The All-Important IEP

An IEP stands for Individual Education Plan. As the name implies, the plan is individualized to meet the needs of a specific person. The IEP designed for Matt would not necessarily be the right one for someone else. IEPs contain the disability, the goals for the year that teachers and other professionals hope to achieve with the student and a way to measure these goals that will demonstrate progress. If a child needs speech therapy – like Matt did - then the IEP would have this listed as one of the services. Under Speech Therapy then, it would include the where, when and how the goals will be met. The where – in the speech therapists office, the when would include the number of meeting per week and how long each meeting would last – 20 minutes 3 times per week. The how shows how the progress in the child’s speech is measured – Matt will speak in sentences at least 4-5 words long 50% of the time.

The IEP meeting is the most important tool a parent has in the education of their child. Several professionals will be there to meet with parents; teacher, paraprofessional, special education teacher, speech therapist, and sometimes the principal of the school. Anyone who will be working with the child should be in attendance. Professionals have their own set way of doing things and a preconceived notion of what each disability looks like. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that the chances of anyone in that room actually having an autistic child of their own is pretty slim. The parents must be there in order for the IEP to be a real, honest-to-goodness plan that truly reflects the best interests of the child.

I have mentioned in my story about Matt’s speech (Speech – A Race Against Time) how the professional speech therapist in the meeting didn’t think Matt even needed speech. If I had not been present, Matt would not have had that service and the likelihood of him being able to speak – ever – would’ve dropped dramatically. I have also written about Matt needing an aide to keep him focused on the class assignments and the lesson and not on the number of strangers in a room, and how the principal of the elementary school tried to take away his aide – what a disastrous day that was for all involved; the teacher, the students and Matt. A parent has to be there, has to attend the IEP in order to have it individualized to the child. It is absolutely, positively, the most important influence you will ever have on your child’s education.

Schools are under-funded across the entire country. School districts are having a very hard time coming up with the funds for special education services and this unfortunately can come into play when deciding what services your child will receive at the school. In order to make sure your child receives the services they need – you need to be there.

Here’s another example of how important a parent’s presence is – Matt’s Transition IEP Meeting. Matt was graduating from the elementary school and moving on to high school. The county did not have a middle school at that time. Elementary school ended with 7th grade. High school started at 8th grade. I had a reputation by then of being a very active participant at IEP meetings. Whereas I used to be someone they thought of as . . .umm, strong-willed, I was now thought of as . . . STRONG-WILLED. One of Matt’s teachers stopped me in the hall weeks before the meeting to ask me if I would be attending. “You are coming, right?” she asked. “Of course” I assured her. “I just wanted to make sure. We’re really going to need you there. They want Matt to go into the Project Mary Program.” She answered.

Oh really? Well – That’s not gonna happen . . .

Meeting day arrived. The conference room was crowded as the transition had to include 2 groups of professionals – one group from the elementary school and one group from the high school. Each group had teachers and a special education teacher. Matt’s paraprofessional from his elementary school was there along with his speech therapist – and there was me, of course.

Everyone agreed on speech – yea! Then, we had to address Matt being in a regular classroom – which he had been from 3rd grade to 7th grade. Why the group from the high school felt he could not deal with the classroom at the high school level was beyond me. They tried desperately to steer me toward putting Matt in “Project Mary” a special needs self-contained classroom that taught life skills. Students in that particular class graduated with Certificates of Attendance – not a diploma.

First, Matt was not in need of a life-skills class. I was already doing that at home.
Second, Matt was intelligent and could learn algebra, biology, civics, English, etc. What possible good could come from missing these subjects?
Third, autism does not mean he couldn’t interact with students. Matt had been interacting socially, albeit minimally, since the 3rd grade.

His continued progress required him to be in a regular classroom – with his aide. I made it very clear that the ultimate goal was a high school diploma, nothing else would suffice. Matt was autistic, yes, but that did not mean he was not capable of learning. He would learn, he would excel, and he would graduate – period. Once they understood my wishes and goals, they saw the need for Matt to have his aide - yea!

Still, the lack of really knowing Matt made the high school group very nervous. They had heard about autism and had preconceived notions about what an autistic child was capable of. The elementary group tried to alleviate their fears, extolling the accomplishments Matt had made thus far in his academic and social abilities, but the high school group was wary. I came to the conclusion that they would just have to adjust as they got to know Matt. They (the high school group) finally saw that I would not sign off until I got Matt what I knew he needed.

It took a lot of assurances by the elementary group to get the high school group to accept that we were not going to do it their way – I wasn’t going to do it their way. Thank you, everyone at Sheffey, for sticking with me at that meeting. You were great!

So, in the fall of 2000, Matt entered high school. He was signed up for regular classes with his aide and he had speech therapy 3 times a week, and he would still take the special education bus to school – all items that were decided upon at the IEP meeting.

Mission accomplished.