If you have a child in special education in Leon County schools -- or anywhere in Florida, for that matter -- chances are you'll have another IEP meeting before the end of the year. Your child's Individualized Education Plan sets goals, records progress and documents special needs such as services, tools, and personnel required to support your child's education.
Your child's IEP will be written by a team of people -- but never forget: YOU (and hopefully, your child's other parent) are an absolutely essential part of that team. No one knows your child better than you do.
The same IEP can be used for up to 12 months. However, you can ask for another IEP meeting for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you feel that the goals on it have been met. Or maybe you have concerns that not enough progress is being made. Maybe there have been changes in behavior, therapy, medications, etc., since the last IEP meeting.
Let's talk about the people who can attend the IEP meeting:
- You and the child's other parent, if possible
- The child, when appropriate
- Your child's ESE teacher
- Your child's general education teacher, if applicable
- Someone who understands and can explain the evaluations that have been done for your child (this very likely will be one of the teachers)
- Therapists, such as the speech or occupational therapist your child sees at school
- Other people invited by you or the school -- maybe there's a favorite teacher who would like to be involved. Or perhaps you would like to have a lawyer specializing in disability rights to attend with you -- this isn't common, but it is absolutely your right. Some people even bring private therapists or pediatricians to the meeting, but more often, these professionals will provide a written report which you can bring with you.
One of the first steps in the preparation process is to think about your goals for this meeting, as well as your long-term goals for your child's educational future. You'll have a better idea of who and what to bring to your IEP meeting if you know your goals.
(Coming soon: Part two ... to receive updates when new stories are added to Tallahassee Special Needs Kids, click "subscribe" at the top of the page. It's free and you won't be spammed.)
Comments (2)
It's a good point that the parents can bring someone along with them to the meeting. There should be someone representing the child's home program so that the school and the home program can coordinate as much as possible.
I am a teacher and have been on the teacher side of these meetings many times. Parents need to understand that these meetings usually happen back to back and a teacher may attend several in a few days. If the parent wants a more personal and indiviualized experience they should schedule for February or March or at the very least any day except the day the school wants to do it.
What do you think?
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