Review the Records You Have
Review your child’s current IEP and goal progress reports and/or ask your school for their current copy of the IEP to review. The school will be working on the new IEP ahead of the meeting and you can ask for copies of draft goals/objectives prior to the meeting. If there are any new evaluations, those should be reviewed with you prior to the actual IEP meeting.

Gather Your Apraxia Resources
It’s always a good idea to educate the IEP team about your child’s diagnoses so they fully understand how best to support your child. While every parent’s description of apraxia will be different based on their own child’s experiences and needs, there are some general things to include when explaining apraxia. How you do that is personal to you, but you can use our free brochures and printables (linked above) to help guide you.

Aim for a Positive and Productive Meeting
It’s important to try to maintain a positive and productive relationship with the school as much as possible. That can absolutely be a challenge sometimes if they don’t listen or agree with you, but you have a long relationship with this school ahead of you so we suggest finding agreeable solutions whenever possible (obviously keeping the child’s needs first!).

Invite a Friend
You can invite someone who understands your child’s needs and/or special education to attend the IEP meeting. You also can ask a friend, family member, private SLP, or advocate. It can be helpful to have an extra set of eyes and ears in the room. Let the school know about any guests ahead of time.

Write Down Questions You Want to Ask
You will have your own list of questions you know you want to ask so make sure you write them down so you don’t forget! And don’t be afraid to take your time to address every single question before your meeting is over. Here are some “pro tips” for questions to ask as appropriate during your next IEP meeting:

• What is the full continuum of placements?
• How are the current service minutes met?
• What curriculum is being used for reading and other core subjects?
• How frequently is data taken for each goal?
• How are accommodations and modifications implemented across all school settings?
• Is further data needed to make great decisions?
• Does anyone need further training to make the IEP happen?
• Do we need to explore further options for inclusion?
• Do we need to explore more technology?
• How does this IEP goal apply to the real world?
• When does this IEP go into action?