5 Ways to Respond in an IEP Meeting When Denied Related Services

Unfortunately, we hear way too many frustrating, misleading, or outright incorrect statements in IEP meetings when parents are trying to request occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, a 1:1 aide, or other related services in an IEP. With the help of non-attorney education advocate Lisa Carey, we’ve come up with simple but effective responses so that you can go into your IEP meeting ready to advocate for what your child needs at school.

1. They say: “We only give [X] minutes of that service a week here.”

You say: “Do all your students who have this service have the same goals and needs as my child?” You can remind your team to review your child’s assessments together and look at their needs, so you can create an individualized plan.

2. They say: “Services are supposed to fade out. We're going to start cutting your child's hours.”

You say: “Can you show me your policy on that?” The school probably won’t have the policy pulled up and ready to go, so Carey recommends giving them a deadline to provide that policy. If they don’t provide it by your deadline, start off first with an email to the case manager. If they don't follow up, request another IEP meeting. Often, according to Carey, that will push things along, and they'll get you the policy, or they'll admit they don't have the policy.

You can also say, “Don't we need to do an assessment in order to show a need has changed?” If they're saying the child no longer needs OT or another related service and you disagree, ask to do an assessment to show what your child’s needs are.

3. They say: “We have to wait to get approval for that new service, and we're not sure how long that's going to take.”

You say: “Who does those approvals? Can you please put in the notes that you're going to look into that, and get back to me by Friday?”

This is important because an IEP team is supposed to have someone in the meeting who can make decisions about how to allocate district resources. If they have to get an approval from somebody who's not in the meeting, then they are making decisions outside of an IEP meeting.

4. They say: “You aren’t allowed to talk to your child’s 1:1 aide.”

You say: “Can I speak to the aide with the teacher present regarding personal care?” For example, you may have questions about your child’s toileting, G-tube, lunch, etc. Carey says that schools rarely have an argument against this.

5. They say: “Your child’s aide is not allowed to attend your child's IEP.”

You say: “Can you please share the policy or regulation about this?”

You can also ask the teacher to please get the aide's input. Then, when you get to the IEP meeting, ask what input the aide had.