Can my child's 1:1 aide come to the IEP meeting?

You can request that your child's 1:1 aide attend the IEP meeting, but it's common for schools to deny such requests or not allow parents to speak to 1:1 aides at all. There are a variety of reasons for this. In many cases, aides are not trained to communicate with parents, and most aides are only contracted to work certain hours and so will not be able to attend meetings.

If the school will not allow your child's aide in the IEP meeting, you can ask your child's teacher to please get the aide's input before the meeting. Then, during the meeting, ask what input the aide has about your child.

For more tips, see our full article 5 Ways to Get Better Responses from Your IEP Team.