Back-to-School: Preparing for the One-Month Check-In with Dr. Sarah Pelangka

With school back in session, how can you make sure your child is receiving all the accommodations and services the school agreed to in the IEP? On September 14, we sat down with Dr. Sarah Pelangka, education advocate, BCBA-D, and owner of Know IEPs, to ask our burning questions about making sure the school year gets off to a great start. Dr. Pelangka gave us her expert tips for following up on the IEP, plus other concerns we can address with our school teams early in the fall.

Catch the full video of the event and transcript below, or read the recap and watch the highlights in our article 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Checking in with Your IEP Team.

Lindsay
Everybody, welcome to Undivided Live. We are happy to be back for our first live chat of the school year. Dr. Pelangka is going to share the most important questions we should be asking ourselves, our children, and their school teams to ensure things are on track for this year. And many of our kids have been back in class for a couple of weeks, and things are starting to settle in, which means we really can't start means that we really can start seeing what's working what's in place, and unfortunately, what isn't. So we also might be discovering new needs that have surfaced since last year's IEP. And we know how hard you work to get that IEP just right, but it helps no one, least of all your child if that IEP isn't being followed or doesn't capture what your child needs today, which means it's time for our back to school one-month check-in otherwise known as the reality check. No, I'm Lindsay Crain and I head the content and community teams at Undivided. Today we welcome back education advocate and frequent Undivided collaborator, Dr. Sarah Pelangka. She is owner of Know IEPs, has a doctorate in applied behavior analysis, and has a sibling with autism. She is a fierce advocate for our families. And we're happy to see you again. Hello, Sarah. Welcome back.

Dr. Pelangka
Hi, it's been so long.

Lindsay
I know, I feel like you know, we were lost in the summer, and you were just saying that, you know, starting next week, you have, you know, every day so it's on. Back. Also with you today in the chat, we have our amazing community manager Donna and our lead Navigator Kelly, they'll be passing all of your questions along to Dr. Pelangka. So please throw them into the chat. So if you still have questions after today, or you're looking for one to one support, our Undivided Navigators would love to help you kick off this school year with an action plan built around your priorities, your questions and your child's strengths and needs. So whether you're prepping for your next IEP, or your annual IHSS visit, your Navigator can help you organize all of those concerns and amazing ideas in your head and turn them into actionable step-by-step guides. So check out the link that Donna shared to learn about our free kickstart, and you can meet your Navigator within days. But until then, let's make sure that your child is getting what they need to survive and thrive this school year. So how can we know that our child's IEP is being implemented correctly? Or at all? We have a hit list of essential questions that can lay the foundation for your child's school year, all of these issues can be their own standalone events, so we're gonna hit the highlights. So Dr. Pelangka, let's start with accommodations. So some of our kids might have three accommodations in their IEP, others might have 33. And way too often kids are not getting the accommodations outlined in their IEPs or they're not receiving them properly. And you know, there are some students who will come back home and they'll tell their parents what's happening. And there are other students who can, but they won't. And then there are some students who may not be able to communicate or articulate exactly what they are or aren't getting. So what should we be doing and asking to assess if our kids are getting the accommodations they need to properly access their school environment?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, great question. I, of course, always advocate for observe, observe, observe. And there are many ways that can happen right? Of course, we know as parents, if we're standing in our kid's classroom that we may ourselves be, we very well may be, impacting their behavior. And so we aren't likely to see the best, most valid representation of what's really going on. So if that isn't an option for you to go in and observe yourself, what I refer to as a blind observer is also a great alternative. So that means sending someone in that you know, is going to know what to look for and is knowledgeable on on the content matter, the subject, if you will. However, your child doesn't know them. So they won't know that they're there to observe them, they won't know who they are. So it's less likely right to impact your child and how they're performing. That's a couple of ways. You can also consent to your school teams videotaping your child, particularly if you want to see a specific accommodation being utilized, right, or a specific goal being targeted. That's a great option that I think more and more school teams are even recommending now themselves, and I think it's really helpful. So for example, if there's a certain goal you want to see, you know, and you're asking the team, well, what does this look like or how are you working on this with my child? You can give them you know, authorization or consent to video record themselves working with your child to see what that looks like. And that can include, like you're asking, accommodations, right, so what accommodations are being implemented? And if you have questions about a specific accommodation, same thing, you can ask, can you record my child, you know, when they're using the specialized eating utensils or the suction cup bowl, can you record that so I can see what it looks like when they're eating, for example, not something that can be easily done. Another, I think my final recommendation would be asking them to send things home. So of course, not everything needs to be sent home or should be sent home. But whenever your team has or your child has an accommodation, or your team is recommending an accommodation for any sort of visual supports, right, like visual schedules, or visual whatever, or any specialized pencils, or pencil grips, or anything that can help them with doing their homework at home. Of course, communication should be happening all day, so that should come home. Ask for copies of that or, you know, for them to create versions for both at school and at home. So you are A) are holding them accountable. And you're actually physically seeing that it's being developed, and you then have copies for yourself to also carry it over at home. That can of course help your child, right?

Lindsay
No, I love both of those ideas. I had never thought about the video, right, asking for that recording. And as a parent, you can say, you know, I want to see how you guys are tackling it at school so we can do it at home. Right? So it's really like, collaborative, you know, collaborating with the team to make sure that you can have that carryover at home, you know. Oh, sorry, were you gonna say something?

Dr. Pelangka
I was just gonna say if you don't have someone else to go in and observe, oftentimes, parents might not have an in-home therapist, for example, or a company that they can send someone in. That's a great alternative, like I said, because it's not always best for the parent to go in. So that's a great alternative for parents, as you can record, you know, working with Bobby on this, and I would love to see what that looks like.

Lindsay
No, it's a great idea. And, you know, also, we should mention, right, don't forget to ask about accommodations beyond just academic time, right? Is your child receiving them in, you know, PE and specials, recess, anywhere and everywhere? Correct?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, whenever accommodations, that are written into the IEP of course, should be implemented for your child. So, absolutely.

Lindsay
And if teachers are inconsistently providing accommodations, should we automatically call an IEP?

Dr. Pelangka
Um, I mean, yes, I think if you have proof to support that, and you have evidence to support that, I tend to hear that a lot more in upper grades, especially for students who are primarily in Gen Ed, right, because they have six teachers or seven teachers, as opposed to just the one. And I can say, I think oftentimes, you'll come across at least one teacher who may be a bit rigid in their teaching methodology or might feel like, I don't, I mean, I'll hear them flat out say, Well, I don't feel like I need to do that, because X, Y, and Z. And I think to be fair, maybe certain Gen Ed teachers aren't aware that it's kind of legally required. And so a meeting can definitely help assist that teacher in better understanding the why, right? So a meeting is great because it gives the parent and the teacher an opportunity and a safe space to discuss that and to help them better understand why that accommodation is written into the IEP, when it should be utilized, and what it should look like. And make sure as the parent, of course, that you ensure that teacher or however many teachers it is that's not, you know, implementing, that they are in attendance physically at the meeting, otherwise it's kind of, I mean, what's the point, right. And I also think what's really important with accommodations is to ensure that they're written as clearly as possible. You know, we often see visual supports, you know, least to most prompting, I mean, they're very broad and vague. And again, to be fair, as a Gen Ed teacher, it's like, well am I supposed to do this for any and everything? Am I supposed to do this all the time, like when? And again, I think having that clarity can really also help the teacher better understand when and how to implement the accommodation.

Lindsay
That's a great point. And maybe your answers are going to be the same here for modifications. But I did want to talk about that as well. What should we be looking for and asking about to ensure that lessons, classwork, and homework are accessible and appropriately modified?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, so with modifications, the one thing I will say is they're often used interchangeably and they're not the same as accommodations, and I think it's really important for parents to understand kind of the significance of what it means to modify work, right. So once we start modifying, that means we're changing what we're asking the child to do and what we're changing what they're learning. So it becomes a difference in curriculum essentially. And the significance of that, of course can vary, we can be talking about minor modifications, and we can be talking about full blown modifications, right, a whole different curriculum. But either way it is, it is a lot more significant than just accommodating because we're changing, right, what they're accessing. So once that happens, I just always like to ensure parents understand A) they have to consent to modifications, it can't be, like we used to see, or at least I did, that districts would try to get away with writing an accommodation in the accommodations section of like "modified work," and it's not an accommodation, it's completely changing the curriculum, right or at the teacher's discretion can change, you know, the assignment to their level. Parents need to consent to that. And it's important because that can be completely changing your child's access to grade-level instruction and grade-level curriculum. And it can really broaden that gap, right. So there's already a gap, right, because your child has an IEP, maybe not academically, you don't have to have academic gaps. But for those students who do, it only makes it wider and wider. Because we are changing what they're learning and what they're accessing. So first and foremost, parents need to know they have to consent to that. It's not something that they should be told is going to happen. And if they do want modifications, or they are in agreement that that is necessary, I mean, the same does apply, making sure they're asking for work samples to be sent home. Because oftentimes, what I see is when things are modified, it's like very watered down. And it's things that are printed off somewhere on the internet, right? These random worksheets, it's not evidence based. So I guess it is different than accommodations in that you want to ask for work samples, not necessarily the accommodation be sent home, you want to verify you're seeing what your child's being exposed to, what they're learning, if it is still supposed to be grade-level curriculum, and just, you know, slightly modified, ask to see the original, you know, what did the rest of the class get in comparison to your child, that's a really another really helpful way to kind of look at what your child is learning in comparison to their peers.

Lindsay
That's a great point. And I hear what you're saying about modifications. And they can also be the ticket for maybe a child who's significantly under grade level, modifications allow them to access the general curriculum, right. And in a way that makes sense to them. But as you said, I mean, modifications sometimes can be way too low, or they can be way too high. So it's important to get on it from the beginning to pay attention to what's happening. And you know, everyone's getting to know your child, but you don't want to wait, you know, too long. And then you know, you're talking about work samples and how important they are, you know, should we be asking for them, like from the beginning of the year? Or do we wait until progress reports to see what's going on? You know, and how they're doing?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, to touch on that, I agree with you 100%, I don't want to make it sound like modifications are bad, it can absolutely be an excellent way for students to access. But again, make sure that that is what's happening, because it's hard. And it's very rare that I see it being done right. And so that's where I say, ask for what the rest of the class is getting in comparison to what your child is getting to make sure that they are still accessing the grade level content. You can ask for work samples, any time. Oftentimes, I'll see parents say at the end of the week, can you send, you know, work samples home? I wouldn't recommend waiting until the progress reporting period, because then that's three months that have gone by, right. And then you're just finding out like, Whoa, I thought this was happening. But really, this is happening. So I would definitely recommend more regular than that. And it depends on what grade we're talking about, too. Right?

Lindsay
Yeah. And Ariana, I see, Ariana was asking how often should we get them? So if you want it like, you know, if you want to be specific, I mean, what is something that we could ask? I mean, once every other week, once a month? What's too much?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah. And like I said, I think once a week would make sense. I think it depends on your child's grade. Some, like middle schoolers don't necessarily have something to send home every day, right? Or even every week. So I think it depends on the class. It depends on the grade. It depends on maybe there's a specific content area you're wanting, you know, science doesn't happen every day or even every week, whereas English and math do, so I don't think there's too often, albeit give your teachers time to grade, right they have to grade the work. So just keep that in mind.

Lindsay
Well, it also depending on you know, the teacher or the grade right now, nowadays, right? I mean, we have Google Classroom, their school apps. So look, look at everything and I think another thing that has been pointed out over the year is this really does does the work require maximum prompting? And if it does, maybe it's not being modified properly? Kind of to the point of what you were saying before, right? I mean, it should be something that's accessible, but someone's not just feeding them. So there's a lot of questions that can go in once you see what they're actually doing. And then you're working on it at home. Homework is, you know, not everyone's favorite thing. But it's also a great way for parents to see what's coming home and how their child is accessing what's happening.

Dr. Pelangka
Sorry, I would say going back to how often, I mean, I would just say whatever is happening for the gen ed students, so look at how frequently are the gen ed students receiving updates on their grades? Like I can go on parent connect, and check or not parent connect, whatever parent queue, and check my daughter's grades. So however often those are being input, you know now that those assignments have been completed and graded, you can then ask to have those sent home. My son's in elementary school, his teacher sent their work home every Monday. So whatever the expectation is, for the Gen Ed student, I would say the same could be true for your child.

Lindsay
Right, right. And again, just another reminder, you know, modifications should be present in PE, electives, performances, presentations, field trips, independent work time, all the time. So definitely ask those questions. Because, you know, unfortunately, we hear from a lot of people that maybe maybe they're done in certain settings, but then it doesn't carry over. And then our kids are aren't having access to everything throughout the day.

Dr. Pelangka
Well, I will say with modifications, if you look on the IEP, though, it does ask you to specify for what subject, so if it's not written as such, then they're not going to implement it as such, you can't just assume it's going to be everywhere. So you want to make sure that's clear, clearly documented within the IEP.

Lindsay
Great, great point.

Dr. Pelangka
Another thing, sorry, about modifications is, depending on the level of modifications, you'll also want to look in your IEP what type of report card your child will be receiving, because the more heavy the modifications, they may no longer be on a Gen Ed report card. And the reason that's important too is because then that can change the whole trajectory for promotion criteria. Right. So something else for parents to be mindful of.

Lindsay
And, you know, similar to accommodations, modifications, another thing, you know, we hear about all the time, the frustration around related services, right? Like who's working with my child, what are they working on? Are they really meeting? I mean, so let's talk about communication logs, right? We're talking about communication. How do we know what's going on? So do you recommend them? And if so, what should they include?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, so communication logs are great. As parents, we want to know what's going on with our child's day to day, you know, especially a parent of a child with an IEP. And like you alluded to earlier, many of our children may not be able to come home and communicate with us what's happening or who was with them, right. So communication logs are great, I think the best way I recommend for my clients to go about that is working collaboratively with the IEP team to come up with an agreed upon communication log. Personally, I don't think a blank notebook going back and forth is the best way. I think if you can come up with, "These are the things I want to know every day." And it's always there, that that's much more clear. And it also allows for the whoever's going to be filling it out, the teacher, the SLPs, whoever, to just have clarity on what you're expecting of them. So that's one thing and make sure it's written into the IEP, otherwise, they aren't required to fill it out. So that would be an accommodation. And you can also request service logs. So service logs are different from a communication log, just because you're you're referencing related services. So if you have questions about what's happening in speech, or OT, yes, they can still complete the communication log. But you can also always ask for copies of their actual service logs to see what goals were being worked on that day. And if they're actually taking data, and if the session actually happened, right. So that's another important piece that parents should be mindful of.

Lindsay
Yeah, I, I, well, I'm sure you have heard, you know, just as many as I have, stories of parents who are like, I just decided to kind of check in and then realized my child's speech therapist was on maternity leave for two months, and we had no idea that they weren't getting their services, right. And so I mean, it can be anything from somebody missing, you know, one, you know, one session to something a little more extreme, but it's important to just know and to know what they're working on as well, so you can carry it over at home. However you do that.

Dr. Pelangka
Well, I had a client, we ended up asking for the service logs for OT and we went through it and come to find out they were logging Sundays. There were at least three dates where it was a Sunday and obviously, that didn't happen. So we were able to really seek that out make sure that that comp ed was, you know, offered but you never find right?

Lindsay
No, no. Yeah, exactly. Hopefully you'll see good things. But occasionally you find a Sunday in there. And then I think Donna shared a really simple sample log in the chat. I love your idea, Dr. Pelangka, of really having those specific things. Donna shared, you know, a really a link to a really simple log, and that can get you started if you want to introduce it to your school team. And like Dr. Pelangka said, you can personalize it with them and make it work for everyone. And also, I know you said Dr. Pelangka, and we need to have this in the IEP. But if a district says that they can't or won't provide a communication log, is is that their right? Can they say no?

Dr. Pelangka
No, I mean, you have the right to request communication. I don't see what the rationale for that would be. So I don't, I don't see, like there's no legal reason that they can say no, we're not doing it. Therefore I don't, I would say no. I think what shouldn't happen and what I used to see years ago, but not so much anymore, as parents would have maybe unrealistic expectations, and they would expect like a play by play, right? That's just not going to happen. And especially if your kid, if your child is in a gen ed class for the majority of the day, you have to be mindful that the gen ed teacher has 20 plus other students. So that's why I say I think it's better to have a clear agreed upon understanding of what the expectation is. And then once the teacher agrees, like it's agreed to, you can't go back on that. Right.

Lindsay
Right. And let's see, Ariana asks, So should we also get work samples from like an SLP, or OT, etc, from any of the therapists?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, again, not necessarily work samples, I don't know that there will always be work samples, especially for speech. But what I was saying earlier, definitely any accommodations can be sent home, work samples could be sent home for OT, of course, if they're working on fine motor like writing, that's great, you can always ask for that to be sent home, or they can send pictures home. Again, you can ask for videos. But what I was referring to just now are the service logs, which would be where they keep their data as far as "we worked on this in session today. And these are the percentages," right how they performed. And this is when they were seen from this time to this time, so on and so forth.

Lindsay
And I think you already touched on this, but I just want to really be clear if people have questions, if we do discover that our kids are not receiving services, or they're supposedly receiving them on a Sunday, or they're not even or if they're not getting their full minutes, what should parents do?

Dr. Pelangka
So absolutely put it in writing, right? Document it, send it to, at that point, I would email the principal, the administration, and someone from the district. What should happen, like in the example you gave, actually, if someone's out on maternity leave, or you know, they quit, what have you, is the district should send out a notice, maybe initially, it would be an email noting that they're looking for someone, but then you would get a prior written notice, reflecting how many minutes are owed to your child. Now, that doesn't always happen. So as soon as you come to know that your child hasn't been getting services, you would email and then request a prior written notice. So request, you know, the service logs, because again, that's going to help you see if they don't have data to support they've been providing services and those services are owed. So that's the main reason why service logs are really important if they can't prove he was seen on every week this year, and they don't have those service logs, then that's there's no proof, and therefore they need to provide those sessions. So ask for the service logs. Note that you came to find out, however, you found out that your child hasn't received services, you want a prior written notice telling you what the last date of service was, as well as how many sessions and minutes are going to be owed and what their plan is to obviously, recommence services.

Lindsay
Perfect. And you earlier you were talking about team meetings, but I also want to touch on team trainings. Because our, you know, our kids are unique. They may share diagnoses or traits, but how they need to be supported can be very individualized. So when should parents consider requesting team trainings?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, so trainings are very important. And whenever there are trainings, make sure it's written into the IEP, I cannot stress that enough. Because the chances are that the training is going to have to happen probably continually at least once a year every year. If your child gets a new teacher, for example, right, that usually changes every year, sometimes not. And if there's any direct staff that changes throughout the year, so I always have that language written into my clients' IEPs. So times, or some occasions or situations in which I recommend training for sure would be anytime AAC is introduced. So augmentative communication, anytime assistive technology is introduced, of course, if it's something minor, maybe not a whole training, but generally if assistive tech is coming on and they're making recommendations, it tends to be higher tech. So making sure the team always knows when and why to utilize it. I can't tell you how many times I'll hear gen ed teachers say I didn't know that they were supposed to use it for this or that, or I didn't know how to use it. So assistive tech, any, anytime there's an emergency health care plan, right? There's training that has to occur. Anytime there's a behavior intervention plan, there's training that should be occurring, so that everybody's consistent. And anytime there's like a sensory diet, once that's kind of cleaned up by the OT, and they figure out, okay, this is what we found works, that should that should also be dispersed to the team. And they should be trained, so they know exactly when and what to do because the OT is not there all day, every day. So those are kind of the main times that I anytime there's any specialized changing or feeding protocol, of course, there should be training, any other types of specialized medical, you know, if a student has any specialized needs, of course, there should be training, and that I think some kind of falls more under that health care plan or nursing training, usually.

Lindsay
And this might be an obvious question, but who should be present at the team training? Is it just the special ed teacher, because sometimes that's what happens, right?

Dr. Pelangka
Parents should always be in attendance at the trainings. Because again, I don't believe, right, that parents or, that home and school are separate, everything is fluid. And so especially for things like AAC, if it's not being carried over at home, the child isn't going to make as much progress or maybe any progress at school. So parents, parents can invite in-home support staff as well, because again, that consistency and collaboration, they have the right to invite outside providers, obviously, depending on who's running the training, so they'll be there already. But anyone that works directly with the students, so teacher, if they have an aide, their aide, obviously any service providers that work with them, because they need to know how to support behavior, right, you would think, Oh, I'm an OT, I don't have to be there. But if you have direct sessions with the student, you need to know how to follow the behavior plan, for example. So any direct service providers, administration, they need to be there, because they're leading the campus. And they need to understand that mindset of how to ensure that these things are being supported and followed. And they also, if, especially for behavior, if a child is getting sent to the office, the admin has to be fully versed in the behavior plan, right. And they need to know what supports are needed for that child and how to interact and support that child. And when that gets missed probably always is yard supervisors or yard duties for younger grades. Because, again, they need to understand how to support that student when they're out on the playground. And that's a really important one for the training purposes.

Lindsay
I'm really glad you mentioned that. I've heard that request from so many parents because there's also been some horror stories, right? Where it is somebody that's untrained, that doesn't understand how to deal with, you know, let's say certain behavioral challenges, and it can get really ugly when someone's stepping in just saying stop, you know, and it can really implode. So that's a great point. And Jen just asked, Where would they add training to the IEP?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, and to that point really quickly, recess and playground is really important, because that's generally, if not always, the time teachers are on their breaks, right? And unless the child has a one-to-one aide written into their IEP, they don't have anybody supervising them that would be familiar with those things. So the yard supervisors are the ones who are responsible for that kid in that moment. So that's your rationale to ensure that they get that training set, right. Does that make sense? Depending on which training it is, so like nurse, nurse, it could go under directs or under the service section, like, generally, you'll see it written as yearly. I know different districts have different templates for their IEP. So I don't want to say go to this page and look here, but you'll look around the supplementary aids and services section and it should be written in there and it should be really clearly delineated the frequency and the duration. So should it be happening once a year? Should it be happening every month? You know, maybe it's more consult and collab where they want to come out and make sure they're following through and doing it correctly after they do the training. But then you want to have written in, and again, it depends on the district's template so it could go in accommodations, it could go under that supplementary aids and support section. Whenever a direct service provider changes, they should receive this training within a week or within two weeks or within three days depending on what the training is.

Lindsay
And, you know, speaking about recess, you know, socialization obviously comes to mind, it's another vital checkpoint. And for many reasons, a lot of our kids, like we talked about, aren't going to come home and tell us that they're having problems making friends, or that they aren't given opportunities to hang out with neurotypical peers their age, or that they're spending more time with adults than kids, right? We're not going to know. And so what should be in place to encourage healthy socialization? And what questions can we ask our kids and their teams to ensure that they're socializing with peers throughout the day? A big, you know, obviously a big emotional point for a lot of parents.

Dr. Pelangka
Yes, I think this is one of those that can be a whole topic within itself. Yes, this is definitely my area, my passion area. So I can say a lot on this, but I will narrow it down. So I think first and foremost, that I've kind of consistently tried to push, is it's not all on our student. The school has to create a campus culture of inclusion, and acceptance, and diversity, and they have to educate the gen ed peers. If we have all of the expectation on our students, and we're just making IEP goals and trying to get them to be better at socializing, in my professional opinion, it's not ever going to be what it could be. We need to put just as much focus on educating Gen Ed populations on disability, on how to support students when they may be having a tantrum, or they aren't vocal, and they use AAC. How do we be a good friend? And how do we interact with said students? Right? So that's point number one. I also think that the answer is, it's a broad question, rather, because it depends on the student and the age of the student. So I am definitely of the mindset that I don't think we should force socialization on certain populations, such as autism, I think we have to meet them where they are. And then we can create those healthy opportunities. So I always caution to be mindful of writing in goals like, you know, Bobby will engage in play every day for X minutes, maybe Bobby doesn't want to do that. So we have to kind of meet them where they are. Definitely supporting in all areas, if there's pragmatic deficits, making sure that the speech language pathologist is supporting, and if the student is ready and wants and is craving that, making sure that there are goals written to support it across the campus, and it's not just being targeted in a speech room, or in the counseling session, it should be in the natural setting. And what often becomes the barrier there is, well, I can't go out there, right? Like, I don't work on the playground, or that's my break time, or I have students. So figuring out a way to support, and that could be a rationale for an aide, they need aide support then so that they can track the data and they can be trained on how to support these social interactions. That's a really good rationale for an aide, FYI. And then, a lot of other things like for older students, you know, who's supporting the student and learning how to ask somebody to go to the dance, or how to act at a school dance, or how to have fun at a school dance, what to do, or any special type of event, at a pep rally, right? So having social stories for those things, or having direct practice for those things, not just the stereotypical, you know, we're going to greet and we're going to ask questions, and we're going to work on five turns in conversation, like what about the real things that kids are facing at school and have social opportunities for at school, like we need to support those opportunities, those learning experiences. And sports is another one. I think parents may not be aware that your child can have access to being on a sports team, even if it's a team they have to try out for, if it's warranted as within their IEP. So if they need that social, you know, interaction and social exposure, then that's a great space to you know, be on a sports team and have those interactions and be included. That's a really good one. I have a success story for that. That was just awesome. And so yeah, and after school childcare, if it's funded by the district, that's another space then that the district has is held legally obligated to provide whatever necessary services and accommodations the student would need in order to attend the childcare, but only if it's a district funded childcare program, not if it's housed on the district site, but it's like YMCA's program, for example.

Lindsay
Right, right, which I know is a frequent question that we hear from parents as well. And I love I love all of those ideas. And another I was thinking when you were talking is, you know, again, naturally built into the school day. There's a lot of like peer support, or like study buddies or kids working together and everyone's doing it, right? And it's a great opportunity to really talk to the team and make sure there's someone targeted that would be a good match that, you know, is a good, you know, social match for your child that's going to be, you know, open, you know, to learning about how amazing they are. And I know some programs, some schools have like really specific programs like buddy programs, but if it's something that's happening with all the kids, it's just another, you know, organic way to get them in the classroom and get them talking to all different kinds of kids. And I was also thinking about, like, how parents can know, communication log, going back to that when you were talking about that list of priorities. Maybe that's something too, that, you know, you could put on the communication log, right. Like, if you're wondering is, is anyone talking to your child? Are they are, you know, are they using healthy communication? Meaning are they, you know, talking or communicating in a way that isn't maybe hitting a child or whatever it might be specific to your child, I don't know if you want to add anything to that. But because the not knowing is really hard. I know, you know, for parents, so I don't know if there's anything else you wanted to add to that.

Dr. Pelangka
I just am a huge advocate for going in and educating the class on who your child is. Like saying, This is, I'll use my sister's name, this is Hannah. Hannah has autism. She's autistic. Let's talk about Hannah today, right? And just giving them all the information. If you have any questions, here's my information, you can ask Hannah, you know, she'll be willing to share this is how you can be a great friend. Like if that doesn't happen in these schools, I just don't see it getting better. I mean, you know, I think that's the biggest missing piece. I mean, we can sit there and say make sure our kid is paired up with another kid and do partner work. At the end of the day, you know, my sister is still the odd Hannah, right? And they don't understand why and they don't know what's going on. And they are doing what they're being asked to do. And then that's the end of that, and they go and they're hanging out with their friends. So in order to make it meaningful, we, as a society need to do a better job of psychoeducation. And starting in elementary school, like it has to be has to happen regularly.

Lindsay
Absolutely. And I would say the only caveat is if your child has expressed that they don't want their disability talked about right. But there's a lot of ways I know, you gave your example, there's a lot of ways to talk about disabilities and to normalize neurodiversity, that schools need to be doing, as you said, from the very beginning, and as far as like the token friend thing that I think a lot of people relate to, I will say, you know, my daughter, I will never forget one of her choir performances, watching it was obvious they just they did not pair her with somebody well, whoever was sitting next to her, she needed somebody to hold her hands, so she could safely stand on the riser. And the girl was looked disgusted to even be doing it like just like, you know, and it horrified me. It, you know, was, was quite an emotional choir performance completely different from the year before, when she had two girls who were like, genuinely her friends like sitting there, like, you know, like, it was no big deal like they would do for any of their friends. So yeah, there's a lot of work to be done within this. I know we can talk about forever. And I know we have some questions here. So Carrie is saying, so if parents pay for after school program, no supports have to be provided?

Dr. Pelangka
No, so I pay for my child to go to a district funded program, right, I still pay for it. But it's the district's program. So if you pay for like, Boys and Girls Club or YMCA or a private program, correct, but if it's something that is part of the district, then they are obligated to provide supports within that setting, assuming that's a need for your child, right, assuming your child has social deficits. Does that make sense?

Lindsay
Yes. I'm sorry, go ahead. Well, I was gonna say there are other just to build on what Sarah said, if it's not a district funded program, and your child needs support to access that program, you can look, if your child's a regional center client, whether it's traditional or self determination, you just you have to look. There is other funding available, like Sarah said, If your child is eligible, outside of the district.

Dr. Pelangka
Right, and of course, other laws apply like ADA, right? So that's different, but I'm just speaking specific to the IEP, if there's certain accommodations or modifications or services, you can have a one to one aide at an after school childcare program to support your child. And the BIP can be implemented and they can be trained. So going back to training, if there's childcare providers, then they can be part of that training and should be. They can't just kick your child out right and say, Oh, they have too many behaviors. We can't support them. Well, where's the aide? Where's the training on the BIP? Where's the strategies that are written into the BIP, all of that needs to follow course, to that district funded childcare program.

Lindsay
I really liked this follow up question. She asked, you know, when you're talking about educating the classroom, I think everybody loves that idea. Is that something that can add actually be written into the IEP, because she said, how do we get someone to educate the classroom? And if we get pushback, you know, how can we get this included in the IEP?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, you can have it written into the IEP, again, you could put training, it could be considered a training to be done annually, right? You can go in as the parent, I do it, you know, for clients. And I used to do that for clients when I did in home all the time. It's just whoever you think would be the best person. I know parents who would go in every year, you know, their child had kind of a rare disability. So every year, they would go into their child's class, and she was an AAC user. And they did this whole spiel, and it was great. I've personally never seen a school say no. And generally, you can speak directly to the teacher too depending on you know, I'm assuming you would want it to be done within the classroom. And, and oftentimes, your child may not want to be in the room, right? And of course, you want consent, I totally agree with that. And maybe they feel more comfortable not being in there or coming in at the end, it just, you know, you can work it in many different ways.

Lindsay
And so I hate to even have to ask about this. But speaking of socialization, as well, but what if our kids are getting bullied? What can we do? And how does, how does the IEP fit into that plan?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, so that's really tough. So I will say the way the IEP can support bullying, if you will, is if your child is maybe an easy target for being bullied, or they're at risk of being, you know, easily taken advantage of, maybe again, they're on the spectrum, and they don't recognize when someone might be telling them to do something that's not safe or isn't the best idea, that should be written into the present levels, probably in the adaptive section, or maybe even vocational section, depending on what it is. So that's how the IEP can support it. Of course, if it's something that's a safety concern, and bullying could kind of tie into it, I mean, maybe your child needs supervision, direct adult supervision, you know, particularly during unstructured time, so that could of course, be written into the IEP. But bullying in and of itself, of course, isn't a reason like to get an IEP. And it isn't something that's necessarily written into the IEP is like a goal per se, as far as teaching about bullying, necessarily, but those are the ways I would say you could best support it is making sure those pieces are in there, and the staff, the team are made aware. But as a parent, if you're suspecting it's happening, like if your child can't tell you necessarily or if you know it's happening, document it, make sure it's in writing address it immediately. I've had parents tell me that there's child's come home with bruises and marks and scratches, but they didn't take pictures. So take pictures, if they're, you know, forbid, are physical marks that you're suspecting as a result of bullying. Any evidence you have, send it immediately and keep that paper trail. And definitely include somebody in the district, of course, you would want to communicate directly with admin. But also you can bring in the district. Ask what the district or the school's anti-bullying, prevent bullying, prevention program is and how they're going about ensuring that it's being rolled out, what protocols they have in place, and hold them accountable. Again, educating peers, I think that's a great way to prevent bullying in a proactive way. But it's really hard. And, and I see so many cases where parents suspect bullying or say that their child is being bullied in school and there's no proof. So it's just really, really hard. That's a hard one.

Lindsay
Right. And I guess that you we can if something's happening, and it's affecting their self esteem, how they're feeling, we could then talk about like, can counseling or, you know, factoring in anxiety or mental health needs to their IEP as well, right, even if that's check ins, or, or something?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, so again, if the argument is my child needs counseling because they're being bullied, that's not necessarily like a special education issue, if that makes sense, right? Because gen ed kids can get bullied too. So bullying is something, so counseling is accessible to anyone. It's a Gen Ed service. So school based counseling is accessible at all times. And of course, any child can access that. If you're wanting goals written into the IEP, then that would be different. You would call a meeting, you would have a discussion. Of course, it could honestly be the opposite. Maybe a child perceives things as they're being bullied, but maybe it's not because they have really high anxiety. That could be a reason to maybe say let's work on a goal to support the anxiety and look at adding some higher level counseling. That's just one example. But you wouldn't write a goal into the IEP, like, the child isn't doing the bullying or the recipient. So you can't write a goal for that, if that makes sense. But maybe you can write a goal for, yeah, I mean, maybe you can write a goal to support anxiety and then get higher level counseling involved. It's a tricky one. But yeah, there are tiered levels of counseling. And parents can always request that if they see a need. And then depending on what they're requesting, there could be an assessment involved, and they would look at the need for that service. But school based counseling is always accessible, it just wouldn't go into the IEP as far as goals and whatnot.

Lindsay
Right. I know, that's just something that comes up a lot with families. And there are a lot of times full of, yeah, like the school site, talk to the school site, talk to counseling, and families want to get that written into the IEP. And then they're told this isn't a special education issue. So that's why you know, thanks for that clarity. I know it's a little bit gray. And, you know, bullying brings up questions of safety in general. And that includes health plans and emergency plans, which, again, are really big subjects. But I want to just really touch on those because these are things that it's the beginning of the year, we give grace to certain things, like let people kind of get their footing, these are things that can't wait. So if we start with health plans, if you could just give, in case somebody doesn't know, what would fall under that. I think you did earlier, but just some example scenarios where we might need one, and then what should be in place to ensure that the school is ready to react if needed.

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, so emergency health care plan is overseen by a nurse, the school nurse, and they would then be added as part of an IEP. And if a child requires a health care plan, they don't necessarily require an IEP, they could also have a 504 plan. And generally, what you'll see emergency health care plans for would be allergies, obviously, more significant allergies, not just your seasonal allergies, right. But if there's risk of like a significant reaction. Asthma is a very common one. Epilepsy seizures is another common one, right? But anything that would require medical attention should, you know, something happen as a result of their medical need or condition at school. And it also anytime medication needs to be administered at school, there would be a health care plan on file. And then what would be encompassed within the healthcare plan, of course, you know, doctor's information, your preference for nearest hospital, if you have one, whatever the reason for the health care plan is, and then there's generally two kind of columns, and it would be signs and symptoms, what to look for. So if this happens, you know, wheezing, shortness of breath, for example, change in color of skin, pale face, do this. And then there would be the explicit protocol of when you see this, immediately do this, right. If the seizure lasts for more than five minutes, immediately call 911, for example. So it's just the roadmap of how to respond should these symptoms occur. And then this is another one for training, you always want to ask and ensure, some templates have it on the bottom where it'll list out people, you know, admin, teacher, whoever, and they'll have boxes to check, make sure that all the necessary people have been trained. Another important thing for healthcare plans is when a student requires one legally, they shouldn't be at school until it's updated. Because it's a safety and medical issue, right. So you can't be at school if you don't have your up to date EpiPen, or your inhaler on file, or whatever, because parents have to make sure that stuff is all up to date. And they have to review that every year. So that's really important. And the other thing is, you want to make sure that the protocols make sense for your child. You know, if this is a child who maybe isn't ambulatory or isn't vocal and isn't able to communicate, are they able to get the inhaler inhaler to your child fast enough if they're having an asthma attack? Where are they keeping the inhaler? Should they be wearing it on their person? You know, it might take too long to if they're out on the field to get, you know, call the teacher to call the office, you know, so those are conversations that I've had an IEP meetings where it's very, very clear, like, we want it this way, and this has to happen, because in the event that X, Y, and Z happens, my kid could be gone, right? So you need to make sure it's really clear.

Lindsay
Right, and that it's everywhere, everywhere where your child is throughout the day, right? Posted. Like if you're thinking about a seizure plan, right? I mean, everywhere where they are, right, that should be, and I guess that's a question I've heard this from parents. I mean, does that include their like, who's trained at lunch, right? Like if something would happen and a child would start having a seizure, it kind of comes back to that, like noon duty, superviser scenario that you were talking about whatever the issue might be, right? Everywhere where they are in the school, somebody needs to know how to respond and react immediately.

Dr. Pelangka
Right. So that goes back to the training and another reason as to why the student shouldn't even legally be at school until it's updated, and the training has occurred, because God forbid, that could happen. And those people haven't been trained, right? Or they don't have the current medication. And, you know, so that's, it's a huge safety issue. But yes, to your point, all the direct service providers need to be trained, and because you can't predict, right, when they're going to have an attack necessarily, or if they're going to have a seizure when they're in speech. So yes, very valid point.

Lindsay
And, you know, also safety can you know, depending on why a child needs an aide, but it definitely brings about, we have lots of questions about aides, and unfortunately, we're hearing there's still a nationwide shortage of aides. And I'm sure you and everybody else, we're all seeing it, I know I'm seeing it all around our district. And many of our kids do rely on aide support, whether that's one one to one or classroom aides that allows them to access their school day. And you know, this shortage can lead to gaps in services, high turnover rates, and unfortunately, untrained staff supporting our kids. So it can be a huge anxiety trigger for kids and their parents. So how can we gauge if a child's aide is effective, especially when many districts don't allow that direct communication with aides?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, so first off, there's technically no legal reason or rationale behind the district completely denying communication with the aide and I, I hear it all the time. And briefly, I will say I can see the district's point, and I can see the parents' point, right. So liability is the primary reason districts don't want aides speaking directly with parents because these are not generally, you know, people who are necessarily credentialed or have been through high levels of training and know how to communicate the most in the most professional way with parents. They don't, they could be a loose cannon, if you will. So, you know, districts want to ensure that major questions and concerns go through the teacher because they tend to be a bit more clear on what should be said or how things should be communicated. However, I will say that, that being said, teachers also know what shouldn't be said, right, to parents, and yes, aides can oftentimes be a much more accurate source of information. Also, for students who have more significant needs, more often than not, the aide is the person who's with them the majority of their day anyway, right, because the teacher's doing other things and whatnot. And whenever I go into these classrooms, it's virtually the aides are teaching all these kids. So the aide is going to have more information than the teacher more often times than not, especially when your kid's outside of the classroom, obviously, because the aide's with them and the teacher's not. The other reason is, oftentimes parents want to talk to the aides at pickup or after school, and it's a lot different, whereas teachers are obviously like salary based, aides are not. And so their day ends when the school day ends, and they can't stand there and talk to you. And oftentimes, they get caught up with parents asking question after question after question. And so to be fair, it's not fair to them either. So I think parents just have to be mindful of those pieces. But whenever a district says, Sorry, aides can't talk to parents, as the parent, I would tell you to say, Okay, please provide that policy in writing. And clarify the legal rationale behind that. Because you have a right as a parent to speak to anybody who works directly with your child. So that's number one, albeit, you can't force that person to stay after hours, right? So not a community log, a communication log is a great way, you can have the aide fill that out, and oftentimes they do, to be honest, they are the ones who are filling it out, especially if the child is in Gen Ed, the gen ed teacher just doesn't have time. So that's kind of the piece about that. Did I answer all of it? I don't remember.

Lindsay
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's, that was going to be my, I mean, how do we tell like if the aide, you know, if we'll say they are showing up, I mean, there's a couple of scenarios if the aide is showing up, but we really don't feel like they're a good fit. I mean, I talked to a family the other day, whose son is in high school, and you know, is assigned like a 65 year old female aide, and, you know, he needs like, some personal support. And so she's like, you know, socialization is such a huge thing. And, you know, it just she's like, it doesn't feel like it's an appropriate fit. But is that, do we have any choice? I mean, especially with the shortage, is that something parents can say?

Dr. Pelangka
Right, sorry, I forgot the first half of the question. Absolutely. So when it's something like that, I mean, just like any other job, the person has to be able to fulfill the duties of the job, and I've seen that before where it's a child or a student who's like, an eloper, right, and they're just fast and they're gone, you can't put necessarily someone who has limitations due to like back issues, for example, or someone who may be older and is unable to physically keep up. Like, that's just not a match due to the duties of the job. So that would be a valid argument. Also, of course, if you have any evidence to support that the aide isn't following, you know, the IEP or they aren't supporting your child in the manner in which they should, or God forbid, hurting your child, I just saw that awful video from Ohio this morning. The evidence: report it right away. And that's also rationale. If it's just "I don't like this person," or another one, you'll hear often is "I prefer a male," right, the district can't necessarily, you know, meet that request. They can, they'll oftentimes, they'll always say we'll do our best. But I mean, they can't control who applies for the job, they can't force it, you know, men to apply. So that's a bit harder. So they'll do their best in those circumstances. But again, go observe, send somebody in to observe, that's going to be your best means because an aide can't necessarily pretend to do their job well, if they aren't doing it well, just because you're there. Like, trust me, I have seen horrible things. And I'm standing right there, and they know who I am. And they just have no clue. They don't even recognize, and I also, though, to be fair, I attribute that to lack of training, right. But anyway, and you have the right to ask the district what training has this aide received? Another thing I'll say really quickly is be clear on why your aide is there. There are different types of aides, and what is their role? What are they supposed to be doing? Because parents just think I need an aide, I want an aide because of this. Okay, great. But if the aide doesn't know what their role is, and it's not clear, you're not necessarily going to make things any better. So whenever I have a client who is granted a one-to-one aid, from that moment, I say, Okay, let's write the fade plan, because the fade plan is going to clearly delineate what the expectations are of the student to no longer need that aide, and thereby, clearly delineate for the aide what their role is, and it's written very clearly, it's really, really important.

Lindsay
And our kids, and we were talking about all these things, you know, that could be coming up at the beginning of the year, and our kids may develop new needs that are not addressed in their current IEP. Right? And so is it reasonable for us to ask for a new assessment at the beginning of the year? I mean, does it make us, you know, "that parent," which we always have to say with a smirk, right, because we think that being that parent is a good thing. But what do we do, right, if we're noticing new things this year?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, I, I guess it depends on how early on, I will say assessments are warranted when there's an educational need. So if you're coming in from the jump, like off summer, and you're like, hey, I want this assessment. And there's no rationale yet, you know, that they've, educationally, they may say, Okay, thank you for sharing that concern with me, it sounds like you know, X, Y, and Z was happening over summer, we'll be sure to monitor that. And if we see anything, let's touch base, or let's follow up in 30 days, let's have a 30 day IEP. And we'll track some data and see what we find and see if it warrants an assessment. I will say maybe the one occasion in which that wouldn't be the case is if it's something very serious, like suicidality, if you're communicating to the team that your child's become suicidal, or they have, you know, some pretty significant mental health issues going on, that could warrant an immediate assessment. Obviously, we don't want to wait and say, Okay, let's see, if we see that arise. Like, we need to take that very seriously. But, you know, if it's things like I want an aide, that's a very common one, they're not just going to do the assessment necessarily right off the bat. They need to see a rationale within the school setting, right? And they need to make sure that what they have in place isn't enough to support your student. And also to be fair, your student needs time to adjust. So you want to give your kid at least you know, I would say at minimum three weeks, but generally speaking a month to re-acclimate to being back at school. Generally, it's probably a new teacher and a new classroom and new peers. So I mean, you're of course going to see a spike more often than not before things level out. So don't just automatically assume, Oh, no, like, my child needs an aide now or my child needs this or that, like give them time to settle in too.

Lindsay
Well, and sort of playing off of that. Oh, what if you know, after these first few weeks, we're really feeling like, we don't think that our child's classroom or maybe even their school is the right placement. Is that something that we can be discussing right now?

Dr. Pelangka
Yeah, I, you can discuss anything you want at anytime, right, you have a voice, so you don't have to ask permission. However, what the district may say is, so there's a difference between a change in placement and a change in setting, right? If you're not in agreeance with the placement, that means you feel like it's too restrictive or not restrictive enough, and you want to move up or down that totem pole, right, that hierarchy of placement. If it's "I don't like this school, or this teacher, I want to move to this school," that's a change in setting. So it's not necessarily that you're changing the placement, you're just receiving the same type of placement and a different location. They the district is legally obligated to provide the offer of FAPE, they are legally obligated to provide what is written into the IEP, they're not legally obligated to provide something that you prefer, right or a person or a location that you prefer. So least restrictive is always closest to home. But if they don't have it available at that school, then it's going to be further away. Other than that, if it's based on preference, this is something that's often confusing for parents is there's a difference between the interdistrict transfer process and an IEP team decision, right? So if you're just not happy with the school, and there's no, again God forbid, abuse going on, or anything that you can kind of legally say, this isn't working, you're not offering FAPE, or you're hurting my child or something like that is happening and it's just your preference, you're probably not going to get a change through the IEP team. You could look at a transfer process. So that's my answer to that.

Lindsay
Yeah. And I know it's hard because certain districts, I mean, and I think you touched on this, but the programs could be full, the classes might be at their max. I mean, there could also be, you know, just very easy logistical reasons why it might not work. And I know we're at time. I wanted to know if I, if you had a chance to answer another, one more question that came in. I know Paula asked for something earlier about subs. And this sort of goes back to the shortage question, because I know a lot of parents who are starting school, and the special education teacher or maybe even the gen ed teacher is like a long term sub. And I think Paula's question was, do they have access to IEPs? If you have a long term sub, they should be working, or sub, you know, even for a week, or, I don't know if it was long term sub, but I guess in my head, that's what I'm thinking. The real issue is, should they, you know, they should be working on IEP goals like normal, right? Is there anything that parents should know that are coming into the situation who don't yet have a permanent teacher?

Dr. Pelangka
For long term subs? Absolutely, they should have access to the students file, they're considered the teacher for that period of time. And so yes, and they should be coming to the IEP meeting as well. If your child's IEP falls within that timeframe that they're there. I will say, a word of caution for parents is what I'm seeing, again, due to shortages is you may have a long term sub that's on an emergency credential, which means they aren't yet credentialed, in which case they may, there still has to be somebody within the classroom that has their credential. So interestingly enough, there was a situation where there was the teacher was not credentialed, but one of the paras was credentialed. Interesting, right, right. But he didn't want to serve as the classroom teacher because it was too overwhelming. So just if your child is currently in a room with a long term sub, I would, I would advise you to ask if that sub is in fact credentialed. And if they're not, their time is also limited as far as how long they're able to remain in that position. So that also just leads to more turnover, which isn't good for anybody's child. So then there's this lack of consistency, and they're gonna have three different teachers by the time the year is done, depending on, you know, so it can get pretty, just ugly. But yes, they should have access to the IEP and they should be working on everything, just as if they were the teacher, the permanent teacher.

Lindsay
Right. Right. And Carrie did have a really good follow up question about what you were saying about aides. She said, Is there a way to legally push the school to communicate to adies about the student they'll work with before the first day of school, systematically not on an individual IEP basis?

Dr. Pelangka
Is there a way to really push the school to communicate to aides...?

Lindsay
About the students they'll work with before school starts. Is that a dream, I was, I will put that in. I don't know if this is what Carrie meant, but it's that dream of like, Hey, can people get together and actually talk about your child and prepare before school starts so they're ready to begin?

Dr. Pelangka
I know teachers have have teacher prep days, so their first day of school starts two to three days before the first day, but I don't think aides start until the first day of school. So that would be the issue there, is they aren't, again, they're not I think it's called certified certificated staff or I always forget which one is the more like credentialed people. But they're not that. So I don't believe that they are in a position to attend that unless the district is willing to pay them. And they would also have to be willing on their part, like the district can't force them to. So I mean, it doesn't hurt to ask. And they also might not even have anybody until day one. And even then sometimes they don't have somebody. So there's just a lot of factors that play into that. It's an ideal situation, but it's not a requirement, it's not part of their job duties.

Lindsay
It's so hard to show up and to have them meet for the first time and then off and running. So I know.

Dr. Pelangka
And another thing I'll say I saw in the chat earlier, that they wish the aide could attend the IEP, they can. You can request for the aide to attend the IEP. And I've often done it. However, keep in mind, especially if it's your child's one-to-one aide, then your child won't have their aide while they're in the meeting. And that's often the reason they'll say no is well, we're legally obligated to provide that service to your child. And if we pull them into the meeting, we're not providing that service. So you can give them consent, assuming that's safe for your child, and if it's after hours, then again, it's outside of their their daily duties, and they aren't going to get paid for that. So that's the other reason it can be difficult.

Lindsay
I think so many districts push back really hard on that. I mean, I don't know if I've met, I'd love to hear, throw it in the chat if you've had your aide be able to attend the IEP. So what what do parents say though, if the district's like, Nope, it needs to be the teacher, they you know, for whatever reason, right? I mean, districts always say like, Nope, it needs to be the teacher, the case carrier, they're the one that's coordinating everything, those are the people that need to be there, what can parents say?

Dr. Pelangka
So whenever we've requested it, it's really that we don't get much pushback aside from they may say what I just said, and in those cases, you can say, okay, you can bring my child in too, the child can come into the meeting. You know, there's ways that you can get around it. But, and even other times, it's been great because districts have been able to put somebody else on the student. So it just depends on resources and what they have available. But if that's the reason, because that's really the only reason they can legally give is we are legally obligated to provide this service. And if we pull the aide, your child won't be getting that. If there's any reason other than that, then you just continue to say I have the right to have the aide in the meeting. And the other thing to be mindful of is most districts write the one-to-one aide in the service section. And technically, it's not a service because they aren't responsible for any IEP goals. But you can say that. "Well, you have them listed as a direct service provider, so they should be in the meeting."

Lindsay
Oh, good point. Everybody, you know, if you have ever wanted to ask your aide into an IEP, I would love to hear like from different districts like what the what the response is. So I know we've gone long, I know how busy you are.

Dr. Pelangka
I have to go pick up my daughter.

Lindsay
And you can feel free to jump off. I'm just gonna like close things up. We don't want your daughter sitting in school.

Dr. Pelangka
Thank you, everyone!

Lindsay
Thank you so much. There's always so much going on when we return to school, it can be hard to isolate those essentials. So thanks for you know, helping us lay that solid foundation. And please don't, yeah, please go get your daughter. So thank you everybody. Remember, if you keep hearing what your child can't do, or that they aren't keeping up, you can immediately ask what supports need to be in place so they can be successful, the answer is not that they don't belong, right. So to all of you who are feeling overwhelmed, we're with you. I'm sure I speak for Dr. Pelangka as well. We wish it didn't have to be this hard just to send our kids to school, but you're here you're on it and you don't have to do it alone. So we'll definitely be bringing back bringing back Dr. Pelangka this year to dig into all things IEP. In the meantime, keep the conversation going with other parents in our Facebook group. This week, we're talking about fun, fun puberty, inclusive schools, floor time programs and lots more. So stop by and meet some amazing parents. Also, don't miss our next Facebook Live. We'll be talking about Regional Center's game-changing Self-Determination Program. So bring your questions, I know most people have a lot, on August 5 At one o'clock right here at our Facebook page. I'm going to be talking to Christine Tolbert from the State Council for Developmental Disabilities. She is their state program manager for the Self Determination Program. So whether you've been thinking about signing up or you're two years in, there are always new things happening in the program and Christine will give us the latest. So Donna is going to put that RSVP info in the chat. Thanks again to Dr. Pelangka and to all of you, thank you for stopping by. We know how busy you are. Our mission is to support you so your children can thrive. And we want you to thrive too. So have a beautiful weekend. We'll see you soon.