January 2023 Educational Tips Blog
JANUARY 2023 EDUCATIONAL TIPS BLOG
Reviewing Special Education Documents
Good morning! Happy 2023! Today we are going to talk about special education documents. The special education records for a youth with a special education disability are a wealth of information in learning about our clients. Within those records lies years of information including testing, data analysis, deficits, strengths, history, physical and mental disabilities and accommodations used to address those deficits and disabilities. When we know what the deficits are and how to best work with them, we can essentially adapt those tools in working with youth in differing roles. You can take it one step further and ask your client what is working and not working in their current IEP. If the youth or parent has concerns about the IEP, this is a great time to learn more about what educational supports are still needed.
Let’s break this down even more. When requesting special education records on your client, make sure to request the most recent IEP, the last eligibility evaluation, any behavior plan/504 and any manifestation determination review documents. Essentially if you request the entire SPED file, you should obtain all of these documents and more. However, in a pinch, what is listed above will give you the most information from recent events and current level of functioning.
Within those documents you will not only have the history of testing and data in the last evaluation but also current progress, data and accommodations in the most recent IEP. Evaluations must reoccur for eligibility determination for special education services every three years. IEP’s must be reviewed and updated annually. The longer the youth is special education, the more information you have.
Another important document, if it exists, is the behavior plan. Behavior plans list specific behaviors youth have that require redirection and what works effectively in improving that behavior. If we know what works for those behaviors in the classroom, we can implement those in our practice with youth as well. For example, a youth has trouble paying attention to your directions; the behavior plan might list a successful way to re-focus the youth on the task at hand. Often, Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA) inform these behavior plans and are helpful to review as well. Typically youth with an OHI or SED label will have a behavior plan, do not hesitate to ask if you do not receive a copy with your request for records.
What we know is that structured, consistent and repetitive responses help to rewire the brain and improve behavioral responses in youth. If anything else, ask the school what works best in the classroom and collaborate to support each youth.
Coming up soon: I am in the processing of creating a collaborative webinar with myself and a highly respected nueropsychologist to help explain testing and data analysis! Stay tuned!
Hope this month’s newsletter was helpful! I am always accepting new referrals. Please keep educational support and consulting on your mind. If you are unsure if a referral is appropriate, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks for reading!