Watch for these 5 things at your child’s IEP…

The truth is that when I was a special education teacher, there were so many times that I wished parents had pushed back and advocated more for their children. I did the best that I could as a teacher, but as a parent, they had more power when dealing with administrators.

Here are some tips for helping you advocate for your child during the IEP process.

1. Does the number of goals reflect the minutes?
   If a child has 65% or more of their time allocated in a special education setting, they should have at least 10 goals for full-time attendance. The exception is 5 goals if they are in half-day kindergarten.

2. Did the school test for cognitive skills or academics?
   It is a red flag if your school says they don’t test for cognitive/academic skills until later grades. If your child is in a special education setting, then they should be tested for cognitive/academic goals or be placed in general education.

3. Does your child receive direct SLP/OT services?
   Due to high caseloads, school districts are moving toward providing SLP and OT as "indirect services." Your child is still entitled to direct services and should have goals and minutes that coincide with both therapies.

4. What if you don’t agree with the IEP and don’t want to sign?
   The team will ask you to sign as an attendance recorder, BUT you can request to list all objections/concerns in the Prior Written Notice. Make sure they do this before signing!

5. Did they do an eval and IEP at the same time?
   You have a right to separate evaluation and IEP meetings! If they combine the meetings, ask for another meeting to ensure you have the time to review goals in depth.