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The school system is strained... that's a fact.

This strain adds a tremendous amount of work to teachers already drowning in paperwork...

To correctly write an IEP, it takes a minimum of three hours...

Multiply that times 20 - 30 students... and that alone becomes a part-time-job.

The reason I bring this up is that parents need to understand that not every IEP will be perfect, or unfortunately, even accurate.

Day after day we encounter IEP's that are COMPLETELY wrong, missing data and not helping the child it's intended for!

YES! Tell Me More!

As a parent of a child with special needs, you are intimately familiar with the unique struggles your child faces on a daily basis.

When it comes time to seeking special education services for your school-age child, you will undoubtedly feel overwhelmed with the amount of information that is being presented to you regarding your child's ongoing education within the school system.

Many people will have a hand in providing your child with special needs the best education possible, and none more so than the teacher themselves.

Special education teachers have a specialized working knowledge of which educational practices benefit children with special needs, and which are simply not worth the time or effort.

They can provide real-world scenarios based on their prior experience with children who have special needs, and can help develop a goal plan going forward.

If your child has received a diagnosis from a qualified professional that has determined they have special needs, you most likely will be looking into the prospect of enrolling your child in special education services through the school system.

For successful placement into this type of program, you will need first to have a meeting with school officials to develop your child's Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

What Is An Individualized Education Plan, Or IEP?

An Individualized Education Plan, often referred to by the acronym IEP, is an education plan that is designed around your child's unique needs and is designed to help your child reach obtainable goals within the given school year.

These goals are based around what your child can do versus what they're expected to learn, and helps establish a basic guideline for the direction your child's education should take for the foreseeable future.

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ( IDEA) of 2004, an IEP should be "a statement of the child's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance... [and] a statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals designed to meet the child's needs that result from the child's disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum."

That was a mouthful...

In simple terms, this means that a team of professionals will help to establish areas of education that your child will need specialized help with, as well as prepare a report on how those areas could be improved and by what means.

A Teacher's Role In The Creation Of The IEP;

For day-to-day interactions and firsthand trial-and-error knowledge, there is no better resource than a special education teacher.

When you participate in your initial IEP meeting, you will meet with the teachers that will be handling your child's special education as well as other school officials such as;

The Principal

School Psychologist

Medical Professionals

Qualified Therapists (Speech, Physical, Occupational, etc.)

Other individuals will also attend that can provide insight into your child's special needs that prevent them from moving forward on their own down the educational road to success.

A teacher's role during the IEP meeting is to provide information regarding your child's present levels of academic performance, the educational goals that need to be met during the school year and what they feel your child's individual strengths and weaknesses will be on the whole, as well as per subject.
There aren't any steadfast rules regarding what information should be included in an IEP, seeing as how it differs from child to child, but there are a few guidelines you can expect the teacher to loosely follow to reach goals that work for your child;

1. The teacher might discuss current learning methods that are working for other students like your own, and bring up what methods don't work as well.

2. Expect to hear about special accommodations the special education classroom can provide and how they will help your child succeed

3. The teacher will discuss the challenges that using specific accommodations might present when it comes to your child's everyday learning.

As teachers have a working knowledge of their special education classrooms, they bring to the table valuable insight that can assist your child with special needs in getting the much-needed help they need and deserve.

They will work towards setting obtainable goals for your child during the school year and will stick closely to the demands of the IEP consistently and thoroughly.

If you have questions at any point during the IEP creation process or its subsequent implementation, the special education teacher is your best source of answers; they can help revise or reevaluate your child's goals as the year progresses, should it be needed.

Teacher Support After The Creation Of The IEP;

The initial IEP meeting should include not only special education teachers but those who are responsible for the general school population, as well.

If your child will be participating in some inclusive activities during the school day, this means all teachers need to be aware of your child's unique situation and circumstances.

They will work towards finding creative solutions that work for your child, as well as provide one-on-one support and special accommodations, should your child require them.

The support these teachers provide goes beyond basic academics, as well, as they work on necessary life skills, self-skills, and other issues that might be identified as trouble spots for your child.

Teachers have a vested interest in seeing your child with special needs succeed and will do what it takes to make sure they not only follow the IEP but let you know your child's progress and possible obstacles as they occur.

Special Education Resource is your go-to source for all information related to special education.

In addition, we also offer supplemental learning through special education tutoring. With the touch of a button, you will be connected to qualified tutors who understand your child's frustrations and are dedicated to helping them succeed.

Supplemental learning takes the coursework currently being taught in your child's classroom and molds it to fit their specific learning needs. Whether presently enrolled in special education services or not, an excellent first step is a . Our special education tutors will answer your questions, offer guidance during the IEP process if appropriate, and help formulate a plan to assist your child in reaching their excellence.

We have a responsibility as parents and educators to help children get the best education possible, no matter what.

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Teachers pick up the school systems slack in IEP's...

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The school system is strained... that's a fact. This strain adds a tremendous amount of work to teachers already drowning in paperwork... To correctly write an IEP, it takes a minimum of three hours... Multiply that times 20 - 30 students... and that alone becomes a part-time-job.

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parent information and resources on IEP's

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parent information and resources on IEP's

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Most recently reviewed, September 2017
About the IEP Team in Spanish | En español

To write an effective IEP for a child with a disability, parents, teachers, other school staff-and often the child-come together at a meeting to look closely at the child's unique needs.

These individuals combine their knowledge, experience, and commitment to design an educational program that must help the child to be involved in, and progress in, the general education curriculum-that is, the same curriculum as for children without disabilities. The IEP guides the delivery of special education and related services and supplementary aids and supports for the child with a disability. Without a doubt, writing-and implementing-an effective IEP requires teamwork.

So-who's on the team? Here's a list, as specified in IDEA, our nation's special education law. Note that the order in which the IEP team members are going to be listed and discussed has nothing to do with their priority on the team. Every member has an equal say and important expertise to contribute.
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The IEP Team, Short and Sweet

IDEA (at §300.321) describes the IEP team as including the following members:

- the parents of the child;

- not less than one regular education teacher of the child (if the child is, or may be, participating in the regular education environment);

- not less than one special education teacher of the child, or where appropriate, not less then one special education provider of the child;

- a representative of the public agency who is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities; is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum; and is knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the public agency;

- an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results;

- other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child, including related services personnel as appropriate (invited at the discretion of the parent or the agency); and

- the child with a disability (when appropriate).

The IEP Team, Discussed in Detail

Training materials for Parent Centers and others | In English and Spanish.
In 2016, CPIR updated the Building the Legacy training modules on the IEP and presented a webinar on the new content. Three training modules are available in English and in Spanish; all are designed for Parent Centers to use in training families and others on the in's-and-out's of IEPs. Download them all from:
http://www.parentcenterhub.org/webinar-training-materials-on-iep/

There's a lot that can be said about each of these members of the IEP team, what their roles on the team are, what type of information and expertise they can bring to the table, and what, precisely, IDEA has to say about their membership on this all-important team.

The links below will give a quick way to find out more and read the details of how each of these IEP team members can help in developing a child's IEP.

Parents on the IEP Team
Parents of the child with a disability are vital members of the IEP team, with an expertise to contribute like no one else's.

Special Educators on the IEP Team
Special educators, with their knowledge of how to educate children with disabilities, are obviously a very important part of a child's IEP team.

Regular Educators on the IEP Team
If a child is participating in the regular education environment (or is going to be participating), then IDEA requires that at least one regular educator of the child be included on the IEP team.

A Representative of the School System
The IEP team must also include a representative of the school system, who has the authority to commit agency resources. This person must have specific qualifications. Find out what those are.

Someone to Interpret Evaluation Results
Is there someone on the IEP team who can interpret the child's evaluation results and discuss what they mean in terms of instruction?

Others with Knowledge or Special Expertise About the Child
Either the parent or the school system may invite others to join the team, if they have knowledge or special expertise about the child. This can include related service providers.

Student with a Disability on the IEP Team
Of course, the student with a disability might have something to say about his or her own education!

Would you like to read something else in this suite about the IEP?
Use the jump links below to go to another section of the All about the IEP suite.

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Most recently reviewed, September 2017 About the IEP Team in Spanish | En español To write an effective IEP for a child with a disability, parents, teachers, other school staff-and often the child-come together at a meeting to look closely at the child's unique needs.

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Parents of children with learning disabilities and ADHD often express concern about their child's social skills. Yet their child's Individualized Education Plan (IEP) focuses solely on academic performance.

They are right to be concerned. Challenges with social skills can and do impact learning (following directions, class participation, group work, etc.), as well as life outside the classroom including personal relationships and workplace interactions.

Even if you find the the IEP process intimidating, you need not hold back when it comes to addressing social-skill deficits with your child's team.

You know that social skills are vital for success in life. Teachers know this too. That is the common ground on which to begin the discussion.

The IDEA is a good place to start the conversation because it provides the justification for including social skills in the IEP. This federal law makes clear that the purpose of special education is to prepare students with disabilities for "further education, employment, and independent living," all of which require social competency.

Including Social Skills in the IEP

Learning disabilities often include social skill deficits. And ADHD is essentially an executive function disorder. And executive function deficits can have a negative impact on social development. Writing IEP objectives to address executive functions and social skills can be tricky.

To create measurable IEP objectives, Dr. Timothy Heitzman, Pediatric Neuropsychologist at the Southfield Center for Development, suggests shining a light on the results from a behavioral rating scale such as The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), a tool often used to assess executive function and social skill deficits in children.

BRIEF consists of two questionnaires-one to be filled out by the teacher and the other by the parent-each consisting of items that target behaviors within the relevant setting (school or home). The raw scores are then tabulated to provide aggregate information in eight areas related to executive functions.

For areas where the scores are elevated, Dr. Heitzman advises the IEP team to look at the raw data. For example, if a child's Inhibition score was elevated (reflecting difficulty with controlling impulses and stopping behavior), then the team should drill down to the raw data where they will find, in this case, that the child interrupts others. That's a specific behavior that can be turned into an IEP objective:

With no more than two visual reminders from teacher during a 45-minute period, Tommy will raise his hand and wait to be called on during classroom discussions 90% of the time.

Social Skills Instruction

Once objectives have been written, the next challenge is teaching the behavior through direct instruction.

Using the example of planning for social interactions, Chris Abildgaard, Director of the Social Learning Center at Benhaven in Wallingford, CT explains how to teach the skill. Abildgaard recommends coaching the student before entering a social setting and developing a Plan A and Plan B.

He offers this sample 'social planning checklist' that may be used as both an instructional tool and a way to help children develop a sense of reflection and self-monitoring:

____ Do I feel good about how to ask Johnny if he wants to play with me? If not, who can I ask for help?

____ I know what I am going to say and have Plan A. It is________________________________.

____ If Johnny says 'no' or another roadblock appears, I am ready with a Plan B. That is________________________

____ After I followed either Plan A or Plan B, I thought about how I did. Sometimes I may need to talk with an adult to help me with this part.

Many IEP teams are just beginning to address social skills and executive function deficits with students, as much of the thinking in this arena is still quite new.
The information in this article was first presented at a program sponsored by Smart Kids with LD. Ann McCarthy has experience as a special education advocate and is the former Managing Director of The Southfield Center for Development.

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Parents of children with learning disabilities and ADHD often express concern about their child's social skills. Yet their child's Individualized Education Plan (IEP) focuses solely on academic performance. They are right to be concerned.

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What Are the Benefits of an IEP - Shrub Oak International School

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6 Benefits of IEPs for Autism When it comes to a customized program that fits the needs of Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD, Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) become not only a priority but a necessity. What is an IEP? Is it tailored for Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD?

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The IDEA requires that schools monitor progress and provide regular progress reports to parents of students with IEPs.

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For students with diagnosed learning disabilities, receiving services under the , the Individual Education Plan establishes goals and objectives for the school year * As your child's advocate, it's up to you to ensure that this document includes, at a minimum, the core elements outlined here

The Individual Education Program (IEP) is the roadmap for your child's education. It is a legal agreement between parent and school that states what your child will learn and be able to do as a result of the programs and services he will receive. Simply put, the purpose of the IEP is to set annual targets for your child and answer the question: Is he learning and mastering skills?

As the parent of a child with learning differences, it's your responsibility to ensure that the IEP fits your child. No one knows your child better than you. It, therefore, behooves you to take an active part in the development of the IEP, and monitor adherence to it as the year unfolds.

Although you are one of several members of his IEP team, you are the only one at the table representing his interests alone.

Essential Elements of An IEP

To ensure that the IEP reflects your child's educational goals, you must read and understand each page to verify that it is filled out completely, accurately, and appropriately. You must also review the document to make sure that it contains, at a minimum. the essential elements described below. If they are not present in your child's IEP, your job is to ask why not, and to work toward making them a part of this document.

1. Strengths and weaknesses. Does the IEP reflect your input regarding the skills he does well and the skills he needs, as well as what you want him to know and do?

2. Correct diagnosis. Does it contain an accurate, comprehensive definition of your child's diagnosis, expressed clearly so that you understand how and what areas of learning are affected?

3. Current performance indicators. Does it present a clear, valid picture of his present level of performance in such a way that it can be used as a benchmark to measure future progress?

4. Valid interventions. Are you convinced that the treatment programs recommended are research-based and effective for his particular learning needs?

5. Realistic, measurable goals. Are the annual goals meaningful and attainable; will objective measures be used to determine if the goals have been achieved?

6. Short-term objectives. Do the short-term (interim) objectives leading up to the annual goal specifically describe how progress will be measured, and is there a timetable and mechanism for regularly reporting progress, or lack thereof, to you?

7. Social considerations. Does the IEP provide a program for your child that allows maximum involvement with peers, in compliance with the law's Least Restrictive Environment mandate?
Noreen O'Mahoney, CSW, SDA, is the founder and director of Collaborative Advocacy Associates, in Wilton, CT.
Related Smart Kids Links

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For students with diagnosed learning disabilities, receiving services under the , the Individual Education Plan establishes goals and objectives for the school year * As your child's advocate, it's up to you to ensure that this document includes, at a minimum, the core elements outlined here The Individual Education Program (IEP) is the roadmap for your child's education.

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The IEP team makes important decisions about your child’s education. Learn who is required by law to be on the team, and what role each person plays.

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National council of special education- guidlines of an IEP

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National council of special education- guidlines of an IEP