Hope4Families

A verbal request gives the school wiggle room. A written request starts the clock. One of the simplest and most powerful things you can do as an IEP parent costs nothing, takes five minutes, and can completely change the way your school district responds to you. Put it in writing. Every request. Every concern. Every time

Knowing who belongs in the room is one of the most important things a parent can understand about the IEP process. The IEP meeting is where the big decisions get made. Goals are set, services are determined, and placement is discussed. But before any of that happens, there's a question that often gets overlooked: who actually needs to be in the room? This matters more than most parents realize. If the right people aren't present, the meeting may not be properly constituted under the law. And...

The difference between a new IEP parent and an experienced one often comes down to knowing the right questions. If your child has speech and language goals in their IEP, there's a good chance the services are being delivered in a group setting. And on the surface, that might seem fine. Group therapy can be appropriate in certain situations. But "appropriate" and "default" are two very different things. Too many parents accept group speech therapy without asking the questions that matter. Not...