[Many good things have been happening at Chez Flashlight in the last 24 hours. Mary decided to make S'mores last night, and we have a guest poster! The expert commenter known as Gigi and her daughter Stephanie are about to wow you with some brilliant, valuable advice about Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).
If you have questions for them or us, please put them in the comments section of this post.
Gigi is a retired special needs teacher and guidance counselor of 31 years. Stephanie is a speech language pathologist (SLP). So you know you're getting top-notch information here. We're honored to have you two post this. Thank you!! - Tim]
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If someone has not yet given you a copy of your rights through IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), ask for a copy, which they are required to give you. This is your bible and you should never attend an IEP meeting without it. Here is a link to download the most recent (2007) pdf format Resource Guide for Parents. Other IDEA highlights are noted throughout.
Although IDEA is federal, every state is required to have a Protection and Advocacy system. Check for yours at the national website at www.napas.org.
You have a right to see all the assessment results and meet with the assessor(s) BEFORE the first IEP meeting so you have time to absorb it and get questions ready.
Educators are famous for turning everything into acronyms (see IDEA above and many others below) and use them as if everyone knows what they all mean. If you don’t, ASK!! Every 5-8 years or so, all the “label names” are changed to more politically correct ones, so just as soon as you learn them, they’ll all change. Personally, I think they do this just to screw with us.
Follow your gut. If something sounds fishy or not quite right, it probably isn’t. Ask questions, make requests in writing to keep the IEP team accountable, and don’t take no for an answer the first time. You might even tape record the meeting to keep everyone on their toes. Some IEP teams will be pretty ticked off by this and there may be much eye-rolling. Smile and insist. Remember – they may be the education experts, but YOU are an expert on your kid!
If you request a particular service and are told it is not possible or that your child does not qualify for it, stand firm. Request the assessment for that supports the need for the service you request. If the results don’t jive with what you think your kid needs, you have the right to request an IEE (Independent Education Evaluation) provided at PUBLIC EXPENSE. Again, make that request in writing.
The primary goal of the IEP meeting is to place your kid in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). This is especially important if full or partial inclusion in a regular classroom is likely and/or desired. Optimally, full inclusion with modifications should be the initial goal, working back to more restrictive options as needed. MEASURABLE goals and objectives should be written BEFORE placement is determined. In fact, it should shape how placement is determined. Modifications can range from providing an aide to providing visual cues, speech therapy, etc.
As I read through this list, it struck me that most of these tips either hint or scream at an adversarial relationship with the school district. Let me hasten to point out that most school districts really do the right thing, really have your kid’s best interest at heart and are really there to help you. They have been through this process many, many times before, to the point where it sometimes seems rote or rubber stamped. You may only need to gently remind them that although this is their 1,648th IEP, it’s your first. Knowing your rights is your responsibility to your kid, nonetheless.
(This is Stephanie talking now-Gigi’s daughter, the SLP).
The only things I have to add is regarding the specific goals/objectives, etc. More than likely they will be written before the meeting. If you don’t agree, want to add more, etc, it may seem time consuming and you may need to meet again, but it is possible.
Also, you mentioned that you were concerned about how to make the skills that J-man is showing (i.e. naming letters, colors, etc) into functional goals for the IEP and how to generalize them to naming other items. I may be totally off on this, but I do believe this is fairly common with kids with autism. I think it has to do with the fact that letters, colors, numbers are considered “rote” naming or rote memory and that naming other objects is more of “labeling”. I can’t remember the reason behind it, but the teachers will probably be familiar with this type of learning and memory and will help to incorporate that into his goals. AND those skills are very functional for a pre-school classroom, so it should all go hand in hand.
About AAC devices (augmentative and assistive communication), I know that the IEP process is different in each state, however I do believe that every IEP has a section that asks about assistive communication evals, or have all appropriate evals be completed (may not specifically say AAC). You can have that sections checked and then they are required to do an AAC eval (separate from the typical speech eval, etc.
As far as the actual eval and devices, I would recommend that several devices be tried out with J-man before anything is chosen. There is a TON of different types, software, vocabulary that should be looked at to figure out which one would best suit him. I know that some companies will even rent them out to see if they work for a specific child. I know that this is a long process and you may get frustrated, but keep with it if it’s what you feel is best for him. PLEASE feel free to ask me any other questions!!
Posts that hopefully are similar:
- Assistive Technology – Tell us what you know
- Down the Home Stretch with the IEP (We hope)
- And colors too?!
- Climbing Up the IEP Goals Ladder – “What a Great Quarter!” Edition
- Assistive Technology Resource for People in NC
- Revisiting Milestones – Speech, Language, and Reading
- Shining More and More! Quarterly IEP Report
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
As I was reading through the suggestions I was beginning to get worried, then Gigi re-read her suggestions and brought balance to the table. The only overall suggestion I would like to put forward is that if there is eye-rolling, huffy manner or other non-professional behavior, take the high road. Act cooler and kinder than they have been showing you. After the meeting, ask for a meeting with the LEA (Local Educational Authority, usually the principal) to discuss the behavior of the team.
In general, as a school SLP, I am trying to present to the parents a sense that I really understand and ‘get’ their child and will provide the appropriate service for them. As a parent of an identified son, I am looking for that sense from his IEP team.
We’ve been evolving toward something like “approach everything as if it will work out fine and everyone has our son’s best interests at heart, but be completely prepared if it doesn’t work out like that.”
I’ve also found that our rapport with various people largely is directly proportional to how close they are to the ‘front lines’ of working with kids on a daily basis. That seems consistent with others we’ve talked to. Administration just requires a different way of approaching problems than teaching or providing services like therapies. That doesn’t make one more or less right than the other, and it doesn’t remotely mean that there’s something wrong with people in administration. Most of them are professional, helpful, high-quality people. There’s just a reality to how the bureaucracy works.
When you mix parties who have very different perspectives and interests (budgets, compliance with the law, teaching in the classroom or providing therapy to kids all day, instincts to fight mortal combat for your kid’s education, etc.), there will naturally be tensions. It doesn’t help that schools are about the last things to get funding come budget time.
All these are things I can understand, even if I don’t like it, but it’s the butt-coverers that I don’t tolerate. We’re already seen a bit of that. Defensiveness doesn’t really have a place here, because all that tells me is that the defensive person is far more interested in themselves than my kid. I don’t care about handing out blame, I just care about getting it right.
I read “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie again recently and think it would be immensely helpful to people to read it before an IEP meeting. Some of it feels a bit naive in a modern context, but there are a lot of helpful tips on how to take the high road and still get what you want. Some advice is timeless.
Maybe we need a “when your IEP process goes south” post. I think a lot of people want to have a positive attitude, but there are so many things that can go wrong and there’s so much at stake. There’s a lot of fear in all this, too, particularly fear of not knowing the right things to do to make sure you get what your child needs. At least that’s how I often feel. It’s hard to be positive and fearful at the same time, but I think it is possible.
Thanks for your insights. They’re incredibly valuable to us.
Tim and Mary – this doesn’t have anything to do with what you posted, but I just read this article and thought of you. You are probably already familiar with these cases, but thought I’d pass them along anyway.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=granderson/080717&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos2
D’Julie – Thanks for reminding me about this. I had seen this some time before J-Man had his evaluation, after which most memories of the time ‘before’ sorta lost traction unless they were really important to the right now. Now that we’ve had time to get some perspective, it was great to have you remind us of that extraordinary achievement.
I had a steady steam of tears watching it again. ESPN does such a great job with these triumph over impossible odds pieces they do. The second video just raises the pride people should have in him. He has taken a moment on the court and turned it into a cause. And by all accounts, he is doing great work in the world for autistic children, their families, and the institutions that support them.
Once again, J-Man has another role model to look up to as he gets older. And this wasn’t lost on us – the young man goes by J-Mac.
Go watch the videos. If you don’t weep, go get yourself checked out.
Video 1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__JQcJ-wr0M
Video 2 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE_pwpBmG3w