Looking for Advice from Moms Who Have Gone Through the School IEP Meeting

Hi B..

I have been through IEP for a couple years now. Don't be nervous. It is all laid out and the explain everything to you. The are setting up goals for the child.

My son was also evaluated at age 3. The IEP meeting is just the formal process that they need to go through to offer your son services such as speech therapy or the special pre-school. They will share their observations with you, establish goals, and then recommend services to you. It involves filling out of paperwork, and you sign that you agree with the plan suggested, which of course as the parent you can change the plan at any time if you feel necessary. They should give you a booklet about your rights as a parent and community resources and contacts. The parental rights bit doesn't really apply so much for younger kids but I guess it can become an issue if they older in school and you disagree with the educational plan for your child. They always try to have special needs kids integrated into regular classes as much as possible. The only part of the meeting I felt I needed to prepare for was they ask what you feel are your child's strengths and weaknesses and what your goals are.

K.

Hi B.,
I too have attended IEP meetings before. My son does receive Speech Serives however speech isn't his main certification. I ditto the idea of getting an advocate to come with you to the meeting, it can only help. I battled this on my own for 6 years and finally sought the expertise of an advocate last school year. The one I'm using is ACMH- Association for Childrens Mental Health based in Lansing. There are plenty of advocacy groups; best to ask at the district level.

Strong advice....don't sign the IEP at the meeting, even if you are 100% positive you like what's been written. Take the document home, digest the information and sleep on it for a day or two. If you have any questions, ask!!! And don't hesitate to ask for a second opinion. I also have a very good friend who'se a Speech & Language Pathologist that's helpful for me to bounce ideas off from. If you think of something, I'll be glad to ask her and pass her feedback along.

Remember that you also are a part of the IEP team and unless you all agree....the IEP isn't complete. Don't feel pressured into signing something you don't feel fits your students needs.

In fact, I have my sons IEP meeting next week. My team not only consists of the folks at school - General Ed teacher, LRC (Learning Resource/Special Ed) teacher, Speech, Social Worker, School Psychologist; but also includes the director of Special Education for the district, myself, my parent advocate via ACMH and Dr. Ira Glovinsky. I've learned the hard way...it's best to have some people on my side to help plead my case for the most appropriate services for Kyle. Schools tend to offer the minimum due to funding, and yet make it sound like your child is getting everything he/she needs.

If you would like some help...feel free to contact me. I also have several books on IEP's, the laws etc...

Good Luck.
M.

My son is in his second year at a special (PPI) program for preschool in the Royal Oak school district. He started last year when he was 3 and we have done the IEP and it is basically a plan for your son for the school year, goals to accomplish and such. You let the teachers/speech therapist know of any concerns you may have and that you feel need to be addressed. It is also a way of keeping everyone on the same page. My son had a ton of year infections is first year of life and tubes 2x and that delayed his speech tremendously, but the program he is in has done wonders. His teachers and the speech therapist are great. I cannot tell you how much my son has improved over the last year. If you are in the Royal Oak area I would definitely suggest this program, it is now held at Addams Elementary, but the preschoolers have their own side of the school so they do not have to mingle with the older children. Also, if you live in Royal Oak the students in the PPI program are able to ride the bus to and from school as long as they are picked up and dropped off in Royal Oak.

If you have any other questions, I would be happy to try and answer anything.

Good Luck!!

I dont know what school district you are going through, but my daughters in anchor bay took like 10-15 minuts. All they did was tell me what she was going to be doing in school and what she wouild know by the end of the school year. That was really it. Good luck with your son.

An IEP is a lot like a round table meeting with all the key people in place there to discuss, share input and form his Individual Education Plan....it is extrememly important that if this is his ONLY service provided (no private speech therapy) that you do not solely depend on the people there for the information. Bring everything and anything you have, try to have notes from his past and current eval available and depend the MOST service possible. If you are local enough and have coverage I highly recommend the Kaufman Center in West Bloomfield or the Abilities Center for a complete eval...and NOT to offend, or worry you further but has he been evaluated for Autism? In my situation we felt it was key to have a complete picture, mental, physical, neuro and behavioral evals done so we could rule some out and move on with appropriate treatment. IEP is generally not the place to bring your child and hopefully the people there have met him face to face and really know what his strengths and limitations are. Best wishes for a succesful meeting and for getting him on the right track to build his successes.
E.

Hi!

My name is S. and I have a 5 year old son who is on the Autism spectrum, has speech delay, developmental delay and epilepsy. I have been through the gammet with the IEP process. What school district are you in? If you are in Livingston County - I would highly recommend using an advocate - I honestly don't know where we would be without one. We use one from ARC of Livingston County for the last 1 1/2 yrs. and it has made a world of difference in the services we get as compared to when I did it by myself (without an advocate) for the first IEP. My son has been in the system since he was 20 mos and we have been in 2 different school districts (my husband had a new job relocation). The ARC is free and I don't go anywhere without our advocate! They will go over your issues with your soon, discuss strategy, what you can expect and go over what your son needs. Let me know if I can help or if you want to discuss it more.

I'm not really sure how it works with one so little but I imagine it's very similar to what happens with older students. With a child in K or higher a you generally meet with a small group of people in the school including his teacher, the speech/language teacher, perhaps the special ed teacher, and perhaps even the social worker. Any person that tested the child will go over the testing he/she has done, explain the results and what it means (the gap in a child's achievement). They will then explain their plan for supporting the student. They generally develop goals = skills that they feel the child needs to work on first or are the most crucial at the moment to help move him/her forward. They will expalin what type of services they feel he/she needs, how and how often the child would work on their goals, the people who would work with him/her etc. They generally have suggestions on how the parents can help support at home. Again, this is what I know of how it goes in elementary school. If your IEP is to determine eligibility for a program, I imagine they will state whether or not he qualifies and why or why not. Be prepared for some paperwork. At the end of the meeting you'll probably have to agree or disagree with the suggestions made by the team and sign, I guess you could call it a consent form, stating you agree with the suggestions and wish to have these services provided for your child. In my experience it can be an overwhelming amount of information. Take time to process it and don't be afraid to go back with questions after you've had time to think about it.

HI B.
I have had my son evaluated at GISD he was diagnosed with Autism, I had my first iep meeting last October, I just went to update the iep in August this year. We have new goals set and updated older goals we had for our son, I use a web-site called Wrights-Law, this website will help you with knowing the special education laws,and give you tips on things to bring to the meeting, so you will be more prepared for the meeting, do not be intimidated when going into this meeting rembember you are your childs advocate and you know best!!! good luck, let me know how it turns out.
L..

L.

Hi, I have been going to IEPC meeting ever since my son was 2 and he is now 15. He doesn't have speech issues but he has had all most every other therepy out there through the schools and now in in a complete special ed school.

When you go through IEP's you can question everything that you don't understand, you can refuse anything that doesn't seem right to you and you can request anything thing that you think that your son should have.

My advice is to get an advocate to go with you to the meetings if you are uncomfortable and not sure what to expect or ask.
I'm not sure what school system that your in, but if you call someone in the special ed department in your district and tell them that you are looking for a parent/child advocacy program in your area, they should be able to help you. I only know of one program, myself, and it is in the Inkster area called PSAP (Parent Support and Advocacy Program).

Good luck