IEP

IEP

Future Reflections Spring 1999, Vol. 18 No. 1
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IEP (Individualized
Education Program) Strategies
by Barbara Ebenstein

Reprinted with permission of Exceptional
Parent Magazine, a monthly magazine for parents and families of
children with disabilities.
How will we
educate Risa? I worried about how I would communicate my daughter’s special
needs to our school district and how the district would respond. How could they
possibly understand this beautiful child who lives without words?
Risa entered
a special education nursery school class while I was a law student. My professors
were understanding of my unorthodox class schedule and sudden absences. Risa
experienced one educational crisis after another until I developed an approach
to special education that permitted me to obtain the services she required.
I now work
as an attorney representing parents in special education matters. I also conduct
parent workshops. I never come away from one of these sessions without having
learned something useful. The strategies presented here are based on not only
my own legal knowledge and experiences, but also on the collected experiences
of many parents.
Ten Strategies
1. Keep “business”
records.
Treat your relationship
with the school district as a business relationship. All communication should
be in writing, and you should keep a copy of every document you submit. Keep
brief notes of important telephone conversations. Keep a written record of all
verbal agreements, and give a copy to the school district.
Hand deliver
important documents directly, or use certified mail and keep the return receipt.
Keep a diary
noting the dates you submitted documents. Some regulations require that the
district comply with time requirements. For example, they may have 30 days to
respond to a written request. If so, you need to know the date you made the
request. Legally speaking, if it is not in writing, it never happened.
2. Document
all of your child’s unaddressed needs. A parent’s insistence that
a child requires a specific service is never sufficient. Every unaddressed need
should be described, in writing, by a professional who knows your child or has
evaluated him or her for this purpose.
Letters from
your child’s pediatrician, therapist, or other professionals can be brief,
but should include a description of the child’s special need(s), the educational
impact, and a “prescription” for needed services.
3. Review
your child’s classification. Many states have lists of conditions that
permit eligibility for special education services. These are educational classifications,
not medical terms. For example, in New York State a child with a medical diagnosis
of attention deficit disorder (ADD) may have an educational classification of
“other health impaired” or “learning disabled.”
Ideally, special
education services should be provided on the basis of a child’s individual
needs. Unfortunately, some school districts provide children with services according
to their classification.
If you are
dissatisfied with the services your child receives or his class placement, begin
by reviewing his or her classification. Is it the most appropriate classification?
Would denied services be available if the child’s classification were changed?
If so, have your child evaluated by an appropriate expert. Your child’s
classification may also need to change as he or she develops new strengths and
weaknesses.
4. Cooperate
with the school district’s reasonable evaluation process. The school
district needs your consent to conduct an evaluation; however, if you refuse,
they can request an impartial hearing. The hearing officer will deem the proposed
evaluation reasonable, and the district may be permitted to proceed without
your consent. All you will have accomplished is the destruction of your relationship
with the school district. Save your energy for battles you can win.
5. Be sure
the committee has accurate reports. If you disagree with an evaluation done
by the school district, there are several steps to take. First, review the inaccurate
report –what is wrong with it? Was it performed when your child was not
taking his usual medication? Were inappropriate tests used? Was the evaluator
unfamiliar with your child’s strengths and limitations?
Second, ask
about the evaluator’s position and credentials. After receiving a devastating
speech assessment on my daughter, I discovered it had been written by an inexperienced
speech teacher. I obtained a more detailed report from my child’s private
speech therapist—a woman with a Ph.D. and many years of experience. The
district followed the therapist’s suggestions and agreed to remove the
teacher’s report from Risa’s file.
If you disagree
with the school district’s evaluation, you are entitled to an independent
evaluation at the district’s expense. The district may place a reasonable
cap on the cost. If the district disagrees with the necessity for another evaluation,
you may need to go through an impartial hearing. But if you know an evaluation
is inaccurate, it is worth fighting.
You must state
your disagreement with the school district’s evaluation before they use
it to determine your child’s placement. If you disagree later, the district
will assume that your objection is to the placement rather than to the accuracy
of the evaluation. This becomes a more difficult battle to win.
If all evaluations
from experienced professionals are contrary to your expectations, consider whether
they might be right. Is it possible that you are denying the severity of your
child’s problem? If not, pursue other experts at your own cost. If you
obtain private reports, it is your choice whether or not to share them with
the team. You may decide to share only those documents that strengthen your
position.
6. Build
accountability into the child’s IEP. The school district has a legal
obligation to make the necessary arrangements to provide related services promised
on the IEP. If a related service is not provided as required, parents have a
right to full due process. Request an impartial hearing in writing. Most districts
will solve the problem immediately rather than face the time and expense of
an impartial hearing they will probably lose.
The follow-up
of specific educational objectives is more difficult. For example, a child who
is included in a regular class may have a classroom teacher, a resource room
teacher, and a psychologist. Usually, no one is designated to have authority
to make sure all of them are pursuing the IEP objectives.
There are several
things you can do to prevent this situation. First, be sure the IEP clearly
states who will be responsible for follow-up; this can be a brief statement
on the front page of the IEP. Second, list only two or three important educational
objectives to your absolute priorities. Remember, the IEP can specify the teaching
method or materials to be used. Finally, make sure all professionals who will
be working with the child actually read the IEP and are aware of the objectives
they should be working toward.
7. Work
things out before the annual review. Submit all reports to the committee
three weeks before the meeting. Insist that all school district reports be given
to you at that time. If there are questions or issues to be resolved, try to
work them out before the meeting. The best annual review is a short meeting
in which the committee gives approval to what has already been decided.
Many parents
believe that they can obtain an impartial hearing to compensate for their own
lack of preparation for the annual review. This is a serious error. A due process
hearing will determine only whether a school district acted in compliance with
federal and state mandates. It is not a second chance for the parents to “get
it right” by bringing in late reports.
8. Negotiate.
The process is not an all-or-nothing deal. Reasonable negotiation is possible.
Several years ago, I wanted my child evaluated by an Alliance for Technology
Access center far from my home. The school district agreed to pay for the evaluation
and purchase suggested computer hardware. I agreed to pay for our transportation
and lodging.
9. Consider
all proposals for inclusion carefully. Federal law requires that children
with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment. This means
including the child in a regular classroom whenever possible. But successful
inclusion usually requires support and related services. Sometimes, a school
district will include a child without providing needed services. Too often,
this is a cost-cutting maneuver which sabotages the child’s placement.
If you and your school district decide to include your child in a regular classroom,
be sure that all teacher training, follow-up procedures, support, and related
services are provided.
10. Treat
the annual review as your most important business meeting of the year. Dress
for business. Bring a sufficient number of copies of all documents in case they
have not been distributed to all committee members prior to the meeting.
Request a meeting
time that permits all adult members of a child’s immediate family to attend
the annual review. If a child’s father is involved with the family, he
must attend—I cannot stress this point enough. Request a meeting time that
permits his involvement. Meetings are often dominated by women. The presence
of the child’s father lends credence to the family’s full participation
in the meeting. Special education is not a woman’s issue; special education
is a family issue.
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