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From the Vault: 6 Tips for Smoother IEP Meetings

If you’re a parent of a child in school and that child has a special need, you have experienced the IEP – Individual Education Plan - meeting. Endless information about IEP documents and meetings can be found at conferences and in magazines, books and websites. Unfortunately, there are many horror stories about IEPs. Anxiety, fear and dread would probably be on most people’s list of how they feel about the meeting. I don’t dread IEP meetings anymore. I believe they can lead to creating successful goals for your child and the meetings can be done with little stress and anxiety.  Here are six suggestions based on what I’ve learned from researching and participating in IEP meetings for the past 16 years: Treat them to food. Donuts, muffins, cookies and juice and/or coffee make friends. Food puts everyone in a good mood, and it makes the atmosphere less tense. And in some cases, it may serve a very practical purpose - teachers and other school staff do not get much time to eat during

Extra Credit

Over the past few weeks, Ben has had testing, evaluations, IEP (Individual Education Plan) and progress meetings to either determine his developmental level or discuss improvements he has made in a specified time period. I have been thrilled with the progress he has made and the new goals set for him. The psychological tests I have completed feel strange to answer because so many items do not relate to Ben because he does not talk or have typical physical abilities. The questions do not seem to apply to him. But he needs these tests in order to receive aide, so I complete them and hope for the best. Testing and evaluating are all part of life - and in truth, I like to have specific documentation outlining goals and progress. But there are other times when Ben has blown me away with things he has done that are not measured on a Lickert scale or answered in a question on a test. Those are the times when I give Ben extra credit. At 1:30am, Ben woke up for a drink. As I was sitting