Qualifying for an IEP

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• Prep for eligibility determination

  When your child’s evaluation is done, you'll meet with the school to determine if your child qualifies for special education. This is called an eligibility determination meeting.

  If your child is eligible:

  • The next step is creating an IEP.

  • Some schools have joint eligibility and IEP development meetings. But if you haven’t planned on combining these steps, an IEP meeting will be scheduled.

  If your child is not eligible:

  • You may want to talk about whether a 504 plan is right for your child.

• Read the report before the meeting

  You have the right to see your child's evaluation report before the eligibility determination meeting.

  A lot of the details might not make sense when you're reading them on your own. You may start to feel sad or surprised, maybe even relieved. But if you're seeing the report for the first time during the meeting, it can be really hard to set aside that flood of emotion.

  Reading the report in advance gives you the best chance to ask important questions and advocate for your child during the meeting.

• Go through the 13 disability categories

  At the eligibility determination meeting, the team will go over the 13 disability categories in IDEA. To get an IEP, your child must meet the criteria for at least one category.

  The four most common categories:

  • Specific learning disability (which covers dyslexia)

  • Other health impairment (which covers ADHD)

  • Speech or language impairment

  • Autism

  The remaining categories:

  • Intellectual disability

  • Emotional disturbance

  • Orthopedic impairment

  • Visual impairment

  • Hearing impairment

  • Deaf-blindness

  • Traumatic brain injury

  • Multiple disabilities

  • Developmental delay

• Why schools use these categories

  IDEA has 13 disability categories, but that doesn't mean it only covers 13 disabilities. The categories cover such a broad range that even the rarest condition could fit in somewhere.

  But having these categories helps weed out kids who are struggling for reasons other than a disability, like missing a lot of school.

  If your child has more than one disability, it's a good idea to list each one in the IEP. Labels like "primary" and "secondary" can’t be used to limit the services your child gets.

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• Learn about "adverse impact"

  To qualify for an IEP, the school needs to determine that your child has a disability and that the disability negatively impacts how your child is doing in school.

  There's a jargony phrase that schools use for this: the disability needs to “adversely affect” your child's educational performance.

  Not all kids with disabilities will qualify for IEPs. Maybe your child doesn't need specially designed instruction or services. Maybe all your child needs is some assistive technology or classroom accommodations. If so, the school may recommend a 504 plan.

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