Helping Parents Through the I.E.P. Process

At yesterday's meeting the team was reviewing the annual I.E.P. Of a child who has been in special education for a few years now. It is interesting to watch and listen as the special educator reviews the contents of the I.E.P. with the parents. If the parent doesn't ask a question, the special educator will continue reviewing the contents. Sadly, parents don't always know what questions to ask. When I (as the parent/child advocate) would ask a question about the contents the administrator would usually chime in with some excuse for why they were not going to include something in the I.E.P. I would then have to explain to the parent who would then tell the team that she did in fact want that included if it is supposed to be part of the contents of her child's Plan. This is such a poor way to handle the meetings. Why not just ask the parents if they have any questions? Why not take the time from the onset to just do right by the child and the contents of her I.E.P.?

Working Together On Behalf Of the Student Ought to Be the Main Meeting Goal

At a recent I.E.P. Meeting to discuss assessment results for a second grader, I was somewhat taken aback by the administrator's attitude toward myself and the parents of the child. Based on test results, the child qualified as a student with a disability. The administrator not only neglected to inform the parents of the name of the disabling code, she also attempted to end the meeting without an explanation of what the code meant! Who does this? Imagine being that parent. Obviously you are concerned about your child's education. Otherwise you wouldn't even be sitting at the table. You just found out your child qualifies as a student with a disability and the school is not even going to tell you what that disability is, let alone define it for you! As the student's advocate, I asked what the disabling code was and then asked that the code be explained to the parents. The administrator told the parents the name of the code and the school psychologist gave an explanation of it.
The minutes of the meeting were not shared before being printed out. In addition, there was no mention in the minutes that the team would reconvene in 30 days to develop and approve the I.E.P. As the child's advocate, I had to ask for this statement to be placed in the minutes.
On a final note, I also had to ask that the minutes be shared with the team.
We go back in 30 days to develop and hopefully,approve the I.E.P. I will give it some careful thought as to how I will approach the team and especially the administrator. I feel compelled to re-introduce myself and state that I am there on behalf of the student and that our main
goal as a team ought to be to put together an I.E.P. that meets all of the student's needs as
a special Ed student in their school.

Advocating for a Positive Change

I attended a recent I.E.P. meeting to discuss proposed changes to an I.E.P. The changes were based on a previous meeting where I had advocated for a preschool aged child with Downs Syndrome. The child was in need of measurable goals and objectives in the speech and language portion of his I.E.P. Prior to asking me to advocate for them, the parents were unaware that their child's goals and objectives were not written in a measurable format. They were also very confused about how to work with their son at home. The updated goals and objectives are much more user-friendly for both speech therapist and parents.
We also discussed updating assessments in all developmental areas in order to better ascertain the academic needs of the child as we get ready to write new goals and objectives for his annual review. At the end of the meeting, the draft I.E.P. was approved and a meeting to review the updated assessments was scheduled.
The outcome of this meeting was very positive for everyone involved, most especially the child.

It's important to take a thorough look at your child's I.E.P.

I recently attended an I.E.P. meeting at an elementary school to advocate on behalf of a preschool student with Downs Syndrome. The parents had concerns about the current I.E.P. and whether it was meeting the speech and language needs of their son. He is 4 and has been receiving special ed services since he was 1. He is not yet able to produce any audible sounds.
After reviewing the current I.E.P., I found several areas that needed to be updated. The parents and I met with the team at the child's school and we discussed my/our concerns about the contents of the current I.E.P. After much conversation, we were able to come up with a viable solution. The team agreed to update the I.E.P. and increase the child's hours of service. We will meet again to review the updated changes to the I.E.P.
After the meeting, the parents expressed their gratitude for what I had shared with them and the team at their son's school. We are hopeful that this student will have an opportunity to begin to produce sounds and eventually words to enable him to communicate effectively with his family and at school!