Let’s Communicate: How Regular Communication Leads To Collaboration
Communication is a necessary component to all relationships. Without it, everything crumbles… I want to share a couple of stories that really highlight how a lack of communication can stall all teamwork and forward progress in the IEP process.
The first story is directly from a really good friend. She went into her son’s IEP meeting and found out that the school wanted to change his placement. Not just add services, but wanted to place him in a program that was arguably one of the most restrictive settings within the district. She had no idea this was coming. She was shocked and unable to process anything that was said after that. THEN… in her shocked state, they asked her to sign the IEP right then and there.
The second story is from another teacher. She was trying to communicate regularly with a family about the progress of their child, but received minimal responses back. She prepped for the IEP as best she could (without parent input) and walked in on the day of the meeting. The parents came in with a list of things they wanted changed and how their child would be better served with different accommodations. All of what they said was entirely valid, but the teacher was totally blindsided. She had been asking for input like this for months and received nothing.
Both of these situations show a severe breakdown in communication. That breakdown led to a stressful and ineffective meeting.
Everyone at the IEP table (and I mean EVERYONE) needs to have open regular communication throughout the school year. Continually reaching out to each other to share what is working and what isn’t is the only way to ensure a child is receiving a truly individualized education program. Just as teachers give updates on academics, we need to give updates on how accommodations are working, how the student is progressing on goals, how the student is doing socially and emotionally, and so on. It is equally as important for parents to regularly tell the school staff how things are going at home and if they are seeing any changes that need to be addressed. Sometimes, this might even mean that IEP meetings need to be held to make changes to better serve the student. An IEP is not a one and done document for the year. It is meant to be a living document that can be updated AS NEEDED.
When we are all communicating regularly, we can truly have a collaborative IEP meeting where the team works together to develop an IEP that supports the WHOLE child. That’s where all the time and energy needs to go and not to processing through bombs that were dropped.
Everyone at that table is an expert in their own area. The parent is the expert on their child. The special education teacher is the expert on special education. The general education teacher is the expert on general education. The speech and language pathologist…you get my point. We all hold a piece to the puzzle. No single person at that table should be making the decisions alone.
Teachers, I have a wonderful time saver to help you get parent input before an IEP. Check out my Editable | Parent/Guardian IEP Input Form below. It is a super easy way to get the valuable input from our student’s families.
