How to Review IEP Draft and Prepare for ARD Committee Meeting
You have made it this far, but you are only halfway up that hill. Once all evaluations from your initial SPED request are complete. You will receive a copy of the results, which can include testing, observations, parent feedback, teacher statements and so forth. You probably won’t understand everything sent to you at first, but I promise it does get better. They will also send you an invitation to the ARD meeting. Please know if the ARD meeting does not work for your schedule, request a different time and date. Also know that most of the time your presence can be via Zoom, so ask for that option if you need to. Once you receive the invite and have excepted it, make sure with your acceptance you ask the question, “When will I receive the IEP Draft?”. Yes, there is a draft, it is usually ready 24 hours before the meeting, and you have every right to review it before the meeting. Lots of times they will say “We write the IEP in the meeting”, this is a half-truth, they edit the IEP in the meeting, the draft is already done. Read through the evaluation and IEP draft and prepare notes and questions for the meeting.
What exactly is an ARD committee meeting, well it is a meeting of the stakeholders of your child’s IEP (Individualized Education Plan). The committee is to work together to review the evaluation, grades, observations, progress and goals. The initial meeting is always the hardest, and an annual meeting is automatically scheduled as long as your child as an IEP. This does not mean you are limited to one meeting per year, I will get to that in a little bit. The committee exist of you (Parent/Guardian) and I cannot stress this enough, if both parents are involved with the care of the child they should both be there. Also, if there are stepparents involved in coparenting, I suggest you ask them to attend as it’s an important meeting regarding your child’s disability. From the school the committee will include District representative, General Education teacher, Special Education Teacher, Evaluation Personal (Diagnostician), Interpreter, and Others with Knowledge or Specific Expertise about your child. Once your child is in High School and preparing for Graduation it is recommended, they be present at the meeting as well.
Before the meeting, prepare yourself mentally to be calm, open, and positive. The Beginning of the meeting the district representative will read legal statements, and then there will be introductions of all present. At this point there will be a review of evaluations, findings, status, progress and so forth. If you have questions or comments, you can ask them during the meeting. Do not feel the need to hold back, you are the parent and should feel comfortable to speak. After all the review the district will give you their recommendations for the IEP. These may include, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Social Skills, Resource Room, In Class accommodations, Push-In Para Services and much, much more. If you feel they have missed anything, you go ahead and ask. Example: if a child has severe apraxia and not able to effectively communicate verbally, you may ask about an AAC/Assisted Technology device. Of if you have a child with sever sensory issues and can’t use the bathroom out of fear from the sounds, you can ask for personal services to help. Do not ever be afraid to ask for something your child needs, if they say know ask them the reasons why they don’t believe your child needs it. This meeting is a negotiation between all parties.
The meeting will also include goals for your child for the following academic school year, so the goals should be focused for current grade and next grade. At the end of the meeting, the district representative will review your rights and read a statement to such. If you agree with what has been discussed for the IEP you will be asked to sign the IEP and then you will be asked if you would like to waive the 5-day waiting period to implement the IEP, which I do recommend in most cases.
If you don’t agree with the IEP do not sign, ask about adjusting or removing what you don’t agree with. Note nothing will be implemented without your signature, so please try to rectify any differences in this meeting, if possible, if you feel it is completely not possible, you can discuss options.
Please see my articles regarding Resolving Disputes.
