How to have a say in a I.E.P. and in what happens to your education? I have found in my research that there are many national and state requirements that all schools must meet. Such information can be found on the Internet as well in books. I also found many websites that are great for parents but there are not many for the students with disabilities, which I think, are the more important ones to talk about such things, as standing up for your self in both education and your personal life as well. I myself have had more than my share of problems with people who didn’t understand what I needed.

And because of all the problems I have had over time I have had to learn to stand for my self in IEP (Individual Educations Plan) meetings. From the time I was very young so I could be able to
say what I wanted to happen in my Education. I have always made the people
at the IEP meeting understand what must happen for me and that I have
special needs, and that the educators must find a way to met my requirements.

My solutions to this problem are to maintain good communication with
your case manager at school. Or you can also talk to other students who
have had such experience. But what I would truly recommend is to talk to your
parent and / or guardian as to what goes on in an IEP, or how you can
participate in the meeting. You can also talk to a school counselor as well.

Many of the books tell you to just sit the and say nothing during the whole meeting. Or to just allow the adults to figure out what shall happen to your education. Many of the websites only tell what they think is important for the parents to know because they feel the students do not need to know about such things. Which can be the reason why most students don’t know what goes on at an IEP meeting.