After your child has been identified as being eligible for special education services, you will soon realize that your child may either need more or less services or a change in instruction over time. As your child ages, you may notice changes at home in their academic, language, behavior, or medical development.
Addressing Changes of Individualized Education Plan
When this happens, it is important to know who all the members are on your child's IEP team or Individualized Education Plan team as well as how to contact those individuals. It's also important to know how to address your concerns and observations so that changes can be made. If you have any written notes or observations that you have made at home regarding your child's academic, behavioral, language, medical progress or have written documentation from your child's physician or therapists (i.e. occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech-language pathologist, etc.), share that information with your child's Individualized Education Plan case coordinator either by phone, email, or in person. In addition to sharing this information and concerns regarding your child's progress or lack of with your child's Individualized Education Plan case coordinator, you may need to request a meeting to share your concerns with your child's entire IEP team.
It can be a daunting responsibility to make sure that your child receives the instruction or services that he or she needs. Your child counts on you to be their advocate, to speak up for their needs when they can not. You may be wondering at this point, what should I do next? To find more ideas and tips on what to do next in regards to addressing your concerns of your child's Individualized Education Plan progress, please read the article, "What's the Next Step?: Advocating Parental Concerns of A Child with Special Needs"
