment.