Teaching Some Lessons pt. 1

OK so I love the NBC show Parenthood. It is so honest about life. And I was watching this weeks episode (seriously go check it out but have tissues handy), when I was struck by the reality of how they displayed the IEP meeting....

SPOILER ALERT....

When the school staff was telling the mom and Kristina that they could not mainstream her daughter because she did not do well there last year and that aides were too distracting in a high school setting I wanted to SCREAM. And then when the staff acted like they were doing a huge favor by adding one more check-in with the teacher, and the mom and Kristina were like Uhhh... Hmmmm.... Ummmm... OK? I wanted to yell at them not to give up. And even more so when Adam and Kristina were meeting with Max's History teacher and the principal. The principal just shut down their complaints and said this is how it will be. UGH!!! I hated him for them in that moment.

SPOILERS OVER....

Also after my last blog post talking about all the lessons I learned from Bird Lake I got questions. Questions about how to keep all the records. What papers to keep, how to organize it all, how do you know what you want? How much is too much to give? How do you write the e-mail requesting a meeting? How do you write a follow up e-mail? How do you get the school or the district to work with you?

So to me this shows a need for some instruction. We are going to break this into a series of posts because I want to be able to provide some depth on each subject and I don't want to overwhelm anyone. Now, get your pens and paper there will be a quiz at the end. Seriously go get them you are going to want to take notes, I will wait. :-)

Are we all back now?

Good.

The first thing everyone with a child who has an IEP, wants an IEP, needs to know if they need an IEP, needs to do is go check out Wrightslaw. Seriously! Go bookmark that page in your browser now. It will become your greatest resource. You will keep going back to it over and over again. This is where you find out about the rights you have as a parent. It's also a great resource for all of y'all with 504 plans too. (Don't think I forgot about y'all.) Wright's Law will answer so many of the questions I have been asked, and would have made that IEP go better for everyone. If you don't like reading long articles on the computer, or prefer to read a book Wright's Law has several out that are helpful. I recommend getting them. They will help and you can take them to the meetings with you.

This tops the list because if you don't know your rights then the school/district can just yank you around and you won't even know. Seriously, they will. The schools spend so much time just assuming and hoping that you don't know your rights. If you want to beat them, then educate yourself on your rights.

Here's the deal though guys, there are so many aspects of Special Education that are not covered by federal law. So you also have to check your state's laws on Special Education. Generally you can find a handbook or something through your state's DoE (Department of Ed).

After checking out federal and state law to see how they apply to your situation find out whatever you can on your district's policies about the problem. Anything not covered by federal or state law is open to the district to manage. So make sure you read the copy of the policies and procedures that you are given at the team meeting. It has a lot of information hidden in it. Again they are hoping that you won't actually read it. So read it and be informed.

Next you have to get organized. If you are like me then you have no idea where to start and are completely overwhelmed with all the papers the school is sending home. You know you should keep them (they look important), but where? How?? Which ones??

I got a big water proof plastic box, and a large three ring binder. I put dividers in the binder. I broke the sections down like this:

• Communications - This was any written communication I have with the school. I keep it all. Even if it is just an email saying that the Cat was going to be out sick I keep it. I keep all the read responses I got too (more on those later).
• Daily reports - This is where I put all the daily reports I get about how the Cat's day was at school, disciplinary action reports, notes home about needing hat and gloves tomorrow. It all goes in here.
• IEP/504 - This is where the current and previous IEP/504 goes. I take it to every meeting I have because you never know when you will want to reference it. If you have a BIP or an FBA put it here. 
• Evaluations - The current and previous evaluations from the school go here, the current and previous private evaluations go here as well. I try to keep everyone on the same page so that the school and private therapists and I are all truly a team working to help the Cat so I have those evaluations with me to reference.
• Policies and Procedures -Remember how I said that the schools hope you don't read it? Well show them they are wrong. Read it, mark it up, take it with you to the meetings.

This binder will go to every meeting that you have. Become friends with it. Give it a name. Most important KEEP IT CURRENT!! This binder will be your documentation should you ever have to get a lawyer or an advocate. If you ever have to go over the head of the staff at your school, this binder will be your evidence. My binder helped me prove to the district how hard I had tried to make the situation at Bird Lake work for us. It helped me get the Cat out of there and into Owl Park.  My binder was my evidence when I went to the DLC about the improper use of seclusion and restraint on the Cat at Bird Lake. My binder is helping to make reforms in those policies at the state level. It will be your best friend, so get comfortable with it.

That's enough for now. I am sure your brains are full. Next topic will be about having a plan. Go get your binder and get organized.