Unfortunately, many children with reading disabilities feel hopeless and helpless about learning to read; they believe it’s better to give up than to try and to fail. Fortunately, schools and parents can do many things to change your child’s belief that he’s incompetent and that he’ll never learn to read. Only by getting your child to believe he can learn if he makes a moderate effort will he begin to work at becoming a competent reader.
The federal law governing special education is called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004. Its regulations make clear that the IEP Team must seriously consider your concerns. The regulations say:
In developing each child’s IEP, the IEP Team must consider … the concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child.
One way to ensure that the IEP Team seriously considers your concerns is to send it a list of your concerns — before your child’s IEP meeting. Below is an example.
EXAMPLE
March 1, 2009
Mrs. Estella McComick, MSW
