This has been an especially challenging school year. Still, the end of this school year will be here before we know it, and it’s time for some friendly reminders on some of our best IEP tips and advice so you can finish this year with an impactful IEP team meeting!
Read the IEP!
Our first of many IEP tips and advice: parents need to carefully read the entire IEP document prior to signing it. It is possible that your school district may have accidentally omitted a crucial service or support for your child. Reading over the document ensures its accuracy and maximizes its benefit to your child. We often see mistakes in IEP documents and are able to correct them before the IEP is implemented.
Does it matter if my child’s IEP has a single mistake in it?
This is why reading the IEP is at the top of our IEP tips and advice: an IEP is a legal contract that lists all the interventions the school will be providing to your student. If the IEP team agrees on a goal, accommodation, or anything at all: it must be written in the IEP. When you have documented the agreements on goals, services, accommodations, modifications, and supports, your child then has the right to receive all of those interventions. This document gives you an enforceable contract.
When should I read over the IEP document?
Take the document home, and read it carefully. Make sure that everything you remember and everything on the recording you created is reflected in the IEP document. We have seen districts pressure parents into signing IEPs immediately. Do not do that! You cannot carefully scrutinize all pages and read in detail while the IEP team is sitting there, waiting. There is no rush. Be aware the school will not implement goals or services until you sign, but a day or two in order to carefully peruse the document is fine.
In our history of giving IEP tips and advice, reading over the IEP document has provided incredible insights.
There are times when the meeting notes bear little to no resemblance to what was discussed during the IEP team meeting. That is why taking notes or creating recordings are a key part of the IEP process. There are occasionally incidents where collaborative items are listed on the meeting notes page instead of where they ought to be in the IEP document. If you find incorrect notes or accidental misinterpretations of collaborative interventions, ask the district—in writing—to correct them. If the district refuses to correct the notes, write up the corrections on a separate piece of paper titled “Parent Addendum to IEP Dated: [date of the corrections]” and ask—in writing—that the district add the parent addendum to the student’s IEP. Follow up to make sure it happens.
Questions? Call or email us.
As parents, we understand. As advocates, we can help.