Sometimes parents find out or believe that the district is not following their child’s IEP. When this situation occurs, it is essential for the parent to act quickly and to take the right steps in resolving the issue.
Too often expectations for children with special needs are not set high enough. When a high level of expectations is set, kids tend to strive to meet those expectations. Our kids want to be successful. It’s up to us to provide the environment for them to succeed.
Just hearing the word ARD (Admission Review and Dismissal meeting) can cause terror in some parents. I can remember sitting in my very first ARD meeting (in IDEA, this meeting is referred to as the IEP meeting). My husband was out of town and I did not know that I could take anyone with me, so I went by myself. I was brought in and given a chair at a very large table. The room was filled with people I had never seen before. To say that I felt intimidated is an understatement. I believe the only words I said were [...]
As a parent or youth over 18, your participation in creating an IEP is central to exercising your rights guaranteed by the IDEA. After a student is found eligible for an IEP, and a plan developed and agreed to by the IEP team, it is generally in place for one year. After that, an IEP meeting must be held. (A one year review is the minimum requirement, but meeting more frequently to check in or as problems arise is a good idea). The annual IEP meeting brings the IEP team together to review the student’s progress, and plan for the year [...]
Our children’s progress is being monitored constantly at school, through the steady stream of homework assignments, quizzes, tests, projects, and standardized tests. On first hearing the term ‘student progress monitoring,’ our initial reaction may be ‘they’re doing this already!’ or ‘more tests?’. But do you really know how much your child is learning or progressing? Standardized tests compare your child’s performance with other children’s or with state standards. However, these tests are given at the end of the year; the teacher who has been working with your child during the year will not be able to use the test results to [...]
Does your child participate in physical education at school? Studies have found that special education students are less likely to be enrolled in physical education compared to their general education peers. Here are 7 everyday challenges and solutions in physical education today, all of which can be written into a student’s IEP.
