The “Individualized Education Plan”

I am nervous about my child’s upcoming IEP meeting.  I am an important member of this team of people that will create a plan to hopefully support my son in school so that he can function more successfully.  This team of people will include at least one autism specialist, a speech and language pathologist, the special ed teacher, possibly an occupational therapist, and a district representative.  Everyone cares about the outcome of this meeting.  I am sure that everyone cares for my child to a certain extent.  But they will have the luxury of remaining perfectly calm and professional because they won’t be coming with their most prized possession, their child.  And they don’t know his needs like I do.  They may look at test scores and classroom behavior, and think he needs very little support.  After all, he is extremely polite and well behaved.  He performs at or above grade level in all areas academically.  So what’s the problem?

My child has Asperger’s Syndrome.  This is an invisible disability, especially in a child as intelligent as he is, yet it affects every area of his life.  Liane Holiday Willey describes this disability perfectly in her book “Pretending to Be Normal”.  She states that neurologically typical children have a trampoline under them, while a child with AS does not.  “People struggling with Asperger’s often find there is no trampoline to catch them as they fall, no soft and pliable cushion to propel them back to the beginning for a new and improved, better prepared jump.  AS makes it difficult to learn from where you have been.  It makes it difficult to generalize and problem solve.  Without a built-in springboard to catch you as you fall and encourage you to try again, Asperger’s people often find they fall to the hard ground, damaged and broken.” (p. 51)

During this meeting, I will try to convince this team of people that my child needs extra support during recess time.  He needs more help with the hidden covert curriculum of reading social cues than he does with the actual overt curriculum adopted by the school district.  And if this support is lacking, it is crushing to him.

So I am nervous.  I know school could be a better place for my son with enough supports in place.  I am hoping for understanding.  I am hoping that I can put my own fears and anxiety on hold so that I can communicate openly.  I am hoping they will care about the outcome at least half as much as I do.  Prayers are appreciated.

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