VIDBE-Q Volume 66 Issue 4
vision. However, this was simply meant to ensure students were not determined
LD when their difficulties were due to vision or hearing, but it should not exclude
students with sensory impairments from being appropriately identified and served
when a LD truly exists.
Informal assessments (i.e. MAP testing, iStation, district benchmarks) have
also proven to be an area in which I have had to advocate for appropriate
accommodations and application of common sense. I have found that for these
tests to be administered appropriately, it requires individual administration and
considerable time out of the classroom—often at the convenience of the personnel
ad mistering the assessment instead of in a fashion to minimize my children
missing instruction. Therefore, please do not hesitate to bring up these concerns
during your child's individual education program (IEP) meeting. It may be
reasonable to reduce the number of assessments being required. Lastly, I would ask
how the assessments are being used to drive educational programming (i.e. do they
directly link to the state curriculum standards and are they analyzed according to
them).
Special Education Processes
Other discoveries I have made along our journey have to do with basic
processes. First, I have found it immensely valuable to include my children in their
IEP meetings—and from an early age. There are just things that are more powerful
