Navigating IEPs
Say “IEP” to a parent of a disabled child and stories will explode out. Is there a way to make them work better? We’re also getting close to enough local folks to start a disability organization… if you are on the fence, please sign up, we need you.
_____________________________
Welcome to Disability Drumbeat #6
Fellow Disability Change-makers –
Thank you for investing your precious time here. You can also read this online.
Have a great Thanksgiving (for those of you in the rest of the world… enjoy the relative quiet out of the US – hopefully)!
If you find this newsletter useful, share it. I hope you’ll reply, share corrections, ask questions, make suggestions, or just chat.
If you are new here, shoot me a note or you can sign up for more of this (usually weekly on Sundays) at disabiltiyalmanac.com.
My bottom line is that
“Much Better is Possible” for children with disabilities and the disabled adults that they will become…
and I hope you want to help make that change happen. The unsubscribe link should be at the bottom of this letter or you can just reply to this email.
We are all in this together.
Steve
PS – Don’t forget to check out Riffs and Licks after the main article.
_____________________________
NO COFFEE THIS WEEK – Skipping a Week For US Thanksgiving –
Weekly Coffee #65 is coming on 5 December
We’re getting together for coffee on 5 December … maybe we’ll talk about IEPs?
If you are planning a local get-together or interested in how I host this one – let me know. I started this in August of 2023 at the beginning of our school year. It has been a great way to get to know a lot of people, learn about their concerns, and, sometimes I just get an hour or two to work on my own. I’m at one of our local coffee shops (usually ADA’s Cafe – yes it is that ADA) every Wednesday when my son is in school after I drop him off.
_____________________________
What the ****** is an IEP actually? (Part 1)
The formal answer is that it is an “Individualized Education Program (not Plan)”… as if that helps.
My son was diagnosed with autism right before he turned 3, so, we had an initial assessment and our first proper IEP meeting pretty early. All of the training dives into defining terms, your “Parental Safeguards”, and off you go…
But there isn’t a mental framework about how to THINK about IEPs – or at least I didn’t have one, and so they were confusing and stressful. We got very wrapped up about IEP meetings and frustrated with the whole process.
Insight 1 – An IEP Agreement is a Contract
The whole system is crazy sometimes. I’ve been obsessed with having IEP meetings, calling more (and more) IEP meetings when things were going wrong.
Bad strategy by me.
We’ve hired a lawyer and had them at the IEP meeting. The meetings went on and on for hours (always longer than scheduled, NEVER long enough).
BUT, once you start looking at the IEP as a contract, IEP meetings are… just meetings. MAYBE they include sensible negotiations.
… and like all contracts, what matters most isn’t what is written down, it is who is on the other side of the table.
Insight 2 – The Education Contract itself is the State Curriculum Standards
This was the unlock for me.
At least in California, there is a spot for every IEP goal to be traced to a curriculum standard (like most US states, California’s curriculum is based on the Common Core Standards – even states that don’t seem to use the Common Core… mostly look the same). You can determine the grade level of the goal and what they intend to do (and find some bonehead errors sometimes).
Very handy.
But what is really powerful, is that now, I always link every IEP goal request to a curriculum standard. There are a surprisiing number of social skills and other standards included. A full math or English Language Arts curriculum for a grade level is between 30 and 60 specific standards.
You can measure rigor and outcome and “sufficiently ambitious” in one fell swoop.
DERIVED INSIGHT – Contracts only matter a bit
If you’ve ever had a bathroom remodeled, a car repaired, or rented an apartment, you know one thing.
The key is the person on the other side of the table.
My criteria for looking at each member of the IEP team (and the school district as a whole) is the same as I would use for anyone else I’m considering hiring:
- Adequate Resources – do they have the resources they need to do the job (this is basically what the IEP Agreement itself is good for)?
- Competence – do they have the skills necessary to do the job?
- Goodwill – do they want to do a good job (not necessarily that they are warm and cuddly – we’ve had teachers who seemed to be more interested in protecting my son from the real world than preparing him for the real world).
You can’t “IEP” someone into doing a good job.
_____________________________
Think Globally, Organize Locally
If you live in Santa Clara County, we are working on building an organization that can make change happen. Sign up today.
If you live elsewhere and are organizing or interested in organizing, send me an email so I can help spread the word.
____________________________
Riffs and Licks**
Selected disability news and commentary
Special Education Gone Wrong – in Idaho… But it could happen anywhere. Read and digest this one with care. Lots to take in. Lessons to learn. Special education parents, who say the system is failing their kids, take matters into their own hands and Special education departments face parent complaints, staff shortages and budget gaps
Self-Determination for Special Education? If the Trump Administration opens up vouchers… it would seem to me, if you take government money, you get to follow government rules and have to take Students with Disabilities. It is time for all government education programs to be #DefaultAccessible. How Trump’s Policies Could Affect Special Education.
All Teachers Are Special Education Teachers… and should be credentialed as such. It is time to end the separate certification and training for special education and general education teachers. With close to 15% of all students having an IEP (Individual Education Program) with more having 504 Plans and other non-qualifying disabilities, it is time to stop pretending that some teachers aren’t “special educators” – and change our teacher training system to match that truth. Commission on Civil Rights probes special educator shortage
Poverty among persons with disabilities is a policy choice (Canada) – it is true here in the US as well. We have a Disability Services system that basically requires poverty to access needed supports.
1.5% of Hong Kong civil servants are disabled, lawmakers call for more hires. Unemployment rate for people with disabilities was 11 percent in 2020, compared with 5.8 percent citywide… are you tracking your disability hires? Is your local government or school district? Do your contracts require reporting on disability status for hires? Also in Malaysia Special Needs lack Community Support for Jobs
Soc Dems pledge to spend €5.5 billion on disability legislation reform if in Government – (Ireland) – Imagine a national political party prioritizing funding for disability! Lots of votes. Lots of jobs.
Affordable Housing for Disabled Adults – how do we make this happen here? Does anyone know good data sources on existing and new-build disability housing? Sunflower Grace secures $5M affordable housing loan from Dublin – City Council crafts contingency to help guarantee low-income count stays at 59 units for adults with IDD (Ireland) Council supports specialist accommodation (Australia)
$18 Trillion Disability Market, 1.6 Billion People – The 2024 Global Economics of Disability Report
A Hidden Market: The Purchasing Power of Working-Age Adults With Disabilities A Hidden Market: The Purchasing Power of Working-Age Adults With Disabilities (2018) – Note – their methodology could be updated relatively “easily” using current US Department of Labor numbers :) – HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT FOR ME :) – Interested?
WHO/Europe has launched a new technical advisory group (TAG) on disability and health. This is the first-ever TAG on disability and will inform WHO’s actions as it works with countries to build disability-inclusive health systems across the WHO European Region. Implementation plan and monitoring and evaluation framework of the WHO European framework for action to achieve the highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities 2022–2030. Seventy-second Regional Committee for Europe: Tel Aviv, 12–14 September 2022: resolution: the WHO European framework for action to achieve the highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities 2022–2030 Technical Advisory Group on the WHO European Framework for Action to Achieve the Highest Attainable Standard of Health for Persons with Disabilities, 2022–2030 (TAG-Disability and Health)
Earlier this year, in order to provide a blueprint for best practices, the Global Business Travel Association launched a business travel accessibility toolkit through its charitable arm the GBTA Foundation. Aimed at travel managers and buyers, the toolkit represents a collective endeavor involving collaboration between travel buyers, software vendors, airlines and hotels. It addresses several critical areas related to accessible business travel including travel policy, traveler communication, supplier engagement and point-of-sale.
Flipping 504 Plans… maybe schools, sites, and businesses need 504 plans for accessibility instead of individuals or students? Beyond Individual Accommodations: Rethinking Workplace Inclusion
Top 5 Website accessibility problems … not just election sites! Top 5 Accessibility Issues in U.S. Voter Registration Sites and Ways to Fix Them
The Disability Tax – Research shows disabled people need at least 28% more income than non-disabled people for a similar living standard – A cutting board costs me $75 – it might cost you $10. What to know about the ‘disability tax’ – not just physical disabilities! and Most of Us Will Be Disabled Eventually. We Need Real Disability Benefits
After Institutions for People With Disabilities Close, Graves Are at Risk of Being Forgotten – often abandoned by their families, neglected (at best) during their lives, our obligation to remember is that this won’t happen again.
What might Project 2025 look like – ask the Disability Community…. chronically and grossly underfunded, undersupervised, not exactly new or news for disabled adults and children. Georgians With Disabilities Are Still Being Institutionalized, Despite Federal Oversight
** Suggestions welcome!
