Parents need to approach their child’s IEP with certain strategies in mind. In this context "strategy" is developing an overall plan that will serve as a guide for all advocacy activities. The following are the essential elements of strategic planning for IEP meetings.
1. Set priorities-not all items deserve equal treatment. For instance if your child is engaged in high risk activities whether it be elopement activities or suidical ideation, his or her reading levels are not as much of a priority. I have a number of parents who want to argue vehemently about decoding goals when their child’s mental health is such that they can not be safely educated in school. Here are some of my personal and professional priorities [the ordering is fluid and is meant to give a working outline to parents] and is far from comprehensive:
- Safety first and foremost must be addressed;
- Communication is crucial for learning and for life. Too many children I represent have at best minimal goals [and in some cases none] for expressive, receptive, pragmatics or oral language when this is critical for learning, socializaing and for life outside of school;
- Socialization must be worked on from the earliest years to insure it is meaningful, reciprocal, and appropriate [e.g. we do not walk up to strangers and start talking];
- Self advocacy is a skill that must be developed over the years and does not just develop one day because "you are in high school now". Young children can and should learn to advocate which lays the foundation for higher order advocacy;
- Assitive technology ["AT"] while not necessarily a goal area by itself (although it can be) needs to evaluated and incorproated in all aspects of the IEP. I have rarely seen a child who has an IEP that would not benefit from AT, but it typically requires my advocacy for this to happen often years later than it should;
- Reading is pervasive to everything academic, for functioning in society and for staying safe. Parents need to become informed as to the exact degree that their child is lagging in this area and what aspects of reading are deficient (fluency, decoding, comprehension etc.) Studies show that by 4th grade, it takes 4x more intervention to recover than to address the issue in K-1, and the recovery tends to be incomplete in many cases probably because there are just so many hours in the day.
2. Avoid jargon at all costs. Too many fights between schools and parents turn on jargon phrases from various brand name programs to address their child’s issues. It is far better and more legally defensible to couch the argument into conceptual pieces.
For instance, for a child who is on autism spectrum: he or she needs a highly structured, intensive service model (hours stated), very low staff to student ratio, with extensive visual supports and an effective means to communicate. The program needs to be staffed with personnel who are highly trained and are applying research-based teaching methods that have been shown to be effective for children with autism. Advocate for concepts from a program to be incorporated into goals with an emphasis on objective data collection, reporting out of data collected and quantifiable measures of progress. This approach is much more effective and often less polarizing than demanding by brand name ABA, TEACCH, Lovass, RDI, Floortime for children on the spectrum. The same principles apply to teaching children with learning disabilities or other disabilities.
3. Think long term always.
Even from the youngest age the focus of the meeting needs to be on essential skills that will carry the child forward in life. The model that I work off of in ranked order is:
a. can the child communicate, socialize and behave in a way that will result in a meaningful life and not result in exclusion, stigma or worse yet incarceration;
b. how well can the child use his or her hands to manipulate objects, utensils, computer switches, clothing fastners, and means of writing;
c. ADLs or activities of daily living–personal hygiene, housekeeping and community living. Some of these skills are assessed through a Vineland and other "adaptive behavior ratings;"
d. functional math and literacy including things like money and time skills, reading items such as a train schedule and understanding the marketplace. I have a number of student who I represent that are quite capable in many academic areas but lag badly in these areas;
e. recreational and leisure activities are an important part of all of our lives and can foster many of the other skills mentioned above whether communication, socialization, behavior reinforcement, and gross and fine motor development, not to mention fun and self-esteem.
This post is meant to be a working template to be modified as needed with an emphasis on the goals and services that are needed to achieve the best real life outcome in the long term.