How does an IEP work?

[jenk1]

Just found out that DS school did him an IEP at the start of term last year to help him overcome difficulties with Socialising, they didnt tell us that he was on SchoolAction either .

At a meeting in Dec with the SENCO and us and Parent Partnership the SENCO said DS had no SEN in her opinion and didnt want to do anything but in the end she reluctantly agreed to put him on the SEN register.

Now this has come to light as me and DH requested a copy of his school report and we find that they did consider him SN enough to do an IEP for him without telling us.

So, is the next stage Action Plus and if so can anyone tell me what Action Plus entails as i cant get hold of Parent Partnership until tomorrow.

TIA

IEPs are for anyone that is struggling a bit with the curriculum.
My ds is on SA+ for speech and language problems, social difficulties (the usual for ASD)
My best friends ds is on SA for probelms writing. He has no SEN as such.
SA+ IME is a more detailed plan of targets and goals with more dedicated input into helping them achieve them.

Action Plus is usually when outside agencies are also brought in to help, eg OT, SALT etc.

The school is supposed to discuss the proposed IEP with you and then ask you to sign it if you are happy with it. Generally it makes sense for them to consult you anyway as you may have some ideas and insight into the problems that they are trying to resolve.

I believe school action plus is when outside agenties are involved... ie... educational phycologyst,

Usually parents help draw up these IEP's and sign them...
do they have to have an IEP to be on the SEN register??

what have they suggested for him... how are they applying them...

sorry I can't be off more help...
I'm just learning myself,

Looking at my ds IEP, SA+ also includes outside advice/assistance in determining targets. Whether it be an EP, OP or whoever someone outside of the school has to have input on the IEP.
Hope this has cleared some confusion.

An IEP is supposed be drawn up in consultation with you and you are supposed to sign it. I got to see DDs old one when I signed the new one the other day where the SENCO had reviewed how her progress was in respect of the aims of that particular IEP. I do think this is really bad that they did not consult you on this and doesn't fit with the protocol they are supposed to follow as far as I am aware.

Regarding IEP, the teacher and SENCO must inform parents that they are completing an IEP on your child.

They must also once they have written the IEP, let you view the IEP and will arrange an appointment time so that you may come in and discuss what is on the IEP with you.

The child will probably need help from you at home regarding the IEP i.e. they could be focussing on their poor reading skills for example and therefore need your help at home to practise this. They must talk and discuss this with you.

If they haven't and won't then make an appointment with the headteacher and view your grievances with the head. If all else speak to the county education department.

My son is on action plus for reading difficulties associated with his hearing loss. I have had conflicting advice as to whether involvement of outside agencies means you get action plus and had to push for this. Once it was agreed the IEP was drawn up with space for me to add comments and sign, there was also a date for review, we are now onto the second one and the same procedure was followed.

Thing is they were denying at the meeting in Dec that DS has ever had any help and that in their opinion he doesnt have any difficulties despite a report from the hospital detailing his strengths/weaknesses, im really confused.

I think you should make an appointment to see the head and say this to him/her and see exactly what they say. Make sure that you stress you want to be better in future and are not impressed with how this has been handled.

If you have a hospital report detailing ds' weaknesses etc then I don't see how the SENCO has the right/authority/knowledge to say that ds is 100% fine.

It sounds to me as though the SENCO has no idea about SN procedures.

Sorry, didn't see that bit about the hospital, I agree with Coppertop that the SENCO is clueless.

and has no right/authority to say what has said.

EWO lady just been to see me as i informed her that DS health has suffered as a direct result of school failing his needs, i told her about the IEP and she has called a multi agency meeting between Consultants,school,etc for the couple of weeks so watch this space, ill have something to say about this.....

I'm really pleased to hear that they are having that meeting jenk, I think it will help a lot. Fingers crossed for you.

Oh and just to add, at the bottom of the IEP where Parents/carers can help Ds is "DS needs to learn how to ask for help when frustrated and to try to manage his anger"

WHAT?????

Does the SENCO know nothing about ASD?

He cant even tell us as his parents when he frustrated/angry the only way we know is that he throws a tantrum/meltdown-that is a totally unacheivable goal IMO, Grrr it makes me mad

Just when I was thinking that she couldn't possibly get any more useless than you'd already described........

I dread to think what the other targets might have been. Has she set out specific plans and timescales of how the targets should be achieved?

good luck and be strong with them! they should have included you of course in the drafting of the IEP. Should include you in most things shouldn't they, otherwise how can you support the school in their efforts to support your son!!
And remember things are ONLY important if YOU think they are! schools are institutions like any other and I'm sure the convenient thing is for the kids to be acheiving and behaving in a similar way. so don't be railroaded into agreeing every target and agreeing with their every opinion - remember where they're coming from. x

On the targets was parents - make sure to use exaggerated expressions when talking to DS and for DS always tell adults when feeling annoyed or upset er- DUH, how much does she know about ASD?

Obviousley not a lot and we would never have agreed for DS to be able to work towards this target, if we cant get him to talk about his problems then who can apart from the professionals?

Bl**dy hell! How on earth did she get to be a SENCO????

Targets are supposed to meet the SMART criteria. She is supposed to find a target that is achieveable (sp?) and can be measured in some way. She's also supposed to set out exactly how the school (not the parents!) are going to achieve it and in what time-scale. To give you an example one of ds1's current targets is to improve his grip and handwriting as he still has slightly delayed fine motor skills. The end target is for him to be able to hold a pencil firmly and be able to write his 'problem' letters the right way around. The SENCO plans to do this by giving him some OT exercises (detailed description of these included in the IEP) for x minutes per day over a period of 6 weeks. The target will be considered to have been reached when he can write his problem letters and with a firm grip. He's only a week or so into this target and already it has been easy to see improvements in ds1's writing and how he uses his hands. It sounds as though the SENCO at your school would probably have written something like "Ds1 must learn to hold a pencil better" and then just left him to it!

Well, just seen on another form that she has written "DS IEP needs to be more consistent to see results"????

So, not only did we not know he had an IEP, theyve not been implementing it either....

Jenk1

What a ridiculous situation. The person who suffers most from all this ultimately is your son.

Are you going to apply for a Statement anyway?.

yes definately, got a call from IPSEA this morning, a really helpful man who could not believe what ds school have been doing.

We are applying for a statement as school said ds cant have one yet. Grrrr