Michelle She Her (00:01.587)

Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Empowered to Advocate podcast. I'm Michelle and I am joined with my co-host and partner here, Dana Marie. And we are here for a quickie episode this week that we're going to talk about how to craft your parent concern statement, why the statement is important and why sometimes it gets forgotten about in meetings. Um, so we want to make sure that you are very confident going in feeling very feeling ready to share your concerns and comfortable. Comfortable is the word I was looking for when you go into a meeting, knowing that this is a very important part of the IEP and the IEP process, and making sure that you feel heard when you go into a meeting. So, Dana Marie, when you're thinking about having parent input, caregiver input into the IEP, what are some of the things that you caregivers to maybe think about, to look at, to consider when they're crafting this statement.

Dana Marie (01:12.758)

So I think there's actually a few different pieces to this. And we recently posted just a short, you know, carousel on Instagram with some pointers. And one of the first things that we like to tell caregivers, parents to consider is whether it makes sense for them or whether they feel comfortable reading aloud their parent concern statement at the beginning of an IEP meeting, whether it feels better and more comfortable for them to send ahead of time, their parent concerns. so that the school team has a chance to look over it in preparation for the IEP meeting. Sometimes parents and caregivers actually prefer to do it after an IEP meeting. There could be things that come up during that meeting that spark something, that remind them of something, and they usually like to send an email after the meeting to whoever the facilitator is of the meeting. So the first thing we usually try to talk to parents about is sort of where they fit on that spectrum, what feels the most comfortable.

to them. We worked with a parent a while back actually who shared that at the beginning of IEP meetings she loved to not just share her parents' statement, but also a photograph of her child so that the team could keep the picture of her child in the forefront of the meeting, which we thought was a really great example of how to make this work for you and your family, something that's comfortable. I think there are pros and cons for all of these approaches.

One of the pros that we do like to remind parents and caregivers about is that if you do, if you're able to send your concerns ahead of time, it does give the team a chance to look over those concerns and gives you a chance to sort of maximize that time when you are at the team meeting. Everyone knows how quickly an hour, an hour and a half goes when you're in a team meeting. So if you're able to put some of those concerns in an email and a letter to school, even if it's just a few days ahead of time,

It does give the school team a little bit of time to go over your concerns, make sure there are things that can be addressed at that meeting, make sure the right people attend the meeting to be able to address your concerns. So, you know, starting there and thinking about what even makes sense in terms of how you're going to approach it. And for some people we talk to, they say, I literally don't, I have so many things in my mind right now, I have no idea what to say, I have no idea what to do.

and they prefer to kind of let the team go first at an IEP meeting and then maybe share their concerns at the end or like I said, in an email after the fact. So for us, that's kind of the first decision to make, right? That's the first thing to consider when you're thinking about making sure that your input is not just considered, but added to the IEP as part of the plan moving forward.

Michelle She Her (04:03.074)

For sure. And you know, just as a reminder for folks, the parent concern statement is one of the big pieces that parents and caregivers and students have a lot of say into the plan for. So there's the concern statement, there's the vision statement, and then also on either side of the table that I'm on, really getting the input from student and family about strengths that can go into that key evaluation. of the IEP is also a really nice way to get input of how the student feels about themselves and their strengths and how the caregivers see them too. So if we're coming at things from a strength-based mindset, even starting with their strengths and then thinking about, well, what would help to bolster their strengths in relation to the vision for them? And then...

How is their data, their progress, their needs? Maybe what are you concerned about is maybe not being met. What is not maybe happening fast enough in your mind? And this is really just an opportunity to get your thoughts and feelings out and for the team to listen to and consider. So for example, maybe you have concerns about your child's fine motor skills, their handwriting skills. You bring that up as a concern. They don't currently receive any formalized occupational therapy or anything right now. And if that's a concern for you, then you and the team can then have a conversation. And at that point, the team might then propose a formal OT evaluation to make more informed decisions about that concern about your child's handwriting.

Dana Marie (05:45.754)

Yeah, I think one thing that you just made me think of, I was recently having a conversation with a parent and said, it's also okay to write things that are going well. And maybe you just want to see more of it. Right. So for instance, is the team is the school team is the teacher is a para educator, a specialist may be using an accommodation with your student that seems to be working. But maybe it's not being used a lot or across all settings in different places within the school. So even saying something like, you know, I've noticed that my child really benefits from X, Y, and Z, I would love to see this happening more across the school day, across settings, so on and so forth. So it's really a good place to also outline things that you think are working to some degree and how maybe we can capitalize on the thing that's working, whether it's a service, an accommodation, an intervention, it doesn't really matter, but how can we build on that and maybe do it a little bit more.

That goes for home too. You can say, you know, at home we've switched up, we've changed X, Y, and Z. We find that it works better than X, Y, and Z. We would love to see the team try to implement this new strategy we're working at home, this new accommodation that we're working on at home, so on and so forth. So, you know, like Michelle was saying, keeping in mind the strengths of your child, keeping in mind also things that are working, this is a chance to

Like we said, get your ideas out, get any of your concerns out, get anything out that you wanna make sure is considered at this meeting and with the team, but that doesn't always have to be negative. It doesn't always have to be things that aren't going well. It can sometimes mean things that are going well as well.

Michelle She Her (07:30.914)

Yeah, that just made me think of a quick example of the district proposing a reduction in services. It could be speech services, it could be reading services, maybe from twice a week to once a week sort of thing. And even though you as the caregiver are in agreement and actually excited about this reduction in services, because this means that your child is progressing, right? This means that your child is doing well.

that we're now going to try reducing some of those services. Because remember, the ultimate goal here is really to make all children as independent as possible. So it can be really exciting to have a reduction in services, but it could be a concern of yours that like, oh, what if I am concerned that like, what if we reduce these services and they slide back or, you know, and, you know, side note, in that case, the team just

Michelle She Her (08:27.166)

So, but that kind of concern, even if it's something that you're excited about or feel good about, and it doesn't have to be, your concern statement does not have to be something that is contentious or combative, right? It could be something that you are in agreement with that you just is like, ooh, I'm a little nervous, so.

Dana Marie (08:47.498)

We always recommend to that point, a parent concern statement is a great place to put where you need more information, where you need more data, like to Michelle's point. Like if you might agree with a proposed goal or you might agree with, like Michelle said, a reduction in services or so on and so forth, but you're really just looking for more information. You don't feel like you have enough data, you don't have enough information. the parent concern statement is actually a really good place to put that so that the team can see where you're feeling like you would need or like more communication from the school team. I think that one thing to keep in mind, especially at this sort of chunk sure of the school year where, you know, by the time this episode comes out at the end of April heading into May and really sort of in the home stretch of the school year, are trying to maximize their time during these conversations. At IEP meetings, at reconvene meetings, people are really trying to maximize their time and make sure that they get the most out of these conversations, both parents, caregivers, and the folks that work with them, and also school team members. So making sure that you share, obviously, all of your concerns and ideas, but in a way that feels concise and in a way that feels really targeted to what...

you wanna make sure gets discussed and what you wanna make sure gets addressed at the meeting. So moving towards sort of format, we have talked about preparing when to send it before, after, during, reading aloud versus not reading aloud. We give you some ideas of things that can be included, but we wanna just end by talking about format personally, and it is a personal choice. I like when parents and caregivers, suggest the parents and caregivers obviously, you know, in a narrative form, say, here are my concerns, here are the things I want to know more about. But at the end of the statement, we usually like to recommend that you bullet point some of the key takeaways. So bullet pointing, here are the three or four things that I really want to make sure get addressed at this meeting or in this IEP. Here are the three or four things that I want to make sure that we come away from this conversation with.

everyone obviously can sometimes get bogged down in the language and the, you know, lengthy paragraphs and pages and so on and so forth and just making sure that your point gets across the clearest that it possibly can. Whether that's, like I said, putting things at bullet points in the end. Recently, we supported a parent with a caregiver statement that was actually all bullet points. It just really had a list of the things that they wanted to make sure. were addressed that they wanted to make sure were covered. So being as concise as possible and really highlighting as the parent, as the caregiver, what you feel like are the most important pieces here, what you feel like are your biggest concerns, but also the biggest things that you wanna take away from this conversation, whether it's an annual meeting, a re-eval, an initial, so on and so forth, making sure that that's that your voice is heard in a way that feels clear to everybody.

Michelle She Her (12:13.490)

I think sometimes it can be intimidating because we do know that this is a formal legal document, right? We can get caught up in, oh, I need to sound super professional, quote unquote, I need to sound like legalese and use fancy word. You don't need any of that. If you have that and that comes naturally and easy to you and that makes you feel good about it, then that's great. But if that's something that is like kind of holding you back, like Dana Marie said, like a bullet, just a list of things that you are concerned about that you can then even after the meeting, then make a little floofier with some formatting and like fancy language is fine. Right. So don't let the writing piece of it become something that holds you back if that's something that is intimidating to you. So.

Dana Marie (13:05.970)

And one more sort of tip, this might feel hard to do it first, but in the long run, could certainly help you. I think that one of the things we hear the most from parents is they feel crunched for time when it comes time to write a parent's statement before an IEP meeting or before a new draft of an IEP is created, so on and so forth. How much time do I have to write it? Do I have a day? Do I have to? I know the facilitator said I have to get it to them, so on and so forth.

We recommend actually, whether you do it digitally in a notebook, throughout the course of the school year, keep a running log of the things that come up, right? You might only have an annual review meeting this year or next year, you might not have lots of check-in meetings or reconvene meetings. That's a lot of information to get out, a full year's worth of information in one meeting. keeping a running log of things that are going well or maybe things that are concerning or not going well, obviously you're gonna address them as they come up, but when it comes time for the IEP meeting, already sort of having some of the things that are at the tip of your head, right? The things that have already come up a few times, the things that you're maybe seeing a pattern of, could be a running Google Doc, like I said, it can literally be in a notebook or on some sticky notes. but keeping track of things as they come up so you don't feel like you're starting from that blank page when it comes time to give your input for the IEP.

Michelle She Her (14:35.662)

I think that's a great idea. Another good place to keep things like that, thoughts like that, is the notes section of your phone is a really great place to just like, as things come out. And you can even do like a voice to text sort of note or memo or to help you get your thoughts out too. So hopefully this was helpful for you all today on parent concerns, some ideas on things that might come up as concerns.

how to present your concerns, why they're important. And if you know you are, this is something that you're having some difficulty with or you would like some support with, we do help caregivers and parents craft their parent concern statements and their vision statements. So go ahead and set up an initial consult with us, a free 20 minute consult, and we can have a chat with you about how we can support you with that.

Dana Marie (15:30.786)

Thank you so much everybody as always for listening. Happy Friday and we will be back next week with another episode. Have a nice weekend everybody.

Michelle She Her (15:42.382)

Thanks everyone