Transcript of E2A Podcast Episode 7: The Power of Student Voice The Power of Student Voice in the IEP Process: Students with Unique Communication and Emotional Needs (part 5 of 5)
Hi everyone, this is Dana Marie. I'm here with Michelle and welcome back to the Empowered to Advocate podcast. This is the last part, Part 5, in our five-part series on student voice.
Today, we're going to talk about students for whom attending an IEP meeting at any age might be challenging. It might be challenging for any number of different reasons, such as communication, behavior, social-emotional reasons. We're going to focus on this particular subset of students today for whom it's not realistic to attend part or all of an IEP meeting. We'll paint some broad strokes today, but we're talking about students from pre-school to age 22 in transition settings and classes. We want to give you some clear strategies and takeaways, whether you're a parent or an educator, that you can implement right away and bring to the next IEP meeting preparation conversation. With that, let's start talking about students at any age who might have communication challenges. Michelle, I'll pass it off to you if you want to start.
[michelle_she_her]: So I think the biggest part here is to really plan and strategize how to make their voice or sharing what they want to share about themselves in the most accessible sort of way. And very often, for students who have unique communication needs and may be using assistive and augmentative communication devices like an iPad or even lower-tech devices like laminated picture boards, there are ways that we can utilize those and have students practice or pre-plan or even free record how they want to share their information. And again, like you said, this is a broad stroke and this is why it's an individualized education plan because our students are all presenting with very unique needs. So it's even kind of hard to talk about this because we have 20 minutes or so and we're not going to really hit on the needs of all learners. But if we're thinking about about students who are using some sort of a system of technology to answer questions.
This could be done (by) they could come to their meetings and present using that communication device, whatever that looks like. Right? Or it might be something that's more of an interview style or information gathering before the meeting, like we talked about for a lot of our younger friends in part four. So when using those communication devices, this will depend on where they are and being able to learn the language of using that device. Depending on how much scaffolding they'll need to utilize that. So depending on how much direction they'll need, up through just having them answer the question on the transition planning form as any other 14- to 22-year-old would be answering. Right? So it really depends on the child and their unique needs.
[dana_marie]: I think you brought up a good point, too. I think the key, regardless of which strategy you may try to implement, is the planning ahead piece. And so, for instance, if we are talking about a student who uses a communication device, maybe between the parent, caregiver, and the speech language pathologist and special education teacher, so that's something the student can be working on in their speech and language sessions in the weeks leading up to the IEP meeting, if they're going to attend the meeting, making sure that the words that they need, the pictures that they need, are added to their device ahead of time so that they have time to practice with that. So it's not just being put on the spot in the meeting, which nobody would like, but certainly if communication is already a challenge.
One thing that we wanted to talk about today (that we actually could have talked about in all four of the other episodes) is a really easy and simple way to get students of any age involved in their IEP meeting is to have them introduce and talk about the team members that they work with on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. So if the student is going to attend the meeting in person, an entry point into that conversation and entry point into the meeting could be that they are in charge of introduction. They can introduce their parent, caregiver, or multiple parents/caregivers, they can introduce their teacher or teachers, they can introduce the specialists on their team, not just for other folks at the table to know who's there, but as a way for them to participate.
If this is not something that can happen in real time during the meeting, Michelle kind of already mentioned this a little at the beginning, but even maybe doing a video or an audio recording prior to the meeting where the student introduces the members of their team could be a super simple presentation. A PowerPoint where the teacher, the liaison, or one of the specialists helps the student upload pictures of the folks on their team and a little description of them, what they work on with them, and that can be something that can be shared at the beginning of the meeting if the student attends, but also maybe video the liaison or another team member if they cannot attend. It is absolutely the key we talked about (I guess it was last episode or the episode before) about a PowerPoint presentation setting goals for the year, the student being able to tell the team members what their vision is. If for some reason they cannot attend the meeting, this can be prepped ahead of time; it doesn't even have to be during the meeting. They can put together a presentation and their teacher or liaison can share that out to the rest of the team before the meeting, which could help set the tone for the meeting. This might not just be for a student who has communication challenges. I think a lot of times for students who struggle socially or emotionally, so for students with social emotional disability, or for some other reason they don't feel super comfortable or anxious attending the meeting, that might be another way to be included ahead of time and to pre-plan without actually having to be there with all of them
[michelle_she_her]: yeah i think that's a really great point. I actually just had a fourteen year old eighth grader who up until the day of the meeting was like yeah i want to come to my meeting and then the day the meeting came and they were like “i feel really nervous. i don't know what i would say” So that student was able to work with the liaison on the parts of the transition planning form that were really important and then she was able bring that information to the meeting with her that day, which was great so there are ways you know again especially if it's their first meeting especially if their fourteen year old in middle school, it's such a new experience for them, I think it's really okay to respect that decision to excuse themselves from the meeting right as long as we're getting their input somehow into into the meeting. Something else that you can pre plan and depending on a students ability to communicate ability to access demonstrate or tell you what they like to do tell you or even right or they're still learning how to use the aac device right we're still working on really breaking that language code with them is to use icons to rank or indicate activities goals and things like that so you could have different pictures of their schedule and have them you
know circle or point to the things that they really like to do or pick from an array of two or just make note of when certain things in the classroom are happening that seem to light them up. Do they really enjoy it when you sing a particular song or do they to get maybe a little bit upset and they're communicating to you via some sad tears or something when it's time to get dressed to go home or something like that? There are certain indications and nobody knows your child better than you and as an educator right if you were with that student all day ong you and the caregivers know these students the best so picking up on some of those cues as to what a student enjoys and maybe doesn't enjoy as much depending on how that student communicates
[dana_marie]: and if you are an educator, we are fully aware as educators ourselves, of how there is not enough time in the day to complete everything that you have to complete; but if you are looking for, especially in the older grades you have to plan some transition activities but even with younger kids if you're looking for classroom activities that tie in not just for one
particular student but for all students transition goals and transition planning there are
a couple of things that you can do as class room activities that could lend themselves to participation in an iep meaning
A couple of ideas we have, one is a vision board you can have the students create a vision board and whether that's in the form of like collage or if it's a drawing for little ones whatever that looks like, but where they actually can include things that they like to do. What their interests are. Some career options for down the road if they're if they're ready to have that conversation, that can be something that can be shared at the meeting, either by the students themselves or maybe by the liaison another thing for students who communicate in any number of different ways including like michelle said maybe pointing to icons or pictures all the way up to students who can communicate using their verbal language and really everyone in between. Another thing is to have them choose their own examples of work that they're proud of. So activities that they're proud of that they've done in your class or maybe putting a couple of papers in front of them or pulling up something on maybe the computer or chrome book that they've done recently something that you know that they've done well at but having them kind of decide what they want to share with the rest of the team that really illustrates maybe a subject area that they love. Maybe they love Math and they want to show the rest of the team a math assignment or activity that they're really proud of or if they've done an art project that they're really proud of or if they have a song and music like michele said that love to sing - having that as a tangible artifact to bring to the meeting to really show and illustrate what that student like what their interests are is a really nice way to include them in a way that might feel a little less pressure and a little bit more low stakes and maybe getting up and giving a presentation or talk at the beginning of meeting
[michelle_she_her]: For sure. For sure. I love that idea to have them pick out what they want to share as being something that they're really proud of and i think the goal here again backs just kind circling back to your point that especially for our older students we are really preparing them for the “real world” right even our students in preschool we are trying to give them the skills that it's going to help them be successful in kindergarten that's then going to give them the skills to help them be successful in elementary school - all like constantly laying this foundation so that they can be as independent and as autonomous human beings as possible post high school. That is our ultimate goal with our students: to give them the support that they need so that they can be adults and navigate the world with jobs and living situations and that's for all students all children with disabilities, right? Our goal for them they're going to grow up to be adults with disabilities that they're navigating the world so we want to make sure that they're able to do that and be able to advocate for themselves post high school
[dana_marie]: for sure
[michelle_she_her]: right
[dana_marie]:
.For sure. And I think sort of the last piece, we talked a little bit about students with communication challenges, students with social emotional difficulties that might make it hard to sit in a meeting or be sort of like the center of attention at a meeting. For students who are working on behavior modification or who have a positive behavior support plan, it may be helpful to involve the school's BCBA or RBT in the meeting to provide support and have a conversation with the student beforehand to talk about what's working for them and what's not working for them.
I recently had a conversation with somebody about a behavior chart, it works for some students, it does not work for other students. That sort of tangible check chart or something like that so bringing that team member into the fold early on and and you know having them have a conversation with the student that can be shared with their permission obviously at the meeting. It could even look like, like we said, maybe the student picking out a day that was really good for them and then maybe having them explain why that day it's good for them. So a student has a really excellent day, maybe meeting with them at the end of the day and be like hey why do you think that why do you think it went so well today? Why do you think you got so much work done? You participated amazingly. Why do you think that is? or, what was helpful for you today? Bringing them into the conversation at that point will help to inform the conversation in the decisions later at the meeting.
It is not, like michelle said, it's not realistic that every student is going to be able at even is fourteen to sit through an hour an hour and a half two hour iep meeting. And if our goal is to create some autonomy and to have the students participate and have a say in their programming but in a way where they're getting to make some decisions, i think honoring those choices and decisions, even if they're last minute, is really important, with the goal and with the hopes of moving towards not just independent more independent but moving towards more inclusion in the process. It is a process. You cannot invite a fifteen year old to an iep meeting, whether your parent or teacher, you can't just invite a fifteen year old to an iep meeting who has never been to an iep meeting and expect that it's going to be the most comfortable easy thing for them and then it's going to be flawless integration for them. As michelle said at the beginning it really really takes a lot of preparation and it really is a gradual process of including them so that the hope is by the time they are juniors and seniors in high school or in a transition program or transition portion post secondary that they've sort of acquired some of those skills along the way
[michelle_she_her]: And ultimately the hope for this five part series was to be able to give both caregivers and educators and even if you're a student and you're listening ways to know that how to be included in the conversation about you right like we are having conversations about students who are human beings and they deserve to have their voices heard not just at the meetings but throughout the documents where we're discussing them and providing supports for them and if our ultimate goal is to be creating supports to have students graduate or get certificates of completion and move on into the adult world and it's important that that structure and planning for them includes them and their voice in it it is really really powerful to have students voice throughout documentation from the first iep and onwards and hopefully you have learned some new ways some new strategies some new things to try and we would love to hear from you as to how some of these have worked if you have questions if you have other suggestions that maybe we didn't mention because again like we said today all students are unique learners and all students are going to have unique ways that they demonstrate their interest in their goals so we would love to hear from you some of those things that you have tried with students things that have worked email us or find us anywhere on the web empowered to advocate so we look forward to hearing from you
[dana_marie]: can't wait to talk to you and hear from you soon thanks for listening everyone