IDEA: The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act. This law states that all students
with educational disabilities, until the age of 21, should be given a free and appropriate
public education (FAPE), and will be on your “Offer of FAPE” page in the IEP. This will
include what modifications and accommodations your child will need, and other services
your child will be entitled too (i.e. Speech, Occupational Therapy, Adaptive Physical
Education). This law is set in place to make sure all students with disabilities are given
the education they deserve and one that is preparing them for their future and
employment.
BIP: Behavior Intervention Plan. This is a tool used when a child is having difficulty in
school (with or without an IEP) and their behaviors are impeding their learning or the
learning of others in a negative or disruptive way. This plan is to be constructed and
executed by the professional who has gone through training to write this type of plan.
Having a background in behavior modification is always helpful, though not required.
Whomever it needs to know what the behavior that is impeding learning is, what it
“looks” like (i.e. If someone who didn’t know that student walked in and saw the child
exhibiting behaviors they would understand the verbiage used in the BIP) and be written
in a very objective way. This means we are not assuming or guessing what the function
of the behavior is, we are just to describe what it looks like. The person should also
know what “reinforcements” (basically a reward for using appropriate behavior) to use
with this particular student (such as game play, iPad time, stickers, etc) to encourage
using a different, more appropriate behavior.
Learning more about the type of plan and services your child is entitled to can
seem extremely overwhelming and we put a lot of faith in our educational system to
guide us. Typically everyone will have the students best interest at heart and work
together to achieve a shared vision of success for the student. But being educated on
laws and rules that you will no doubt be dealing with for years to come is crucial for
families to feel like they know what they are doing when they walk in the door to a
meeting. As parents, it's our right to know what services our children are getting and what
services we think they could benefit from. Building trust with your IEP Team is so
helpful, and the information you all can share on you child can only help them succeed
in their future. As always, if you should have any questions or comments in regards to
this blog or information you would like me to hit I'd love to hear from you! I hope you and
your family have an amazing weekend!
Shine On!
Ronette Parker ABA
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