When you aren't satisfied with your child's IEP

Learn about: When you aren't satisfied with your child's IEP from Jerome Schultz, PhD,...
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When you aren't satisfied with your child's IEP

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Some people want to know what to if an IEP isn't working. It's important for parents to understand that an IEP and the child's progress on an IEP is evaluated at least every year. Every three years, there's a major evaluation with retesting, and a reevaluation of the child's skills at that level. But at any point along this process, if parents feel their child isn't making adequate process, they can call a meeting of the school personnel, sit around a table and talk about this. Similarly if a teacher, a school psychologist or other people think the plan isn't working well, they can call the meeting together. Invite the parents in and say, you know, the plan that we developed isn't heading your child in the direction that we want him to go. So we need to make some changes. Adjustments can be made by adding an amendment to the IEP at any time. It's really a document that protects the rights of parents so that kids get what they need in school. It's important for parents to remember that the IEP grew out of laws that were written essentially for and by parents many years ago. And that law is designed to protect students rights and children's rights. This is not a document that was created by a school system to get in the way of education. It was a document that had several important components. The most important was to be talking to parents about their kids and to help track a child's progress over time. It's really a parents' rights document.

Learn about: When you aren't satisfied with your child's IEP from Jerome Schultz, PhD,...

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Jerome Schultz, PhD

Clinical Neuropsychologist

Dr. Jerome (Jerry) Schultz is a former middle school special education teacher. He is currently in private practice as a clinical neuropsychologist and is on the faculty of Harvard Medical School in the Department of Psychiatry.  For over three decades, he has specialized in the neuropsychological assessment and treatment of children with learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other special needs. He was on the faculty of Lesley University in Cambridge MA for almost 30 years, and served there as the Founding Director of a diagnostic clinic called the Learning Lab. Before returning to private practice, Dr. Schultz served as the Co-Director of the Center for Child and Adolescent Development at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Teaching Hospital.

Dr. Schultz received both his undergraduate and Master’s degree from The Ohio State University and holds a Ph.D. from Boston College. He has completed postdoctoral fellowships in both clinical psychology and pediatric neuropsychology. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of a journal called Academic Psychiatry, and is on the Professional Advisory Boards of a website called Inside ADHD.com, and the Learning Disabilities Association of America.

In addition to his clinical and educational work, Dr. Schultz serves as an international consultant on issues related to the neuropsychology and appropriate education of children and young adults with ADHD & LD and other special needs. In his current role as neuropsychological consultant to several large school districts in the Boston area, he is on the ground, in schools and working with kids and their teachers several days each week.

Dr. Schultz created an award-winning video called “Einstein and Me” about living successfully with a learning disability, and has written extensively about children with learning, behavioral and emotional challenges. He has a special education and psychology blog on the Huffington Post. His book, called Nowhere to Hide: Why Kids with ADHD and LD Hate School and What We Can Do About It, (Jossey-Bass/Wiley) which examines the role of stress in learning, has received international acclaim.

 

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Transcription: 
Some people want to know what to if an IEP isn't working. It's important for parents to understand that an IEP and the child's progress on an IEP is evaluated at least every year. Every three years, there's a major evaluation with retesting, and a reevaluation of the child's skills at that level. But at any point along this process, if parents feel their child isn't making adequate process, they can call a meeting of the school personnel, sit around a table and talk about this. Similarly if a teacher, a school psychologist or other people think the plan isn't working well, they can call the meeting together. Invite the parents in and say, you know, the plan that we developed isn't heading your child in the direction that we want him to go. So we need to make some changes. Adjustments can be made by adding an amendment to the IEP at any time. It's really a document that protects the rights of parents so that kids get what they need in school. It's important for parents to remember that the IEP grew out of laws that were written essentially for and by parents many years ago. And that law is designed to protect students rights and children's rights. This is not a document that was created by a school system to get in the way of education. It was a document that had several important components. The most important was to be talking to parents about their kids and to help track a child's progress over time. It's really a parents' rights document.