Understanding the IEP Process and Related Information: 

Topic: Understanding the IEP Process: A Literacy Guide for Parents, Guardians and Educators of Children With Special Needs

Purpose: To give parents, guardians and teachers of children with special needs a guide to better understand their child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) process. 

Outcome: This literacy guide will help you to navigate and make sense of each portion of your child’s IEP, who’s involved and the laws surrounding the creation of one. 

Method: You are your child's biggest advocate; you need to be educated, informed and aware of their disability, their needs and what they are legally eligible for. Anyone with children can relate to the following website and the advice it has to offer but especially, a parent with a child with special needs. 

* Website: https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/working-with-childs-teacher/10-ways-to-be-an-effective-advocate-for-your-child#slide-10

The Law: Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. Below is a link to the entire Law in PDF format. 

* Website: http://www.parentcenterhub.org/wp-content/uploads/repo_items/PL108-446.pdf

Steps of an IEP: 

Step 1. Child is identified as possibly needing special education and related services.

Step 2. Child is evaluated.

Step 3. Eligibility is decided.

Step 4. Child is found eligible for services.

Step 5. IEP meeting is scheduled.

Step 6. IEP meeting is held and the IEP is written.

Step 7. After the IEP is written, services are provided.

Step 8. Progress is measured and reported to parents.

Step 9. IEP is reviewed.

Step 10. Child is reevaluated.

Below is a more in depth explanation to each of the above steps

* Website: http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/steps/

What to expect during an IEP Team Meeting:

It is important to know what an IEP meeting is all about before showing up; know the steps, participants, your rights and what the outcome should be. Below is a website that outlines the parts of an IEP team meeting.  

* Website: http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/publicschoolprograms/a/iepteameetings.htm

Follow Up: It's important to follow through; once the IEP document is put into place you should follow through, make sure school staff is following the important document and be aware of progress or regression (modifying the IEP is always an option). Below is a link to a website that explains the fact that an IEP document can be changed at any time. 

* Website: http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/ltrs/iep_revise.htm

Support: Just as important as writing a successful IEP,  is a parent or guardian  feeling supported. There are local support groups for parents and guardians of children with special needs but you can also find them online. It may be easier for you to find someone to "chat" with through the Internet. Below is a link for one such group. You can also find groups via social media websites such as Facebook. 

* Website: http://www.abilitypath.org

The hope is that this literacy guide strengthens advocacy, relationships and understanding of a child, their disability and the IEP process.

Resources:

AbilityPath: Support for parents of children with special needs. (2014, January 1). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://www.abilitypath.org

Center for Parent Information and Resources. (2014, May 1). Retrieved April 13, 2015, from http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/idea/

Coleman Tucker, G. (2013, December 31). 10 Ways to Be an Effective Advocate for Your Child. Retrieved April 15, 2015, from https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/working-with-childs-teacher/10-ways-to-be-an-effective-advocate-for-your-child#slide-10

FAQs - How Can I Get My Child's IEP Changed?: Wrightslaw. (2015, January 1). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/ltrs/iep_revise.htm

Logsdon, A. (2015, January 1). How to Prepare for an IEP Team Meeting. Retrieved April 13, 2015, from http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/publicschoolprograms/a/iepteameetings.htm

Ten Basic Steps in Special Education. (2014, April 1). Retrieved April 14, 2015, from http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/steps/

Justification for my literacy guide...

Literacy Guide Justification

     At heart, I am a Special Education Teacher and I know how exhausting and confusing an IEP process can be for all parties involved. I decided to create a literacy guide for parents, guardians and teachers to follow. It supplied the law (IDEA 2004) to be read over, the ten most important steps in the IEP process, linked them to a website that explained the IEP meeting, gave them follow up information (what to do if the IEP should be modified) and a resource to find online support groups. These are the basic parts of the IEP process and what I feel, are the most important. 

   I used websites as my digital tool; they are fast and easy to use. The websites were all easy to understand, navigate and read. I believe everyone has access to a computer and the Internet (either at home, work, a friend or library) and should be able to quickly link to these websites to gain a better understanding of this topic. 

   In terms of participatory culture, I think adding the website: www.abilitypath.org was helpful because it brings people with a similar topic (child with special needs) together. Everyone who accesses this web page and participates in it's blogs has a child with special needs and needs advice. If it weren't for Network Neutrality I wouldn't have been able to write my literacy guide in the way I did. Without being able to access the Internet quickly and without any censoring I wouldn't have been able to use websites as my digital tool. When I think back to our advertisement deconstruction assignment it made me look over each one of my websites and how their appearance may effect my population. Each website was aesthetically pleasing; soft colors, inviting images and outlined in an organized and easy to read manner. I was greatly pleased with the "look" of each of my websites and feel like they will help parents to not feel overwhelmed. When looking over week 10 I think about how easy my guide would make it to email information to fellow teachers, parents and guardians. The Internet makes this world much easier to navigate. Being able to find several links (like the ones I have posted), put them into an email, and then send them to several people at once is something that we may just take for granted! Having access to email is a true treasure and we can use it to our advantage! 

    My hope is that my literacy guide would bring parents, guardians and educators some guidance in an easy to follow and understand way. The basics are broken down and made accessible. My guide relates to several modules in our class; participatory culture, Network Neutrality, Advertisement Deconstruction and Email. Would love for a parent who is struggling to understand the IEP process to utilize my guide and give me feedback on it; does it help or confuse you further?