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Friday, July 16, 2010

IEP Overview

IEPs, or Individualized Education Plans, are very important for students with special needs.  It took many invisible warrior-parents countless hours to get the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) passed.  If you have a child with special needs, or a friend or relative has a child with special needs, there are a few things that you can do to ensure that the child's needs are being met.  First, if the educators are using "education jargon", speaking quickly, and pushing for the parent to just sign the papers and end the IEP meeting, then red flags should be going up everywhere!  Ideal IEP meetings have atmospheres of "inclusion", meaning that the parent/guardian is included in the IEP process and their ideas and knowledge are asked for during the meeting.  If the IEP meeting is not "inclusive" then find a family advocate, like myself, who understands the process and bring them along.  Parents have the right to bring an advocate to IEP meetings.  If the IEP team doesn't seem comfortable with the parent having an advocate, that's another red flag!  Next, be sure to keep the lines of communication open.  Teachers are often overworked, underpaid, and sometimes even unsure of what they're doing (like all human beings), so be sure that the child's needs are being met by keeping in constant contact with the teacher, asking about specific parts of the IEP and how they're being addressed.  For example, let's say a Parent named Lisa has a twelve year old special needs child named George.  Lisa can make an appointment with George's teacher every Friday to discuss how the week went and keep it focused on what George did well, what he accomplished.  Lisa can also prepare for each meeting by noting the goals of the IEP - let's say that one of George's IEP goals is to learn the multiplication tables.  Lisa can ask the teacher how George is progressing on that, can inform her of what she and George are doing at home to work on multiplication tables, and can then ask what the teacher plans to do over the next week.  Advocacy is a simply complex struggle for individual rights, but can mean the difference between success and failure on many levels in school, at home and later in life.  I will post more about this process and what parents can do, if anybody is interested.  The link to the IDEA website is: http://idea.ed.gov/