The best way to secure an effective, appropriate, and complete IEP (Individualized Education Program) for your child is to know ahead of time what you want and what s/he needs. Perhaps a simple proposition but crucial.
Follow these steps:
- Create a blueprint of the best possible program for your child.
- You are the superintendent and have all the power and resources – you create the program.
- No matter where you start, you will almost always end up a little below that – so start as high as possible.
- Your blueprint should include:
- A detailed description of the classroom/program you want for your child, including kind of class (regular class, special class etc.), # of students, age and cognitive range of students, whether they need to be students with the same challenges as your child, classroom strategies, curricula, what school.
- Other classroom needs: for example maybe a quiet environment, or a small class in a small school.
- What support services, whether an aide, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychological counseling, etc. Details on how often, e.g., 2 times a week, 45 minutes each, 1:1 with a specialist trained in……
- Staff qualifications.
- Will your child be involved in general curriculum – full-time, some of the day, details about specific focus.
- Be sure to try to visit all possible options in your district before your IEP meeting so you can see how much of your blueprint can be met.
- Finally once you know what your child needs – the blueprint – you need to be able to prove s/he needs those items to ‘benefit from special education.” In short you will need evidence of the need.