We Interrupt This Life For IEP Season

Wow! I really feel like it has been forever since I’ve been here! But, if you happen to be a special needs mom at all, you know how it goes……mid July until about mid-September, you’re lucky to take a shower some days! I have literally been in IEP meetings from 9-5 some days. What if I had to leave the home to work? Sometimes I wonder what happens to those kids that have parents who can’t make it. Do they simply get lost, jilted by a system that will never lobby for them in the fierce way a mama will? I hope not. Special kids need special things and special people willing to jump up and fight for them!

For those who are not familiar- an IEP is an ‘Individualized Education Plan’ based on a child’s individual strengths and weaknesses. It is a legally binding document drawn up at a giant meeting consisting of any or all of the following: Principal, Assistant Principal, Special Education Teacher, Assigned Classroom Teacher, Behavioral Specialist, School Psychologist, School Counselor, Child Advocate, Community Caseworker(s), Private Psychiatrist, Private Therapist, Occupational, Physical or Speech Therapist, and Parents. If you happen to be “that mom”, like myself, you may also insist on bringing the Superintendent in. The meetings usually last 1-2 hours depending on where you are in the stage. Is this your first ever IEP meeting? Drink first and bring a cushion to sit on, because you’re there for the long haul. If you’ve done this before and can walk in with a list of what you want for your kid, it depends on how much fight you have in you and how long it takes you to break the staff. Bring out the supermom in you, just don’t wear a cape. And, no, they do not offer refreshments, so bring enough to share, lol!

In the end, you should have a list of measurable goals for your child to work through throughout the school year. You should also get a progress report on those goals each quarter with the report card. If it isn’t there, get it fast. Make sure they know you’re watching.

All this stuff takes a long time and a lot of meetings, hence, IEP season! Dr. Seuss says it better than I can (although I am fairly certain that he did not write this, but whoever did hit the nail on the head).

“I do not like these IEPs.

I do not like them, Jeeze Louise!

We test, we check, we plan, we meet,

But nothing ever seems complete.

Would you, could you like the form?

I do not like the form I see, not page 1, not 2 not 3.

Another change, a brand new box, I think we all

Have lost our rocks.

Could we all meet here or there?

We cannot all fit anywhere. Not in a room, not in a hall,

There seems to be no space at all.

Could you, would you meet again?

I cannot meet again next week. No Lunch, no prop,

Please hear me speak. No, not at dusk. No, not at dawn.

At 4 P.M., I should be gone. Could your hear while all speak out?

Would you write the words they spout? I could not hear, I could not write.

This does not need to be a fight.  Sign here, date there,

Mark this, check that.  Beware the students ad-vo-cat(e).

You do not like them, so you say.  Try again! Try again!

And you may.

If you will let me be, I will try again, you’ll see.

Say! I almost like these IEPs!

I think I’ll write 6,003

And I will practice day and night, until they say,

You’ve got it right.”