IEP on Friday. Advice?

[karmasabiotch]

My DS is finishing up Kindergarten. Been on meds for about 1 month. They are helping.

J's dx is ADHD, ODD, and SPD.

Do I have to sign the plan if I don't agree with the recommendations? Any other suggestions?

TIA.

.

[marissa]

I never sign at the meeting. In NJ we have 15 days to agree or we can file due process. I typically write a list of what I want and go,from there.

[craftyone]

Do you expect the goals not you meet yours? You can try to work with them at the meeting to try to agree. If not you can object to any or all goals. If you do you will go into mediation etc.

I will be doing that myself here soon since I'm in the process of objecting to all of my son's IEP and placed him in a private school for at least the next year. :/

[hopecounts]

We never sign the IEP the day of, we always 'sleep on it'.
So far our team has been on the same page we are so it's been more to set the habit then out of need.
Have some familiarity with what you are asking for and a school related reason for it as much as possible.
Ask for everything you want but be prepared for them to counter so know what you're minimum acceptable IEP is and shoot for somewhere in between the two.

[twinsinmd]

Is it an initial IEP? I like wrights laws website for some explanations: www.wrightslaw.com/blog/?p=3924

In MD, we don't need a parents signature other than to test and start an initial IEP, otherwise we can implement without.

[auntie]

The point of the IEP meeting is to actually create the IEP not to deliver you a finsihed product. 

If you have concerns, goal suggestions you could contact them ahead of time and share- or you can on Friday. 

Do you anticipate a problem? How do they classify him on his IEP? ADHD is usually under "OHI" but some schools do use "Emotional?Behavioral Disorder". ODD would come under the latter as well. Our school district doesn't do much with SPD outside of ASD classrooms. 

You don't have to sign it if there are parts you don't agree with. In the early days, I always ran DSs IEPs past his psychologist.

[karmasabiotch]

Jun 1, 2014 11:47:11 GMT -5 auntie said:

The point of the IEP meeting is to actually create the IEP not to deliver you a finsihed product. 

If you have concerns, goal suggestions you could contact them ahead of time and share- or you can on Friday. 

Do you anticipate a problem? How do they classify him on his IEP? ADHD is usually under "OHI" but some schools do use "Emotional?Behavioral Disorder". ODD would come under the latter as well. Our school district doesn't do much with SPD outside of ASD classrooms. 

You don't have to sign it if there are parts you don't agree with. In the early days, I always ran DSs IEPs past his psychologist.

That's a good idea. I've gone into these as a professional before but clearly this one is personal. The school discouraged me from even asking for an IEP and suggested a 509 but that doesn't seem as set in stone to me. I have witnessed schools bullying parents and minimizing the severity if the issues so I'm nervous.

I know I want something about impulse control issues and transitional times and the ability to stand up to do his work or eat so he doesn't get in trouble for being fidgety. He's doing great on meds but its only been 1 month and I know those can stop working and you have to start over. I also want him to be allowed to hold a fidget item if needed. He tested high in the IQ ranges soI think I need to focus on the otherwise health impaired angle.

Planning to not sign it and run it by his psych and my H who isn't going will help me not feel so pressured.

[auntie]

Jun 5, 2014 18:41:09 GMT -5 karmasabiotch said:

Jun 1, 2014 11:47:11 GMT -5 auntie said:

The point of the IEP meeting is to actually create the IEP not to deliver you a finsihed product. 

If you have concerns, goal suggestions you could contact them ahead of time and share- or you can on Friday. 

Do you anticipate a problem? How do they classify him on his IEP? ADHD is usually under "OHI" but some schools do use "Emotional?Behavioral Disorder". ODD would come under the latter as well. Our school district doesn't do much with SPD outside of ASD classrooms. 

You don't have to sign it if there are parts you don't agree with. In the early days, I always ran DSs IEPs past his psychologist.

That's a good idea. I've gone into these as a professional before but clearly this one is personal. The school discouraged me from even asking for an IEP and suggested a 509 but that doesn't seem as set in stone to me. I have witnessed schools bullying parents and minimizing the severity if the issues so I'm nervous.

I know I want something about impulse control issues and transitional times and the ability to stand up to do his work or eat so he doesn't get in trouble for being fidgety. He's doing great on meds but its only been 1 month and I know those can stop working and you have to start over. I also want him to be allowed to hold a fidget item if needed. He tested high in the IQ ranges soI think I need to focus on the otherwise health impaired angle.

Planning to not sign it and run it by his psych and my H who isn't going will help me not feel so pressured.

Section 504s have no teeth. They're sort of like a wish list. You can always point out that his IEP captures his adavnced test scores against the SPED subset in NCLB testing which is very useful to the school.


My kid's pretty bright and well behaved now, but he was a noogie little kid. A lot of blurting and out of seat behavior here. Some things that can help are a "Sit'n'Fit Cushion" or even sitting on a yoga ball. Resistance bands strung between the legs of his desk or chair can give him something to push against to burn off energy without disturbing others or calling attention to himself.

Good luck tomorrow. And remember. It's a living document. If you don't get it right the first time or his needs change, you reopen and tweak until it's working. You got this.

[karmasabiotch]

Jun 5, 2014 19:56:27 GMT -5 auntie said:

Jun 5, 2014 18:41:09 GMT -5 karmasabiotch said:

That's a good idea. I've gone into these as a professional before but clearly this one is personal. The school discouraged me from even asking for an IEP and suggested a 509 but that doesn't seem as set in stone to me. I have witnessed schools bullying parents and minimizing the severity if the issues so I'm nervous.

I know I want something about impulse control issues and transitional times and the ability to stand up to do his work or eat so he doesn't get in trouble for being fidgety. He's doing great on meds but its only been 1 month and I know those can stop working and you have to start over. I also want him to be allowed to hold a fidget item if needed. He tested high in the IQ ranges soI think I need to focus on the otherwise health impaired angle.

Planning to not sign it and run it by his psych and my H who isn't going will help me not feel so pressured.

Section 504s have no teeth. They're sort of like a wish list. You can always point out that his IEP captures his adavnced test scores against the SPED subset in NCLB testing which is very useful to the school.


My kid's pretty bright and well behaved now, but he was a noogie little kid. A lot of blurting and out of seat behavior here. Some things that can help are a "Sit'n'Fit Cushion" or even sitting on a yoga ball. Resistance bands strung between the legs of his desk or chair can give him something to push against to burn off energy without disturbing others or calling attention to himself.

Good luck tomorrow. And remember. It's a living document. If you don't get it right the first time or his needs change, you reopen and tweak until it's working. You got this.

Thank you!