The IEP Experience -- as Told by Harry Potter
I don’t know many parents who love the individualized education plan (IEP) process. Most parents (and students) dread these meetings.
If you have talked to a parent whose child has an IEP, you have probably realized lots of feelings come with this process. You might have even seen the most laid-back and gentle person turn into someone completely different as they tirelessly advocate for their child.
Sometimes humor (and a good book) help get me through it all. For Harry Potter fans (even if you are not a fan) these GIFs express perfectly the many emotions we can go through during the IEP process.
1. When a teacher tells you they are following the IEP but you know they are not.
2. When someone at the IEP meeting asks you to agree to their plan and you know it is inadequate.
3. What you wish you could do to the IEP team members who are not willing to agree to services your child needs.
4. When someone says inclusion is not the best option for your child.
5. How IEP meetings can make you feel.
6. When someone asks, “How long will you keep fighting this hard for your child?”
7. When you realize the IEP team is not on your side.
8. When you feel the IEP team is dismissing your concerns.
9. When the IEP team is happy to see you because you brought food to the meeting.
10. When a teacher generalizes and lumps your child into a “condition.”
11. When you bring backup to an IEP meeting.
12. When you tell other parents of kids with disabilities you are headed to an IEP meeting.
13. When the IEP meeting is a success.
14. When you become a lion at the IEP meeting.
15. The feeling you get when the IEP team is on your side.
16. When you finally form an amazing IEP team who care about your child.
To all the teachers, therapists, educators and para-professionals who care about our kids, thank you! You make all the difference.
Lead image via “Harry Potter” Facebook page.
Ellen Stumbo is the founder of Disability Matters, an organization with the mission to encourage every church to embrace disability. Ellen is a national speaker who focuses on issues pertaining adoption, faith, disability and parenting kids with disabilities. Ellen writes for several online platforms including Focus on the Family, LifeWay, MomSense, Not Alone, Mamapedia, Group, The Mighty and the Huffington Post. Her writing also appears in several book anthologies. Ellen blogs at ellenstumbo.com and you can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.
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