IEP meeting

I have the IEP meeting about my three-year-old son this week. His
teacher has to write it up before he starts classes with her, so she's
met him only once. (I have a good feeling about his teacher -- we hit it
off right away -- but I've never met the principal, who also is going to
be there.)

Those of you who've been through the special ed process: any tips?
--
Sara
accompanied by TK, due in April

Quoting, for users of Google Groups:
http://groups.google.com/support/bin...4213&topic=250

Anonymama wrote in
:

I have the IEP meeting about my three-year-old son this
week. His teacher has to write it up before he starts
classes with her, so she's met him only once. (I have a
good feeling about his teacher -- we hit it off right away
-- but I've never met the principal, who also is going to
be there.)

Those of you who've been through the special ed process:
any tips?

take LOTS of notes. do not sign anything you don't completely
agree with. start a file with all your notes & the paperwork.
the most important thing is to trust *your* instincts & not
let "experts" try to tell you different. if you aren't sure or
don't agree with something, just don't sign the papers until
you're satisfied. your most important job is going to be
advocating for your son. they just want to get him his minimum
education & out of there... that doesn't mean you can't get
along, just be aware of that.
good luck
lee

--
war is peace
freedom is slavery
ignorance is strength
1984-George Orwell

On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 17:45:55 -0800, Anonymama
wrote:

I have the IEP meeting about my three-year-old son this week. His
teacher has to write it up before he starts classes with her, so she's
met him only once. (I have a good feeling about his teacher -- we hit it
off right away -- but I've never met the principal, who also is going to
be there.)

Those of you who've been through the special ed process: any tips?

If you have evaluations from private therapists, bring them.

Be prepared to fight for services that you think your son needs.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

http://www.wrightslaw.com/
don't sign anything at the meeting, they will want you to .. but you have
the right to take the paperwork home and sign it then.
Remember and IEP is a legal action ... w/ Federal laws that many schools
like to ignore ... many schools LIKE parents who are not edu. on IEP law ..
don't be one of them.
Take food, get them in a good mood, cookies help. Yes, I know .. you
shouldn't HAVE to do this .. but ... it helps.
Check the Wrights Law site, buy their books, their CD, go get their training
(btw, I have nothing to do w/ Wrights law .. but have gone to their training
.... a VERY good thing IMO, so I'm not trying to spam the group)
GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING. E V E R Y T H I N G. Keep it. Have a folder
JUST for IEP info. Keep track ...
I have BTDT w/ IEP's ... my kid and I have gone thru hell w/ a bad school.
She is in first grade now and is doing very well. I'm sure that some of the
ppl on a.m. remember the hell that we went thru.
Educate yourself, learn the laws inside and out ... and be nice Learn how
to say "your full of ****" w/ a smile lol
Good luck,
~Kat


"Anonymama" wrote in message
...
I have the IEP meeting about my three-year-old son this week. His
teacher has to write it up before he starts classes with her, so she's
met him only once. (I have a good feeling about his teacher -- we hit it
off right away -- but I've never met the principal, who also is going to
be there.)

Those of you who've been through the special ed process: any tips?
--
Sara
accompanied by TK, due in April

Quoting, for users of Google Groups:
http://groups.google.com/support/bin...4213&topic=250

"Anonymama" wrote in message
...
I have the IEP meeting about my three-year-old son this week. His
teacher has to write it up before he starts classes with her, so she's
met him only once. (I have a good feeling about his teacher -- we hit it
off right away -- but I've never met the principal, who also is going to
be there.)

Those of you who've been through the special ed process: any tips?
--
Sara
accompanied by TK, due in April

Quoting, for users of Google Groups:
http://groups.google.com/support/bin...4213&topic=250


I'm kind of surprised that the actual preschool teacher is involved in the
IEP if he's just starting out at age 3. The IEP goals should determine the
level of services needed and the level of services needed determine the
placement. It sounds like he's already gotten a placement if it's his new
teacher that's writing up the IEP goals.

If your child has been identified as needing special education servcies at
such a young age (like mine was, she has Down syndrome) you should have an
early intervention case manager that should be walking you through this
process. Take your IFSP that documents his previous goals and present level
of performance as well as any recent private evaluations that may have been
done (as someone else has already suggested). Your case manager or whoever
was managing his early intervention services should attend the IEP meeting.
You can invite anyone you want to support you -- your best friend, your
husband, your minister/rabbi, your hairdresser, another parent who's been
through the process, etc). Be prepared to fight for what you think your son
needs but don't go into the meeting expecting it to be adversarial, it will
affect the tone of the meeting.

I believe just about every state has a federally funded Parent Training and
Information Center. In North Carolina it's the Exceptional Children's
Assistance Center (www.ecac-center.org), you may be able to contact them to
find out if there's one in your area.

Leigh Menconi

Anonymama wrote:
I have the IEP meeting about my three-year-old son this week. His
teacher has to write it up before he starts classes with her, so she's
met him only once. (I have a good feeling about his teacher -- we hit it
off right away -- but I've never met the principal, who also is going to
be there.)

Those of you who've been through the special ed process: any tips?

I went to school to be a special ed teacher, and "the system" was so
frustrating for me, that I chose never to teach. In other words, good
luck.

The best advice I can give you is that you need to get educated about
the laws, and what your child's rights are under the law, and you need
to fight for your child's rights. The schools are broke, and they're
understaffed, and they're naturally going to try to get away with doing
as little as possible for your child. You need to make sure that you
are getting the services that he is entitled to under the law - there
are provisions for transportation, all kinds of outside-the-classroom
things that you should know about.

Each state has its own individual interpretation of the law. In my
state it's called "Article 7." You can probably figure out what it is
for your state by googling "special education law {state name}." Once
you find it, read the original text (not an interpretation or a
dumbed-down version written by the board of ed for parents), memorize
as much of it as you can, and take a copy with you to the IEP meeting.
If they say something that doesn't jive with what you've read, have
them show you in your state's version of Article 7 where they're
getting that, and why they think it's an appropriate interpretation.

I don't mean to set you up to be adverserial, but, well, chances are
good that you're going to have to be at some point in your son's
education, so be prepared.

Take your son's father, too. He should be involved. And people are
less likely to take advantage of men than women. Sad, but true.

Best of luck,
Amy

Anonymama wrote:
I have the IEP meeting about my three-year-old son this week. His
teacher has to write it up before he starts classes with her, so she's
met him only once. (I have a good feeling about his teacher -- we hit it
off right away -- but I've never met the principal, who also is going to
be there.)

Those of you who've been through the special ed process: any tips?

Ugh. (Okay, maybe I shouldn't have such a bad attitude.) The other
posters have given very good advice. Follow your instincts. Be
friendly and non-adversial but also remember you are your son's advocate
and you need to fight for him. Try to stay unemotional (this is tough)
and detached (this is near impossible). Take along any and all support,
if possible. If you have a friend who has been through this process
before, ask the friend to accompany you. If you have worked with a
counselor, ask the counselor.

DH and I had a very unpleasant IEP meeting and the outcome was that DD
did not need help or accommodations. I got the feeling that DD's
teacher *did* want to help but we were outnumbered (there was the vice
principal, the psychologist, the reading specialist and the special ed
teacher). I wish I had asked DD's tutor to come with us. In the end, it
really didn't matter because we had already decided to re-enroll DD at
her old private school (I had paid the tuition the previous day). The
meeting just re-inforced our feeling that we made the right decision.

Good luck,
Jeanne

In article . net,
"Leigh Menconi" wrote:

I'm kind of surprised that the actual preschool teacher is involved in the
IEP if he's just starting out at age 3. The IEP goals should determine the
level of services needed and the level of services needed determine the
placement. It sounds like he's already gotten a placement if it's his new
teacher that's writing up the IEP goals.

Yup, he has. He can start attending as soon as we sign the papers.

If your child has been identified as needing special education servcies at
such a young age (like mine was, she has Down syndrome) you should have an
early intervention case manager that should be walking you through this
process.

My, that would be nice... but no, we just get handed off from person to
person. I've had to keep asking "What should I be doing now? Who should
I be talking to? What are you doing? Who's in charge of this step?"

Thanks to you, and everyone else who's responding -- I'll spare the
group individual "thanks" posts, but all the responses have been much
appreciated.
--
Sara
accompanied by TK, due in April

Quoting, for users of Google Groups:
http://groups.google.com/support/bin...4213&topic=250

In article .com,
"Amy" wrote:

Take your son's father, too. He should be involved. And people are
less likely to take advantage of men than women. Sad, but true.

It would be great if he could come -- I agree with you, although I wish
you were wrong -- but my son can't come and somebody needs to stay with
him. (The meeting is at the break of dawn, too early to get anyone else
to look after him.)
--
Sara
accompanied by TK, due in April

Quoting, for users of Google Groups:
http://groups.google.com/support/bin...4213&topic=250

"Amy" wrote in
oups.com:

Take your son's father, too. He should be involved. And
people are less likely to take advantage of men than women.
Sad, but true.

yeah, the one IEP meeting Tom missed the intake coordinator &
the ST spent dissing him (in front of me). i was really annoyed.
wonder what they said about *me* when i wasn't around?
lee
--
war is peace
freedom is slavery
ignorance is strength
1984-George Orwell