IEP/ Special Education/

My daughter has had an IEP since she was three for speech. At the school she started off in the IEP was correct from the start and the staff that worked with her were great. They not only were working with her current goals but had set forth plans to change her goals and switch her to an educational IEP because they felt like the speech IEP wasn't helping with the whole of her problem. Since then we've been to two different schools. She's obviously matured and her learning needs have changed (she's now almost 8). The schools unfortunately have not changed her IEP to meet her changing needs. All they are still meeting are the needs of the original IEP from when she was 3. I have called countless meetings to get them to change the goals and request additional testing to which the school has refused claiming that her problems aren't affecting her enough academically and are more of a social hinderance. This summer we've been forced to find a private psychologist to do a neuropsych evaluation on her, which is costing us a LOT of money.

First off my advice to you is to know the law and the rights afforded to the parents of a child in special education. "The Procedural Right and Safegaurds" manual that they hand out to you doesn't contain all the information, or its not put out in a straightforward manner. Apparently what the school has done to us is illegal under federal law. If a parent with a child already in an IEP wants additional testing for their child the school is required to perform the testing. Second look into getting a learning advocate. As we've gone through this whole mess with the schools everyone we talk to has suggested one. Schools are governed first by politics and second by money and third by the best interest of the students. You need a person in there who knows the law, and understands your child's needs to advocate for you. We will probably be getting my daughter one as well as filing suit against her school once we finish and get the results from the neuropsych eval. I have made the mistake of relying on the school to help with my daughters problems and unfortunately that was a mistake. Hopefully you won't have these same issues.

Two of my 5five children have IEPs. My oldest son is dyslexic. He is very smart, but can only spell on a kindergarten or 1st grade level. Luckily his reading and comprehension are fine. Anyway, the biggest problem that he has is that his accomodations were geared towards getting him extra help in reading, which doesn't help with the spelling. The last two years, (my son is 13 now) I have sat down with my son and talked with him specifically about what he has the most problem with and what he thinks would help him. I go over his IEP with him and say does this accommodation help you? What about this one? I was really surprised after getting his input. Even I had been putting emphasis on the wrong things. He is a very popular student, and the teachers and students alike all love him. This also helps because all of the teachers love him and are willing to go the extra mile to help him. He always makes the honor roll and gets lots of awards.

Now my younger son (age 11) has an IEP because of mental health issues. The problem that I have with him is that the teachers tend not to follow the IEP. I believe it is because he is not as likeable as is his older brother. Because of his mental health issues, he is eccentric, moody, argumentative and just plain difficult. I have been in an IEP meeting where the teachers bring up a specific incident and I say to them I thought we were going to do such and such in this type of situation and it wasn't done. I don't really think it is intentional, but more that they react to him out of frustration in the heat of the moment. He still makes okay grades, but is capable of much more if the teachers could see past his personality and see his actual potential.

It is always important to keep the lines of communication open, and to try to wait until you are calm before responding to anything that has upset you. So much depends upon the teachers.
Good Luck!

my oldest was ieped. and it did help him but here is the catch on mine. the iep worked correctly the teachers were very lacking and so was the eductation system. reasoning why if you cant pass an 8th grade reading test you can't get your drivers liscense. so they put him in specialized reading classes teaching him to read words. problem was the reading test is a reading comprehension test and they had no classes to help with a comprehension problem. by this I mean you are supposed to read "jane and john were walking down elm street" the question is "where where jane and john walking" I could not get this part through my sons head neither could the teachers or tutors. and no classes geared to this. the specialized reading classes taught you how to read and pronounce long words like "elephant"

no this problem was never resolved. I would say the services were incorrect or not given. because of this and bushes no kid left behind and constantly changing the credits I had to drop my kid out of high school to get him to graduate before he was 21. I odn't know if this is just an oklahoma thing or a national thing but this is why I moved out of oklahoma. other reasons too. if you want more information private mail me I will answer questions. I had to put my son in job corp to get a decent education.

Hi. I'll try to answer all these.
1. Did you have an IEP for one or more of you children? Our 3-year-old son got an IEP through Child Find here in VA around this time last year.

2. Would you say the IEP worked correctly from the start? Yes, it worked well for us. They evaluated him and were accurate in their findings and therapy. He started preschool and got additional help. This year he will go three days a week, getting speech and occupational therapy every week. It's too soon to tell if his goals will be met in the time estimated, but he is making good progress.
Best of luck to you.