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INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THIS REPORT
Before filling out this report, make
several copies of it. Keep a couple for yourself, as working
copies. Give other copies to husband/wife, brothers and
sisters, friends who knows your child well, and any other
people who can positively contribute personal knowledge of
your child (Sunday school teacher, babysitter, relatives,
and other friends - both adult and children You'll be
surprised at the different perspectives others have of your
child. These all combine to create a more complete picture
of who your child really is! Have others complete the forms
and return to you. Then, compile all the information into
one report you take with you to your child's lEP meeting.
Don't forget to involve your
child in this process! If possible, discuss all parts of
this form with him/her and have them contribute to it in
anyway he/she can. Remember, it's the child's education, the
child's life!
Think of this form like you
would a grocery list! Post it on your refrigerator door and
add things to it when you think about it! Don't wait until
the night before the meeting to fill this out.
Compile all the reports
written by your family and friends into one "final report."
Make copies of this final report and give to all the members
of the staffing team, before the meeting. If that's not
feasible, give them copies at the meeting and refer to it
often during the meeting. Consider asking the staffing team
coordinator to attach your report to the final, official
staffing report. Your input on this IEP report is
as valuable as the information from any professional report
about your child!
About Inclusion...
What is inclusion? Inclusion
is children with disabilities attending the school they
would attend if they didn't have a disability, in general
education, age-appropriate classrooms, with supports for the
teacher(s) and the student, where all children are active
participants in both academic and extra-curricular
activities.
ln planning for your child's
education, don't talk to educators about inclusion for your
child UNLESS your child is already attending a truly
inclusive school! For too many educators, the word
"inclusion" is loaded with negative connotations (too
expensive, not done at this school, your child's not ready,
etc., etc., etc.). Instead, WRITE inclusion into the IEP. In
the following pages, write your child's needs in a way that
they can only be met in an inclusive setting! Write the
goals so that they can only be met in an inclusive setting.
Remember, too, that children
with disabilities should not have aides; teachers should
have aides. When children have aides, it's just as if you
(the parent) were going to school with your child every day!
If your child has an aide in a general ed classroom:
-
the classroom
teacher usually will not take responsibility for your
child; your child becomes the responsibility of the
aide,
-
your child will
have a difficult time making friends, because the
children don't want to play with an adult around all the
time;
- no one else - students or teachers - will
learn what your child needs, what he/she can do, or how
to educate him/her.
When the teacher has an aide, the teacher directs the
aide on when, how, what to help the student with. The aide
should be as invisible as possible. Have other children help
your child as much as they can; this is only natural. There
are many ways children can help. Also, there should be many
times when the teacher is directly working with your child
and the aide is working with others in the class. When a
teacher has an aide, instead of a student, the two educators
can co-teach, break the class into groups to teach, etc.
Most teachers love the idea of the aide being theirs instead
of a student's!
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