Hope your training goes well, Barbara. One of the things I’ve done when an outcome isn’t quite right is keep going back to the family’s priority and actually ask them what it would look like when the child has achieved that goal. Focusing the conversation on what the family says, rather than turning to the professional team members to write the outcome, can help the team keep their focus. It can be challenging, though, when there are other issues that the parents don’t mention as something they want to address. Then you have to balance between addressing their priority and informing them about other issues. Remember that even if you get one good outcome at the initial IFSP, that’s a place to start. You can always add more later if needed as the parents come to understand the other issues. I’ve seen this work quite well, for example, with children with sensory and communication differences. We’d write the IFSP outcome for communication, the parent’s priority, then talk more during visits about how the child’s sensory processing was affecting his communication. Eventually the team, including the parents, added an outcome addressing sensory concerns and it all came together.

We do have what’s called a “mini-lesson” about writing IFSP outcomes on our professional development site. The mini-lesson has activities that you might be able to use for your training. You can find it here: http://www.eipd.vcu.edu/mini_lesson.html

My difficulty is I know when an outcome is not fitting the intent, however I stumble on how to help the team rewrite

thanks Dana — I enjoy our conversations and I so enjoy reading the blogs 🙂

Barbara

Thanks Barbara! This is great to hear! Yes, it’s wonderful to connect with like-minded people. 🙂 We all want the best for children and families!

Thanks for sharing your insights on the blog too!

Great questions, Barbara. Our IFSP in VA requires both long-term outcomes and short-term goals. Including short-term goals is a state-level decision and is not required by Part C of IDEA. Our IFSP is closely linked with our payor sources (insurance, Medicaid, etc.) and is used in the place of a plan-of-care for our therapy providers. Including short-term goals helps meet payor requirements. Many states don’t include short-term goals, so unless your state (I think you’re in WV?) requires it, you might not have to include them. For us, the long-term outcome is typically a 6-12 month goal representing the family’s main priority for the child. The short-term goals are the steps the child will take to reach the outcome. Our IFSPs might have 1-3 long-term outcomes, with a few short-term goals under each.

Here’s an example of a long-term outcome: Ryan will walk 10 feet across his living room to greet his daddy at the front door when he comes home from work each day for one week. (The goal is specific because it represents Ryan’s family’s main goal – that he learn to walk. The team will know when Ryan’s met it when he can do this activity – of walking across the living room each evening – consistently across a week.)

Here’s an example of a short-term goal that might go under Ryan’s LTO: Ryan will pull up to stand and cruise the length of the couch (4 feet) to get to his favorite toy three times a day for one week. (The STG represents a step that Ryan will take towards learning to walk. Once he’s cruising along furniture several times a day, the goal will be met.)

I’d love to know more about how outcomes are written in your state!

Will you give a quick example of what you mean by long term goal (is that your six month outcome?) and short term goal ~~ I want to make sure I am giving staff correct information

Thanks
Barbara