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Writer's picturePriya Pasumarthy

The Importance of shifting the negative experiences in the IEP meetings


adults sitting at a table
Authored by - Priya Pasumarthy -- 09/10/2024

IEP meeting is the meeting between the team of school staff (consists of

SLP, OT, Case manager, Behaviorist and Special education teachers, director, General

education teachers, and admin) and the parents(Public Law 94-142) of the student

for whom the IEP will be developed after a series of comprehensive assessments

within 60 days post the parental consent.


IEP is a detailed plan that outlines the strengths, areas of disability and support

services offered based on the disability throughout the academic year(speech, OT,

reading/ special academic instruction along with other technological services

including the duration and the assigned staff) developed in accordance with IDEA

that ensures that the student receives appropriate free education(FAPE).


As IEP meetings are elaborate(have a lot of team members) and time consuming,

based on the combination of many factors can yield positive or negative

experiences to the parents. A minority of parents claim to have positive experiences

with the IEP team and are satisfied with their child’s overall progress. However the

majority of parents claim their experiences to be stressful and negative post the IEP

meetings based on the school districts that they reside. Further, parents voice out

of the intimidation during the meeting more or less experiencing the predator-prey

dynamics throughout the IEP meetings.


Now, this scenario launches the readers to ask the following questions is the

primary focus of this article.


1)Who should be taking the next steps and what are the reasons for the predator/prey

dynamics in the IEP meetings?


2)Why is it important to shift from the predator-prey dynamics in the IEP meetings?


3)What steps can be taken to ameliorate the negative experiences and shift

completely to yield positive experiences?


The answer to the first question is both the school staff and parents should take

steps to avoid creating negative experiences during the IEP meetings as they are

part of the Team working for the student’s success. Below is the depiction-

IEP Team: School staff + Parents of the student ⇢⇢Student’s Success/Progress


We can clearly see from the above depiction that when both the school staff and

parents work as a Team yields to student’s success provided there is a mutual

alignment between the two parties. In this case it leads to positive experiences

during the IEP meetings thus mutual respect, better communication and trust is

built in.

However, this scenario changes when there is non alignment between the two

parties leading to negative experiences.The possible reasons for non alignment can

be attributed to barriers such as school staff’s -low expectations, leadership crisis,

budget constraints, staff deficiency, lack of availability of the support services,

school-admin culture, difference of opinions, attitudes/ beliefs and the need to wrap

the process as it is time bound. On the other side- parents, are vulnerable being

emotionally involved for their child's future, lack of trust towards the school, lack of

awareness of their Rights or access to legal language, having higher expectations

and don’t want to limit their kid’s success to a mere progress. Thus there is an

imbalance of power between the two parties in their approach to handling the same

situation. With a mismatch in power between the two parties we can see the

manifestations of a predator -prey dynamics that takes role ahead. When one of the

either parties don’t align it would start to strain the student's progress/success

when not fixed early on further down the time can steer towards legal ramifications

causing financial burdens to both the parties which answers the second question.


By exercising retrospection, exhibiting sensible demeanor during the IEP meetings,

and understanding the various mutual perspectives both the parties, i.e. school

staff and parents can change the style of approach towards a democratic one, can

yield to positive experiences in the IEP meetings. When both the parties work

towards the common priority( Student’s success) coming from- “How to "angle it

itself leads to a relationship building that diminishes the Predator-prey dynamics

answers the third question.


With the media and technological advancements there are a number of resources

available around that parents can benefit from. It will be imperative for parents to

understand that IEP meetings are elaborate(with a lot of school staff) and also

time consuming is not easy. Always prioritize and figure out working around being

a part of the team. If for some reason things still don’t work out it would be ideal to

proceed legally to resolve at the earliest as it will be detrimental to the child’s

progress.


Thus, the importance of shifting from the negative experiences in the IEP meetings

is prime. The responsibility falls on both the parties(school staff & the parents) to

work around changing the nature of the approach towards a democratic style with

the common priority- Student’s Progress/Success which would diminish the

predator -prey dynamics. Steps should be taken to mutual relationship building by

exercising retrospections, exhibiting sensibilities during the IEP meetings and

understanding the various mutual perspectives as they are a Team.



Author Bio:

Priya Pasumarthy is a healthcare provider and the author of Halloween At Luke’s

(2019) & Our Little Promise (2022).

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