The IEP process.
It’s hard my friends.
The meetings, the phone calls, the paperwork.
It can be incredibly overwhelming.
When you’re reading through 50 plus pages of data and information describing your child’s disability and delays, it’s hard not to sink down in your chair and start crying.
It can definitely consume your thoughts and fill you with negativity if you let it.
What I’ve learned over the past 10 years is to focus on what our son CAN do.
That’s where the magic happens.
I’m not saying the data and numbers aren’t important, because they are.
They give us the information we need to appropriately support our kids and help them reach their full potential.
But the data, the numbers, the percentages, the delays, and the diagnosis do NOT define who are children are.
It plays a rule but they are SO much more.
That’s why it’s important that we face these meetings with a positive approach.
IEP meetings shouldn’t be a struggle or a battlefield.
We shouldn’t feel like we need to put on our boxing gloves before heading into the meeting.
We should feel confident and in control.
We should feel respected and heard from every single person sitting around the table.
We should have a team of people surrounding us that truly BELIEVE in our child just as much as we do.
A TEAM that supports, loves and cares for our child as if he was their own.
A team that celebrates with us every time a new skill is achieved, no matter how big or small.
A team that works off our child’s strengths instead of focusing on the weaknesses.
A team that presumes competence.
A team, who no matter what, will go to bat for our child and make sure they have their best interest at heart.
And that’s what makes an IEP meeting successful.
A family who advocates for what they need.
And an amazing team.
Working TOGETHER.
Our son would not be where he is today without all of the wonderful therapists, teachers and paraprofessionals in his life.
We are incredibly grateful for the army of people who continue to stand beside us and support our sweet Bubba.
