A Dozen Red Flags of a Hot Mess IEP Meeting :o

For many parents, the annual IEP meeting is something that incites a great sense of overwhelm, frustration and doom. This is probably one of the reasons that tons of parents don’t even show up. Most of you might find this really hard to believe (because you’re passionately involved in your child’s education), but it’s true, there are schools where less than 25% of the families attend the annual IEP meeting ☹

This not only has a negative effect on their own child’s education, but it impacts other families as well. Think about it… If you are the only parent asking for paraprofessional support so that your child can be successfully included in a regular classroom, that could be the reason they look at you like you’re a crazy person as they tell you that, “Nobody gets that here.” When we ALL show up, systemic change is possible.

 

LOOK OUT!

There are some things to watch out for when it comes to IEP meetings. Being familiar with these in advance will help you recognize what’s possible and how to circumvent certain issues BEFORE they pop up:

 

-          The school calls to set the annual meeting within 3-5 days of the due date. This generally means that they nearly forgot all about you and are scrambling to get it done, OR they typically wing-it and don’t put much thought or emphasis into planning in advance.

-          If you’re in a school district that gives parents a draft of the IEP a week before the meeting, and it’s nowhere to be found, this is cause for concern.

-          The goals in the IEP, or worse yet, the Present Level of Performance, has another student’s name in it. This means that it’s a copy and paste and that the plan isn’t as “individualized” as you might think.

-          The Present Level of Performance only includes testing data from the assessment that they MUST do for all students – state standardized tests. But tests that actually show how your child thinks or what they CAN do are not included.

-          You get to the meeting, and they inform you that they have 30 minutes to get an annual IEP done when this is the first time you’re seeing any information on current assessments or the proposed goals.

-          Before you get to the meeting, the person who runs your IEP meetings tells you that the services will remain as is. That’s called Predetermination and is not permitted in IEP meetings. Do NOT let this happen.  Your input is required under federal law.

-          Goals are generic and you’re not really sure what will be measured to determine if the goal has been mastered. This could be like, “Johnny will know how to make new friends in a year’s time.”

-          There are missing members of the IEP team, or they breeze in and out while the meeting is taking place. The IEP team has 5 required members – for ALL IEP teams (parent/student, general education teacher, special education teacher, local education agency representative, evaluation specialist)

-          You ask for data supporting the claims of the IEP, and team members look at one another as though to say, “You have that information, right?”

-          The same goals appear on your IEP year after year. Students are covered by a law that says that they should make meaningful progress, which is different for each kid, but “meaningful” is not what the supreme court refers to as “de minimis”, which is an ever-so-slight improvement.

-          No one seems to have any answers when you ask, “What else can be done to help my son learn how to read?” (or other areas of learning)

-          Every IEP meeting should include discussion about inclusive education, no matter who your child is and what their needs are. After all, the goal of special education in general is to give kids what they need SO THAT they can be more prepared for a regular education environment. Waiting for the child to change who they are is NOT the answer. It’s the system that needs to change to accommodate the needs of the child. Some kids are included all day, some for just a portion, but the goal for all kids is to move in the direction of the least restrictive environment. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

Remember that the IEP is a federally enforced document that gives you and your child protections like nothing else can. If it’s not written, it’s as if it wasn’t discussed, so don’t just talk about it… document it. A great way to do that is to utilize the Parent Input section, which is HUGELY important. Here is where you want to document what your concerns are, what you think your child needs and what you’re providing outside of the school setting. Oftentimes, when a parent puts their concerns and requests in this section, it motivates the rest of the team to get more creative in securing the education that your child deserves. 

Need some guidance?  https://staceyhoaglund.com/

Educational Evaluation Time... Yes or No?

 For some reason, I seem to be getting more calls this year from parents who are seeking answers in relation to their right to request a psychoeducational evaluation from their school. Yes, parents do have that right. Quite often, whether a student has an IEP already or not, the school will say that they have to first do RTI (Response To Intervention) before doing an evaluation. While, yes, schools have to do RTI, that is not a reason to delay the parents signing a Consent to Evaluate. It is sometimes used as a delay tactic and should never get in the way of moving forward on an evaluation that is needed.

Main Reasons to Request an Evaluation

 

If your child does not have an IEP, and you suspect that there is a disability that is negatively affecting their education, you can request to sign a Consent to Evaluate. This evaluation is usually a full psychoeducational evaluation that is comprehensive in nature and can consider many different types of educational impacts related to disabilities. Since most people reading this article will be parents of children who already have IEPs, I won’t get into the specifics of the initial evaluation, other than saying that parents have the right to sign a Consent to Evaluate if they have concerns about their child’s education related to a disability.

 

When your child already has an IEP, every 3 years the team needs to “consider” testing, however, there are two main reasons to formally evaluate.

 

1.      If you think there may be another disability that is significantly affecting their education and you want that to be considered. This oftentimes looks like a child who is originally evaluated and determined with a developmental delay, and later the team needs to consider autism spectrum disorder. An evaluation is needed to make that switch. There are certainly other conditions that would warrant an evaluation of this type regarding eligibility.

2.      If your child is not making the progress that you or other members of the team would expect them to make and it appears as though the interventions are not having a positive impact, this is another reason to evaluate. The evaluation should look for both the skills and abilities that your child possesses. On intellectual and academic testing, looking for high scores will help give insight into how your child takes in the world and processes information. Once you understand how they think, then a conversation needs to take place of how to teach them, what curriculum would align with the way that they learn and identify where more energy should be spent. If you use a curriculum that is contrary to the way the child learns, you are very likely to have the same academic outcomes year after year – and all not good.

 

Times to Be Cautious

Many parents think that psychoeducational evaluations are needed every three years and that it’s something that they should have, because they can. As with anything, sometimes you have to be careful of what you wish for – there could be negative side effects that many people don’t know about or think about. I attend IEP meetings quite often where a child is, say in 2nd grade and the teacher sees that the child is struggling and tries to convince the parents to do an IQ test so that they “won’t have to take the standardized test in 3rd grade”.  (What parent doesn’t love the idea of getting their child out of standardized testing that is likely to stress them out?) Attempting to avoid standardized testing is not a good reason to evaluate, especially not in the younger grades. If a child is struggling in school, then it’s time to look at how they’re being taught, in what type of classroom and who is doing the teaching.

When a student is evaluated, and if they obtain an IQ score of 67 or lower, the likelihood is very high that the team will remove the student from regular standards. In fact, they need that 67 or lower IQ to do so. We know that students with disabilities are not good test takers, and a test is only a reflection of how someone did on that day, at that time and in that location. If a student is evaluated and removed from standards, it is important to know that the team is changing that child’s future with a simple strike of the pen. When students are removed from standards, and placed on alternative assessments, there will be no college degree seeking program in their future nor regular certification in a trade or vocation. For some students, this is appropriate, and the focus will be on independent living and job skills so that they can receive the instruction they need in order to prepare for the world of work after school has ended. But most students with disabilities are on, and should remain on, regular standards regardless of their diagnosis.

I was that parent.

When my son was in 4th grade, having had a comprehensive psychoeducational evaluation done just a few years prior, I thought that I wanted updated testing to see how he had changed, given all of the interventions we were providing. What came back from that testing module was significantly lower scores than he had previously received. It turned out that the testing instrument that was used that second time was not only not the same as the first one, but it did not take into consideration that he was much stronger nonverbally than he was verbally. I had to jump through a few hoops for those low scores to be removed from his educational record. We did not test again until he was tested through Vocational Rehabilitation when he was in 11^th grade and preparing to graduate.

 

If there is a reason to test, do it. If it’s just because you think it might be good, then talk to someone who knows and understands why you would test, and what types of tests would be a good idea towards the outcomes you seek. This could be an advocate but could also be a parent who has gone through themselves.  Wrightslaw.com has some good info and guidance on this topic as well.

Yes, High Schools Have to Follow IEPs Too

When kids transition to high school especially, teachers (general education teachers mostly, but certainly not all) have a tendency to try to convince parents that if their kids are going to be in general education classes, that they are expected to all of a sudden behave independently. It’s hard to tell sometimes if they themselves actually think that some miraculous transformation happens over the summer before high school, or if they use that as a way to not have to provide the support that kids have needed, and still do.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t ever become independent with anything unless I had either a good instructor that knew how to guide me step by step, or I suffered and struggled for so long that I was finally able to grab onto the last dangling thread that gave me that Oprah Winfrey “a-ha moment” – but those are few and far between.

The expectation that a student would make the transition into high school and all of a sudden have this ability to think and act independently is a bit illogical to me. This is why students with disabilities have IEPs – so that what they need is documented in this legally binding plan. So, while you might have a teacher who doesn’t think your child should have a copy of notes from lectures and study guides to prepare for tests and quizzes, if it’s on the IEP, they must provide it.

We all want our kids to be independent. I’ve never met a parent who didn’t wish they could back off and let things naturally work themselves out. BUT, when you have a child with a disability, #1 that’s hard to do because you want to help them and have the best life that they can, and #2 chances are that they might always need some level of support. Not everyone becomes fully independent. I know plenty of people who don’t have disabilities who come out of one relationship, just to jump into another one because they cannot imagine doing life on their own (but that’s a whole other topic :o)

IEPs Are in Charge

Your child’s IEP has goals. If your child is spending some, or all, of their day in a regular classroom setting, the general education teacher should be an implementer of the goals – and sometimes they’re on all of the goals. This means that they are responsible for working on the goals, just like the special educator. Sadly, I have had general education teachers tell me that they don’t even know how to read an IEP, let alone implement it within their classroom. It’s the responsibility of the LEA (local education agency) representative at your school to ensure that all teachers understand their role in the IEP. If you were to file due process, all persons on the IEP will be held responsible, including the general education teachers.

There is an accommodation section on each IEP. In some school districts it’s called Classroom Accommodations, in others it’s referred to as Supplementary Aids. Either way, these are the classroom accommodations that can and should be provided to help your child access their education. A few of the most important ones for high school, and these just so happen to be the same ones that some teachers tend push back against, are:

• Class notes and study guides
• Reduced assignments
• Change class 3 minutes before the bell rings (for sensory kids)
• Lessons broken down into smaller segments
• Reporting/Collaborating with the parent (on a set schedule)
• Peer assistance (setting up the student with good peer models)
• Access to reference sheets for math

There’s tons more that are important, based on the needs of the student, but these are the ones that I find extremely helpful to high school students who are doing their education in regular classroom settings.

What Do You Do?

If you are one of the many parents out there who are being told that this is high school, things are different here, they're expected to be independent, that's not fair to give your child this accommodation when no one else gets it, that’s not the way things are done in high school, how is giving them notes preparing them for college, etc etc, know that the law is on your side. Schools are required to follow the IEP no matter if a particular teacher agrees with the accommodations on the plan or not. Same thing goes for the goals.

• Read your IEP and look to see who the implementer is of the goals
• Write those people a note and ask how the goals are being implemented in their classroom
• If you see lack of progress, ask for data regarding the goals by the implementers. This is not the Progress Report that comes out quarterly. Ask for the raw data to show the growth or lack of growth on a weekly or monthly basis. I like graphed data, personally.
• Ask the ESE specialist (LEA in most areas) if the teachers have been trained in following IEPs
• Document your concerns if they continue

As in almost any field, when no one questions the status quo, most people end up feeling this is the way we've always done things, and this is the way things will continue. However, just because things have always been done a certain way, doesn't make it right. If you want your child to get the education that they deserve, with whatever support is necessary, then you must be actively engaged in their education. There is no way to ensure that your child receives a great education without your involvement.

Recognizing And Responding To Anxiety In Children With Special Needs

 Although most of us don’t need hard-core evidence on the topic, Dr Lawrence Fung from Stanford Medicine states, “Anxiety is a very common co-occurring condition in the neurodiverse community. About 20 to 30% of male adults on the spectrum have anxiety disorder. Females with autism spectrum condition have even higher rates of anxiety. The prevalence of anxiety is up to 40% in females on the spectrum. In some clinics the prevalence of anxiety in patients on the spectrum is even higher (up to 80 or 90%).”

While this study was specifically focused on autism, we know that people who learn and process the world in a different way than most, experience higher levels of anxiety. After all, why wouldn’t they? Everywhere we go we hear that anxiety is off the chain! Sometimes we forget that kids with disabilities deal with the same crazy world as the rest of us, but oftentimes without the knowledge of why things happen the way they do, which could make the world a whole lot scarier.

Signs of Anxiety

When we consider what would be noticeable in the average person who’s experiencing anxiety, we might see:

• Recurring fears and worries
• Irritability
• Trouble concentrating
• Strong desire for sameness (sometimes to an obsessive degree)
• Extreme self-consciousness or sensitivity to criticism
• Withdrawal from social activity
• Avoidance of difficult or new situations
• Chronic complaints about stomachaches or headaches
• Drop in grades or school refusal
• Repeatedly seeking reassurance
• Sleep problems

Sound familiar? I am guessing your answer is, “Yes.” If we know that the average person is experiencing these things, imagine what a child who cannot express themselves must be feeling. It is important, however, to separate behavior that’s part of typical child development from an anxiety issue, such as a 2-year-old having a tantrum when their parents go to work or when there’s an unexpected loud noise. Not feeling well also needs to be ruled out before assuming your child is dealing with an anxiety issue. A quick trip to your pediatrician is a good first step.

Take the ABC Path

When a behavior analyst starts to consider the development of a positive behavior intervention plan, the first thing they do is look for the antecedent/behavior/consequence, or ABC. If you can identify what is causing the anxiety by looking at the antecedent, or the thing that came before the expression of anxiety, this should help you create the interventions that will help your particular child. In the same manner that not all kids like the same foods, not all strategies are gonna work for everyone. Sometimes a trial-and-error process is required.

Some of the things that could very easily cause, or grow, anxiety in children with disabilities are their need for sameness, poor communication skills, inability to process information at the rate that the teacher is delivering the instruction, fine motor skills that are not yet adequate enough to get paper-pencil tasks done, deficits in understanding socially appropriate behaviors and how to engage with other children in a way that is expected. With all those barriers in place, how could they not have anxiety?

Where to begin…..

The good news is that there are strategies that can be implemented in both the home and the school to help reduce the feelings that lead to anxiety. Start by identifying activities that bring a sense of relaxation or calm. Chances are good that you yourself already use some of these when you get stressed out in traffic, or during IEP meetings 😮 Practice these coping strategies together when you and your child are calm, so you’ll be familiar with them when anxiety strikes. You do NOT want to push your child to breathe deeply when they are in a full-blown episode of anxiety. Here are some things you can try:

• Model the behavior you wish to see – if you’re stressed out, your child is HIGHLY likely to be the same.
• Grab some headphones to block out sounds or listen to music.
• Use less words at a quieter tone and more visuals than usual. How many of us turn the car radio off when we are in a dangerous driving situation? There’s a reason for that.
• Go for a walk (down the hallway or around the block)

• Count up or count down.
• Teach emotions. There’s a great program called Little Spot that I see working well with kids, and no, I don’t make any money by recommending it. Lol
• Squeeze a stress ball or therapy putty (OTs are great with regard to self-regulation strategies)
• Give hugs, cuddles or a weighted blanket or vest.
• Think about a favorite thing or place.
• Draw.

• Use social stories for anything that you think they might not be sure of. These are especially helpful when there are changes in routine (ideally before the change takes place).
• Identify and label a “safe space” or “quiet area” where they can catch a break but be sure to build in parameters (amount of time they spend there), or it could easily be used as an escape.

• Teach deep breathing. For some of us, closing our eyes during deep breathing makes this a 3-pointer. And if your kids can visualize a place they love to spend time, even better!
• EXERCISE. I’m a huge proponent of this one. I don’t know how I would function without my gym time. When my son was young, 10 jumping jacks would be all he would need to regroup his focus, reduce his stress, and get his juices flowing again.
• Role-play any or all of the above. Carve out time each day, or even once a week, to practice ways to reduce anxiety and deal with the stressors of everyday life.

Here’s a BONUS – We know that kids who spend more time on tech have higher levels of anxiety. Research tells us that it causes reduced attention spans, decreased patience, less social development, public judgement and compare and despair via social media, and insomnia, each of which can easily increase irritability and anxiety. If you’ve got a child who loves to watch the same videos over and over again, be mindful that they can become very obsessive (play-rewind-play-rewind), which in itself can cause increased anxiety. Monitor your child’s use of technology and ensure that there is an equal dose of outdoor play each day.

No one wants to suffer through bouts of anxiety, but in today’s world, it’s difficult to escape. However, with some sound strategies and loving support, we can all learn to deal with some of the hurdles that lie before us.