We are warriors. In more ways than we can count. We are always on the defensive and always fighting for the needs of our children. Want to see a special needs parent in action? Attend an IEP meeting. I know, not another acronym! Don’t worry, I’ll break it down for ya. An IEP is an “Individualized Education Plan”.
Sadly, the system is broken for many families. School districts don’t put enough money towards Special Education and these families suffer. Parents literally have to “battle” for basic needs of their children. Parents hire advocates and lawyers to help them. There are seminars and “training” for parents so they can be sure to “fight for their rights”. This lack of funding and services is prevalent in school districts and things need to change.
Now, I may be getting ahead of myself. Let me back up. The IEP is basically a curriculum that is specific to the child. It describes the child’s strengths and weaknesses. And then there are goals outlined for the year. These goals can be anything the team comes up with. Most of these kids cannot follow a standard class curriculum due to their disabilities so they are given annual goals to accomplish instead.
These goals can cover just about anything. We have had goals for eye contact, name recognition, ABC knowledge, number knowledge, social aspects, following directions, speech, potty training, self-care etc. The document lays out specifics as to how the child will accomplish each goal, how the goal will be measured, and has sections for what will be provided for the child (ipad, transportation, PECS, etc). Z has had anywhere from 10-18 goals in his IEP. The IEP also contains special things the child needs at school. For example, Z has to have a 1:1 aide, a communication device and other items. The IEP also goes into therapy (like speech, OT, PT, etc) and includes the number of hours for these.
The “IEP team” consists of all the components to the child’s need. It can include the Special Education teacher and any appropriate aides. Sometimes the regular grade teacher will attend if the child is “mainstreamed” (this means a portion or all of the day is spent in a regular classroom, not special ed). Other participants include the principal, the speech pathologist, the OT therapist, the school nurse, the District Representative, and anyone else the parents want to attend. We have had our Regional Center coordinator attend when we have had issues. And as stated, parents sometimes have to resort to advocates and/or lawyers.
Each year the team meets to go over the progress from the year and designs new goals and strategies for the upcoming year. But at any point, this team can be called together. In fact, if parents request it, the District must comply in 30 days.
This can be a very stressful and emotional meeting. Parents have to hear all the struggles of their child. This is just about the only time they actually see how far behind their child is from a typical child of the same age. They have to hear about the “bad days”. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are good things said as well. But you can’t help but focus more on the regressions and failures than the successes. In addition to the emotional side of the meeting, parents are often battling a severely under-budgeted school district who wants to cut services or who make it extremely difficult to get any added. Parents know what their child needs, what will make them succeed, but they often hit a brick wall during these meetings and hear “our hands are tied” far too often.
The IEP is law. If something is in there, the school HAS to supply it or they can be sued. I’m sure you can imagine why some of these meetings turn into battles if a school district does not want to be held accountable for something. The budgets don’t allow for iPads to be given to all kids, for there to be enough aides to properly staff a room and give kids the extra assistance they need, for additional speech and OT therapists so schools can have a dedicated resource, for the plethora of sensory items that could help calm even the most aggressive kid. And that is on all of us. We have allowed for school budgets to be cut time and time again. We have allowed teachers to pay for their own supplies without batting an eye. We have allowed for teachers and aides to not receive the salaries they deserve. We have allowed all of this and it will be up to us to change it. Our District rep said in our last IEP “Well, the U.S. will never pay the aides enough to keep them in the job.” I disagree. If we all have attitudes such as this, then yes. But if we want to CHANGE things and make a difference in these classrooms, we need to ACT.
One last comment and then I will let you go. I have to give props to the teachers and school officials. To have to come up with this document for each kid and then implement the goals takes A LOT of effort. Imagine having a different lesson plan for each kid. Imagine being on the offensive at all times with parents. When you just have the child’s best interest at heart but do not have the proper funding and resources. Imagine trying to move the world on barely anything at all. Now, imagine having your boss (the principal) and the District at each of these meetings seeing your progress or lack thereof. I mean, talk about pressure!
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Tilted Axis 