Life in the IEP Tribe
Join us as we dive into the world of special education with two educators who have walked the same path as many of you. In addition to teaching in self-contained and collaborative settings, our hosts bring a unique perspective to the challenges and triumphs of raising a special needs child. From classroom strategies to heartfelt family moments, they offer practical advice, empathy, and a community of support. Discover how their personal experiences can shed light on your journey and gain valuable insights into navigating the complexities of special education both in and out of the classroom. Welcome to the tribe!
Life in the IEP Tribe
Crafting Equality in the Classroom
Discover how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has transformed special education and shaped a more inclusive learning environment for all children. Alongside my co-host and wife, Laura Curtis, we trace IDEA's journey from its early beginnings as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, to its role today in ensuring every child has access to Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Together, we unravel the essence of FAPE, emphasizing how it guarantees free, tailored education that meets each child’s unique needs while fostering a collaborative spirit between parents and educators.
In this episode, we shine a light on practical strategies that make classrooms more inclusive, illustrating how tools like visual aids can empower students facing communication or motor skill challenges. We also explore the critical distinction between fairness and equality in education, advocating for tailored approaches that level the playing field for all learners. With input from parents and educators in IEP meetings, we highlight the powerful partnership that can drive remarkable progress for students with disabilities. We encourage our listeners to join the conversation, share their experiences, and help us continue these vital discussions in future episodes.
Welcome to the second episode ever in the history of life in the IEP tribe. My name is Jared Curtis and I'm here with my co-worker and wife, Laura Curtis. Say hi, Laura.
Speaker 2:Hi Laura.
Speaker 1:No, don't say hi, okay. So what we're going to do is we're going to have some more conversations about the life in the world of the IEP. Now, if you don't know what an IEP is, that's fine, because you will eventually find out, but not, right, this second. First, we want to say thank you to everybody who has been so supportive of this. We're super excited about the conversations and the connections that could possibly take place through this podcast and it's been really cool to see a lot of our friends and coworkers that we've reached out to about possibly contributing to some of these episodes, seeing them respond in the affirmative and super happy and pleased about the idea of being a part of something like this.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yeah, this is very exciting.
Speaker 1:So I think we are. Let's try that again. We are certainly fortunate and blessed to know some fantastic people in the world of special education, not only in education, but parents of children that need that have special needs requirements. So in our conversation, we have concluded that a good place to start when discussing the IEP life is to look at what is it that all these ideas and laws are tethered to? What is it that all these ideas and laws are tethered to? What is the foundation for special education in, specifically, the United States of America? And that is found in IDEA.
Speaker 1:Now, something that we have found in the bit of time that we've been in the education system is that there are acronyms and abbreviations everywhere. Like nobody just calls anything by its name, things get shortened. So IDEA or IDEA stands for intellectuals with disabilities education, individuals with disability education act, that's it, and so we're going to talk a little bit about Individuals with Disability Education Act, that's it, and so we're going to talk a little bit about that and again, that being the foundation for everything that directs. That's what we're tethered to when it comes to assisting children in special education. So let's give a little bit of a brief history, shall we? So special education isn't a new thing, right? We can jump all the way back to 1975, when President Ford signed into law the Education for All Handicapped Children Act.
Speaker 1:Now, what I'm not going to do is sit here and read you a textbook or make you listen to this long, drawn-out explanation, but know this that since 1975, there have been restructures and reform and all kinds of things taking place to better serve children that are in special education, children that are in special education. That brings us to IDEA. Idea came along many years later and I think, if I'm not mistaken, was sort of formulated into what we know now, in the late 90s and then again in the early 2000s. And they're still, even today, consistently looking at it, revamping it, trying to position our students with the best possible route to their lives. Right, because what IDEA wants to do is it wants to allow our students, allow our children, the best possible education, allow our children the best possible education. And so, whenever we talk, about IDEA.
Speaker 2:what's the first thing that comes to your mind, Mrs Curtis? The first thing that comes to my mind when we talk about IDEA is, once again, here's another. This one's an acronym is FAPE, and that's the Free and Appropriate Public Education. That would be the first part of the idea. I think that's the foundation of giving the students with disabilities a free and appropriate education.
Speaker 1:Wow, that was good. Yeah Right, that was good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so FAPE free, so the education is supposed to be free to the parent or caregiver. They should come to no cost to them, and that includes the school that they're at, that includes the services they receive while they're in school, and so they should be able to send their child to school and they should be able to get their education without cost to them. And then the next part is the appropriate, and the appropriate simply means a place that is the best fit for the child doesn't necessarily mean that it's where the IEP team says they need to be, it's, or the parent needs says they need to be. That's why you get together and have the conversations to find out what's appropriate, and it's goes by this, by each student. It's not the same. Okay, well, this child's this age and this grade and they need to go here, and so it's supposed to fit their needs and be appropriate for them. And then it's a public education. That's the P and the E of that. Does that?
Speaker 1:make sense. Yeah, so, free, appropriate public education, and this is kind of the emphasis, right, this is what IDEA is wanting to create. So when you look at the purpose of IDEA the number one, you can go to their website. The number one objective of IDEA goals and objectives and objectives. Right, you hear that all the time in the iep world, but stay with me. So the number one objective of idea is to make sure that every single child, and I would even say without disability right, so it's not a we're going to make a specific rule that is for children with disabilities, and then we have other rules for children's, that children's or children man, you can tell that we are recording this after a day of work.
Speaker 2:Definitely.
Speaker 1:So it's not that there's a set of rules for for typically developing children and then a set of rules for atypically developing children. No, it's, it's to bring all of the kids into one area and to have equal access, right, free, appropriate public education, equal access to what is being taught in the school, and that a disability will not exclude anybody from that. Instead, it is we as the um, as the educators, take on the responsibility of saying you don't have to learn the way we teach, we're going to learn to teach the way you learn right. So we will maneuver and shift and accommodate and modify however we have to. So we will maneuver and shift and accommodate and modify however we have to to make sure that, at the end of the day, there is a fair and I love that word fair there is a fair education for every student. Because what is one thing we know Fair and equal don't mean the same thing, and we'll come back to that in just a little bit.
Speaker 1:But talking about IDEA even more is that it's a law that assists states and local governments, that assists in leading and directing, instead of kind of leaving it up to everybody's best interpretation, because what we find often is that just because there are special ed students in a building doesn't mean that everybody in the building knows the best way to interact with them. It doesn't mean that they know the best way to teach them, or the best way to even approach them, or even best tone of voice, right? All of these things are very different when it comes to them. Or even best tone of voice, right? All of these things are very different when it comes to students with disabilities. And so what this law does is it gives us something as educators, as parents, administration. It gives us something to tether to so that we can walk side by side.
Speaker 1:It's not a law to make one group of people more important than the other or to minimize a group of people in comparison to others. So what it is, it's this thing that we can tie to, and it's going to ensure that educators and parents have the tools to improve educational results for children with disabilities. Now, that seems like an awful lot to try to weigh out, because it looks to me like there's a lot of things here that seem sort of subjective. What do I mean by appropriate? What do you mean by appropriate? But I do believe that IDEA is doing its very best to streamline the whole conversation so that we can all tie to this one line of thought and work together, but unfortunately it does not always happen that way.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Because anytime you have money involved, things get tough Like it's difficult. It's difficult to make things happen when you don't have endless funds hanging out. You know you don't have the Scrooge McDuck huge right when he goes swimming in the coins, right, right, when you go swimming in the coins, right, uh. And so it causes us to kind of sit back and say, okay, so how, what is the best? We can do um with what we have. And so, while IDEA's purpose is to ensure this and to ensure this free and appropriate education, laura, what do you think our responsibility as educators, what do you think our responsibility is in all of that? What do we do with that information?
Speaker 2:As far as the idea in FAPE. Of course we have to make sure that we are when we look at each child and I know you said we'll get into the IEP later, but, like we've, I think we mentioned last time, iep is an individualized education plan or program. So we, as educators and as part of the IEP team, need to make sure that we are discussing all the options of the students different things that will benefit them and decide as a team what accommodations do they need? What setting do they need? Do they need different therapies during the school day? Do they need different modes of learning?
Speaker 2:For instance, if somebody has reading challenges and can't necessarily follow along in the book, well, they may need different multisensory options for their learning. Some of them learn better with tactile, some of them learn with listening. So you have to study the child, find out their strength, find out their abilities and their needs, and then you go from there and then you develop this IEP that maps out okay, they, they struggle with this or they're not on grade level for this, and so this is where we'd like them to be and this is how we're going to get them to do it and this is where we're going to get them to do it?
Speaker 1:so, again, going back to what you're talking about, when you're talking about FAPE, the free and appropriate and I think appropriate really ties the A in.
Speaker 1:FAPE really ties to the I in the IEP, right, right. So if it's going to be appropriate, it has to be individualized. As a matter of fact, we were just having a conversation earlier today talking about some of our students that we are getting more inclusion time in gen ed, which, by the way, that's going to be a fun conversation in the future too, because that's that me, you get all weird about that.
Speaker 2:We're like oh, let's talk about inclusion.
Speaker 1:It's really, you know, and, truth be told, we might be even a little sick, because if people ever stopped by our house and came in and sat down, these are probably the conversations they're going to hear, right, or fart jokes, or something yeah, and then, and then, whatever I bring to the table, that's what happens when you have four boys, right?
Speaker 1:so, uh, but but in talking about this individualized and this appropriate, it really is. Oh, let me get back to what I was saying. So we have students that would try to get in some more inclusion time in gen ed and we were even talking about one strategy is that oftentimes the students that we see in our setting they kind of struggle with their fine motor skills. Right, they struggle with being able to hold a pencil. They struggle with being able to hold a pencil, they struggle with being able to follow a dotted line, things of that nature.
Speaker 2:And different developmental delays.
Speaker 1:Right, right, and so what we were even talking about today is you know, when a child is in, say, a general education setting and there comes an assignment where the kids are expected to write some things down on paper, well, we found one way to to approach that for some of our students is something as simple as using a sticky note that has the answers, right, right, and they can place the answers where they're supposed to go, so we know that they're getting the content and they're they are experiencing an individualized method Based on what is appropriate for them.
Speaker 1:I say it's so much more than just these big fancy words. I mean, it really is sitting down and looking at each child. Now, I made the comment earlier about fair and equal not being the same thing. Sometimes, the right thing to do, the fair thing to do, is to give a student the freedom to engage with the materials the way they need to to further their education, to further their understanding. What we're not saying is that, in this one particular case of using the sticky notes, in no way, shape or form would we say it was right or fair that all the kids use them. But it's important to find where the child needs that extra step, that extra support to get them closer to where their peers are as far as their educational journey. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:What are some other like?
Speaker 2:examples that we could use of, of adjusting or modifying things to help a child move as swiftly as they can with their, with their, peers note when I'm asking students beginning sounds and some of them cannot write the letter of the beginning sound, and I also have students who cannot tell me the beginning sound.
Speaker 2:And if I had six pictures that began with either the sound for the letter M or the sound for the letter S, I would give them six stickers and they'd have three M's and three S's and they could then pick which picture had that letter sound, and so they don't have to tell me, they don't have to verbalize that and also they don't have to write it, and so what that does is one. It helps me know if they know the content, but it also gives them some independence and a lot of times they know the content they just don't have a way of showing it through either through vocalizations or through writing. So if I can give them these stickers to put on their answers, it gives them that little bit of independence and allows them to take pride in their work and knowing that they did that by themselves, and then also what that does for other students, it also frees up some support that that child doesn't need at that time for some of the other students in the classroom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, going back to that, what is fair, but necessarily what you know, equal. So, and we could talk about this side all day long, about different ways that teachers can produce or not produce, but present an appropriate means of learning to a student. What is the responsibility for us as parents of children with disabilities when it comes to an appropriate or an individualized education? What burden do we carry? Do we bring to the table?
Speaker 2:that's a good one. I think that this is probably one of the hardest is to is to try to be I say this that be realistic about their children's current abilities.
Speaker 1:Right. Current is a very important word. Right.
Speaker 2:Because we don't know the future. We don't know where that child is going to go and what direction they're going to run in, and so, being realistic about their current abilities and what supports they might have. But also, parents need to advocate for their child, feel. Or if they know that their child can do something that they're not seeing in school, then they need to advocate for their child. Say no.
Speaker 2:I know that they can do this and at least want to try. So I think, being realistic and advocating and also ensuring that and, as parents, that you are an active part of the team, that IEP team is what makes the decisions, and parents are a vital part of that team Because they know their child better than anybody.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. They know that child inside and out, yeah, and I agree, I think you know asking questions is always at the top of my list. And let's just think about for those of you that are in an IEP meeting now, it was years before I had any clue what that even meant. But what if let's think about this what that even meant? But what if let's think about this? What if we went in there and we brought to the table our strengths, our understandings?
Speaker 1:Because again we've been on both sides of this table. Teachers have gone through a tremendous amount of training Special education teachers have. As far as special education goes, there's a lot of things that they have been taught, that they know about different disabilities and things of that nature. Right, they know about, they understand those things. But, just like you said, when it comes to knowing a child well, the parent definitely knows the child better than anybody else. And so what happens if we take those two mindsets and we don't come in looking to fight each other, but we look to pair the knowledge of the situation with the knowledge of the parent concerning their child and we put that together? I mean that to me is a pretty powerful thing. If we can put together all of our book knowledge with all of our experience as a team, I don't know that there's many things that can't be tackled. I think it would be a very successful meeting, a very successful team, and we would see our children progress, I think, in leaps and bounds.
Speaker 1:But again, it all starts with the individual, it all starts with that specific child, and so it's important for us as we I'm about to wrap this thing up. Can you believe that we've been talking for almost like, or just over, 20 minutes. This is crazy. But, as we continue to consider and I ask that you do this, if you're a parent of a child that has special needs, or if you're a special education teacher, or maybe you're in administration or you're a related service provider, really consider what you bring to the table, not from the perspective of you have to prove yourself to anybody.
Speaker 1:That's not the case. Don't come in thinking you need to, um, you know, parent, that you need to convince the teacher that you know what you're talking about. And, teacher, don't put a parent in a position where they have to feel that way, or they or they feel attacked or they feel and you know and I say all these things because I've been in many, many meetings and I've had some good ones, and I've been in some meetings where I've done things or said things that it was just really stupid because it didn't help the child in the long run. And so if we can come together and we can sit down and we can really look to tie those things together, the what I bring to the table and be willing to ask the hard questions, I think we can see a lot, a lot change for our students.
Speaker 2:Right, I agree.
Speaker 1:Reminds me of this conversation I had one time, back when I first started teaching. I had the mentor of mentors, one of the most funny and super cool ladies I've ever met. You had the privilege of working with her for years over at Kingsland Oops at a school. Her name is Miss Wanda Johnson, who I am Like we are definitely trying to get her on here to have some conversations with us. But my first year in special education we were working together and she said something to me that has just stuck, and it's this she says Mr Curtis, the kids that we teach have to run to get to the places that typical children walk to, and what she meant was is there's got to be a lot of hard work.
Speaker 1:Nothing's given to them, nothing's for free. Right, there has to be a lot of work, but the way we pave that road, the way that we create the path, the way that we train up a child in the way that they should go, as the book of Proverbs says, is that we come together and we work to give them that path to success. And success can be learning to use the bathroom right. Success can be tying their shoe. I mean, you want to talk about something crazy. You stick your ear in one of our classrooms when a child that's learning to toilet is successful.
Speaker 2:Well, it's like a big party, that's right.
Speaker 1:It's like a big party, because these are all important steps, important steps for the individual child, not for this number of children, not for that number of children, but for the individual. And they have the best shot at reaching the same goals as the typically developing when we work together as a team, as the typically developing when we work together as a team. So I think we're going to go ahead and wrap this up.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:Mrs Curtis, is there anything?
Speaker 2:else that you have to say. I don't believe so. Your husband talks a lot. I know I'm sorry, it's okay, I'm used to it.
Speaker 1:So, please, if you find yourself dillyilly dallying around the world wide web, uh, you can check us out on facebook and youtube and instagram and I'm still trying to figure out this x, formerly known as twitter. Right, I I am. Maybe we need to get our 23-year-old to run all of our what is that stuff called on the interwebs Social media. So, anyway, it's all out there. Be sure to follow, subscribe, like, whatever all those things are that all the cool kids are doing nowadays. And, please, if you have any questions, comments, concerns ideas that you would like us to tackle, go ahead and shoot us an email.
Speaker 1:You can contact us through any of those social media uh outlets, or you can send us an email at life in the IEP tribe at gmailcom. Should I try to spell it? No, I'll get halfway through it and then I'll forget what we're even talking about. I'll be all talking about hey, I can count to potato, or my favorite color is yes. So anyway, with all that being said, we hope that there's a little bit of time that we have spent discussing IDEA and FAPE has been beneficial for you, to you Be communicated right and until next time, have a good week.