What is an IEP?

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I've read alot in the parents part of the forum about IEPs but I really dont know what they are and Im wondering if my son needs one. I asked his teacher about it yesterday and her answer to me was "What do you want that for?" anyway im so discouraged.... my son is not doing good in school despite his intelligence. We just got the diagnoses 03/01/06 and we only have 8 weeks of school left and then he will be in middle school with 7 different teachers! Any help would be appreciated. thanks

Why wouldn't you want one?!

An IEP is and Individual Education Program? or Process?

It is a RIGHT under federal law although state laws dictate the details of it. The school must test your son and find his strenghts and weaknesses. It must then come up with a written plan that includes messurable goals on how to use his strenghts to address his weaknesses. It also includes a list of accomidations and modifications the school must provide given your son's needs.

My older son's IEP is limited...it includes extra time on assignments and a quiet place with less distrations for high stake tests.

My younger son's IEP is very involved...it includes speech therapy, adepted phy-ed, OT, a small classroom size, where he is to sit in classrooms, time with a learning disbility teacher to work one on one on his writing. His is graded on content not spelling, need not use cursive, and may turn reports in on a tape rather than in written form.

I suggest you spend some time at
www.wrightslaw.com
to get a feel for what can be in an IEP.

The bueaty of an IEP is that the school is legaly accountable to anything in there. If they don't provide it, you can file a complaint with your state and the state will watch to make sure its provided.

It can be hard to get an IEP and then to figure out what needs to be in it but its diffently the way to go.

BeeBee

BeeBee has the jist of it but I would like to add one more thing.

If you think your son will have more problems in Middle School than he had in Elementary school, then I would suggest making a written request to the school district that they test you son to determine if he has a disability. The district is obligated to perform the test if the parent requests. I think a parent is also allowed to use outside evaluations (such as the diagnosis you just received) as part of the evaluation.

Do not let the school personnel stop you from requesting what is your sons rights. You have to do what is best for you son regardless of what his teacher or anyone at the school offices think.

Yes, thanks Louis.

The request for testing must be in writing though, to start the clock ticking at the school.

Something you may want to request in that IEP for next year is that your son be permitted to leave class 3 minutes early, from each and every class. That way he is moving through the halls alone, rather than being jostled about in a sea of hundreds of other children.

If they refuse this, then demand a one on one aide to be there to walk with your son, by his side, class to class.

Plan A is much better, for you and your son and the school, and they will see that, later if not sooner.

You can also generally request specific teachers (within a group), and seating preferences for your child.

Remember, you are your son's best advocate. Even if they smile and say they want the best for him, you need to follow up and be there, letting them know you are watching. It's sad, but true.

Just sign me, Been there, Done that.

My experience with testing is to do it at the beginning of the school year instead of the end. It takes several weeks and many different test administrators to complete the testing. We thought testing at the end of the school year would be fine, but what we didn't know was that the test administrators normally assigned to the school would run out of time and would not be available during the summer. So, the principal got to hand pick anyone she she wanted from the entire district to be on the evaluation board. Needless to say the school rushed J through testing and then concluded that he didn't have AS, which was dx'd by our private psychologist. Of course, we disagreed and ended up having to go to an IME which is a third doctor chosen by the parents and the school. The IME gives the final dx and everyone has to go with that dx. I picked a pediatric neuro-psychologist who was in charge of the children's hospital in our area, and she ended up agreeing with our psychologist, and the school was forced to provide services. It took us over a year to come to this conclusion. Many times I have wondered if we had waited until the beginning of the school year when the regular test administrators had been available what would have happened. Would they have come up with AS or otherwise?

Anyway, I thank G_d every day for our IEP. I don't know how J would have made it through school without it!

First off, as far as I am concerned, the district should have regular testers available during the summer. What about the children coming into the system at age 5. Do they wait for a complete blow up at the beginning of the year simply because there are not enough testers around?

I think the principal and district tried to take you for a ride to see what the could get away with JSmom.

According to PACER, many districts do testing in the summer.

My district told me they had 30 SCHOOL DAYS to test and therefore summer didn't count. I let it go. If I only knew then what I know now.....

I think they were trying to take us for a ride, too. Certain dx's require special services and AS is one of them. They would have had to provide those services and perhaps hire someone to provide them, which all would have cost the school more money than a child with with an OHI "other health impairment" dx of ADHD.

We ended up moving to a different school. It was the best move we could have made.

Duh. The P in IEP stands for PLAN.

I have one of those too. My next meeting is in a week.

If I didn't have an IEP, I would be miserable in every class. Coming from a kid who has one, IEPs are a literal Godsend, and I mean that as truthfully as possible. I'm moved to the front of every classroom, moved away from people who bother me, my classes are switched if required (recently, after being bullied in a PE classroom, it was mandated that I no longer have to take PE classes because of all the incidents that have occurred over the years), I have extended due dates on homework assignments, and I have an entire period devoted to the purposes of getting work done (RSP, if anyone else has it).

Now, my advice to you: get an IEP for your son ASAP! Even with his high intelligence, if he has Asperger's, this will help in tremendous ways! I myself have high intelligence, however, before I was placed on an IEP, my performance in school was miserable.

However, the IEP may not mean anything if your son is not placed with a proper case carrier. Some of the case carriers I've had in the past were horrible (for example, one that I had called Aspies and kids with Autism the "slice and dice" bunch... can you believe this? By that she meant we cut ourselves and hurt teachers and other students... and she taught several RSP classes! Ironically, 2 months after this was said, she died in a horrible car crash... that's karma for you, I guess.), so make sure that the case carrier that your son is placed with has the proper credentials and knows what he or she is doing. My current case carrier is the best I've ever had, but my experiences have proved that good case carriers are few and far between.

Other than that, I say good luck! This probably will be the best thing that you can do for your son's scholarly career.

I remember my IEP my parents try to give me more help than i wanted a lot of reasoure time was just a waste of my life. Make sure an IEP does not interfere with your son feeling normal. I suggest extra time on assignments and help but am not a fan of a mandated class period that i had to goto. Attempts to teach me organsation failed mainly because the reason behide it was not explained i was just told to be organized. help going over the occastional paper is helpful...

Because of what my parents pushed upon me I was resistance to help when i came to college. just talking about what i need to do is helpful. taking notes on a computer in college means i can take them faster and means they are not lost.

my IEP sucks, it hasn't been helping me at all