How to Advocate for Your Child: A Parent’s Letter to the IEP Team
It is time to prepare for my daughter Olivia’s annual IEP meeting.
I need to go over all of her goal updates and the data taken so we can move forward in the best way for her individual needs.
Here is a letter I wrote that conveys all the things about Olivia to her team.
To the education staff working with my child,
Olivia is a very complex person. She was diagnosed with autism and sensory processing disorder. She also has anxiety and will become obsessive-compulsive in certain situations.
I believe that is her way of taking control over the environment she is in.
I would describe Olivia as clever, conscientious, loving, and humorous.
She is also semi-verbal. That means she has words that she will use to request items, people, or places. She can answer yes and no questions with about 80% accuracy, which means about 20% of the time you will have to dig a little deeper to get answers to those questions. She does not have conversational language. This is a skill I am constantly working on with her, and it requires heavy prompting.
Sensory regulation, patience, understanding, and encouragement are required all throughout her day. Her brain does not properly interpret sensory information. This causes her to seek out or avoid certain sights, sounds, tastes, and textures while feeling the world around her in relation to where her body is. I can’t imagine how truly difficult that is while trying to navigate daily tasks and demands.
My child needs and deserves dignity, kindness, and inclusion every single day.
Please don’t think she is incapable; she knows so much more than she is able to verbally articulate. My number one request is communication. My daughter cannot come home and tell me how her day was.
I need you to be that connection between myself and my child in relation to her school day. I want to give her tools to help her through the hard times, and I want to celebrate all of her victories. In return, I will give you all the important information about her morning to help you prepare for her school day. Communication is the key to her success, and we hold that key in the palm of our hands each day. Let’s use it to unlock all of her potential!
Sincerely,
A mom trying to advocate and support her child through this journey we call autism.
Written by Laura Simzyk of Olivia’s Extraordinary Journey
