Empower
Ability Inspire Advocate
Special Needs Potential Thri
Growth Strategies — by Kelli Phillips
Become an Informed Advocate for Your Special Needs Child
I
was an educator for 17 years; in the final years I found myself drawn to children with special needs. I worked with students who struggled with learning disabilities, autism, and behavior disorders. IEP’s — Individual Education Plans — built unique experiences in learning and assessing skills and knowledge for each student. Many students, not only those with behavioral issues, required Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) as a component of their IEP. These plans not only addressed undesirable behavior in the sense of your typical oppositional defiant student, but also the profound social aspect of students found on the spectrum, from those with low IQ’s to those struggling with Asperger’s syndrome. Though some students did not require BIPs, I found the majority of my students benefited from a unique plan tailored to help them be successful in a regular educational setting. Parents should be sought out by teachers to help build the behavior plan. If your child with special needs, such as a learning disabled student refusing to complete activities or an autistic child who needs coaching in order to success32 WNY Family February 2022
ing with your child’s teacher(s) in order to establish a relationship that will bring positive interactions and results. Do this at the beginning of the school year. Most school districts require at least one yearly IEP meeting anyway, so hopefully you already have some knowledge of how your child’s teachers approach making him or her successful in reaching the goals established in the IEP.
fully socialize with his or her peers, does not have a BIP in the IEP, your duty is to set up a meeting with his or her regular and special education teachers in order to jumpstart the process of assessing the behavioral issues which are impeding the student from achieving the academic and behavioral goals found in the IEP.
In the meeting, you should be provided a copy of your rights as a parent of a child with special needs. Read it! Know what opportunities with which you are provided in order advocate for your child. Don’t be afraid to ask for explanations of rights that are confusing.
You and your child’s teacher(s) need to meet to build a plan that will influence behavior which will lead to positive consequences and which provides immediate feedback to bolster retention of a new or replaced behavior. Your child deserves, and is required by law, to be provided with goals that can be progressed, monitored, and assessed to show growth or regression.
Remember that teachers are regular people, and in their humanity, they may make mistakes. Approach these situations with understanding if you are meeting to resolve an issue such as failing to follow through with something that you find important. In return for your calm, humble confrontation, you will find that teachers will not only be more willing to hear your concerns, but to put into action a strategy to alleviate your worries. Do not be afraid to seek out the school’s counselor to be a mediator during such a meeting, especially if you and the educator fail to come to an understanding or agreement of how to handle the situation at hand.
If you’re not sure or feel ill equipped to contribute to the BIP, I hope that some of the following tips from a special education teacher who struggles with disabilities herself will help you in getting involved in helping the committee sourced with developing the IEP goals for your student:
Teachers Are Human
Request A Meeting
Discover Your Child’s Passion
My first piece of advice is to contact your child’s school and request a meet-
If you have a student who refuses to complete classwork, whether he or she