Be Aware Of The IEP Parent Rights To Protect Your Child

By Beryl Dalton


Normally, the disabled children and those with any special needs have the right to get the individualized educational programs (IEP) services. These services and rights to access the same in public schools and private schools are not similar. However, the services are accessible for free in public schools. This is only possible after the kid in assessed and the said services are approved by the professional team in charge. The parents have a big role to play in ensuring that their child gets to enjoy the special attention that they deserve. In order to help them play their role effectively, the IEP parent rights are usually available to the concerned parents to guide them through.

Any child with some difficulty in normal learning or functionality should access the individualized education program. However, the child needs to be accessed before the recommendation of what is actually needed is made. Normally, most of them may only need extra attention from the teacher in a normal class. There are many reasons that call for the extra attention. The common ones include the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the speech, vision, or hearing impairment, any developmental delay, cognitive challenges, and emotional disorders.

The teacher can ordinarily handle the student and offer the attention needed in a normal class environment when the condition is not severe. However, the child's condition may be severe and specialized attention required. This call for a referral that may see the student attended to in a specialized resource room in the school or have him/her relocated to a specialized school altogether.

However, before the child can access the IEP services, the teacher, and the parents start by seeking the help of the doctor if they are convinced that the student has trouble in the normal class and needs referral. The school counselor or the psychologist gathers data about the student from the teacher, parents, and the student through interviews and observations.

In the whole process, the parents act as the advocate for their child. They have a say on who to be included on the referral team to examine the kid and what kind of tests to be performed. However, the input from the teachers is also necessary and as such, they are also part of this team. In addition to parents and teachers, the other members should be the psychologists, the physical and occupational therapists, the other specialists depending on the specific needs of the child.

The team together with parents and educators meets to develop an IEP program. The student's needs are discussed, after which short term and long term goals that are specific and measurable for each of the needs are designed. In this process, the parents must not forget that they have rights that are targeted at ensuring that the child gets the required services as first as possible.

However, in order to ensure that the kid access the appropriate services and get the required treatment in the whole process, the parent needs to the well versed with the parental rights that are available in the safeguard document accessible during the process.

The legal services may be available for free or sometimes at a low cost and the parents should always liaise with the district attorney or other advocates that are experienced with the IEP services. When the parent is well versed with the right, he/she will be in a position to be in charge of the whole process and seek legal redress at any stage when he/she is not in agreement.




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