Family involvement in the individualized plan

Parent involvement in the individualized plan is important because they provide care and guidance for their child and they help write the goals in the individualized plan. They are also equal partners with the team. “Parents are considered central and the most import decision maker in a child’s life…the family is the constant in a child’s life and that service systems and personnel must support, respect, and encourage, and enhance the strengths and competence of the family (DEC, p.119)” The relationship between the program and the family is built on trust and the knowledge that parents will always be the experts of their own child and their strongest advocate.  DEC Recommended Practices restate the importance of families and professional working collaboratively and sharing the responsibility. They said: “IFSPs or IEPS are individualized to address the needs expressed by different family members and information is shared by both professionals and families prior to the IFSP/EEP meeting so that everyone has time to reflect and develop clarifying questions for the meeting. Goals are developed at the IFSP/IEP meeting rather than having goals prewritten and reviewed at the meeting, and professionals and family members communicate about priorities, needs, and concerns prior to the formal IFSP/IEP meeting (DEC, p. 113). Family involvement in the IFSP (and IEP) will help to build strong and lasting partnerships with the team members. “Listening carefully is critical in the development of productive relationships with parents (Cook, Klein & Tessier p. 63).” As teaching professionals, we should build in opportunities for family members to be active in the decision-making process by inviting parents to observe their children’s education program in action. An open door policy will encourage family members to initiate ways of being engaged in their children’s education. We need to be sensitive and supportive to the needs of families from different cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Parents need frequent, two-way community with their child’s teachers. “Professionals must strengthen families’ abilities to support the development of their children in a manner that is likely to increase families’ sense of parenting competence, not families’ sense of dependency on professional or professional systems (Sandall, Hemmeter, Smith and McLean, pp. 109-110).” The IFSP (and IEP) is a planning and tracking document and progress reports show that goals are or are not being met. At the end of the school year, this helps the parents and the school with preparation of the follow year’s plans. Parents are sometimes concerned when they go to an IEP meeting because of all the people who have to attend. The people at the IEP meeting include the parent, school personnel (teacher(s) of the child, and a representative of the local education agency who is qualified to provide or supervise the provision of special education), and the child, if appropriate and a professional from related services (occupational therapist for example) and parents may wish to bring with them someone who knows the child’s unique needs and the law (Bowe, pp226-227). Services included in the IFSP (and IEP) should be appropriate to meet the individual needs of the child and the family’s needs to enhance the child’s development. All transitions must be planned well in advance and should show strong family participation.

The United Stated Department of Education’s rule states that parents are to be full and equal participants in IEP meetings. “Video conferences, conference calls, and other means are allowed precisely for this reason-to encourage family participation. The appendix interpreting the purposes of IEPSs added: ‘The IEP meeting serves as a communication vehicle between parents and school personnel, and enables them, as equal participants, to jointly decide what the child’s need are, what services will be provided to meet those needs, and what the anticipated outcomes may be. (U.S. Department of Education, 1992b, p. 44833)’ (Bowe, p. 226).”  Everyone involved in the individualized plan should be sensitive, caring, and patient.

As teachers, it is important to remember that “The IDEA 2004, PL 108-446 removes from most IEPs the language on ‘benchmarks or short-term objectives’ that was in IDEA for more than 20 years. That wording was controversial, because it was widely misunderstood. Some educators were actually writing daily lesson plan-type objectives in IEPs. IDEA 2004 kept that wording only for the IEPs of children with very severe disabilities. Their plans may describe functional and behavioral progress in steps (i.e. for each month or for each marking period) so as to assist educators in tracking their performance (Bowe, p. 229).”

            I liked the Head Start standards which highlight the importance of family involvement.  The standards said: “provide observation opportunities for parents so that they can see activities described in child’s IEP, refer parents to support groups or other parents whose children have similar disabilities and build parent confidence and skill in advocating for their children with special needs (Head State program performance standards and other regulations, 1993, pp. 313-314 cited in Couchenour and Chrisman, p 150).” 

            In conclusion, Frank G. Bowe makes an important point about parent involvement when he said, “The most important concern is that the process of creating the plan must feature mutual respect and information sharing between parents and professionals. So important is this sharing that it is fair to say that the process of developing the plan is more important than the plan itself. That is because parents and ECSE professions may bring to the IFSP/IEP planning process different priorities, values and goals. If the process features mutual respect and information sharing, both parties move toward a consensus position-to the child’s benefit (Bowe, pp. 232-233).”

References:

Bowe, Frank G. (2007). Early Childhood Special Education, Birth to Eight, fourth edition. New York: Thomson Delmar Learning. pp. 226-228, 232-233.

Cook, Ruth E., Klein, M.D. & Tessier A. (2004). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children in Inclusive Settings. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. P 63.

Couchenour, Donna and Kent Chrisman (2008).  Families, Schools, and Communities Together for Young Children. New York: Thomson Delmar Learning. p. 150

Sandall. S., Hemmeter, M. L., Smith, B. J., & McLean, M. E., (2005).DEC recommended          practices: A comprehensive guide for practical application in early intervention/ early childhood special education. Missoula, MT: Division of Early Childhood. pp. 109-110 and 113.