There is an old saying, " Without a target, you might just hit it." Some may say, "What, I don't know what you are talking about." Others might think, "DUH! That's a no brainer." The main idea is, there must be a plan. Without a plan, there is no way to measure success. What are you trying to attain? How will you know if you met your goal? The bottom line is, you will have no idea.
Let's look at a child that is a year behind in reading and math and has trouble making friends. His teacher says he is distracted and takes a long time to transition into a new activity. This boy is definitely a candidate for an IEP? It may take parent initiation to get the ball rolling. There are observations, consent forms to be signed. Then it's time to begin the assessments to determine whether special education services should be given. The first goal may be for the child to receive special education services to help with these deficit areas. This is not a small goal. It is not a quick process. I often tell a family that it will take at least a semester once he/she requests the school to look into the child's need for special education. A parent may think, " Isn't that the school's job to figure this out?" There is a responsibility of a school to educate a child but this may be defined differently by a parent and the school district.
If services are received sooner rather than later, it is often because a parent began addressing this topic with school personnel. This is particularly true if a child is not a behavioral concern. A quiet but distracted child doesn't always get noticed and his needs can "fly under the radar." A parent advocating for this child may bring attention to issues that go unnoticed for a long time.
As an advocate ask the school to look at academic/social/behavioral issues the are troublesome. Ask for feedback, observations and make your concerns known and request some next steps. This kind of advocating may save lots of frustrations. Remember, you know your child better than anyone else. Your love and willingness to "go there" for him will make the biggest difference in his long term progress.
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