If you’re the parent of a differently wired kid with a diagnosed
learning disability, you likely have had experience with Individualized
Education Plans, otherwise known as IEPs. And if this is you, my hunch
is you have some feelings about IEPs and the whole process — the
stresses, the unknowns, the fact that it might feel like you have to
understand a completely different language just to get the services and
supports your child needs and deserves in schools.

Occupational therapist Beth Liesenfeld, the woman behind a company, podcast, and resource called The IEP Lab, joins us to answer your
questions around how parents can better prepare for an IEP meeting, what
makes a good IEP, and how we can go about making changes on an IEP if we realize the accommodations aren’t being effective or if a school isn’t following through in the way the IEP outlines.

Beth Liesenfeld, MOT, OTR/L is an occupational therapist passionate about
providing “insider” information of the school’s process and culture to
parents in order to increase collaboration between parents and school
staff! Her company, The IEP Lab, provides online workshops and courses
as well as produces The Parent IEP Lab Podcast. 

Things You'll Learn from This Episode:

• What parents actually need to know before they go into an IEP meeting

• The criteria for designing an effective and supportive IEP

• The intention behind the goals written into any IEP, and how to create goals that lead to hoped-for outcomes

• What parents can do if their children’s school doesn’t follow through on the accommodations provided in their child’s IEP

• How to include accommodations for students who are struggling with school refusal and therefore may not be meeting attendance requirements

• What the IDEA says about seeking an IEP for twice-exceptional children who may be performing “adequately” but aren’t reaching their potential

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