IEP assistance needed

[lolly88]

hi everyone. my son is 10 in fifth grade. he had a 504 plan for two years and was granted an IEP in september. i am requesting a revision to the goals of the plan and would like some assistance in reviewing them and possibly an advocate in orlando who would go to the meeting with me. any suggestions?

[Onthemove1971]

Lolly88- what is it about the goals you don't like? Why do you feel you need an advocate?

[lolly88 in reply to Onthemove1971]

i was new to the process so i didn't fully understand when they proposed the goals to me. when discussing with a few friends, they suggested the goals are too vague and should be broken down further with more measurable goals. also, the school has been challenging to deal with and i think they would be more inclined to give me what i want if i had support at the table.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to lolly88]

When writing goals there is a reason to write them that way. If you are very specific and the child meets it you have to draft them again becuase the child has meet them, but without know more information I would not be able to help. I would suggest you speak to the person about why it was written that way before you jump to getting an advocate. Often when advocates are introduced the relationship with then Specialist changes. Please approach them and discuss the goals first.

Let me know if you need more specific help than that.

Best of luck

[lolly88 in reply to Onthemove1971]

thanks, i understand that perspective. my goal was to not waste more time waiting as his grades are not improving in math at all, in fact, they are worse than when we started the process and the teacher is not helpful.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to lolly88]

So the goal area is Math and he is getting help from a special teacher in Math? Now his grade is worse, I assume it is not because he is not doing the work. I also assume you have asked if he is pay attention in class becuase like my son who is not listening during lecture.. this can impact performance.

Is the specialist going into the classroom ( we call this push in) or is he being pulled out?

Also how did he score on the math assessment? In order to write a goal generally an assessment was done in this area.

I am hoping talking through this helps, if not then you might not need my assistance. Let me know, no hard feelings but looking at all angles can sometimes help.

[dubstepMaul]

Here's my two cents. When I would go to IEP meetings for my son, I always felt stressed b/c I was not always heard, and they would push back on my requests and suggestions. Finally I hired an advocate to attend the meetings with me, what a difference it made! Now they listen. Now they take me seriously. And my advocate was able to really assist by suggesting things I had not even thought of. I only wish I had hired her sooner.

[reg2018]

Here in Utah there is a parenting center that I called and asked for advice before I had to go into my son's IEP meeting. My suggestion would be to check in your area to see if there are any parenting centers that also do the same thing. When writing a specific and measurable goal for something like math you write it with specific kinds of tasks, the percentage of accuracy that you want the child to achieve, and how it will be measured.

The following goal is taken from an 8th grade IEP:

Given grade level math problems the student will use patterns, functions, and algebraic operations to solve problems with 80% accuracy 3 consecutive times as measured weekly by grade level math assessments.

What kinds of goals you write depends on what your child is struggling with.

Hope that helps.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to reg2018]

It is great you posted a real type goal. Also often included in a goal are things like "given direct instructions" or if needed manipulation tools.. ( blocks, squares..)

[Gglearner]

If you have an advocate with your 504 plan they can help you with the IEP. Your child's counselor are your insurance company sometimes has advocateto help. Child's Dr are psychologist can refer you . Hope you find resources.