If your child qualifies for special education, the next step is to work with the school to create a specific education plan.
- This is called an IEP, or Individualized Education Program.
- The IEP is written for each child and includes their goals and the services to help them reach these goals.
The IEP Team:
- The school will bring together a group of teachers and specialists who will be involved in your child's education and support services.
- This group, along with you--the parents or guardians--will make up the IEP Team.
- Your child should be part of this team if they are able to and old enough, at least by age 16.
Preparing for the IEP Meeting:
- You will think about your child's needs and your concerns.
- Then you'll and come up with a vision of how you see them succeeding over the next few years. This will be part of the IEP.
- The school will use this information to draft an IEP for your child.
- Then you'll have the first IEP meeting to go over the draft and talk about it.
- The whole team will create the IEP together and you have a right to make sure it includes what you want.
We'll go over all of this in rest of this section!