Hey there people.  Ty Amey here to share a true story with you.

We recently had a client in the Bay Area who's parents were extremely active and involved but needed some professional support.  I won't go into the entire history because I only want to share one particular point with you.  

During an IEP for the client, the one of the members of the schools IEP team actually said, "…the idea of jane doe catching up is an unfair goal."  HUH???  Now we are talking about a 3rd grader performing at a kindergarten level and catching up isn't the goal?  

It's tragic how these schools have just written off so many children with special needs simply because they don't care to provide the extra resources and attention the child may need.    

It is critical that parents know their rights and their children's rights when it comes to their education.  If you don't know, we can help!

Hello there!  Ty Amey here again and I want to talk about assessments a little.  Enjoy......

You have to know where you are in order to properly map out where you are going.  This is why a thorough assessment is critical to developing an effective IEP.  Depending on the specific abilities of your child, the type and number of assessments needed for your child may vary but the need for their completeness and accuracy remains a constant.  There are a few things every parent or advocate should specifically pay attention to when discussing assessments during the IEP.

1. When were the assessments completed? - You want to make sure the assessments are current in order to ensure the relevance of their content.  You also want to ensure they assessments were not done in a hurried or rushed fashion because that will also decrease the accuracy of the assessment.
   
2. Who completed the assessments? - You want to make sure that the individual or team of people that conducted the assessment posses the proper qualifications and experience to conduct a thorough assessment. 
   
3. How much time was spent on each assessment? - Good, accurate, comprehensive and thorough assessments tend to take time.  Time that many teachers and administrators tend not to have.  When preparing a plan for the education of your child, it is critical to know the exact level of development and ability your child currently possesses.  Two classroom observations totaling 45 mins of assessment time is usually not enough to truly determine where your child stands.  

These are just a few things to watch for when discussing your child's assessment during an IEP.  At LONHA, our attorneys and advocates have the experience and expertise to really ensure all assessments provide the thorough and relevant data necessary to plot your child's development course.

Hey there!  This is Ty and I just wanted to share a little bit about IEP goals.

As an advocate, one of the things I often see during IEP's are vague and poorly defined goals if they even have goals at all. I tend to devote a great deal of my focus on the goals during IEP's because I am a numbers guy.  When I read an IEP and analyze the current goals vs. former goals, I can usually get a great feel for how the IEP and school has performed.  A few things you want to pay attention to when review goals are:

1. Progress - The purpose has to be improvement.  Whatever programs or instructional tools the school uses has to show results.  It doesn't matter how much they like a program or even how much you may like it, if your child is not showing progress you need to try something new.
2. Measurable - You can have the best goals in the world but if you don't have a specific, reliable, and accurate way to measure progress towards that goal, you are unlikely to reach them.  You want to make sure not only are the systems in place to measure progress, but to also make sure YOU understand the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the systems.
3. Comprehensive - Make sure their are goals for each and every area of your child's educational development.  Each and every program that is in place for your child should have a goal attached to it.  Everything that you discuss in the IEP in regards to how the district or school plans to educate your child should have a goal.  

At LONHA we strive to assist our clients in assuring we have the mechanisms are in place to allow us and the parent to hold the school and school district accountable.  Our experience in IEP's and special education advocacy enables us to ensure each and every IEP is exactly what it is supposed to be and that is an Individual Education Program specified to the needs of your child.