How Speech Therapy Can Help With IEPs
If your child has a disability or other condition that means they’re struggling in school, such as a communication disorder, you likely have concerns. Thanks to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (aka IDEA) all under the age of 22 have the right to ‘free and appropriate educational services’. Depending on the school and district, what constitutes ‘appropriate’ can vary. Through a referral, though, you can have your child evaluated to see whether an IEP is warranted.
What is an IEP?
An Individualized Educational Plan is an outline of educational/special services goals and objectives. It’s intended to facilitate the learning process of a child in education. An IEP is frequently beneficial for those individuals with speech or language disorders, as well as learning disabilities. An IEP meeting can be obtained by contacting a private or public school’s staff. You should be able to talk to their main office, principal, special education staff, pediatrician, or classroom teacher. The next step is bringing a Special Education Team together to discuss the deposition. The team composition is not always the same. It does generally include the parent or parents, a general education teacher, the principal, and a special education teacher. It may include others. The team will confer and a decision will be made about if it is necessary to give the child further evaluation. If it is, the parent(s) will sign a Permission to Test form. The child will be evaluated by staff and the team will reconvene at an evaluation meeting. For evaluation of a suspected speech-language impairment, medical and educational history shared by the parents is considered. There is typically also a formal assessment of articulation, language, voice, and fluency. There will usually also be a review of the child’s student record and classroom performance. Teachers will be consulted, and possibly observed teaching the child in class. After evaluation, at the next meeting, the team will decide if the child qualifies for special education services. If the child does, an IEP process begins.
How Speech Therapy Can Help With IEPs
Speech therapists and speech language pathologists (aka SLPs) are commonly included in IEPs. They generally have at least a Master’s degree, as well as a state license and/or a certification from the Department of Education. They can help children with disabilities or communication disorders whose impaired language skills affect their ability to participate in the classroom environment. Examples include working to improve slow development of vocabulary or grammar. They also do work on voice disorders, addressing abnormal speech patterns (monotonous, too loud, soft, nasal etc.). An SLP will often spend some time one-on-one with the child for personal attention and learning. The speech pathologist can provide you with therapy information on your child any time you request it.
Lynne Alba Speech Therapy Solutions work with several speech language pathologists and know very well how speech therapy can help with IEPs. Call us on 310-856-8528 to talk to one of our staff and learn more about the services we provide.