Insights on IEP Meetings as a Parent and SLP

When I began working as a school-based speech-language pathologist six years ago, I’d already experienced IEP meetings. I first encountered IEP meetings as a parent, when my daughter was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. My experiences help me understand how it feels to sit on either side of the table. My experiences as a parent I often felt overwhelmed at IEP meetings—especially those to discuss my daughter’s evaluations. I found it difficult to sit among a group of professionals who I felt measured my child’s weaknesses. Observation reports minutely describing her atypical behaviors in class made me feel helpless. It took a long time for me to accept my daughter’s diagnosis. Sometimes I put unrealistic expectations on the school IEP team. I wanted them to “fix” my daughter or at least help her minimize her disability. I brought all my fears about my daughter and my insecurities about myself to the IEP meetings with me. Would she get teased? Would she become a self-sufficient adult? Her needs triggered my perfectionism and anxieties about my own childhood traumas. All of these thoughts affected my behavior at the meetings, whether consciously or not. As desperate as I felt to support my child and the professionals working with her, I imperfectly executed my own role on the team. I forgot to return paperwork or to sign her agenda. I watched TV instead of helping her with math facts. It’s challenging to follow the IEP in school. It’s even h...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Audiology Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology Uncategorized Source Type: blogs