Exceptional Children’s Discussion Panel

Edgecombe County NELA Cohort IV fellows, Caroline Joyce, Julie Simpson and Billy Strother, hosted a two-part discussion panel that focused on the exceptional children’s (E.C.) program from a parent perspective with a follow-up panel of E.C. professionals. The panel discussion took place in the Edgecombe County Public School’s Board Room in Tarboro on Tuesday, February 2, 2016.

In the discussion panel, parents freely shared the challenges they have experienced in the E.C. process, and they also shared advice with the future school executives.

What Parents Want Administrators and E.C. Case Managers to Keep in Mind at I.E.P. meetings:

1. The child is a child, who has a disability; the disability does not define the child
2. Include the parent in the process of writing an I.E.P. that meets the child’s needs
3. Listen to the parent, who best knows their child
4. Be sincere, empathetic and kind
5. Treat the child in an I.E.P. the way you would want your child to be treated
6. Parents knows what their child cannot do, and they do not need to be told over-and-over again what is wrong with their child
7. Jargon is difficult to understand; use layman’s terms, so parent understands the I.E.P. document
8. Hold high expectations of all I.E.P. members: totally devote the time of an I.E.P. meeting to address the needs of the child; listen attentively and be an active participant; include a regular education teacher, who actually knows the child
9. Parent may need resources to understand the disability of their child
10.  Many parents cry after an I.E.P. meeting

What E.C. Professionals Want Administrators To Know:

1. Principals are supposed to be the expert on the child’s I.E.P., so know the manual, resources, and compliance
2. Do not rush the process of an I.E.P. meeting
3. Principal should conduct internal audits of I.E.P.s and accommodation logs
4. LEA representative must be present at I.E.P. meeting from start to finish
5. Never sign unfinished paperwork
6. Principal needs to know how to evaluate E.C. Teacher
7. Utilize internal resources in Central Office, then reach out to outside resources, as needed to train staff
8. E.C. children are Regular Ed children first; try inclusive opportunities first
9. In inclusion classrooms, the E.C. teacher should be modifying assignments, maintaining I.E.P. logs, pulling out struggling students
10. Pre-K parents need help transitioning from an individual family service plan (IFSP) to individual educational plan (IEP)

This post was written by Cohort IV Fellow, Caroline Joyce