I.E.P. - Individualized Education Program
The Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is a written document
that outlines a child's education. As the name implies, the educational program
should be tailored to the individual student to provide educational benefit.
The key word is individual. A program that is appropriate for one child with
autism may be inappropriate for another.
The IEP is the cornerstone for the education of a child with a disability. The
IEP is a written statement of a child's educational program that identifies
the services a child needs so that he or she may grow and learn during the school
year. It is a legal document that outlines:
The child's special education plan by defining goals for the school year
Services needed to help the child meet those goals
A method of evaluating the student's progress
The objectives, goals and selected services are not just a
collection of ideas on how the school may educate a child. The school district
must educate your child in accordance with the IEP.
As its name suggests, the Individualized Educational Program should be written
to reflect the child's individual and unique needs. Accordingly, no single IEP
would be appropriate for all children with autism.
To develop an IEP, the local education agency officials and others involved
in the child's educational program meet to discuss education related goals.
By law, the following people must be invited to attend the IEP meeting:
One or both of the child's parents
The child's teacher or prospective teacher
A representative of the public agency (local education agency), other than the
child's teacher,
who is qualified to provide
or supervise the provision of special education.
The child, if appropriate
Other individuals at the discretion of the parent or agency (such as a physician,
advocate, or neighbor)
With the 1997 Reauthorization of IDEA
(P.L. 105-17), parents now must be included as "members of any group that
makes decisions on the educational placement of the child." IEP meetings
must be held at least annually, but may be held more often if needed. Parents
may request a review or revision of the IEP at any time. While teachers and
school personnel may come prepared for the meeting with an outline of goals
and objectives, the IEP is not complete until it has been thoroughly discussed
and all parties agree to the written document.
Parents are entitled to participate in the IEP meeting as equal participants
with suggestions and opinions regarding their child's education. They may bring
a list of suggested goals and objectives, as well as additional information
that may be pertinent, to the IEP meeting.
The local education agency (LEA) must attempt to schedule the IEP meeting at
a time and place agreeable to both school staff and parents. School districts
must notify parents in a timely manner so that they will have an opportunity
to attend. The notification must indicate the purpose of the meeting (i.e. to
discuss transition services, behavior problems interfering with learning, academic
growth).
Parents may encounter stipulations presented by school personnel that may not
necessarily be supported by the provisions of the IDEA. Some statements have
included:
"IEPs must be a predetermined number of pages."
"IEPs are to be completed without parental input and only a certain number
of goals and
objectives are allowed
on the IEP."
"If your objective doesn't fit into the field length on our computer program,
it can't be included."
There is nothing in the federal law that supports these type
of statements or stipulations. While parents should not accept misinformation
concerning the IEP, you don't need to approach the parent/school relationship
in an adversarial manner. It is in everyone's best interest to remember that
both parents and teachers share a common goal: to develop a program that will
be appropriate for the child with autism. By sharing information and knowledge,
parents and schools can collaborate to develop a truly effective IEP.
The IEP Meeting:
After an evaluation has been done, the IEP meeting will be scheduled. As noted
earlier, you are entitled under law to attend and participate in this meeting,
and you must be given ample notification of the time and place. You should also
request a copy of the evaluation that was done prior to the meeting so you have
time to review it.
The Families and Advocates Partnership for Education, FAPE, suggests considering
the following:
What is your vision for your child - for the future as well as the next school
year?
What you are child's strengths, needs and interests?
What are your major concerns about his or her education?
In your child's education thus far, what has - and has not -worked?
Does the evaluation fit with what you know about your child?
While the IEP meeting is a time to develop the educational
plan for your child, it is also an opportunity for you to shared information
about your child, your expectations and what techniques have worked at home.
If for some reason you do not agree with the proposed IEP, you do have recourse.
See the section, "What If You and the School Don't Agree?"
Content of the IEP
The IEP should address all areas in which a child needs educational assistance.
This can include academic and non-academic goals, if the services to be provided
will result in educational benefit for the child. All areas of projected need,
such as social skills, functional skills (dressing, crossing the street to walk
to the school bus safely), related services (occupational therapy, speech therapy,
physical therapy), can be included in the IEP.
The IEP should list the setting in which the services will be provided and the
professionals who will provide the service. Content of an IEP must include the
following:
A statement of the child's present level of educational performance. This should
include both
academic and non-academic aspects of his/her performance.
A statement of annual
goals that the student may reasonably accomplish in the next 12 months.
This statement should also include a series of measurable,
intermediate objectives for each goal. This
will help both the parents and educators know whether the
child is progressing and benefiting from
his/her education. The development of specific, well-defined
goals and objectives is crucial to your
child receiving an appropriate education.
Appropriate objective
criteria, evaluation procedures and schedules for determining, at least annually,
whether the child is achieving the short-term objectives
set out in the IEP. (For example, "How are we
judging whether intervention is successful?" "How
long will my child be in this program?")
A description of all
specific special education and related services, including individualized instruction
and related supports and services, to be provided (e.g. occupational
therapy, physical therapy, speech
therapy, transportation, recreation). This includes the extent
to which the child will participate in regular
educational programs.
The initiation date
and duration of each of the services, as determined above, to be provided (this
can
include extended School Year services). You may include the
person who will be responsible for implementing
each service.
If your child is 16
years old or older, the IEP must include a description of transitional services
(coordinated
set of activities designed to assist the student in movement
from school to post-school activities).
Related services in the IEP
It is important that a child receive an appropriate education and therefore
benefit from that education. Students with disabilities have a right to related
services to help them learn and receive the maximum benefit from their educational
programs. Related services, according to IDEA, consist of "transportation
and such developmental, corrective and other supportive services as are required
to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education."
These services are to be determined on an individualized basis, not by the disability
or category of the disability.
If a child needs any of these "related services" to benefit from his/her
education, they must be written into the IEP. Frequency and duration of services,
as well as relevant objectives, should be included. Related services as defined
by IDEA may include, but are not limited to the following.
Audiology
Counseling services
Early identification and assessment of disabilities in children
Medical services (for diagnostic or evaluation purposes only)
Occupational therapy
Parent counseling and training
Physical therapy
Psychological services
Recreation
Rehabilitation counseling
School health services
Social work services
Speech pathology
Transportation
The regulation does not limit related services to those specifically
mentioned above. If a child requires a particular service to benefit from special
education and that service is developmental, corrective or supportive, it is
also a "related" service and should be provided. It does not have
to be expressly listed in the regulation. Examples of these kinds of services
may include a full or part-time aide or assistive technology such as a computer.
Teacher/Staff requirements in the IEP
While the IEP goals and objectives should be child-centered, the document may
also contain information regarding teacher/staff training. If the IEP team decides
that additional training is required for a student's teacher, this information
must be included in the text of the IEP. For example, the team may decide it
will be beneficial for a teacher to take an autism course at a local university.
Or it may want the school support staff to attend a two-hour seminar on autism.
Personnel standards and teacher certification requirements are established by
each state. For more information on the state certification requirements in
your area, please contact the appropriate state education agency.
IEP goals, objectives and evaluation
An IEP should include goals and objectives specific to each child's unique needs.
Goals may be broad, such as "John will increase his verbal communication
and comprehension," or specific, such as "This student will learn
to interact more with her peers in non-academic settings such as recess and
lunch." Educational objectives are tailored to a child's individual needs
and based on the long-term goal. They describe the process by which the child
may reach the goal and how a child's progress will be monitored.
For example: GOAL: "Brendan will increase her verbal responses
to questions during the course of the year."
OBJECTIVE: "Brendan will increase her verbal responses by receiving speech
therapy from a licensed speech pathologist at least four times a week, in a
one-on-one situation, in the resource room. The sessions will last at least
30 minutes. Brendan will verbally answer questions with 85 percent accuracy,
after receiving both verbal and visual cues. The speech pathologist will send
weekly reports, based on record keeping, to Brendan's parents as well as her
homeroom teacher. This therapy shall begin September 1st and continue until
June 3rd, excluding pre-determined school holidays."
The above objective specifically states:
The service to be provided (speech therapy)
The professional who will be providing that service (a licensed speech pathologist)
The setting in which the service will be provided (resource room)
How often the service will be provided (four times a week)
The length of the service (30 minutes/session from September 1st through June
3rd)
The evaluation component of the objective addresses the question
"How will we know whether Brendan is making progress?" In this case,
the speech pathologist will determine whether Brendan is meeting the goal of
85 percent accuracy and send reports to her homeroom teacher and family each
week. Other evaluation methods include test-taking, videotaping, peer reports,
daily logs, checklists, computer printouts, and worksheets.
The above information is only one example of an objective to meet the goal of
increasing verbal responses. Goals can have more than one objective. Parents
may wish to review with school staff the curriculum and methods used for their
child's education. Use this information as a springboard for discussion among
IEP team members.
What if you and the school don't agree?
Within the law, there are specific procedural safeguards to protect your child's
rights. If you and the school disagree on the placement, educational program
or other areas surrounding your child's education, you may want to utilize one
or more of the following approaches:
Discussion or conference with school staff. Staff may include the teachers,
counselors or principal
An IEP review. You
may request an IEP review at any time.
Negotiation or mediation.
Mediation is a voluntary process as described in IDEA in which a neutral
third person (mediator) assists parties (parents
and the school) to work together to resolve their dispute.
All states must have a mediation process established
that meets the requirements of IDEA, including
maintaining a list of qualified mediators and
bearing the cost of the mediation process. Neither party may
be required to use mediation. The mediator cannot
force either party to accept a resolution to the dispute.
If a mutually satisfactory agreement is reached
on some or all of the issues, a written agreement is set forth.
Discussions that occur in mediation are confidential
and may not be used as evidence in subsequent
proceedings. Mediation must be available as a
dispute resolution option, but may not be used to deny or
delay the parental right to a due process hearing.
Due Process Hearing.
You may request a due process hearing if you do not agree with your child's
identification, evaluation, or educational placement.
This is a legal proceeding, and you should obtain
legal advice.
Complaint resolution
procedures. Any individual or organization may file a complaint alleging that
the local
educational agency has violated a requirement of IDEA.
The complaint must be written and signed; it must cite
the specific IDEA requirement that was violated and
the facts upon which the allegation is made. The state
educational agency must resolve the issues of the complaint
within 60 calendar days after it is filed.
Many parents seek out assistance from education advocates or
disability advocates. Each state has a federally funded "Parent Training
Information Center" (PTI) that provides information and assistance to parents
facing the educational process. See the following link for state-wide listings:
Parent Training Information Centers
After the IEP is completed
Once the IEP is completed, ongoing communication between school and parents
is essential to a child's success. The family and the school need to work together
for the child to receive maximum benefit. The IEP is a working document that
can change. It should represent a program flexible enough to respond to the
changing needs and skills of the person with autism. The IEP team can meet to
discuss changes or additions to a child's plan at any time. The child's parents
or school representatives may request a meeting when either party feels the
IEP needs to be adjusted to a child's current needs.
Support agencies
To help you better understand your child's rights under federal law, and more
effectively communicate with professionals regarding your child's education,
the federal government has established Parent Training Information Centers (PTIs).
PTIs are designed to teach parents basic advocacy techniques and encourage parents
to become full participants in their child's education. Sometimes administered
through other disability organizations such as Easter Seals or the ARC, these
organizations can help parents gain confidence in advocating for their children's
rights.
Every state also has a "Protection and Advocacy Agency". Originally
these agencies were set up to protect individuals with disabilities from abuse
and neglect; however, their scope is much broader now, and in many of the agencies,
their advocacy centers around helping families obtain a free, appropriate, public
education for their children. State Protection and Advocacy Agencies offer training,
case management, and legal counsel in many instances.
The "U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs"
(OSEP) can also be a resource of information on education rights. If you have
a question regarding IDEA and can't seem to get an answer in your state, you
may write OSEP for clarification of the law. Contact OSEP directly at the Office
of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue
SW, Mail Stop 2651, Washington, DC 20202, 202-205-5507.
