How to IEP Like a Boss

It's that time of year again for disabled schoolkids and their families.

IEP meeting time.

An Individualised Education Plan (IEP) lays out how a school will include a disabled student by providing reasonable adjustments. Australian anti-discrimination law makes it the school's responsibility to ensure disabled kids get an inclusive education, on the same basis as non-disabled kids. I should stress: I am not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice. But I have learned what I can about the laws protecting Australian schoolkids against disability discrimination so that I can help my school prepare great IEPs for my kids. Here is a summary of what I have learned:

Federal Laws (these cover the whole of Australia):

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disability (CRPD) says inclusive education is a human right. Australia ratified the CRPD which means agreed to be legally bound by the terms of the CRPD, as an international treaty. So it is a big, serious law.

Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Parliamentary acts are another type of big, serious law. The DDA 1992 fights disability discrimination by making it illegal. It says reasonable adjustments must be provided to include disabled people. The only way around this is by showing it would cause "unjustifiable hardship" to provide the adjustment. It is not simple to just say something would cause an unjustifiable hardship based on an opinion, it involves a formal process of weighing up the fairness to all parties involved.

Disability Standards for Education 2005. This takes the DDA 1992, and applies it to education settings across Australia. It describes what public AND private schools, universities and training organisations have to do to comply with the DDA 1992. It covers things like reasonable adjustments so it is relevant to IEPs.

Department of Education Policy and School Policy

It is hard to keep up with these as they change frequently. However a handy rule I have learned is: all things at the state, regional or school level have to comply with the federal laws above. In my experience not all schools know this! So if you get a "no" initially when requesting adjustments, it is good to point out the law. The school can be asked to show "unjustifiable hardship", and if they can't do this they cannot claim they are too limited by funding, staffing, or time, to give a child the reasonable adjustment they request. You can always ask for an explanation for "unjustifiable hardship" from the school in writing. "No we don't get extra funding for that" may change to "yes" once all involved have weighed up the pros and cons and considered their responsibilities.

And remember, it is a good thing to take a stand for disability inclusion and adjustments! It drives schools to improve, innovate, use universal design principles, and become more flexible for all learners. Good inclusion is NOT more expensive - check out this amazing, inclusive government school in the state of Victoria.

IEP Goals

OK here is where I get pushy. I regret not learning this sooner.

When you write IEP goals, remember this: it is NOT about teaching the child to fit in with a disabling education system. It is about adjusting the system to fit THE CHILD (social model of disability). You will get the most powerfully inclusive IEP if you follow this principle.

Here are some goals from our family's past IEPs. BEFORE I learned this. I want to emphasise - they aren't terrible goals. It's simply that the focus is on changing the child, rather than improving the fit of the school environment and curriculum to the child.

"Personal and Social Capability Goal: By the end of Term 2, child will learn to be a good winner and loser by using positive statements"

"Personal and Social Capability Goal: By the end of Term 4, child will engage in conversations and discussions, using active listening behaviours showing interest and contributing to ideas, information, and questions.

Strategy: Jobs list - add showing work to a peer. Forced choice to begin with."

By contrast, our IEP goals this year are based on active inclusion and the social model of disability. Keep reading to see them - you will notice the shift. This approach is in line with best science and research: Australian Guidelines say autistic kids (like all disabled kids) learn best when their differences and unique way of experiencing the world are embraced. Their self-esteem and self-advocacy skills are uplifted.

Here are our actively inclusive goals...

"Learning Activities and Curriculum Goal 1: By the end of term 1 learning activities will be accessible to child, evidenced by:

• Worksheets completed to a standard child is proud of.

• Maintaining or improving child's academic rating compared to the previous year on their semester 1 report."

"Learning Activities and Curriculum Goal 2: By the end of term 1 learning activities will meet child's disability access needs such that child no longer displays distress responses (dissociation, anxiety eg reluctance or resistance, no attempt, exhaustion) before, during or after learning activities."

"Creating a Culture of Disability Inclusion Goal: Staff will identify autistic/ADHD interoception, sensory regulation, play, socialising, communication and learning, and how they differ to the same activities in neurotypical children. Staff will proactively educate all students about these differences, and about the value of diversity and disabled people."

"School Wide PBS Goal: The school wide Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) program will work towards being accessible to child.

• The school PBS matrix will be adjusted to explicitly show how autistic and ADHD children display pro-social, learning behaviours, and how these differ to neurotypical pro-social, learning behaviours

• The school PBS system will not exclude, shame or punish Child for behaviours related to their disability.

I think schools foster best learning by active inclusion of disabled learners. What do you think about actively inclusive IEPs?

For more info on IEPs...Here is a great blog from Australian Alliance for Inclusive Education about requesting reasonable adjustments and IEP meetings: Your Child's IEP - Guide for Families on Personalised Plans for Learning and Support - Australian Alliance for Inclusive Education (allmeansall.org.au)