Complicated Language Excludes Parents from the IEP Process. It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way.
August 19, 2019
By: Brenna Aversano
Source: Chalkbeat
I don’t agree with the school’s evaluation of my daughter. What do I do?
The school suspended my son for “being physical,” but he has a disability. Can you help?
The teacher moved my child to a different type of classroom and didn’t tell me. Can she do that?
These are real questions parents have asked me, and they’re likely familiar to special education teachers. For the past 12 years, I have worked with young children in a wide variety of settings from New York to Colorado, where I’m now a preschool inclusion teacher. My passion lies in advocating and supporting young children with disabilities.
These questions make me feel anger — not with the families, but with the procedural safeguard notice, a document mandated by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act that’s meant to inform families of their rights at least once a year.
The more I look at this document, the more frustrated I become. In theory, parents have the answers to their questions, but in reality, these notices are unreadable, impractical, and intimidating. Procedural safeguard notices require such high level reading skills that they alienate families from participating in their children’s education, forcing them to take a backseat to educators and state officials.