What frustrates parents most about dealing with the school regarding their child with special needs?
When parents call me saying they need help advocating at a school meeting, it’s because their child’s educational needs are not being met at school and they don’t know what they can do to make a difference. When I ask the obvious question; Does your child have an Individual Education Plan in place? They say ‘Yes, but she is not being followed’. And THAT is what frustrates parents. They have gone through the process of requesting an IPRC meeting to identify their child as exceptional and determine the correct placement in the classroom, which ultimately led to the development of the IEP. The IEP is a document…a plan that should guide teachers on what steps to take to meet the educational needs of the student. So why does the student continue to have so much difficulty in school? You cannot MAKE a teacher teach in a certain way, or provide the modifications and accommodations found in the IEP. So what is a parent supposed to do?
Perhaps the reason the IEP is not being followed is that it is too general, not specific to the individual student. Perhaps it was processed in isolation as part of a procedure rather than developed with input from a multidisciplinary team of professionals with each student’s needs as the focus of the IEP.
I suggest that parents request an IEP meeting to include all key stakeholders, which is anyone who can provide input and suggest teaching strategies and accommodations to meet the child’s needs. The principal, because the principal is ultimately responsible for ensuring implementation of the IEP; the classroom teacher and the pedagogical assistant, because they will be the ones who provide the teaching and the accommodations that are in the IEP; the special education resource teacher because he or she is the lead person in developing the IEP; if the child has motor difficulties make sure that an occupational therapist attends; if the child has language difficulties, make sure he or she is seen by a speech-language pathologist; if the child has behavioral difficulties make sure a behavioral counselor attends, if the child has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make sure someone from the ASD support team attends, and so on…
At the meeting, the first step will be to clearly define the student’s strengths and needs. Then review the IEP step by step to make sure each need is thoroughly addressed and that the goals and expectations are specific and measurable. Make sure any accommodation for the team is available and can be provided immediately. Identify who is responsible for what service and how often. And finally, request that all school personnel who deal with the student be made aware of the accommodations in the IEP.
At the end of the meeting, schedule a follow-up meeting in a month to assess what is working in the IEP and what is not. This is not to assess the student per se, but rather the effectiveness of the IEP and whether or not it is being implemented successfully. Make any necessary changes to the IEP and schedule another follow-up meeting in a month. Do this as many times as necessary.
This is the best strategy to ensure that the IEP is effective and implemented as written.
