We recently had our sixth or seventh IEP meeting and
the last couple of years have been without anxiety, but still a little stress
as we our never 100 percent certain what the school district is willing to
provide. I wonder if it has become
easier due to our preparation or experience.
This year we prepared for the IEP meeting based on a questionnaire sent
home by the teacher. The questionnaire
was titled, “Future Planning Parent Questionnaire”, and it consisted of five
questions. The purpose of the questions
was to help the teacher address our concerns and goals for the IEP
The first question asked, “What are some areas,
academic and nonacademic, in which you are happy with your child’s rate of
success?” For us we are very happy with
Zach’s progress in math, social skills, following directions and rules, handwriting
(coming along and much improved), and initiating communication with others
(non-family members).
The second question asked, “What are some areas,
academic and nonacademic, in which you wish to see more improvement in your
child?” We want to see Zachary become
more focused on his task as he can be easily distracted when given multiple
step directions for a task. Reading and
comprehension has always been an issue, and he is currently reading at a first
grade level while in the sixth grade. We
want him to continue to work on his handwriting and hopefully find a way to
reduce his verbal self-stimulation or as we call it “TV Talk.” TV talk consists of Zach humming to himself
or verbally replaying a scene from a show he watched aloud.
The third question, “What short term goals do you
have in mind for your child this school year?”
We want more self help skills, like, understanding money, increased
vocabulary, proper conversational skills, and proper voice level. At times Zach does not always use the proper
terminology when initiating conversation and his volume level can be loud.
The fourth question, “What long term goals do you
have in mind for your child when he/she is an adult?” This has always been a tough question,
because I would love to have my kid have the same opportunities as other
kids. I would love for him to go to
college, secure a full-time job, get married, buy a house, and live happily
ever after. The reality for Zach is
probably none of those things with the exception of a job. What we hope for with Zach when he becomes an
adult is independent living with some third-party monitoring to make sure he is
still receiving the services he needs, and be capable of holding a part-time
job that fits his development level and capabilities.
The fifth and final question asked, “Are there any
specific goals in which you would like this IEP to address?” We want this IEP to work on helping Zach
carry out multiple step directions whether written and verbal, continued
handwriting practice, and send home the book he reads in school so we can
provide reinforcement. Also, weekly
updates from the speech and occupational therapist in order that we can share
it with the therapist Zach see’s outside of school.
These questions were very beneficial to us and maybe
useful to you as well if you are preparing for a Child’s IEP. The one piece of advice I can give parents
out there is think long and hard about your child’s abilities now and where you
want them to be at the end of school year, but be realistic. I mentioned in another blog post to set goals
that are realistically attainable, but also challenging. Also, be realistic
about the school district and what they can provide. The school district is not NASA and cannot
give you the moon if you know what I mean.
Always remember that the IEP is a TEAM effort as I firmly believe that
everyone sitting at the table has your child’s best interest in mind.
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