In the spring of 2015, I was a busy mom of three kids—two blind and one sighted. My husband, Mark, had recently been elected president of the National Federation of the Blind. Largely because of his new demands at work, we made the decision to move into a house within walking distance of NFB headquarters. While moving preparations were being made, our two older kids still needed to go to school, meals needed to be cooked, laundry needed to be done… In other words, this was a fairly stressful time for all of us—even if we were excited for this move and all of the fantastic benefits it would bring to our family.

In the midst of this madness, there was an evaluation meeting for our youngest child, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was about to turn three, and this meeting was being held in order to go over the results of various assessments and decide whether she would stay in the Maryland Infants and Toddlers Program, or if she would receive services at a school with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Elizabeth is blind. She has some useable vision, but she could very easily lose much or all of her vision in the future. She had been assessed, and the recommendation was for her to learn Braille as well as print. She had been receiving blindness support services through Infants and Toddlers, and there was a half day preschool program at the Maryland School for the Blind (MSB), where she would be able to receive services, including Braille, and begin her formal school journey. Knowing all of this, I viewed this meeting merely as a formality. In fact, I told my husband that I felt very comfortable attending this meeting by myself. So off I went to the meeting, confident in its outcome.

Unfortunately, this meeting did not go at all as I had predicted! The end result was that the powers that be would not grant Elizabeth an IEP, or entrance into the preschool program at MSB because she was not showing any educational or developmental delays! It did not matter that Elizabeth was shown to need Braille, and that early exposure to Braille would help her be a stronger reader in the future. It did not matter that we were not asking to have a special program developed just for her—that we were asking for her to attend a program at the school for the blind which was capable of meeting her needs. It did not matter that we, as her first teachers, had worked with her to make sure she learned the things she needed to learn so she would be ready to attend school and focus on new skills. All that mattered was that a team of people, most of whom had never even met Elizabeth, had decided that she was too “advanced” or “smart” to qualify for special education services.

I was livid! How could this be happening to Elizabeth? How could educators make such a decision with a clear conscience? How could they deny Elizabeth services now, and only grant them to her down the line when she was a year older, or when she became delayed due to a lack of services? What a horrible educational model—one that pays much more attention to fixing delays and overcoming deficits than to playing on strengths and providing tools early so kids can reach higher than most people would think possible.

Unfortunately, our family became a member of the club… The club faced with the reality of the education system for our blind children… The club that knows all too well that the reason this meeting went so poorly for Elizabeth was not an isolated occurrence. The club that knows it happens every day.

Fortunately, this story does have a happy ending. We were able, after many phone calls and one memorable furious email, to convene another meeting, with another team, for Elizabeth. At that meeting, Elizabeth WAS found to need services, and WAS granted an IEP, and a place in the preschool program at MSB.

As thousands of blind students return to schools across the country this fall, so many parents are participants in IEP and other educational meetings. For some parents, this is a brand new experience. Others are seasoned participants. Some families have had to fight for every minute of service their children receive. Others have teams they trust, who provide whatever their children need to be successful with very little fuss. No matter where you fall on this continuum, I think all members of this club agree that the IEP process can absolutely be stressful, mind boggling, and anxiety producing. The good news? You are not alone… IEP meetings happen every day. And the National Federation of the Blind wants to help you through this process. Therefore, we will be publishing a series of blogs regarding the IEP process and how to do all you can to insure your child is receiving the services he or she needs to be successful. Our next IEP blog entry will focus on gathering data to support the types of services your child should receive in school.