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Things to Know About the IEP

Is this the first school year that your child will be officially a part of a Special Education program? There are a lot of things that parents need to learn. One important thing to become familiar with is the IEP. It is a plan that guides what will happen with your child when he or she is at school. IEP stands for Individualized Education Program. It is a written plan that is designed to meet the specific special educational needs that your child has. All students who are part of a Special Education program are supposed to have an IEP. … Continue reading →

Special Needs Blog Week in Review – Week of February 19 – 25, 2012

Did you miss something on the Special Needs Blog this week? One way to easily find the blogs that you missed out on, but meant to read, is to check out the Special Needs Blog Week in Review. You can find everything that hit the blog in the past week. Just click on the link the whatever blogs catch your attention. The Special Needs Podcast Roundup went up on February 20, 2012. This week, I’d like to point out the Hope Saves the Day podcast. They discuss a brand new book that is designed to help parents to raise children … Continue reading →

What Keeps Parents Out of the IEP Process?

IEP stands for “Individualized Education Plan”. It is designed to clearly describe the goals that a child who has special needs will be helped to achieve in a given school year. That team is supposed to include the child’s parents and teachers. However, there are certain things that keep parents out of the decision making process. Most schools do not intentionally make an effort to keep parents out of an IEP meeting. The majority of parents do their best to make sure that they are involved in the decisions that are made regarding the education of their children. Despite this, … Continue reading →

What Happened at Kyle’s IEP Meeting

Having a son with autism who is now a teenager means that, for me, IEP meetings are taken in stride. I drove up to the junior high school, parked, entered the building, and immediately saw Kyle waiting in the hallway by the office. A wide grin spread across his face when he saw me, and he began to stoop over and clap to himself. “Hello, Kyle!” I said, hugging him exuberantly. Then we went into the principal’s office, where Kyle’s special education teacher, principal, speech and language pathologist, and art teacher were waiting. (I have started to notice, interestingly enough, … Continue reading →

How to Prepare for Your Child’s IEP Meeting

Every child eligible for special education will have periodic Individualized Education Program meetings. (See my blog, “What in the World is an IEP?”) When it’s time for your child’s IEP meeting, you may have a lot of concerns. What questions should I ask? How will I know if the goals being presented are right for my child? When should I agree, and when should I disagree? As a parent, what role do I play at the meeting? Here are a few tips to help you prepare. 1. Spend some time prior to the meeting thinking about any issues that concern … Continue reading →

The ABCs of ASDs

Has your child recently been diagnosed as having autism? Parents can find the jargon and abbreviations that are used by teachers and staff in a Special Education program to be confusing and overwhelming. Here is a quick list of definitions that make everything much clearer. Think of it as the ABCs of autism in a school environment. ABA: Applied Behavior Analysis It is a scientifically validated approach to understanding behavior and how it is affected by environment. This therapy can help children who have autism to pick up on the social cues that their peers, who do not have autism, … Continue reading →

School Vouchers, Medications, and Special Education

This week, the Special Needs Blog focused on topics such as the school voucher program in Ohio, information about the IEP, problems with bussing, and lots of news about medications. This Week In Review is quite the variety pack! Here is a quick review of the blogs that appeared here between August 28, 2012, and September 1, 2012. An Update on Ohio’s School Vouchers Ohio has a school voucher that is called The Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship. It can be used by any student, who has any type of special need, and who is a public school, private school, … Continue reading →

The Pros and Cons of Special Ed Vouchers

Ohio has expanded its school voucher program to include all special education students. This means that parents of kids who have special needs, of any kind, can get financial support to put their child into a private school. The public schools may face financial difficulties as a result of the voucher system. According to Dictionary.com, a school voucher is “a government cash grant or tax credit for parents, equal to all or part of the cost of educating their child at an elementary or secondary school of their choice”. It may also be called an “educational voucher” or a “scholarship”. … Continue reading →

The ABC’s of Special Education

The beginning of a new school year brings an alphabet of abbreviations for parents of children who have special needs. If this is the very first school year that your child has been connected with a special education program, things can get a little confusing. Here is a quick list to help you understand what all the abbreviations mean. Special education teachers, and the paraeducators that work with them, tend to shorten many of the terms that are used in “Special Ed”. This is because they use them so often, that it it becomes easier to put these terms into … Continue reading →

Interview with Danyelle Ferguson – A Mother’s Advocacy

Today we conclude our three-part interview series with Danyelle Ferguson, author of (dis)Abilities and the Gospel, a fantastic resource book for parents and teachers of children with a variety of cognitive disabilities. Danyelle, we’ve spoken about your son’s initial diagnosis of autism, and we’ve also talked about resources that helped you understand the condition and learn how to find the most joy in your mothering. What would you like to tell mothers who have recently learned that their child had autism or another form of cognitive disability? Every mother needs to know that she is her child’s best advocate. Attend … Continue reading →