When There Is No IEP: How To Help Your Child Succeed In School

Guest Post by Suzanne Burchill from The Friendship Circle

My son was diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) about 4 years ago. Today he is in 5th grade and still struggles with the classic symptoms of ADHD: lack of focus and attention, easily distracted, difficulty staying on task, lack of organization, blurting/ shouting out in class, difficulty sitting still/staying seated, and lack of impulse control.
Can we have an IEP?…. Pretty Please

These symptoms have caused a lot of problems for him both socially and academically. Last year, my husband and I started to notice that my son’s grades were beginning so suffer, so we requested an evaluation from the school for an Individual Education Plan (IEP).

At the end of the evaluation, the school professionals decided that my son wasn’t performing poorly enough to qualify for an IEP. So my husband and I were left to ask ourselves “What do we do now?”

Without the requirements of an IEP, how could we make sure that the school was doing everything that they could to help our son succeed?

Read more HERE.

How Can I Request Changes to an IEP?

By the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) Editorial Team

Making Changes to the IEP

After the initial IEP is finalized or later IEPs are agreed upon (usually annually), IDEA 2004 provides new ways that parents and schools can make changes:

* Once the annual IEP team meeting has taken place, schools and parents are allowed to amend or change the IEP without holding another meeting of the full team.

* The entire IEP does not need to be rewritten in order to include such changes; however, parents may request a copy of the revised IEP with the changes included. At a minimum, you should receive a copy of the IEP changes in writing.

If the changes are made in this manner, all members of the IEP team must be made aware of the changes and their responsibility in implementing the changes.

While these new provisions make it more convenient for both parents and schools to make IEP changes, you should be cautious about using this approach to changing your child's IEP. Minor changes involving things such as accommodations can be easily revised like this, but significant revisions such as changes in the services, frequency of those services, and how behavioral or disciplinary issues are addressed are good reasons to have a full IEP team meeting. When making IEP changes without a team meeting, you should make sure that the school representative making the change(s) is authorized to do so by the school district. Parents are free to request an IEP meeting at any time, and requests should always be made in writing.

Our IDEA Parent Guide, specifically Chapter 7: IEPs – Developing Your Child’s Education Plan, will be helpful to parents grappling with questions like these and other about Individualized Education Programs.

Article HERE.

Four Important Signs That Your Child’s IEP Is Working

By Candace Cortiella, Director, The Advocacy Institute

The Individualized Education Program (or IEP) lays out the school’s commitment to provide special education and related services to your child. Developed annually, an IEP must be tailored to the individual needs of your child, with your involvement and input. Once formulated, the IEP becomes your roadmap to track your child’s progress throughout the year.

Here Are Four Important Signs That Your Child’s IEP Is Working:

Your child’s IEP has been reviewed by all teachers and related service providers.

All school personnel involved with your child’s education should be aware of and have access to your child’s IEP. This includes general education teachers, special education teachers, and any providers of related services such as speech/language.

Everyone should be knowledgeable about your child’s learning disability and its impact on all aspects of learning and behavior. Everyone should be clear regarding any instructional support, accommodations, or other services that must be provided your child and the role each must play in making certain they are provided consistently.

Your child is receiving behavorial supports, if needed.

Every IEP must consider the student’s need for behavioral interventions if behavior impedes the student’s learning or that of others. If your child requires such support, the IEP should clearly spell out what interventions are required. All those involved in your child’s education should be aware of behavior challenges and how they are to be addressed.

Your child has access to assistive technology and accessible instructional materials.

Confirm that your child is being provided with any assistive technology (AT) and/or accessible instructional materials (AIM) listed in the IEP. This includes any training your child needs in order to use the AT or AIM, and any training you might need to assist your child. Simply asking your child about use of AT and AIM is a good way to determine if what’s been promised in the IEP is actually happening.

You are receiving regular progress reports from the school.

IDEA requires that parents be provided with regular reports of progress toward each of the annual goals in their child’s IEP. These progress reports must be provided as frequently as reports are provided for all students.

Reports should involve objective measures — such as results gathered by curriculum-based measurement and standardized tests — and should not rely on any one single measure. A combination of measures will best document your child's progress and show if the special services are meeting your child's needs. Teacher observation and teacher-given grades alone are not appropriate measures of student progress.

If your child’s progress will not result in accomplishing the annual goal, expect to be given information on how the instruction will be changed in order to speed up progress. If progress is more than predicted, consider re-writing the goal to reflect more progress.

What to Do If Your Child’s IEP Isn’t Working

While your child’s IEP must be reviewed each year, if you feel that your child’s IEP is not providing appropriate progress before the annual review time, you can (and should) request a meeting to review and revise it.

Always make your request in writing. Provide times that are convenient for you to meet, either in person or by alternative means such as conference call, and a date by which you expect the meeting to be convened. Changes can be made to your child’s IEP by developing a written document that amends or modifies your child’s current IEP. There is no need to convene an IEP team for the purpose of making changes. If changes are made, the school must ensure that everyone involved with your child’s education is made aware of the changes.

Read more HERE.

How to Read an IEP: Acronyms and Language

By Marcie Lipsitt, NCLD Parent Leader - National Center for Learning Disabilities

Learning the Language of Special Education

As parents of children with special needs we pride ourselves on being experts. Unfortunately, too often we are expected to be experts in the field of public education, special education, and research-based educational best practices, written in a language that we do not fully understand. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 (IDEA 2004) ensures that parents are equal members of their children’s IEP teams and with that comes an implied responsibility. Our children’s right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and meaningful educational benefit rests upon our willingness to embrace the uncomfortable and learn everything that we can about this special education Holy Grail — the IEP — and the special education acronyms inherent in building this document.

IEP Terms: Special Education Acronyms

IDEA – Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004
IEP – Individualized Education Program
IEP Team – Individualized Education Program Team
IEE – Independent Educational Evaluation
BIP – Behavior Intervention Plan
PBS – Positive Behavior Supports
FBA – Functional Behavioral Assessment
LRE – Least Restrictive Environment
FAPE – Free Appropriate Public Education
PLAAFP – Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (also known as “PLOP”)
ESY – Extended School Year
CBM – Curriculum Based Measurement
RTI – Response to Intervention

Read more HERE.

Are You Overwhelmed by Your Child’s IEP?

By Kristin Stanberry from the National Center for Learning Disabilities

Given the complexity of the IEP and IEP process—and its importance to a child’s education—it’s understandable that parents often feel overwhelmed. In fact, the whole IEP process can be an emotional roller coaster, as we learned from a survey we conducted in 2012. We asked parents what feelings they have ever experienced during the IEP process. The results were eye-opening, with over half of respondents saying they felt overwhelmed, confused, powerless, and/or intimidated. On a more positive note, many of those surveyed said they felt (or had at some time felt) hopeful, confident, thankful, and trusting.

The same survey told us that, while many parents are satisfied with the IEP process and their involvement as members of their children’s IEP teams, just as many were dissatisfied. More than half feel prepared at IEP meetings, so preparation alone clearly doesn’t wipe out the host of emotions many parents feel!

IEP Scenarios – Why You Might Feel Overwhelmed

Here are some common reasons why you might feel upset or uncertain during the IEP process — along with some possible remedies:

1.  You feel outnumbered and intimidated. Even if you attend the IEP meeting with your spouse/partner, you’ll almost always be surrounded by more than two educators. Here are some ways to bolster your confidence:

• Capitalize on the good relationships you (and your child) have with certain educators on the team, whether it’s your child’s general education teacher, the school psychologist, or someone else.

• Enlist an advocate to join you at IEP meetings if doing so gives you confidence.

• Remember that you are a valuable member of the IEP team. The others may be education experts, but you are the expert about your child. No one else on the team has a lifelong relationship and or the same level of awareness you do of your child. Make sure your voice is heard!

Read more HERE.

Accommodations in an IEP are just as important as Services

By Dennise Goldberg from Special Education Advisor Blog

When we talk about IEP’s, many times we focus on what services a school should be providing; however, the appropriate accommodations are just as important for children with disabilities. Many of them struggle with staying on task in school, completing homework assignments, remembering to turn in homework assignments, have difficulty understanding the material, etc…and the list goes on and on. A simple accommodation in an IEP could help a child become a successful student.

For example, let’s look at what happens when a child has difficulty staying on task; basically, a short attention span. I receive phone calls about this all the time from parents and the first question I ask is “where does your child sit in class?” Some parents do not know the answer; others might say the class is quite crowded and their child sits in the back or off to the side. I cannot stress how important it is for students who struggle with focus to sit at the front of the class or close proximity to the teacher. The further away from the teacher, the greater the chance the student will not be paying attention in class. This can prevent daydreaming, doodling or any other type of distraction. If this accommodation is not written in your child’s IEP, make sure you add it….if it’s there, make sure the teacher is following it! It will make a huge difference in their ability to pay attention in class.

Read more HERE.