What's the Plan Stan?

I have mentioned this in past posts, and debated in my mind several times whether I should write a post about a particular topic.  I believe the time has come to tackle this behemoth of a subject, the IEP.  Of all the things I have had to learn to deal with, having an autistic child, this is by far the most important.  IEP stands for Individual Educational Plan.  When we send our children to school, they all have an educational plan that the State has set forth for public school.  Each state is different, but within the state, you can bet that Yreka Californina’s 4th grade kids are basically doing the same stuff in school, as the kids in Chula Vista California.  For those unfamiliar with Californian Geography, those are opposite ends of the state.  Certainly there are better and worse teachers, and more and less involved communities, and richer and poorer districts.  All of these things affect the education a child receives, but the idea is they all receive the same basic stuff.  Holden has his own Educational Plan, and it is determined by his teacher, speech pathologist, occupational therapist, school psychologist, general education teacher that Holden spends some time with, doing general ed, and little ole me.  There is always a person at these meetings (at least in my case) who is looking out for the school purse.  They want Holden to be an inexpensive child.  It is my job, to fight my proverbial ass off to get Holden everything he needs to get the best education he can.  The most important thing I need to be, is informed.  Informed of the law, informed of the services, and informed of how the services pertain to Holden.  I can’t just walk in the room, and say “I think Holden needs Assistive Technology” and expect them to just give it to me.  I know, I tried the first time, when another parent suggested it.  The administrator in charge of not spending money, immediately wanted to know why I wanted that, and proceeded to tell me how AT didn’t apply to Holden’s case.  Uninformed at the time, I accepted her long technical reason behind his not needing it.  Then I spent the next few months reading up on AT, how the law deals with it, what it is, who should have it.  It turns out that like a lot of other things, the law is very open and vague, so that it can reach as many kids as possible, BUT if you don’t know how to sell it for your child, it’s also easy to show how the child doesn’t need it.  This year Holden is being evaluated for AT, I have already spoken to the evaluator, and she is confident that Holden would benefit from it, and looks forward to working with Holden this year.  Nothing is certain, and I will still have to prove his need for it, but now the person who’s job depends on kids requiring AT will be fight in my corner, to add another student to her list of kids requiring AT services.  

These are the battles we fight for our kids.  The law is on their side, the educators are on their side, but the district is looking out for it’s purse, and when they have to spend money, their rectal sphincter gets tighter then a piccolo snare drum in a ska band.  The only tool we as parents have, is knowledge, and taking the time to acquire it.  There are also advocates as well, and I am fortunate to have someone in my corner in that capacity too!