Week 10: IEP Basics
Video:
What is an IEP? This short video by the National Center for Learning Disabilies gives an overview.
Know Your Rights! This 90 minute webinar by the Dyslexia Training Institute goes into depth about the IEP process and parents rights.
Shaping the Ultimate IEP. This Dyslexia Training Institute webinar gives excellent examples of the specific IEP goals that every dyslexic student should have in their IEP.
Books:
From Emotions to Advocacy
This book by Peter Wright,a lawyer who has won major dyslexia cases at the Supreme Court, explains IEP law and how to strategically advocate for your child. It is considered THE book every parent should read.
by Kelli Sandman-Hurley
This book by Kelli Sandman-Hurley, who is an educational advocate, tutor, and co-founder of the Dyslexia Training Institute, give advice about navigating the IEP process specifically for students with dyslexia.
Weekly Assignment:
Watch "Know Your Rights" and "Dyslexia: Shaping the Ultimate IEP" videos in the left column.
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Create an IEP evaluation request letter and deliver it in person to your school's principal or special education director.
Prepare your own list of SMART goals to propose at your child's next IEP meeting.
More to Explore:
This flowchart visually guides you through the steps of requesting and developing an IEP.
"Communicating with Your Child's School Through Letter Writing'. This article gives a good overview of the IEP process and has 13 sample letters for requesting the following: initial IEP evaluation, IEE (indepenent educational evaluation), student records, IEP meeting,"prior written notice", mediation, due process, state complaint, and more.
This is the IDEA Parent Guide mentioned in the short video. It was created by the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
Refer to the slides from Shaping the Ultimate IEP for example SMART goals for reading.
The Wrightslaw website has a wealth of information about IEP law. Their free email newsletter is well worth subscribing to.
"My Child with a 504 Plan is Failing, School Won't Help: Your Eligibility Game Plan" is an article on the Wrightslaw website.
This article describes how one parent succeeded in getting an IEP for her dyslexic children despite initially being denied. She used outside evaluations and charted the lack progress to prove the need to the IEP team.
This article describes Response to Evalulation (RTI) and how to get the IEP evaluation process started.
This article describes problems with the way Response to Intervention (RTI) is implemented in most schools
If your school tries to delay your request for an IEP evaluation, give them this memorandum from the US Department of Education.
If your school is reluctant to use the term "Dyslexia" in an IEP, this guidance letter from the US Department of Education may help.
Every State has at least one Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) to offer families information about disability, school services, local polices, and more. Many States also have a Community Parent Resource Center (CPRC), which offers the same type of support and training to parents of children with disabilities.