IEP help....

As a special education teacher we have to address and rule out any and all possiblities. This survey is just so that they can understand the whole child to better serve them. In my opinion I would fill it out and if it doesn't apply just state that it doesn't apply.

you can do whatever you want, but it really is standard. If a teacher or parent requests testing bc a child is struggling with reading, it doesn't matter why they suspect it, they will look into everything.when they make a decision on what is wrong and what they can offer as far as services go, they want to know they got it right. If you are not experiencing behavioral problems, then your form should be simple since you will mostly be answering doesn't apply. MANY MANY times, especially with boys, academic and behavioral problems go hand in hand. So it is not crazy to give you the form. Your child's teacher got the form, too. If you fill it out, and the teacher does as well....and both say this is a really well behaved boy who is struggling with reading, then it only helps to prove your case that your son's problem is truly only academic. So..the form is actually helpful to your cause. Also, I am not sure why you do not want an IEP, other than I had parents occassionally who just didn't like the stigma of their child being labeled special ed. However, often times, if there is an IEP with no pull out program in place, the other children do not even know the plan exists. Sometimes the IEP only serves to make the teacher modify the child's daily schedule or offer extra time or assistance. IEP's can be a very positive portion of your child's academic plan....and at anytime, you can have them cease any services you agreed to at an earlier date. You are not locked into it forever. I have yet to see an IEP have a negative impact on a child's education. I have seen them do nothing, and I have seen them be miraculous. You can pm me if you have more questions, I sat on my school's Student study team for years...as did dh. He is actually REALLY good at the "system" if you need any assistance. But really, bottom line, don't be afraid of the form. Also....even if you don't fill it out, chances are, your school psych is also going to evaluate for behavior in your child's classroom, as well as during academic testing. So if you are truly wanting to avoid the behavior aspect, you may also have to forgo the academic testing.

Well, I do have a personal bias against IEP's...I fully admit that!:) When I was a kid...it was indeed a stigma and it went with me EVERYWHERE, even through highschool when I didn't have one anymore. It was there in my files and always brought up eventhough the stuff didn't pertain to my current year of education. So yes...I do worry about the effects of it, the labeling and the permanence of it all. Granted, I'm old now and I know things change, but other things really haven't changed all that much so I don't have that much faith. That aside...if I don't agree with their evaluations and say "no, I don't want this specific service", does that then mean he won't receive the services I DO want him to have? Guess I'm wondering how much control I really have over this whole thing. Yes...I am a bit of a control freak. Working on it!

You have the right to refuse certain services and still receive others. You are to be a part of the IEP team and you need to use your voice. A lot of parents are afraid to speak up. They are either afraid they don't have the right to or don't know what they are talking about. Remember, you know your son better than anyone else does. Speak up and get him what he deserves!Now, if I could just take my own advice! ;)

All my kids have IEP's and I have found it to be VERY helpful - they get extra test taking time, a resource class to help with homework, sometimes modification of assignments. I too was taken aback by the social questions, and felt that I could honestly answer most with N/A (not applicable). However, a few did apply and it was helpful to answer them, as it helped the staff to understand the overall picture.

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]While my DS is much younger...we had quite an extensive set of behavioral questions while he was being evaluated for his IEP. The way I looked at it was this...I do what I need to to help my son with the same expectation from the school. Meaning I fill out every stupid form that comes my way and they provide the services that we all know will benefit him. I educate them on my son, they educate me on how to help him. [/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS][/FONT] [FONT=Comic Sans MS]We are VERY lucky to have an easy school district, home elementary school, and teacher to work with...we are truly a team but I also set my expectations of them high from the beginning. I educated myself on my son, his 'issues', and what the school district had to do for him and I shared that with them on the first meeting. [/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS]From reading your posts, I am fairly certain you will be the same way. [/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS][/FONT] [FONT=Comic Sans MS]I would fill it out and go into your meeting prepared with what your expectations are of them, what you want to see done for him. If possible, find and read your districts procedures for dealing with this type of disability. I found ours online and read all 260 odd pages of it...printed and highlighted any area pertaining to my DS and what they HAD to give him. [/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS][/FONT] [FONT=Comic Sans MS]For us, DS's IEP has been a blessing. While we are nowhere near where he needs to be...he is doing so much better. Good luck![/FONT]

control freak? that's probably why we get along ;) anyway....yes, (all this is made up as i obviously don't know what your son needs...so just for example purposes....)let's say they say he needs to be pulled out for RSP- remedial reading, and they also reccommend Speech for a processing delay, as well as in class modifications for both. the team's goal really is the least restrictive environment....so they want your son to receive the least amount of services that will help him be successful. So if you say, that sounds great, can we try 6 months of the in class modifications and then meet again and go from there, they will most likely (99%) honor your request without too much trouble. they may try to talk you into it, but they shouldn't and can't REALLY make you. Let's say you agree to all the services, and 6 months down the road you think the speech pull out may be effective, but it is during math time and now his math is sufferring, you can ask for a meeting, and take that part out of the plan, leaving the rest in tact. The same goes if you accept everything, and it is not working, it needs to be modified. Everyone wants what is best for your child....and you play a HUGE part in deciding that. Stand your ground on what you believe in....but also be willing to listen to what hte team has to say. Express your concerns. Chances are they have heard it before and may have a solution that will make you feel comfortable.When dd got her 504...which is a behavioral plan, she actually qualified for alot more than we ended up writing in her plan. We basically hand wrote her plan....and it rocks! It is still active even though she is homeschooled, and we choose to follow it and keep it active should we ever return her to public school. It may be in her file until the end of time, but it expires every year. Every year we must meet in order for it to stay active. I suppose it could "haunt" her in her later years if they bring it up as an excuse for other problems....but on the other hand, when they read it, they'll be amazed at how well she was doing despite all that was wrong. When she was in public school, kids found out she had a plan only bc she told them in response to questions about why she got more time, why she didn't have to carry books home, etc....but they really didn't care. they were jealous they didn't have an extra set of books at home too :)

We live in the Tacoma School District in Pierce county, in Washington state. I have a daughter that actually has braindamage that showed up in the form of a learning disability. She had IEP from 1st grade thru 7th. I told them that I refused to have her removed from the classroom experience and that if I ever heard anyone tell her she was retarded or stupid or if they tried to place her in special ed that I would sue them. I only once had to place a complete about a counselor who told her she was a special ed student. It was quickly apologized for and explained to my daughter why he had referred to her class that way. What the IEP actually does is keeps the student in the classroom and removes them from the room occassionally for tutoring. It guarantees that your child will have all the help available to them, that they need, to get them to the learning level of "Norm" of the students at his/her age. My daughter was removed last year from IEP because when she started her IQ level was about a 80-90 and now it is 110 and she is above grade level in everything except math. The best thing for you to do is allow the IEP within your conditions. You can instruct them on how you would like the education process handled. it is not like the old days when they are intelligent and still put into a seperate classroom with mental disabled children, they are even mainstreamed now. I tutor math, english, reading and science up thru college level and from my experience it is better to place learning diabled children in a regular classroom and teach them how to take what the teacher is teaching to the mainstream and find out how the child can turn it into something they understand. This what I did with my daughter and now her twin sister is behind her and her twin doesn't have a learning disability. My child who stopped breathing at two and half months old and almost died, ran on her knees until she was two and was consistantly atleast 6 month behind on everything and was slowly moving farther back, has, with the IEP help, moved ahead of her class and has already contacted Oxford while she is in the 8th grade, because she says she will find any way to make sure she can go there. It is her dream and I have no doubt in my mind that she will do that. She has exceded expectation with IEP because I worked together with the school to teach her she was not dumb, she just learned differently than other people. (and I also told her that most Genuises have a learning disability that they have overcome.) I hope this helps you understand that this could be good. If you have any questions feel free to email me.

It is standard some of my kids have IEPs, truly in our school there are almost as many kids that do have one as don't. Back when we were kids only kids with really severe problems had them, and the truth was the teachers knew who those kids were and what thier problems were without them, teachers talk to each other. I know my friend teaches first grade and she often talks to the K teachers to get a feel for her new kids. They do try to rule things out with all the testing. Now kids who have behavior problems have Ieps, they did not in the old days, so do kids who are dyslexic, most schools didn't know what that was in the 70's when I was in elementary school. No one had ever heard of ADD those kids were just called brats. Either they learned to deal with thier disabilities on thier own or they spent a lot of time in detention. Now the kids have other options, help for thier issues. They can't give any special help at all without the IEP. You've adopted, you know how our goverment loves paperwork. My friend says now she even has to be careful keeping kids after school or in from recess to give them extra help, parents complain about it, or a parent of a kid who is doing well will complain that little Johnny is getting more attention from the teacher than little Suzy. (who just doesn't want to do the work, but understands it just fine) Teacher have to protect themselves against parents who threaten to sue, false allegations and a bunch of other stuff that they didn't used to worry about. I really think there is less stigma involved now.

I just want to say that this is not true for everyone. Everyone's IEP's will be different, while some will reccommend a self-contained full day special education class, some will reccommend pull out services, while others will only reccommend in-class modification. Don't get scared that just bc you have an IEP, your child will be pulled out. IEP's are written for many things. I agree with Lorraine that many more kids have IEP's now than you would ever imagine. Did you know that an IEP can be written so that the ONLY modification is that at state testing time they get additional minutes? What about an IEP that only called for less homework, less in problems on in class assignments, and a shorter spelling list? Had those, too. It really doesn't have to be a big deal. Just go, see what they have to say. You don't even have to make a decision the day they go over all the information from testing. Tell them you need a day to think about what you would like to see happen as a result of their findings and reccommendations, and go from there. Baby steps :)I already know my ds4 will have one. I'm counting the days before he is enrolled in school and the teacher calls for a meeting :). And then I'll be right where you are, trying to figure out what is best for my son.