KY-SPIN’s ARC Series: Session 2 Contents of the IEP Webinar

>>KELLIE:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Thank you for joining us.  My name is Kellie Smith.  I’m the Assistant Director at Kentucky SPIN.  We really appreciate you joining us today as we discuss preparing for the admissions release committee or the IEP team meeting series.  This is session two titled the contents of the IEP.  This curriculum is part of the building the legacy training curriculum developed by ‑‑ [Name] in 2007 and uploaded in ‑‑ updated in 2016 and has been adapted and presented by Kentucky SPIN in 2023.

This is brand new for us.  You are getting in right as we are diving into the series.

If you are not familiar with Kentucky SPIN and I know some of you might not be.  We are Kentucky SPIN, that’s Kentucky special parent involvement network.  We are the parent and information center for the State of Kentucky.  And funded by the Department of Education under IDEA since 1988 when Kentucky first received a PTI.

We provide training information and support for children and youth with all types of disabilities, birth to age 26 and their parents and families and professionals that work with them.

It is a lot easier to tell you what we don’t do at Kentucky SPIN than it is to tell you what we do.  We do not act as attorneys or advocates.  Meaning we don’t represent families.  But what we do is we empower families to effectively advocate for their children.  And train self-advocates how to be effective advocates on their own path.

We provide peer‑to‑peer support to help families access needed information and resources.  So what makes Kentucky SPIN a the little bit different than other organizations that you might be familiar with.  Is that everyone that works as Kentucky SPIN is either an individual with a disability or an immediate family member with a disability.  So that’s where we provide the peer‑to‑peer support role.  You not only receive the expertise of the professional and also receive services from someone who either lives or has lived in your world, so to speak.

So the contents of the series are the IEP team who’s a member, and we had that one last week.  So it’s being closed captioned and the transcript and everything is being ‑‑ right now and that’s available on the YouTube hopefully very soon.  Today, we are discussing the contents of the IEP.

And then, next week, it will be ‑‑ meetings of the IEP team, that’s on March 2nd at the same time.  And then on March 9th, we’ll be discussing the least restrictive environment decision‑making.

So today, we are going to be talking about ‑‑ in the first part, we are going to be talking about the big picture and then we are going to discuss a concrete example of the contents of the IEP and then, we are going to dive into a close look of the different areas that are required to be in the IEP.

So some words to know before we get started are:  The present levels of academic achievement and can performance.  This may also be referred to as a present level statement or the PLOP.  It’s kind of ‑‑ you know, known as many different things.  But what this present level statement is it is a statement that tells how the child’s disability affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.  Which is the same curriculum for ‑‑ that is given to nondisabled children.

Or for a preschool child, as appropriate, have a disability ‑‑ how the disability affects the child’s participation in appropriate activities.

Annual goals.  Those are statements in the student’s IEP that outline the expectations for the student during the upcoming 12 months.  And they must be objective and they must be measurable.

Functional goals.  These are goals that are designed to meet the needs of that child that result from the child’s disability and enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum or meet the child’s other educational needs resulting ‑‑ that result from his or her disability.

Alternate assessment.  Those are assessments used with students who are unable to take the typically administered standardized test even with accommodations and generally reserved for the students with the most significant disabilities.

Related services.

Transportation and developmental corrective and other supportive services that a child with disabilities requires in order to benefit from education.

Some examples of related services may be speech therapy or audiology services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation therapy, Counseling services, interpreters if the child is hearing impaired or maybe medical services for diagnostic and evaluation purposes.  The general education curriculum that’s the subject matter provided to children without disabilities and skills they are required to develop and apply.

Some examples are math, science, history and language arts.  Extracurricular activities and nonacademic activities, school activities that fall outside of the realm of the general education curriculum.  These are usually voluntary experiences and tend to be more social than academic.

And then, the department, when you hear us say the department, we are talking about the U.S. Department of Education.  I wanted to draw attention to the chat in your chat box, feel free to ask any questions that you may have in the chat.  We are going to reserve, if at all possible, questions for the end.  Because we have a lot of the content to cover.

But if you have any questions, just throw them in the chat so we make sure to address them.  If for some reason, we can’t address them, we’ll address them in the follow‑up email that will be sent out probably by tomorrow.  Also in the chat box, you will find the PDF version of the PowerPoint.  As well as the handouts that we are going to be referencing during the training.

So ‑‑ moving right along.

We are going to be talking about the big picture to start with, as I said before.

So ‑‑ this slide and the next few slides are really ‑‑ intended just to paint that bigger picture.  Especially emphasizing the importance to the child with a disability of having access to and involvement in the general education curriculum.

And in extracurricular and nonacademic activities.  The big picture is examined through the metaphor of construction.  The tools and processes involved in building something substantial.  This slide contrast the before the IEP with the very beginning of the construction process.  And after the IEP with the finished product.

The IEP process and documents are intended to carry the construction of an appropriate educational program for a child with the disability from nothing but readiness.  First picture.  To the completed building in the second picture.

 

So ‑‑ the big picture.

Access to and participation in the general education curriculum.  Nonacademic activities and extracurricular activities.  We went over the definitions of each of them on the last slide and I’ll just scoot on through.  ‑‑ extra ‑‑

We are going to really focus here on continuing with this education theme.  This slide really draws out direct analogies between how you go about building a building and how schools and parents are going to go about building an IEP or an ‑‑ an appropriate educational program for the child with a disability.

So ‑‑ this slide visually points out that the setting for a child with a disability is school.

And in this case, with the emphasis on academics, as can be seen by the child pictured here who is looking in a large dictionary with a pencil in her teeth.  As the bottom set of pictures show, the IEP can be understood as the blueprint or a plan for the child’s education experience.

So a building needs a construction crew.  And so does the child with a disability.

We need a crew that is going to help work together to build what it is that that child needs to be educationally successful.  A building needs systematic support as does a child with a disability.

So in the building, those supports would be the internal beams, like you see in the picture.  For a child with a disability, those supports come in many different forms, such as special education and related services, supplementary aids and services and assistive technology and so on and so forth.  We are looking here at a concrete example.  This is a real‑life example we’ll discuss and this is Becky.

And as you can see, by the text next to her picture, Becky is 7 years old and has juvenile diabetes and because of that, it adversely affects her schooling.  Becky is considered a child with a disability under IDEA 2004 and is eligible for special education and related services.

But what would that special education and those related services be?

What services and supports does Becky need to manage her diabetes in school so it doesn’t interfere with her learning.  In order to evaluate what elements we think Becky might need to keep her diabetes from interfering with the learning, the juvenile diabetes research foundation international says that students with type one diabetes must be allowed to manage their diabetes in the school setting by monitoring their blood sugar, eating appropriate foods and administering insulin.

These children require appropriate school policies and a strong supportive network in order to facilitate their life sustaining regimen.  Teachers, parents, administrators and healthcare providers must work together with the students to develop guidelines for management of their ‑‑ of their diabetes.

 

Diabetes requires students to monitor their glucose levels and if necessary, take immediate action to bring their levels within a normal range.  While in school, they must be allowed to test their glucose levels, self-administer insulin, as needed and take other corrective measures, such as drinking juice for low glucose levels.

Children must have access to adults who are trained to recognize the warning signs of high or low glucose levels and be available to make appropriate action.

Each school should have an adult who is qualified to manage ‑‑ an emergency hypoglycemic episode caused by the dangerously low glucose levels.  Special allowances maybe needed for test taking when a child is experiencing the extreme glucose levels.  Given all that information, I know it was a lot.  Given all the information, can you think of two things that Becky’s education must include so that her diabetes remains under control while in school and trying to work?

If you can think of one or two things and you would be willing to put them in the chat, that would be great.

And while you are doing that, we are going to move on to the next slide, which looks at the elements of Becky’s IEP.

So the elements of Becky’s IEP.  Training of staff, because like we said, there needs to be people who recognize ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ what ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ these altered levels look like.  They need to know how to act.  She needs freedom to eat in class and elsewhere.

She needs school health services, specific arrangements for field trips and special events.

And specific arrangements for absences from school.

So these are only some of the elements of Becky’s IEP.

So which elements address Becky’s access to and participation in the general education curriculum?

Would anybody like to unmute and tell me what they think about which of these elements ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ address access to and participation in the general education curriculum?

 

[Pausing for response.]

>>RHONDA:  They may not be able to unmute, but you could put it in the chat and I could read it.
>>KELLIE:  Okay.
>>RHONDA:  It’s okay.  Because we are through Webinar this time.

[Laughing.]
‑‑
>>KELLIE:  Totally forgot.
>>RHONDA:  All the programs we have.  So you are good.
>>KELLIE:  Totally forgot.
>>RHONDA:  If you would like to put it in there, I can let you know.
>>KELLIE:  Thank you, Rhonda.
>>RHONDA:  You’re welcome.
>>KELLIE:  So how about extracurricular activities.  If you are not sure which ‑‑ address ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ access to and participation in the general education curriculum, you know, what ‑‑ which of these specifically speak to nonacademic activities?

Maybe ‑‑ special events such as school dances ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ and things of that nature.

Okay.  So let’s take a close look at the bricks and mortar of an IEP.  And that is an individualized education program or an individual education program.

And it’s ‑‑ like I said, it’s time to dive right into the different parts of those.  And I can say that this is ‑‑ this is very helpful ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ for me because when I first started out as a parent of a child with an IEP, I had no idea what any of this stuff meant.  I didn’t know what I was looking at, and I was ‑‑ I was ashamed because I thought I was supposed to know.

Well, if you are not trained in this field, or you didn’t go to school to be a special education teacher, you don’t know these things.

So ‑‑ don’t ‑‑ I don’t want anyone to ever feel like I felt.  So ‑‑ hopefully, these next few slides will really break it down for you.  Like I said, if you have any questions, pop them in the chat for us.

Okay.  So you can see present levels in handout D10, which I told you that we had some handouts included.

And that presents IDEA’s provision listing on the content of the IEP.  The first thing that we are going to see in the IEP is the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance or PLOP or present level statement.

That is again, the statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance including how the child’s disability affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.

For preschool children as appropriate, how the disability affects the child’s participation in appropriate activities.  Just kind of the short of it.  Is this part of the IEP is often like I said, referred to as the present level statement.  But it’s a very big concept.  The present level statement also has to include how the child’s disability affects their involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.  But what does that mean?

This means that the present levels of academic achievement and functional performance is going to tell you exactly how that child’s disability affects them and what they are limits are.  It should also tell you what they do well.  Compared to their nondisabled peers.

That statement is crafted by considering areas of development in which the child with a disability may need support.  It’s going to be roughly divided into two areas of development ‑‑ which are academic and functional.  So ‑‑ neither of these terms, academic achievement or functional performance is defined in regulation.

However, both are discussed the Department in its analysis of comments and changes responding to public comments.

So the department states that academic achievement generally refers to a child’s performance in academic areas.

We believe that this definition could vary depending on the child’s circumstances or situation and therefore, we do not believe a definition of academic achievement should be included in the regulations.  It is not necessary to include a definition of functional in these regulations because we believe that it is a term that is generally understood to refer to skills or activities that are not considered academic.

Or related to a child’s academic achievement.

Instead, functional is often used in the context of reaching activities of everyday living.  The department does not believe it’s necessary to include examples of functional skills in the regulations because the range of functional skills is as varied as the individual needs of the child ‑‑ of children with disabilities.

They also decline to include examples of how functional skills are measured because this is a decision that is best left to public agencies based on the needs of their children.

So ‑‑ academic achievements.  How do we ordinary interpret that term?

If academic achievement generally refers to a child’s performance in academic areas, then we are talking about the academic subjects a child studies in school.  And the skills is student is expected to master in each one of those areas.

So this is really referring to our core academic subjects.  Such as English, math, science, civics and government, economics, arts, history and geography and foreign language.  We must ‑‑
>>RHONDA:  Kellie ‑‑
>>KELLIE:  Yes.
>>RHONDA:  I’m so sorry.  I just wanted to let everyone know that ‑‑ if you have not saw it and I want to thank Jamie, there was a glitch ‑‑ and we appreciate your grace that you gave us with the technology.  Everyone should be able to now to use the chat to communicate with us and I apologize greatly for that.
>>KELLIE:  Thank you, Rhonda.

So ‑‑ each one of the statements are going to be individualized.  So we know that all children with disabilities are different.  Their circumstances are having going to be very different from child to child.

So it has to be an individualized consideration when writing these statements.

So where does the child stand academically?  And a critical question is how does a child’s disability affect his or her involvement or progress in the general education curriculum?

So the present level statement again must contain a discretion that answer ‑‑ description that answers those questions.

So the second component of the IEP is annual goals.  This is a statement of measurable annual goals including academic and functional goals.  IDEA states that the child’s annual goals are a statement of measurable annual goals including academic and functional goals designed to meet the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to enable the child to be involved and make progress in the general education curriculum.

And B, meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability.  It’s kind of like a roadmap in a manner of speaking.

Annual goals, annual goals in that manner of speaking.  Where is the child heading this year, what will he or she working on both academically and in terms of functional development?

IDEA’s use of these terms academic and functional goals indicate the writing of measurable annual goals is to flow from the content of the present level statement where the IEP team has described the child’s present levels of academic and functional performance.

These annual goals identify what the child will work on this year, what skills, what knowledge, what behaviors and what learning and what makes sense, given his or her areas of need and what the IEP team feels he or she can achieve by the end of the year academically and functionally.

 

I skipped one.

Okay.  Handout D ten again shows the child’s annual goals must be crafted with careful attention to enabling the child to be involved with and make progress in the general education curriculum.  Again, we can see that in IDEA’s language, the close tie between the present level statement and the annual goals that are being developed.

The present level statement participants ‑‑ I’m sorry ‑‑ you guys ‑‑ you guys can recall from when I was talking about the present level statement, that it must include how the child’s disability affects their involvement in the general education curriculum.

So again, that information is going to be useful in developing these annual goals and ‑‑ those annual goals need to be mindful of the child’s participation in the general education curriculum.  But that’s not all.

As a second bullet on the indicates that child may have other educational needs that result from his or her disability.  Those needs must be also addressed through measurable annual goals in the IEP.

So ‑‑ writing the goals can be one of the most challenging parts of developing the IEP.

And I know in my position, here, I always have had parents ask, well what are some good goals, what should we be looking for?  And you can’t really put a blanket term on that because everyone’s needs are different.

But one reason that things are so hard, like I said, is because everyone is different and goals can cover so many different areas.

Depending on what that child needs.  Some goals may be target areas of the general education curriculum.

Hmm ‑‑ there are some helpful questions here on the slide to really help break down the process of writing those goals.  So what does my child need to learn academically?  What does he or she need to learn or do functionally, what’s reasonable to achieve in a year and can you measure whether or not the child has reached this goal?

So ‑‑ now, let’s talk about benchmarks.

Benchmarks are short term objectives are only required for children with disabilities who are ‑‑ who are going to be taking the alternate assessment rather than receiving a traditional diploma.

Handout D ten, again, states that for children with disabilities who take alternate assessments align to alternate achievement standards, a description of benchmarks or short term objectives.

So discussing those short term objectives, I feel like it’s important for you also to know there are some districts in the state that do use benchmarks and objectives whether they are on the alternate assessment or not.  It’s important to understand here that it’s only required if the student is on the alternate assessment.

So one of the changes made by the 2004 amendments to IDEA concerns the requirement for those benchmarks and short term objectives in the IEP.  Previously, those benchmarks were required to be developed in correlation with the child’s annual IEP goals.  Like I said, that’s not the case anymore.

But just for the sake of time, know that it can vary from district to district and it may be something that you want to discuss.  If it’s not something that your district does automatically but you want to know how they are doing periodically, we are going to talking about progress reports in a moment.  But this might be something you can discuss.

So ‑‑ how will the child’s progress be measured?  It flows naturally out of the annual goals written for the child that must be measurable.  IDEA’s provision reads that measuring the child’s progress must be a description of how the child’s progress towards meeting the annual goals described in paragraph two of this section, which you can see on handout D.

How it will be measured and when periodic progress reports ‑‑ let’s see.  I want to read it verbatim.  When periodic reports on the progress the child will be making towards meeting the annual goals, such as during the use of quarterly or periodic reports concurrence with the issuance of report cards will be provided.

The IEP has to state how the child’s progress is measured, so you can see it in the IEP.  And they also have to report when we are going to be notified of your child’s progress.

So the description of when those periodic reports will be provided towards meeting the annual goals.  They may be quarterly or periodic but must be concurrent with the issuance of report cards.

So ‑‑ the next thing we are going to talk about is ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ the provision on this slide that is really the heart and soul and meat and potatoes and bricks and mortar of the IEP.

When taken off paper and operationalized in school, it becomes the education that the child with a disability receives.  So specifying a child’s special education.  That is a statement of the child ‑‑ of the special education and related services supplementary aids and services based on peer reviewed research to the extent practical to ‑‑ to be provided to the child or on behalf of the child.

And a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child to advance appropriately towards obtaining their annual goals, to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum in accordance can paragraph A one of this section.  Which like I said, you’ll see that on handout D ten.

And other non ‑‑ in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities and to be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children in the at this times described in this section.

So obviously, the statement required by the regulation is one of the most critical components of the child’s IEP.

Like a statement of annual goals, it arises out of directly correlated with the present level statement where the child’s current and present level needs have been described.  We were not kidding about how critical present level is going to be prove to be.  It’s so so important.

Because it really is your roadmap for your entire IEP.

So special education is specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability.  It can take place in a number of settings including, classrooms, at home, hospitals, other institutions and includes PE, travel training and vocational education.  Special education can also include speech, language, pathology services or any other related service if the service is considered special education rather than a related service by the state.

Included in ‑‑ our additional definitions that may be used to define special education the definition for specially designed instruction is of particular significance as it relates to what is special about special education.

It’s instruction that is specially adapted as appropriate, in content, methodology or in delivery designed to meet the unique needs of a child and designed to ensure the child’s ‑‑ to ensure access ‑‑ the child’s access to the general education curriculum.

Sorry about that.

So ‑‑ also, part of the IEP is identifying the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to the child.

To do the specific things that you see here on this slide.

So it’s going to have a statement of program modifications or supports for school personnel that are going to be provided to the child.

I also wanted to insert here that you can see on this slide that ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ each one of these regulations are on the slide and these are clickable links that you can also access those rather than the handouts the if you prefer.

So ‑‑ let’s talk about program modifications or supports for school personnel for just a minute.  A statement of the special education related services and supplementary aids and services based on peer reviewed research to the extent practical to be provided to the child on or behalf of the child and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel will be provided to enable the child to advance appropriately towards obtaining their annual goals, to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum in accordance with paragraph A one, again of that section.  And to be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children in the activities also described in this section.

So moving straight on into that leads us into the extent of nonparticipation.  The IEP must include an explanation of the extent if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular class and in the activities described in paragraph A four of this section.

Again, referring to your handouts.

This provision is pretty self-evident and re‑emphasizes the value that IDEA places on educating children with disabilities with children who are not disabled to the maximum extent appropriate.

And that’s going to look different for each child.

If a child’s IEP places a child outside of the regular classroom involvement in the general education curriculum and/or participation in extracurricular or nonacademic activities, hmm ‑‑ the IEP must explain why.

So sense the IEP is driven by the child’s needs, the explanation for nonparticipation should reflect the child’s needs and not be based on the needs or convenience of the school system.

Okay.  The next thing you will see in your IEP is going to be assessment accommodations.

That’s going to be accommodations of the individual during the assessments.  A statement of any individual participate accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child in district wide assessments consistent with the act and if the IEP determines that the child must take an alternate assessment instead of a particular regular state or district wide assessment of student achievement, a statement of why the child cannot participate in the regular assessment and the particular alternate assessment that is going to be selected and appropriate for that child.

So for some children with disabilities, regular state and/or district wide assessments of student achievement are not going to be appropriate.

And I think we all know and understand that.

The individuals with disabilities education act includes provisions to permit their assessment through alternate assessment, like I spoke about earlier, given specific conditions.  Those provisions ‑‑ I’m going to read to you and you will also see them in your handout.

The provision states a statement of any individual appropriate accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on state and district wide assessments consistent with section six 12, A16 of the act.

And if the IEP determines that the child must take an alternate assessment instead of a particular regular or statewide assessment, a statement of why, again, the child cannot participate in the regular assessment and that particular assessment that’s going to be used.

 

And as a reminder, IDEA’s applicable provisions again, are on handout D ten.

If the IEP determines that the child must take an alternate assessment, instead of a particular regular state or district wide assessment, a statement of why, again that the child can’t participate in that regular assessment and what specific assessment is going to be used.  So what’s clear that we see here is we also need to include why the particular assessment is appropriate for that child.

So they can’t just pick one at random.  They have to actually state and put in the IEP why that one is the best fit for that child.

>>RHONDA:  I did just want to say ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ that hmm ‑‑ so everybody knows that only like one percent of students with disabilities should ‑‑ of the total population of students with disabilities with IEPs, should be on the alternate assessment.  So it’s a very low percentage.
>>KELLIE:  Absolutely.
>>RHONDA:  As it should be.  And individually decided not based on the disability they have but what’s appropriate for them.
>>KELLIE:  Absolutely.  Thank you, Rhonda.

Okay.  So we are finally coming out of that assessment portion of the IEP.  And we are going to move on into the next element, which is service delivery.

This is again, you are going to see here on this slide, this is what it looks like in the IEP, there’s a little chart, it’s going to tell the service aid or modification or frequency and location, the duration and beginning date.

The IEP must include the projected date for the beginning of the services that are going to be received and the modifications that are described ‑‑ that are needed for the child and the anticipated frequency and location and duration of the services, like I said.

So not only must the IEP state that all the services delivered to and/or on behalf of the child, but it also has to give those specific details.  So this part of the IEP is very very specific.  There’s nothing about it that should be generic or kind of condition overarching time frame or anything like that.  It needs to be very very specific.  Dates, times and places for the delivery of the special education services.

And ‑‑ that being said, considering extended school year services, you may also see some things about extended school year services in there.

The IEP team needs to consider whether or not a child needs to receive those services beyond the typical school year.

So this is called extended school year or ESY services.  Some children receiving special education services may be eligible for those ESY services.

States and your local education agencies typically have guidance on determining eligibility for ESY, but whether or not a child needs ESY in order to receive the free appropriate public education is a decision that is made by the IEP team.

Finally, we move on into transition.

One of the last portions and that’s on handout D six.  And D six says a transition services means a coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that is designed to be within a result oriented process ‑‑ whoops ‑‑ designed to be in a result oriented process that’s designed ‑‑ to facilitate the child’s movement from school to post school activities.

That’s going to include post-secondary educational ‑‑ or post-secondary education, vocational education, integrated employment, which includes supported employment, continuing an adult education, any adult services that may be needed.  Independent living skills, and community participation.

It is based on the child’s individual needs taking into account the child’s strengths, preferences and interests and includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other post school adult living objectives, and if appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and provision of a functional vocational evaluation.

Transition services for children with disabilities may be special education, if provided as specially designed instruction or a related service.  If required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education.

So if you take a moment and think about what I’ve you know ‑‑ just read about this definition, you are going to see that it includes the domain of independent and adult living.

So that is referring to the community, employment, adult services, daily living skills, vocational or post-secondary education.  This definition clearly acknowledges that adulthood involves a wide range of skills and skill sets and areas and activities that are going to prepare that child with a disability to perform functionally across the spectrum of areas and activities that may involve and need to involve considerable planning, attention, focus and coordinated services.

So notice that word for just a second.  Coordinated.

These services are ‑‑ they need to be planned as a group and are intended to drive toward a result.  They should not ‑‑ be haphazard or be generic, it should not be just a blanket for all students.  It must really be coordinated and individualized for that student’s needs.

And then, finally, we talked about the transfer of rights.

So when we talk about the transfer of rights, we are referring to the age of majority under state law.  The age of majority is when children legally become adults.

So at this time, they gain the rights of an adult, which include the right to vote, apply for credit cards, make medical and financial decisions, sign contracts, live independently and do so much more.

So when people use the term age of majority, they are generally referring to when a young person reaches the age where one is considered to be an adult and in Kentucky, that is age 18.

So ‑‑ at this point in a child’s life, the state may transfer that child, all of the educational rights, which is the case in Kentucky that parents have had up until that moment.  Lots of parents don’t realize once the student turns 18, all the rights the parent has in the meeting and participation, all that transfers to the student.  That being said, that doesn’t mean your student can’t invite you to those meetings.

They absolutely can.  Your student can also appoint you to be their educational representative.

So lots of districts have a form that can be filled out and then many district ‑‑ students write a statement.  That says I would like so and so to be my educational representative.  There are ways around it.  But it’s very important that parents know this is coming.

These regulations can also be found on handout D ten.

So ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ that is kind of enough for new.  That has been a whole lot of words spoken in a short amount of time.  All of the topics listed on this slide will be addressed in our next presentation in the series.  This is just foreshadowing next week.  We are going to talk about special factors the IEP team considers, strengths of the child, concerns of parents for enhancing their child’s education.

And IEP’s and IFSPs for children age 3 through 5.

So again, that’s what we’ll be talking about next week.  So I want to take a moment to briefly review what we have discussed in the last 50 minutes.

A child with a disability needs access to and participation in the general education curriculum.

Nonacademic activities and extracurricular activities.

They need a team and a plan for support.

That plan needs to include measurable goals, accommodations and modifications.  And then they need to have a graduation and transition needs considered and have those needs addressed in the IEP.

So a ‑‑ I want to break here for a second to see if anyone has any questions.

[Pausing for response.]

>>KELLIE:  I don’t see any now.  But I’m going to give you a few moments to put them in the chat.

>>KELLIE:  Will we be able to access this recording later?  Yes, absolutely.  I appreciate you asking that question.

So ‑‑ we’ll have ‑‑ this ‑‑ the transcript and the close captioning done and it will be available on our YouTube channel.

 

[There were technical issues here.]

>>KELLIE:  ‑‑ an insane amount of information on YouTube.

There are so many topics covered and they are not all just focused on education.  I highly recommend that you check us out on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

>>KELLIE:  And where can I find the handout that you mentioned, Rhonda popped it in the chat.
>>RHONDA:  Yeah ‑‑
>>KELLIE:  Sorry.
>>RHONDA:  I’m so sorry, Kellie, I was copying for the handouts, I’m going to put them back in the chat and an additional resource I thought would be helpful, that I just put is our IEP info graphic.  That we created.  And I’m getting the one ‑‑ one I just shared is a PowerPoint handout that Kellie shared with you today.  And the additional handouts that she’s been referring to as sort of the D and then give the number, that’s the one I’m sharing right now.

Another thing to keep in mind too, if you go to ‑‑ or you can follow us, I’m going to put ‑‑ on ‑‑ we have it set where ‑‑ it’s the same whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or YouTube, all you have to do to follow us, I’m going to put it is go to Kentucky SPIN, Inc.  I’m putting it right now in the chat.

If you can follow us that way on any of three or I’ll also include the link to our video library on the website and you can access them there.  That way, you will be able to access handouts from Webinar and also see the transcript.  If you want to just read through it.

Excuse me ‑‑

And we have an E news that we send out if you would like to register for that.  Any of the Webinars, once they are ‑‑ have been closed captioned and on the YouTube and websites, we’ll share.  We have been creating a lot of info graphics and short video versions of the info graphics.

And we share them in our e news, we do a monthly e news, we just launched last month the youth e news and actually today, this month’s version will go out.  So we also have that.  If you would like to sign up, any time we release any of them, we put them in the monthly newsletters.  That may have been more than y’all wanted to know.  We have all sorts of wonderful things coming out.

If you see a topic area that you all ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ that you have not found a resource for, we love getting feedback from everybody or something that would help you or ‑‑ other families or professionals that you work with, let us know.  Because that’s how we create our list as well.  And we are working on not only on resources for parents and families but for youth.  A lot of resources for youth too that you will be able to use.

Yes ‑‑ Jenny, thank you.  We are ‑‑ it’s a hundred percent free.  ‑‑

[Laughing.]
We ‑‑ all the of the resources ‑‑ all of the resources and information and everything we have.  So hopefully, last week’s Webinar should be done in the next week or so.  And you’ll see it on there.

Again, we have to wait until it’s all closed captioned accurately and lined up with the video.

So as soon as they are available, they will be posted.

>>KELLIE:  And I wanted to jump to this question, we did have a question that says you mentioned type one diabetes qualified for an IEP.  What about type two.  The important thing to know about qualifying for an IEP the disability has to have an adverse effect on the child’s education.

If you have requested a special education evaluation, we would maybe need to look at the type of evaluation that was requested or done, so that’s just ‑‑ kind of generic without knowing a lot ‑‑ you know, any detail.  It’s just knowing that the disability has to have an adverse effect on the child’s education in order to qualify for an IEP.

So ‑‑ and lots of ‑‑
>>RHONDA:  And they have ‑‑
>>KELLIE:  I’m sorry.  Go ahead.
>>RHONDA:  I’m so sorry, Kellie.

You know.

[Laughing.]
How I am.  And they have to qualify under one of the categories and require specially designed instruction and related services.  So it’s not really that when you look at any disability, it’s not that ‑‑ you automatically would qualify or you wouldn’t, again, like Kellie was saying, it’s individualized.  So it depends on how that affects that individual child.

Yes, there could be children, who have type one and type two that qualify, but again, did they qualify under at least one category?  Does it adversely affect their performance?  And hmm ‑‑ does ‑‑ do they require any special designed instruction related services?

So again, and making sure too, like Kellie was saying too, about the category of disability, are they being evaluated under the correctly category?

Sometimes, we find that they are not.

>>KELLIE:  Uh‑huh.  Uh‑huh.  Absolutely.  So I don’t know if that’s helpful to you or not.

Hopefully, it is.

But by all means, if you need to discuss that further, do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Our contact information is here on this slide.

I would also love it if ‑‑ those of you that are still on, if you would scan the QR code or I think they are going to drop the link in the evaluation, please fill that evaluation out for us.

We take that very very seriously.  And really use the input that you guys give us into developing our work.

Hmm ‑‑ so I will give y’all just a few seconds to access that evaluation.

And it looks like we’ll be exiting right at ‑‑ right on time.

So again, we appreciate you guys.  We hope to see you back again with us next week when ‑‑ hmm ‑‑ Amber, our training and outreach coordinator will be talking about the meetings of the IEP team.

You do not want to miss that.  Because we’ll talk about all the different times that IEP teams are required to meet and when they don’t have to meet.

So thank you all so much.  We look forward to seeing you next week.

[End of webinar.]