Shinn,+Whitney,+IEP's



Hi, my name is Whitney Shinn, this is a picture of my little family, my husband Nathan and our dog Sammie.

I got married last summer! My long term goal would be to have a job in some sort of special education program. I hope to get my BA and then go into the master SPED program. I really love my family and any time I get to spend with them makes me happy. I especially love my dog and taking her to the dog park or for walks. I often worry that I will not be able to manage a class full of children. I also worry that I will not be able to get a job after I graduate :/ I find learning another language pretty much impossible. After all the Spanish classes I have taken and struggled through, I still barely understanding the basics. I can really relate to students who are struggling to learn a new language. This term I am really looking forward to learning more about the different kinds of disabilities. I watch a 10 year old boy who has Aspergers and OCD and I would like to learn ways that I can work better with him. I hope to become better at recognizing disabilities and working with all different types of people who are disabled.
 * Something interesting about me: **
 * Education & Career goals: **
 * What brings me joy: **
 * Greatest fear about being a teacher: **
 * Something difficult to learn and how it can help me connect with future students: **
 * What I want to gain from this course: **

What is an IEP?

IEP stands for Individualized Education Plan. The IDEA principle for free and appropriate education states the students who have been referred to special education must have an IEP. The IEP will detail their special learning needs and mandates appropriate services.

Once it is determined that a student is eligible for special education services the IEP is written by a case conference committee or multidisciplinary team that is concerned with a particular student. The parents are required to be a part of the group that makes decisions for the child. Other members may include the general teacher, special education teacher, principal, counselor, social worker, other specialists and anyone who is involved with the student.

While the format of a written IEP can vary from district or state they all must contain the required components. The IEP has several components such as: Who needs an IEP? The students served by IDEA who would most likely have an IEP are distributed into the following 13 disability categories.
 * Student’s present level of performance
 * Annual goals, including academic and functional]
 * Short term-objectives
 * Statement of special and related services
 * Modifications in assessment procedures and explanation
 * Initiation dates of service delivery and the duration and frequency
 * Description of how annual goals are measured
 * Parent concerns
 * Autism
 * Deaf-blindness
 * Deafness
 * Emotional disturbance
 * Hearing impairment
 * Mentally challenged
 * Specific learning disabilities
 * Speech or language impairments
 * Traumatic brain injury
 * Visual impairment/ blindness
 * Multiple disabilities
 * Orthopedic impairment
 * Other health impairment

Why did I want to do a Wiki about IEP’s? I choose to do my Wiki assignment on the IEP because I eventually want to go into the special education field and thought this would be a great topic to learn about. Also, I take care of a little boy who has an IEP and wanted to learn more about the process and what important information I can pull from his IEP. Overall, this seems like a major component for anyone working in special education and it would be very important to understand it in great detail.

5 things I learned while researching: 1. I learned a lot about the parents’ rights during the IEP process. The parents can start the special education process at any time and have the overall control. 2. I learned about many great resources that parents could use to get acquainted to the IEP and Special Education process. Also, students and teachers could use the resources to get a better understanding about the IEP. 3. While researching I learned who qualifies for special education and also way which disabilities can be noticed or determined. 4. I learned a lot about the different sections of an IEP and the ones that are most useful, depending on who is reading it. 5. I became very familiar with the format of and IEP and all the paperwork involved in the process. I also became familiar with what and IEP meeting would actually look like.

Resources:

Top Resource: Rating: 5 Kids Health: [|http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/learning/iep.html#]

This site walked you through the IEP step by step and had very good information. I also liked that it had separate sections for the parent, kids, and teens. This would be a great place to send the parent for information. Overall, this site had the most useful information in a format that was easy for anyone to understand and make use of. I expecially like some of the tools and links that gave interactive examples of what it might feel like to be experiencing a disbaility.

More Resources: 1. Rating: 4

IEP Individualized Education Plan: []

This Youtube video was made by a student in a special education class. She gives a good, direct explanation of what an IEP is and the process. She goes over the layout of an IEP and shows an actually copy of what it looks like.

2. Rating: 4

What is an IEP?: []

This video had a great description of what an IEP is and everything that you would find in an IEP. While the information was really good, it was very dull so I only gave it a rating of 4.

3. Rating: 5

//Wrightslaw: All About IEPs// by Peter Wright, Pamela Wright, and Sandra O'Connor

This book is comprehensive and easy-to-read. This book goes over the IEP in detail and answers over 200 frequently asked questions about IEPs. I would recommend this to a student learning about IEPs or a parent.

4. Rating: 5

IEP Development is a PROCESS not an event! : []

I found this wiki page an it is very detailed on what an IEP looks like. It gives a brief description and then goes into an example of an IEP form. It is pretty detailed and wordy but it has a ton of great information.

5. Rating: 5

Sample Individualized Education Program: []

This was an easy to read example of a student’s IEP. I think it is very important to look this over to get an idea of what a student’s actual IEP might look like.

6. Rating: 4

U.S. Department of Education: [|http://www2.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html#closer]

This site had a huge list of anything you can ever want to know about IEP including a sample form. The information was very thorough the only reason I gave this site a rating of 4 was because the format in certain parts was difficult for me to read.

7. Rating: 5 National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities: The Short-and-Sweet IEP Overview: []

This site caught my eye because it said short-and-sweet overview which is great if you are only looking for a quick idea of and IEP. The site was easy to read and had good information. It also had a Spanish version which I really liked for a parent resource.

8. Rating: 4 IEP Video: []

I had to add this YouTube video because it was such a touching story about a boy who needs an IEP. It shows how important the IEP is to the individual and the family and that it should not be taken lightly. While this video did not have a ton of infomation it does makes you realize the importance of every individual and want to help each student succeed.