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.