I’m an Eastern Michigan Univeristy undergraduate student studying elementary education. I am currently taking a special education course and we are doing a project in that class about any aspect of special education that we are interested in. What interested me was the IEP process, learning disablilities, and how it effects parents and the students. For my project I am putting together a booklet geared towards parents that have children with learning disabilities. In the booklet I would like it to be filled with tips for parents that are told that their child might have a learning disability and have been told they should have their student tested. I plan to explain the IEP process in detail so that it can be easily understood, because I feel this is probably a very confusing, complicated process. I would like to include tips and statements from parents of children who have gone through this process and have been found to have or do not have a learning disability. So if you would like to provide me with some tips for other parents going through this process or would like to comment on what you thought about the IEP process when you went through it that would be greatly appreciated. If you would prefer to be listed as anonymous I completely understand and will comply with your wishes. I would appreciate it if you could please tell me what kind of learning disability your child has when you respond if you would like to be included in my assignment. Thank you.
~Jennifer~
Re: Doing a college research project and would like your opinion
VERY nicely written Dad!
And accurate. Especially the part of maybe its not fair, but that’s not *your* problem.
Barb
Re: Doing a college research project and would like your opinion
DAD I have to ask if you really thought it helped to dress more casual at IEP meetings. I also enjoyed reading the article, and the point about time really hit home.
Re: Doing a college research project and would like your opinion
I play Euchre. One of the techniques that I have picked up that helps me win is “sandbagging”. Dressing down or otherwise causing the “opposition” to underestimate you is not so very difference from under-bidding a euchre hand with the intent of setting the other team.
Of course, after the first meeting you call any bluffs or otherwise demonstrate that you are not really an ill-informed idjot unable to fend for yourself it won’t necessarily work as intended. However, if you feel more comfortable wearing “regular” clothes, that alone will help you maximize your efforts.
I would like to stress that IMNSHO, the single best thing a parent can do is to tape the meetings. Reviewing the tapes can provide information and insights that the real-time hearing will miss as well as giving a perfect record of what was said. And, like I said, you will be amazed at how much politer the meeting will be when the recorder is running…
IEP advice
I have to admit that IEP’s and MDT’s aren’t my favorite thing. The one advice that I would have is that sometimes even professional people say stupid things. Why give up on a child in Kindergarten? The educational psychologist at my sons first MDT told me not to expect my son to go to college. He might get to a voc-tech school. If my sons disabilities were this bad why did I have to him, haw and practically threatening the school to even get my ds evaluated. You can’t make these determinations 12 years in advance? It was better in the next school that he went to and he has made improvements. Truthfully I don’t think it really matters who you are, what you wear or what you do you still may feel that you are being judged as a bad parent during the IEP. It seems that there isn’t enough good said about the kids. This only concentrates on the weaknesses. I realize that is what the meeting is set up to do. Problem shoot the weaknesses. As I write this I think if parents went in remembering that although the kids strengths will be said that this meeting focuses more on weaknesses and how to help them improve the weaknesses. I know after our IEP’s and MDT’s I feel like the worst failure of a parent for a couple days afterwards. I truthfully half-way wonder if that is why- because I like to think about the positive as well as the negative and the meeting is truthfully to deal more with the bad things about my child. :cry: We just had my sons IEP yesterday and that emoticon is exactly how I feel! Why- because my ds doesn’t tie his shoes. I half-way wish that I had known little nit-picky things would be focused on so much. I also wish I knew that the schools would be wish-washy about what they wanted for corrections. I’ve gone full circle on the schools request for shoes. They wanted velcro at his last school, then when he was younger they wanted ties, now they want velcro again. This is all in about a 3 year period of time. I just feel like I can’t do anything right and its all because of stupid shoes. I think it would help parents if they knew they may not feel so positive after meetings. They aren’t alone with those feelings.
http://www.danasview.net/iepproc.htm
Here is a link to a piece I wrote 5 years ago. I still think it holds relevance. I wrote it at the time from the perspective of a parent of an autistic child, but it will be applicable to the IEP process in general IMNSHO. Should you have questions needing a bit more clarification, please ask.