Parents and IEPs

1. Parents and IEPs Building successful relationships with our children’s schools

2. Our themes • Where are we, as parents, coming from? • What tools can we bring? • What do we know? • Putting it into practice

3. Where are we coming from? • Imagine that you have been in a car accident and you have lost a leg. • How does this affect your life?

4. Parents tell us … • Anger • Frustration • Guilt • Loss of control • Change in relationships • Dependence on others • Fear of the unknown

5. Who comes into our life? • Doctors • Therapists – OT and PT • Social services • Rehabilitation specialists • Support groups • Employment counsellors

6. Let’s look at the difference • Parents talk about their “heart” • Service providers talk about “service” How do we tie these together? • Acknowledge the difference • Build relationships

7. Relationships – home and school • Key to making an IEP work • An IEP is a formal “piece of paper” • Relationship is what turns that piece of paper into a “living document” • Relationship turns it from something to fear into something to work on together

8. Building that relationship Qualities parents want: • Openness • Sharing of good and bad • Problem solving – together • Learning from failure • Learning from success What you want also applies to school.

9. Tips to foster collaboration • Keep your meeting small. • Know who will attend. • Use a visual to track what is being said. • Talk about what helps you to be involved. • Share your feelings. • Keep goals simple. • Make failure okay. • Ask questions.

10. Eduspeak • Sometimes schools use words that make it hard for us to contribute. • You know how your child learns. • You know what you do to tell your child something important.

11. My child learns best when … • She has a chance to watch something being done before trying it herself. • She sits close to the teacher. • Instructions are simple. • He can talk about it first. • He works with others. • He has quiet time to absorb.

12. Building goals together • Keep to 4 or 5 goals. • Prioritize what is important. • Include both short term and long term goals. • Look at how you will measure the goal. • Set up a process for reviewing the draft. • Ensure goals include what you know about your child.

13. Sample IEP goal Josh is entering kindergarten. He has physical handicaps and a severe speech delay. At home, you use sign language to help him communicate. He uses a wheelchair and has leg braces. The goal is to help Josh develop relationships with other students in the class.

14. Putting the goal into practice • The teacher will use selected words in sign language with the class, beginning with “hello” and “goodbye.” • Josh will illustrate the signs for other students. • The parent will bring in a simple sign language book for the class. • The speech pathologist will teach the class a song in sign language.

15. The parent will bring in Josh’s old leg braces to add to the dress-up corner of the class. • The classroom will be organized so that Josh sits in the middle of the class, with a small group of boys. • Other students will be invited to have a turn helping the aide to push Josh’s chair to the library and the gym.

16. In summary • The IEP is a tool to help our child succeed. • It comes alive when we build relationships to support our child. • The IEP is the beginning – not the end. • Working together, we put our child first.