An IEP or Individualized Educational Plan is the way parents and educators develop and agree upon the special education goals of your child. It will spell out some detailed goals and what success looks like for each of those goals. It’s also the most fought over part of the special education planning process I believe.
When a child needs an educational support such as braille textbooks, adaptive equipment, or individualized instruction, this is the document that must spell out all the details. This is where we as parents can feel very lost and frustrated because we may not know what is available to our child to help them learn.
It does not have to be that way. Here are a few steps you can take to get you on your way to becoming a great advocate for your child at school...
Before the IEP try these steps:
- Look at a few sample IEP’s so you are familiar with the way they look and what types of information are on them. A Google search on “Sample IEP in (your state)” will likely give you some good ones. Some tools you should check out include the IEP Worksheet and this great (and free) app for your phone – The IEP Checklist
- Do your homework! There are some great resources available to you like the list that NICHCY has on their site and so many others. It can be overwhelming at first, but if you commit to learning a new acronym or term a day, soon you’ll be a pro!
- Talk to your child’s teacher or teaching team on a regular basis. Develop a sense of team between home and school, when you do this the lines of communication stay open and the result is the best possible scenario for your child.
- Don’t agree to or sign anything you don’t understand. Ask to have the IEP goal sheet sent home so that you can review it and have the time to do some research if you need to! Having the IEP a week or so before the meeting will also allow you to talk to an advocate about it if you feel that’s needed.
- At the meeting, try and relax. Everyone at the table is there to help your child learn. They would not be there if that was not the case. This is really a team meeting about your child’s daily life at school and you are the team captain.
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