How
to be an Effective Advocate
How
to Do a Functional Behavior Assessment
How
to Conduct an IEP Conference
How
to Proceed if You Disagree
How to Prepare for
an IEP Conference
How
to Determine Least Restrictive Environment
How
to Be an Effective Advocate
- Gather information about the
service/placement you are advocating for.
- Learn your rights.
- Be prepared with information,
law, and court cases that support your position.
- Be assertive, not
antagonistic.
- Be a good listener. Always let
the other person finish speaking before you speak.
- Don't assume anything. Ask
questions if you don't understand something.
- Don't be controlled by the
clock. Never make decisions you haven't had time to consider.
- Cooperate. You may not agree
with a placement or program, but look at it so you can make an informed
decision.
- Separate the people from the
problem. Don't allow personal feelings to cloud issues.
- Stick with the issue. Don't
get sidetracked.
Tips:
- Try to be proactive, rather
than negative.
- Try to remain open to solutions you may not have considered.
How
to Do a Functional Behavior Assessment for a Behavior Intervention
- Choose a specific behavior to
assess.
- List where the behavior occur.
- List the activities going on
while the behavior occur.
- Decide if the behavior occurs
at a certain time of the day.
- List the people around who the behavior tends to occur.
- List the factors that appear
to set off or precede the behavior. (teacher. peer or setting factors)
- List the factors that appear
to be present when the behavior occurs.
- List the factors that appear
to follow the behavior.
- Define the intent or the
function that the behavior appeared to serve. Was it power control,
escape/avoidance, attention, or other?
- Formulate a hypothesis based
on the conditions in which the behavior occurs and the function that the
behavior appears to serve.
- Develop a behavior intervention plan
Tips:
- List the steps that might be
taken to prevent the specific behavior from occurring.
- Try to find a replacement
behavior to replace the inappropriate behavior.
- Don't forget to implement re-enforcers!
How
to Conduct an IEP Conference
- Have everyone at the meeting
introduce themselves and clarify their positions.
- Advise parents of procedural
safeguards.
- Review results of successful
interventions.
- Review evaluation data.
- Review previous IEP (if
applicable).
- Have parent(s) describe the
home setting and any special equipment the child uses.
- Determine the area(s) of the
child's needs.
- Develop goals and short-term
educational objectives.
- Determine services needed to
implement each goal and related objectives.
- Determine who will monitor
progress.
- Determine how often progress
will be measured.
- Determine how progress will be
measured.
- Determine the least
restrictive environment where services will be provided.
- Address transition issues (if
applicable).
- Sign the IEP if all present
agree.
Tips:
- Keep issues focused on the
child and the educational process.
- Don't hesitate to schedule
another IEP conference if one seems to be at a standstill. People can
produce more effective results if they're not tired and frustrated.
- A little humor never hurts to relieve tense situations.
How
to Proceed if You Don't Agree with the School
- Discuss the issue with your
child's teacher, principal, superintendent and special education
coordinator.
- Try to resolve the issue at
this level.
- Contact your state department
of Special Education for answers to your questions regarding the issue.
- File an appeal with your
state's Division of Special Education if the issue still can't be
resolved.
- Go through the mediation
process with the district and the Division of Special Education.
- Appeal to the State or
District Court if a solution still cannot be reached.
- File an OCR (Office of Civil
Rights) complaint if you feel your child is being discriminated against
because of his/her disability.
Tips:
- Try to resolve issues at the
district level if at all possible.
- Keep an open mind and try to
be open to reasonable solutions.
- Don't let the issue become a personal vendetta. Stay focused on educational outcomes.
How
to Prepare for an IEP Conference
- Ask for an IEP review
- Gather and organize records of
your child's progress.
- List the information you want
to share.
- Look over last year's IEP.
- Note areas in the IEP that you
might have questions about to discuss at the meeting.
- Notify the school if you want
specific people at the IEP conference.
- Check your child's file at
school if you feel there is information you need to be aware of in it.
- Include your child in the IEP
conference if appropriate.
- Notify the school if you will
be bringing someone other than your spouse to the meeting with you.
- Take a friend, relative,
another parent, or an advocate with you if it will make you feel more
comfortable.
- Take paper and pencil to jot
down notes.
- Be prepared to speak, as well
as listen to the information you will hear.
Tips:
- What you know about
your child is important to share with members of the IEP team.
- Keep personal stories
at a minimum and use them only if they pertain to an educational goal.
- Start each meeting with the attitude that it will go well. Going in with a negative attitude may affect your perception about what is being said.
- Be aware of the child's
present level of performance.
- List the student's strengths.
- List the student's weaknesses.
- Decide what the child should
learn or be able to do.
- Consider the long-term effects
of the goal you have chosen. Is it something the child needs to learn to
progress toward your vision of their future? Does it meet the educational or
social standard?
- Determine what the child can
reasonably accomplish in one school year.
- Determine the need for
specialized instruction to accomplish the goal.
- Decide who will provide the
specialized instruction.
- Determine where the
instruction will be provided.
- Write the goal so it is easily
understandable to all the IEP meeting participants.
Tips:
- Remember to write goals
that the child will be able to accomplish. You can always re-visit the IEP
and add to goals that have been mastered.
- Consider the whole
picture when developing goals. Try to write goals that have relevance to the
child and their unique needs.
- Avoid jargon.
- Determine the
intermediate steps necessary to reach the IEP goal.
- Break them down into
manageable steps for the student.
- Decide what
modifications may be needed to accomplish the objective.
- Develop the objective,
keeping in mind that it needs to be able to be evaluated. Decide how many
times it needs to be done before it can be considered mastered.
- Decide how the
evaluation will be demonstrated; charts, work accomplished, test scores,
observation.
- Determine who will be
responsible for evaluating the progress.
- Decide how often the
objective will be evaluated.
- Decide where the child
will be expected to accomplish the objective. Will it be in one environment
or multiple environments?
- Make the objective
understandable to all the IEP meeting participants.
- Write the objectives on
the IEP form.
Tips:
- Remember to write
objectives that the child will be able to accomplish. You can always
re-visit the IEP and add to objectives that have been mastered.
- If the objective needs
to be mastered at home and in the community, as well as school, it needs to
documented in the IEP.
- Remember the IEP needs to be re-visited at least annually.
- Decide on the lesson plan you
want to write.
- Choose a format to use to
present it.
- Choose a target group/age that
your lesson plan applies to.
- Choose a learning objective or
subject.
- List the materials and
equipment needed.
- List the steps involved.
- Designate an approximate
amount of time for each step of the lesson.
- Attach copies of any handouts
or worksheets.
Tips:
- Make your lesson plans fun!
- Try to keep your lesson plan to one page, if possible.
How
to Determine Least Restrictive Environment
- In what areas is the
child successful? Do not remove children from the regular education
environment if they are experiencing success there.
- Determine which areas
the child is experiencing difficulties in.
- Try
modifications/accommodations in the areas where the child is experiencing
difficulties.
- Discuss which
supplementary aids, services, and modifications may be needed to insure
success for the child.
- If education cannot be
provided in the regular classroom, discuss various settings to provide the
services necessary.
- Determine who will
provide the service.
- Determine where the
service will be provided.
- Decide how much time is
necessary for the child to interact with his/her nondisabled peers.
- Create opportunities
for the child to interact with nondisabled peers if he/she is not able to
participate in the regular classroom.
- Consider which environment will provide the least restrictive environment to insure success for the child.
Tips:
- Remember that the
regular classroom is not always the least restrictive environment for some
children. The size of a regular classroom may make it a more restrictive
environment for some children.
- The label a child has
doesn't automatically determine where the child will receive services. It
should be an individual determination.
- Environments for younger children (under 5) may include a number of settings, and the home environment may prove to be the least restrictive, natural and appropriate setting.
- Decide what subject you
are modifying.
- Decide what skills the
student is expected to have after instruction.
- Examine your method of
teaching. Is it the best method to reach a particular student?
- Examine what you expect
from the student. Will you expect the same level of participation from
students with disabilities?
- Think about the
modifications that might already be in place. Can you add to them, or modify
them further?
- Decide what skills the
student already might have that you can build on.
- Develop a systematic
approach to teach the student new skills.
- Decide how you will
ensure the child is successful. What modifications, accommodations, supports
and specialized instruction will be needed?
- Work with others to
provide the appropriate supports needed.
Tips:
- Make decisions based on group
consensus.
- Keep an open mind and try to
be open to reasonable solutions from other professionals.
- Keep communication lines open.