Getting Ready for Your IEP Meeting

Your child’s IEP meeting is coming up soon.  What do you do?  How do you get ready?  Waiting to the last minute, running around and gathering papers, and going in with little to no prep is simply not the best way to go into a meeting that determines the educational services your child needs.  Neither is going in stressed out without a plan.

So here are some simple suggestions on how to get ready to walk into your child’s IEP meeting:

First, sit down and review what you believe is working and not working for your child and create a game plan for yourself for the meeting.  Write it out! Don’t just keep it in your head.  Having that plan will help you stay on track and ensure you don’t forget any issues you want to discuss.  It will also let you think through those issues and questions that may come up. Don’t wait until the night before – do this a month or a couple of weeks before the meeting.  You can revise your plan right up until the meeting, but start early.

Once you have that plan, gather any paperwork you think you will need.  Smart parents keep notebooks.  I prefer the big, 3 inch, 3-ring binders with page dividers to sort info.  You should be sorting and filing information and papers as you get them.  I know – it means taking time and being organized, but it will pay off when you need things.  A week or so before the meeting go through that information and pull out what you need and put it in a binder to take to the IEP meeting.

Organize your personal schedule.  Clear the decks, so to speak.  Make sure that child care issues are taken care of.  Make sure that your work schedule is cleared and you won’t be disturbed during the meeting.  Basically make sure you can focus on the meeting without other distractions.

If you need someone at the meeting with you, set it up.  Make sure they can be there and have planned as well.

Finally, try and relax.  Try and eliminate or reduce your fears and stresses concerning the meeting.  You need to be ready and at your best for the meeting.  Remember, your child deserves your best.