John J. Trifiletti, Ph.D. July 18, 2008

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a United States federal law that governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to children with disabilities. It addresses the educational needs of children with disabilities from birth to the age of 21.United States federal lawspecial education

The IDEA is considered to be a civil rights law. However, states are not required to participate. Since its inception, all states have chosen to participate.

The IDEA was formerly known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act but has grown considerably since. IDEA became a federal standard by an act of Congressional adoption in 1975 but has been amended many times since. The IDEA was most recently amended in 2004, which was a significant update.

In defining the purpose of special education, IDEA 2004 clarifies Congress’ intended outcome for each child with a disability: students must be provided a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that prepares them for further education, employment and independent living. [Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) [

An IEP Meeting must generate objective, observable goals for a 12-month period. Parents have an equal role to the educational personnel who are required to participate in the Meeting.

 Many school districts are struggling with shrinking budgets, and under funded mandates (I.D.E.A. has never been fully funded at the promised amount from the feds.) However, the fact of the matter is that the school district must provide a free, appropriate, public education (FAPE) for your child. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "I can appreciate the dilemma that you face in these times of budgetary constraints, but what we really need to focus on right now is the need for _________."(add your issue, i.e. 'Kate needs to be able to access closed captioning on the TV when the teacher is showing a film') From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 This statement will obviously create an "us against you" scenario if the reason other members of your IEP team say they aren't convinced about a service for your child is really due to other things besides that child's need.  If you get this response, whoever says it should be able to clearly define the reasons why they are "not convinced" in context to your child. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "I'm glad that the law requires us a team to have a dialogue on the development of Mindy's IEP. I understand we may not always agree. Let me tell you again why Mindy needs this service based on the objective assessments we know about her." From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 This response usually comes up when a parent is advocating for a child, and the principal, teacher, or special Ed. Director is feeling the pressure of meeting the needs of ALL children.  Don't forget why you are all together. Your child has been determined to need an INDIVIDUALIZED plan, and that is why you are there. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "The service I am advocating for today is to meet Sonya's needs, but won't it be great that the other kids may also benefit from___________(add issue i.e. a quieter classroom due to acoustical adaptations)" From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 When you are working on measurable goals for your child's IEP, and the assessment of those goals keeps being written as "teacher observation" as the only way to measure progress, you will never have concrete proof of student achievement. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "I value the input of the teacher so much, and her ability to be in tune with my child's progress. In addition to that, I would like to discuss what are some other ways that we can assess this goal with objective measures, so that we can meaningfully compare the IEP goal with a measurable short term objective or benchmark.“ From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 In 1997, with the reauthorization of IDEA, much stronger language was implemented requiring a general education teacher to be present at the IEP meeting.  It only makes sense, especially if the general ed. teacher will be the primary educator who will be seeing your child on a day-to-day basis. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "I noticed there is no general ed. teacher here today. So I assume we will consider this meeting a 'pre-planning' session for our real IEP when the general ed. teacher can be here." From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 When professionals perceive that because they have had training and experience in the issues involving deafness, that they automatically know what is right for every child, they are not respecting the information and expertise that you as the parent being to the table. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "I can appreciate the fact that you have many years of experience and training. But as Jason's parents, we want to make sure this team has taken into consideration our perspective as parents." From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 There might be some good discussion going on in your child's IEP meeting, but unless these discussions actually get written down in the IEP, the services will not be required by law to be implemented.  The reason the members of the IEP team are defined in the law is so that the provisions decided upon by the team members, can be documented and implemented. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "I really don't feel comfortable with delaying this decision about Mary Kate. If we feel as a team that this service/goal needs to be included in Mary Kate's IEP, let's go ahead and write it in, and then we can meet again about how this will be implemented." From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 The reason the members of the IEP team are defined in the law is so that the provisions decided upon by the team members can be documented and implemented. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "This is a really important service/goal for Spencer that we are discussing. Who do you need to talk to, to get additional information, how will it influence the decision we make here as a team, and exactly when can you get the information back to me on what it will take to get this written into Spencer's IEP." From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 To be provided with an appropriate education and be meeting the standards for the grade level your child is in, then the "measurement" of success is what every “eighth grader" should know, not comparisons to what has historically been the dismal outcomes for special education students. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "Well, that's interesting to know. But let's keep our focus on the standards of what Michelle's goals are in context to what she is supposed to learn and know in the eighth grade. How can we continue to ensure that the goals/services we are talking about today will help her achieve what the state standards require all eighth graders to know." From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 A lot of school personnel, realizing the limited amount of time in the IEP meeting, may draft an IEP for the student ahead of time. The problem is, if it was not created in context of the discussions, concerns, and priorities of the parents and other IEP team members, it is out of compliance with the law. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE Two weeks before the scheduled IEP meeting - "I wanted to make sure that before we meet in two weeks, if you will be creating a draft of Nicole's IEP, that I get a copy of that 10 days before the meeting, so that I may come to the meeting prepared to talk about the recommendations in the draft. Better yet, let's set up a time to work on the draft together." From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "Because I didn't have time to look at this draft ahead of time, let's have a discussion about each of the elements, and as a team, we can incorporate the parts of the draft we determine are needed for Mike into the one we write today." From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 Sometimes the philosophy of an administration creates a program that provides for only one mode of communication or method of teaching. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "I really think we shouldn't discuss placement issues until we have clearly defined Claire's needs based on how she communicates in the world around her. When that is agreed upon by our team, then we can discuss the setting in which her services can be provided most effectively." From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 You must have a clear understanding of your child's cognitive ability and whether a delay in his progress is due to communication access or cognitive potential.  Low expectations for special education students have been at the root of dismal outcomes in our nation for over 100 years. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "Let's make sure we set the expectations for Jeannene comparable to her cognitive and language potential, and ask ourselves the question as to whether she is getting enough communication access (or appropriate instruction) in order to learn what she needs to learn." From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 In order to have clear and appropriate expectations set for your child, his/her strengths and weaknesses need to be clearly defined in the IEP.  You must have a clear understanding of your child's cognitive ability and whether a delay in his progress is due to communication access or cognitive potential. From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

RESPONSE "What are the steps we need to develop to get Bob to his next level of performance. Let's look again at his strengths and weaknesses. How are we going to put goals in his IEP to make sure he is closing the gap toward grade level expectations, so he won't remain behind? What about summer school? Tutoring? Extra help?" From ‘The Pop-Up IEP’ © Hands & Voices 2005, Used With Permission.

 Hand Voices Website  Hands and Voices Popup IEP education/popup/pop_index.html

 John Trifiletti’s Website where this presentation is posted.  Deaf Web Website for Deaf and Hard of Hearing