BECOMING MORE INVOLVED WITH YOUR CHILD'S IEP

Becoming More Involved with your child's IEP



Becoming More Involved with Your Child's IEP

Introduction

If your child is eligible for special education services, the school must prepare an Individualized Education Programs (IEP) for your child. An IEP is a written educational plan which is designed to meet the unique needs of your child. The plan describes the goals in the education of your child, the program and the services provided by the school and how it will measure progress towards achieving the targets. The program is written by the IEP team of the child. (If your child is eligible for services under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the school will prepare a plan under section 504 in describing the services your child will receive).

Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is the cornerstone for the education of a child with a disability. The definition of the IEP, as well as specific language, governs the IEP process. It appears in The Education Act for Individuals (IDEA acronym in English), (Code of Federal Regulations 300,346 [CFR acronyms in English]). The IDEA is a federal law that briefly explains the education of children with disabilities.

To work out an Individualized Education Programs, the officials of the local educational agency and other involved in the child's educational program meet to talk about goals related to education. Once it is determined that the child receives special education services and other services related to it, the IEP team must meet and write the IEP over a period of 30 days. The school will send advance notification about IEP meetings. The notice will indicate the date and time of the meeting, the location, purpose of the meeting and who attend. If you want to go to the meeting but can not do on that occasion, should contact the school to reschedule. The team will include the following individuals.

•Parents / guardians

•Minimum of a general education teacher

•Minimum of a special education teacher

•A school district representative who has knowledge relating to meet special needs and school district resources

•Someone who can interpret data from assessment

•Other people with expertise and knowledge, if so desired by the parents or school

The IEP must include the following.

•A description of current performance level of the child

•Annual educational goals

•A description of how progress will be measured when the child and the school report child's progress

•Description of the services the child will receive both in classrooms, general and special education, and related services to them

•Therapy and transportation

•Description of the adjustments to be performed and the equipment your child will receive such as computers or reading materials in large print.

•Description of the amount of time the child will participate in classes and activities with non disabled children

•Description of any adjustment made for testing or alternate assessments

Children with Autism

Autism was first defined in the 1940s by Leo Kanner, a psychiatrist, and was considered a disorder caused by an emotionally unavailable mother. This theory was the prevalent thought throughout the 1970s, with a gradual shift to understanding ...