IEP

Wassillie Kassel

IEP

Jason Ohler

Ed 630

 

 

              I have learned that the process of getting a student labeled Special Ed is a long and structured process.  It may be clear that the student needs services and needs an IEP but procedures must be followed.  Getting the serviced and an IEP for a student may become frustrating and may seem at times the Special Ed department is not trying to get student with a Special Ed label but for the sake of the student, the long process must be followed.  The process in the beginning starts meeting with the Special Ed teacher.  Tell the Special Ed teacher my concerns and see what the Special Ed teacher can do and see what is recommended.  There the process is started.  If the problems still exist for the student in the classroom, tell the Special Ed teacher.  He or she will get the ball rolling.  A meeting is set with the parents/guardians, teacher, Principal, and the Special Ed teacher.  The parents are told what the concerns for the student are and what options are available.  From that point, the Special Ed teacher fills out the necessary paperwork to get the process started.  The documents are signed by the principal, parents and the Special Ed teacher and sent to the lead Special Ed person at the district office.  From that point, district specialists come out to test the student to see what is causing the problem(s) for the student.  Since there is a huge demand for the services of the specialists, it is hard to get them in a timely manner to move on the process of getting the services for the student.  Once the specialists’ tests are done, then the results will dictate what services are needed.  For this one student, he needed hearing aids, and glasses to begin with and the district paid for them.  With observations from specialists, an IEP was developed.  Then another meeting is arranged by the Special Ed teacher with the parents/guardians, teachers, and the principal to discuss the proposed steps that are considered.  The parents/guardians voice their concerns and what they want out of the meeting.  When all parties are satisfied, the IEP is drafted and signed by the parents/guardians, principal, and the Special Ed teacher.  This process was long and sometimes tedious.        

              The student learned a lot. His education wasn’t much before the IEP was developed and implemented.  He was wondered around the hallways outside of his classroom.  The teacher couldn’t get him in class once he felt frustration.  Using his IEP, we were able to reintroduce him into classroom.  He got hearing aides and glasses.  Once he started to feel frustrated, we went to the gym to do physical activities.  We tried to limit this to 15 to 20 minutes.  We would go back to class and he would do what the rest of the class was doing.  Another adaptation I was able to provide for him was the use of the computer and educational internet sites.  This picked up his interest and I had a difficult time with coming up with other sites for him to use.  We learned his alphabet and colors using this method.  I was able to help him take role in the morning when it was his turn.  He would call out the names of the students in class in Yup’ik.  I would read the names to him and he would call them out as before he wasn’t able to do this simple task.  I also taught social skills to him slowly along with the help of other staff in the school.  He was able to interact and do his work with my help as before he was left on his own.  These are some examples of what the student was able to do with my assistance because of his IEP along with the help of his teacher and other staff in the school.

              What I would do differently?  I would be more of a student-centered helper with the student(s) in his position.   I would find myself frustrating the student at times and it would escalate his disruptive behavior.  The more I tried to get work out of him, the more it made frustrated and in turn would frustrate me.  Also what I have learned and would take differently is not to take things personally.  I would find the student limitations of doing work and then implement breaks along with other activities that don’t require much work on the student’s part.  Another way I would help the student is to talk with the parents more and work with them to educate the child.  The main reason we are there is for the benefit of the child and not for ours.