Don't miss these! What to Look for in an IEP
Let's get focused on where to look in your IEP paperwork!
Yes, there are dozens of boxes to check and forms to fill out, but when you focus on these 6 pieces, everything else fits together smoothly.
1. Parent Input Statement - No matter where you live in the country, every IEP has a section for parents to share their vision, concerns, and input. This area can be a huge driver for an IEP being focused on the child's needs vs getting wrapped up in school district objectives.
2. Data - Where is your child or student at right now? Can you share the data to back it up? Data isn't just for annual meetings. We all need to know what data was collected and what data will be collected for a child to be successful.
3. Measurable Goals - No need to overcomplicate. Keep the goal simple and measurable. No opinions needed. Just the facts!
4. Home to School Communication Plan - Yes, this should be documented. How often communication will happen and what will be communicated is so important. Not...
Don't Ignore IEP Parent Input Statements
1. Listen in on what a Parent Input statement is and where to find it.
2. Get out your child's or a student's IEP and look for this section.
3. If you can't find it, go here and I'll help you www.specialedinnercircle.com
4. If this section is clear in the IEP, CELEBRATE!
5. If not, fill your coffee cup and join me at www.specialedinnercircle.com so I can help!
See you on the inside!
A New Piece of Inclusion We Must Consider
Inclusive experiences between special education and general education students within Generation Z are going to need more support for all students than ever before. Use this new perspective to build inclusive experiences that are successful for everyone involved.
Book: Generation Z Unfiltered by Tim Elmore
Master IEP Coach Mentorship: www.masterIEPcoach.com
Hazard - Stop Doing Special Education Alone
Stop thinking you're supposed to do Special Education alone. Parents & Teachers if you had an honest conversation with each other, you'd find out that nobody expects one person to know everything about Special Education.
It's time to stop figuring out special education by yourself and do these 3 things:
1. Lean into your expertise.
2. Be humble instead of humiliated when you need help.
3. Stop faking it. You're not supposed to know it all.
Decide you are done doing special education alone. We have too many tears, too many people feeling burnt out, and too much turnover in special education. You can flip the negative feelings when you surround yourself with people who get it!
Resources:
Master IEP Coach: www.masterIEPcoach.com
Special Education Inner Circle: www.specialedinnercircle.com
Don't forget to hit SUBSCRIBE in your app to make sure you never miss an episode!
Podcast: Special Education Inner Circle... find it here!
Listen in to the Special Education Inner Circle Podcast on your favorite app.
Don't forget to hit SUBSCRIBE in your app to make sure you never miss an episode!
About: As a special needs sibling, certified special education teacher, and special needs parent, Catherine brings you real world strategies everyone at the IEP table can use. As an international speaker and online trainer for special needs parents and special education teams, Catherine knows what it takes to prepare students and families for the future. Get ready to be inspired and learn actionable steps you can take immediately to change your special education experience.
Stop Cramming the IEP with Goals & Leave Room to Learn Naturally
After 20+ years of writing IEPs with parents and teachers, I’ve learned a few things...
1. You’re never going to get every goal a child needs into the IEP.
2. A child will shutdown if you stuff their day with direct instruction hour after hour.
3. A child needs time to “be a kid” in their school day. This is often when their biggest milestones will be met.
Need help? Visit www.masterIEPcoach.com
Podcast Highlights:
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We're wrapping up 2019 we're jumping into 2020 and for many of this, this us, this feels like a fresh start, right? But really we're right in the middle of the school year, but that doesn't mean that we can't make some really significant changes, if needed inside of a child's IEP. So I posted something on Instagram today and that's kind of taken off, like wildfire here. So I'm going to read to you exactly what I posted. It says, "stop trying to cram the IEP with every goal a child needs. Pick your priorities and leave space in a child's...
Podcast: 504s vs IEPs - What's the Difference?
Podcast Highlights:
IEPs vs 504s is a hot topic in special education. I'm going to go over six points, real quick, just to give you an overview so you know what questions to ask next about supports for your child at school.
(00:51)
The first thing that you need to know, point number one is that there is a difference between which law is governing this document that's going to help a child with their education. So here's my disclaimer. I'm not a lawyer, I'm not practicing the law, but I am telling you where to look. So if you're going to start pursuing an IEP, you're going to be looking at IDEA law. For a 504 plan, you're looking at the section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973.
(01:55)
Each of these documents have accountability systems set up. It's just knowing where you need to look and who you need to talk to about the support documents. 504's get a bad reputation for not being enforceable. It's not that it's not enforceable, it's that it's enforceable in...
Special Education Teachers + Parents are Smarter than the System
Podcast Transcript:
Welcome everyone to the special education inner circle podcast. I'm excited to be here with you today. We're going to dig on a hot topic for both special education teachers and parents. Actually for everybody who's at the IEP table. In fact, as I was preparing for this hot topic, I opened up my Facebook and I'm scrolling through it and I see almost within the first three posts, I see a story about a man with autism who couldn't get a job. So he opened up his own coffee shop. That is exactly the type of story that we're going to be talking about today and how teachers and parents in the special education system, you are smarter than the system itself and you have to start working together to make things happen. So here's, here's the scoop. Let's just kind of step back just for a minute and talk about how special education is only 44 years old, which in some ways that is a baby.
(01:01)
That is just a little start to what we can do in special education. In...
Medical Dx VS Educational Eligibility - It's a big deal
Video Highlights:
2:00 Minute Mark
It's important for you to know that a school does not diagnose a child with a disability. A school only has eligibility criteria when it comes to special education. Eligibility criteria, it's set by the federal law IDEA.
Remember, I'm not a lawyer, but I can teach you where to look in the law.
There are different buckets for eligibility. During an eligibility meeting for special the team goes over data that has been collected, testing that has been done or information that has been taken in.
Next, they go through checklists and they say... everything seems to fit into this bucket.
Finally, a child gets an educational eligibility to receive special education services.
Now let's go back over here to medical diagnosis. Okay, so medical diagnosis is when you meet a set of criteria and the doctor has a recommendation that says... based on this label, your child should have this therapy or take this medicine or do...