Tips for an IEP Meeting

Jaclyn Nagle • October 21, 2022

Tips for an IEP Meeting

It is school time, and the first semester is now over for many. This time can be stressful if your child has an IEP. It may seem impossible to parents when they're sitting across a table from a lot of school professionals. Parents may not understand how to put the needs of their child into words that follow the right educational rights. School personnel, on the other hand, may not grasp the concept that the parents may not understand what they are talking about when they talk about specially designed instruction or other resources available to the child. Oftentimes it is a communication issue. Here are some tips that parents can use during an IEP meeting:

· Hire an educational advocate to explain to you what the school terminology is and can also provide the school with your requests in a language that would fit the current IEP or the child's rights.

· Bring a friend or relative to the meeting that knows the child well and can speak about what they see when the child is in other situations outside of school.

· Put everything in writing. Even if you have a conversation with anyone at the school, follow up with an e-mail to summarize the conversation. That gives the other party the chance to respond to clarify or modify what they meant during the conversation.

· If the child is receiving therapies or services from outside agencies, make sure you sign a release of information so that the outside agency can speak to the school district personnel to make sure that the child is receiving parallel services while they are at school.

· Ask the teachers to e-mail you every day or have some communication with you on a consistent basis so that you can modify how your child is doing in school. Progress reports come out at the end of each quarter; however, you don't want to wait until then to discover a problem.

· Remember that everybody is there to help your child. In very few of the cases the school district does not wish to work against you. As previously stated, there may be miscommunication or what you're seeing at home they may not be seeing in school.

· Whenever possible, and appropriate, please include your child within the IP meeting especially when they are in the higher grades. Not only can the child answer questions as to what it is like during their school day, but they can also learn to advocate for themselves.

· Whenever you find yourselves at a crossroads, please do not hesitate to reach out for help. Our agency is always available if needed.

Have a great school year!

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