Can I Ask for........ in Special Education?

Got questions for your IEP team? Whether you are a parent, teacher, therapist or admin, you need to ask!

Highlights from the Video:

• I get a lot of questions that start with, can I ask for and then fill in the blank. So can I ask for more speech therapy? Can I ask for an inclusion specialist? Can I ask for an aide on the playground? Can I ask for a set of textbooks at home? Can I ask for an assistive technology evaluation? And those questions tell me that somebody feels stuck.
  
  (00:57)
• Have you felt stuck in this whole IEP process? Now this happens for parents, but it also happens for teachers. Can I ask foran extra set of tools in my classroom? Can I ask for permission to go to this training? Can I ask for an additional training on assistive technology? 
  
  (01:49)
• Yes, yes. You need to be asking. You need to be asking all the time. You don't know what's possible, if you don't ask. You have to open up those doors and start asking. Now, is there a right way to ask and a wrong way to ask? Absolutely. 
  
  
  (03:40)
• Don't let the red tape of the system stop you. Don't let somebody who said no to you before, stop you from opening up the conversation and asking about different things that could be happening in the IEP process for your child or for your students.
  
  (04:36)
• Jennifer asks, how often should high schools be reviewing the IEP? Across the board in all States IEPs should be reviewed at minimum once a year. You have to go in at least once a year and really look at those present levels of performance. Look at the student needs. Figure out what's working. Figure out what's not working. Now always remember that this is a living document, which means that you are going to be able to make changes whenever you need to make changes. You're not locked into something just because you agree to it in the moment. 
  
  (05:39)
• Another question just came through on text from a parent. Can I ask for a one-to-one during lunchtime because my child has issues in the large environment? Yes. Or does your child need an alternative environment?  We need to prioritize.
  
  (06:33)
• Do we want to acclimate your child to the lunch room or do we want to maybe  focus on a break time and really getting their nutrition consumed instead of working on the whole sensory processing overload during that time? 
  
  (07:19)
• Remember, if you hear yourself saying, "can I ask for", the answer is yes. You can ask for anything that you want to, how you should ask for it, what kind of bullet points you should use to substantiate the ask that you're putting out there. Those are all things that we can figure out together, either inside the Master IEP Coach®program or the Special Education Inner Circle.