November 6, 2024 • 27 mins
What if you could transform the challenges of raising a child with special needs into a rewarding journey of empowerment? Join us as we explore this profound topic in our latest episode, featuring an engaging discussion with Laura. Together, we offer a fresh perspective on the landscape of special education, focusing on the significant role of societal acceptance and understanding. We break down essential concepts like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), equipping parents and educators with the knowledge to navigate the educational and legal systems effectively. The episode sheds light on the importance of community support, particularly through social media, as a means of gaining insight and encouragement.
In our conversation, you'll discover the critical differences between modifications and accommodations and how these are integrated into Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) to support children in achieving their educational goals. We emphasize the importance of regular assessment and adjustment of educational placements to foster greater inclusion, and we delve into the dynamics of the IEP team, highlighting the active roles of parents and teachers. You'll walk away with a clearer understanding of how schools can provide the support necessary for reasonable progress without overpromising on resources. Join us as we foster a community of ongoing dialogue, encouraging you to reach out with your questions and stories.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
so welcome back to the life in the iep tribe
podcast.
My name is jared curtis and I'mhere with my fantastically
awesome full wife, laura curtis,and we are going to discuss
some things in this episode thatum could possibly be somewhat
(00:24):
overbearing.
However, I think through thecourse of our conversation,
we're going to be able to unpacksome things that might help us
to have a better grasp on what'sout there for our students,
what's out there for ourstudents with disabilities, and
how we can best support them.
How are you doing, laura?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I'm doing all right.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I'm glad to hear that .
Yeah, yeah, I think it's kindof weird.
So we decided to record thisafter a day of work, and I don't
know about anybody else in thespecial education field, but
when we get home and we walkthrough that door, I feel like
everything in me soul andeverything just kind of drops to
my feet and it's like I'm done,I'm tapping out.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, yeah, I get that.
Sometimes I feel that way If Idon't sit down, I'm okay.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Like if I start okay, I got to start this, or I got
to do this, and if I do all that, then I can stay pretty good.
But then as soon as I sit down,if I sit too long, I fall
asleep.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
To quote the great philosopher Dory just keep on
swimming.
There you go.
Isn't that Dory?
Yes, you know, I've seen thatmovie enough that I should
remember.
So one of the things that weoften talk about when it comes
to special education or raisinga child with special needs is
that, while there are a lot ofreally great experiences and a
(01:48):
lot of milestones that you getsuper excited about when you
reach them and and to see thekids progress, sometimes it's
hard like life is difficult whenworking with special needs
children, raising special needschildren, and there's nothing
wrong with saying that.
I think that's one of thosethings that we have to make as a
society.
Okay To say, hey, it's hard.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Right.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
And just because something's harder, you say
something is hard, Doesn't meanyou don't like it.
Doesn't mean you hate it,Doesn't mean you you, you know
are furious at the thought ofsomebody who's special needs.
It's okay to say things arehard.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It's okay to yeah.
It doesn't mean that it's aburden, it just means it's
difficult.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And, with that in mind, not only is the relational
side of it difficult, butreally the legal side and the
rights and what people can doand can't do.
And, like I mentioned before,you know, when Xander came into
this world, nobody gave me amanual telling me how to raise a
child with autism.
And then, when you starttalking about autism too, that
spectrum is so huge I meanthere's no telling where the
(02:58):
kids land on it, and that's whythey call it a spectrum now.
And so I think being able totalk about some of these things
and sort of chewing on them bitesize, I think, can help all of
us in moving forward as teachers, as parents, as maybe an aunt
or an uncle or a brother orsister, someone who has some
(03:20):
sort of special need,grandparents, grandparents
that's right.
See, I'm going to miss people,that's right.
And see, I'm going to misspeople all over the place.
Uh, and real quick, before youjump in, thank you so much for,
uh, the ones that have beeninteracting with us and asking
questions and bringing things umto us into conversation that we
can talk about, and there's alot of stuff out there.
(03:41):
I mean, one of the great thingsabout social media is it gives
us this kind of instant.
That's what I'm looking for.
We can have a conversation withsomebody and they don't have to
be anywhere near us and wedon't even have to be on the
phone, and that's good.
Because I can't stand talkingon the telephone.
I much would rather sit andpunch myself in the face six
(04:04):
times over than have aconversation on a telephone.
Can't stand it.
I don't know why that is.
I don't know if somethingtragic happened to me when I was
younger that now I have thisridiculous fear of telephones.
See, I think it bothers me thatI can't see people when I talk
to them.
So you don't know what they'rereceiving, or no, it feels like
(04:28):
I'm talking to a ghost, yeah,and so that kind of weirds me
out a little bit.
But back to what I was talkingabout.
What's really cool, though, isthat people can give advice and
information and direction, andwe've had some great
conversations.
We have people from alldifferent walks of life
listening, so, please, if youhave something that you want to
(04:49):
throw into the pot, do it.
Let's talk about thesedifferent, because we're going
to see things from differentperspectives and different
angles.
Like you and I, we teach in anelementary school setting.
A friend of ours that we usedto work with at another
elementary school, brenda, she,I believe, is at the high school
now.
I think that sounds right, andso that's a whole nother
(05:12):
perspective, and with our walkwith Xander, we're learning more
and more every year as the timegoes on.
So enough of my rambling, laura.
Where do we want to kick offthis evening?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
uh, we touched a little bit on the different um,
you know, we started talkingabout idea last week and what
that meant, and um, we touched alittle bit on fate, the free
and appropriate education, orfree and appropriate public
education.
Um, I think that we shouldrevisit that and talk a little
(05:46):
bit more about I think wequickly went over what that
means.
I'm not sure if we went overwhat it doesn't mean, just so we
have some clarity there andthen be able to have parents or
teachers know, give them alittle bit of some steps that
(06:07):
they can take, or just someideas to think about as how to
make sure that their child slashstudent students are getting
everything that they're supposedto get under FAPE, are getting
everything that they're supposedto get under under FAPE, and
and that's it's really importantto discuss because I know that
(06:30):
we have found just in our timeas educators that with every
child there's different needs.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Not every kid needs the same supports.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
We may have a child that needs maybe I don't know
help with speech or occupationaltherapy, and then you may, you
may just have someone that youhave, a student that just needs
a little bit extra help in mathor English, or you know,
whatever the case may be.
And so to talk about thepossibilities or the options
that are out there and then alsoto be able to focus it through
(07:03):
a lens of I'm going to use theword reality because I don't
know how else to put it, but letme, let me let me qualify that
and you're going to touch onthis in a minute is that not
every student is eligible forevery service, and it's hard
sometimes to find out what thebest ones are, and that's why it
(07:24):
is so important early on tostart digging, start asking
questions and start pushing tofind out what is available.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Right Definitely.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
So what do you got?
Go ahead, let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Okay, To recap the free and appropriate public
education.
The very first part of it isfree, so these services and
different aspects of yourchild's education should not
cost a thing.
It should be free and it'sbasically specifically designed
(07:58):
instruction for your child andthey can.
So they can go ahead and theycan get their the services they
need, the education, they needthe accommodations,
modifications and I know we'llgo into these a little more on
(08:18):
another day evening well, can we?
Speaker 1 (08:21):
can we just do kind of a quick vocabulary lesson on
when we hear modifications andaccommodations?
What are modifications andaccommodations?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Modification is you take that key word modifying you
change the way either theeducation or the materials being
presented or you change therequirements that the student
has doing 20 math problems andyou know that.
(09:03):
Okay, so they can.
If they look at these 20 mathproblems, they're going to
freeze.
But if we can offer them fivemath problems or 10 math
problems, then they're going tobe fine and you can typically
find out if they understandwhat's going on after those
couple of handfuls.
(09:23):
You don't have to overwhelmthem if it's going to be a
problem.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Right.
If a student understands how tomultiply 2 times 5, 3 times 4,
6 times 2, or understands whatit means and how to do it, and
can do it properly in fivequestions, they probably know
well enough to do 20.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah, so I agree.
So that would be a modification, like you said, right, modify
the presentation of thematerials, right.
And as far as the word we use,there is chunking, like saying
okay, instead of making them do20, let's do five and see where
we go there.
Now accommodation, what is thatand how is it different?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Accommodations.
These are kind of the root word.
You're doing things toaccommodate these students in
the classroom, and so whatyou're going to provide is
you're going to provide, excuseme, like rephrasing of
directions, repeating ofdirections.
We find a lot of times that ourchildren slash.
(10:31):
Students with disabilities havethat receptive language delay
where it takes them a little bitlonger to process what people
are asking them to do.
And so if you give them youknow wait time, or you repeat it
or rephrase it, if I want tosay, okay, johnny, I need you to
(10:55):
walk to the front of theclassroom and put this on the
board, and if he doesn't quiteunderstand what I'm saying, then
I might slow that down and say,okay, I need you to stand up
Now, walk over to the front ofthe classroom and put this on
the board.
So that's like rephrasing,repeating as necessary.
(11:18):
We like to have wait time, givethem that time to process that.
Some children with disabilitiesreally thrive on praise.
That could be an accommodation.
That, hey, when little Jimmygets it right, you're going to
throw a party for him.
(11:38):
Or some of them like stickers,some of them like gummy bears,
and we try not to do a whole lotof food-related, however.
So those are some of theaccommodations that you can use,
and then they also have testingaccommodations, different ways
that they have take theirstandardized testing.
(12:00):
If they take standardizedtesting or if they take
alternate testing, you haveextended time, they can have
read aloud, they can havefrequent breaks, and so it
really is almost endless theways that students can be
accommodated in their settings,ways that students can be
(12:23):
accommodated in their settings.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
So now, these accommodations and these
modifications, we find these inthe IEP that is a product of
FAPE Right All, right, now, didI totally throw you off course.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Outstanding because I threw me off course, so I'm
going to hand it back to youagain.
So where are we at?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Well mentioning the IEP right.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
I know, that's what I meant.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yeah, yeah, right.
Part of that, that FAPE, isthat an IEP is going to be
created and, as we've mentionedbefore, individualized.
So that's going to make youdon't want to just lump
everything Okay, these five kidsare going to get this, this and
this and they're going to workon this, this and this.
Now, do they typically havesimilar accommodations and
(13:13):
modifications?
Yeah, because although there'sa vast array of disabilities,
there are also a lot of toolsthat are similar that will help
our, our students.
And then, after a part of thatIEP is LRE, which we've touched
(13:35):
on a little bit also, I believe,least restrictive environment.
So that's going to say wherethey get their services, whether
it be in the gen ed classroomwith a co-teacher, a
collaborative teacher in thereto help them, whether you get a
paraprofessional in with them,or if they're in a small group,
(13:58):
and so that's where theireducation happens.
And least restrictive meansthat you start by assuming that
these children are going to bein the general education
classroom and work back fromthere, and typically the best
way to try to do that is thatthe only time they get a
(14:20):
separate class is when it'sreally necessary to meet some of
these unique needs that can'tbe met in the general education
classroom, whether that be formedical reasons or for
intellectual reasons, or there'sall kinds of different reasons.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
So if a child is placed, let's say, in more like
what we do with the adaptive,self-contained setting, if a
student starts their educationaljourney there, does that mean
that's just where they stay?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
It's like okay, well, this is where you started, this
is where you belonged in pre-Kor kindergarten, is it?
You just stay there untilthey're done with school?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
No, no, pre-k or kindergarten, is it?
You just stay there untilthey're done with school?
No, no, we, we constantlymonitor and assess and try to um
, you know, we, we joke aroundand say our, our plan and our
hope and our goal is to is toget rid of kids, and that means
being able to put them in in thegeneral education classroom
more and a lot of times.
Some of these kiddos just needsome maturing and some, you know
, some extra supports or learnsome techniques, and so just
(15:45):
because they start out in this,that environment, doesn't mean
that they'll.
That's where they're going tobe forever.
And that, I think, is one ofthe hardest part of of our job
at that elementary level isbecause it you know where they,
where they can go, is is,there's, there's I can't think
(16:07):
of the word.
I'm trying to say yeah, but it,but it's not endless
possibilities.
However, they're notpigeonholed right there, and so
trying to figure out how to bestserve the ones that are kind of
walk that line is, I think, oneof the hardest parts.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Well, there's a lot of learning at that stage, right
at that stage, I mean just yourtypical development learning to
talk and learning to toilet andall of these things that
everybody's kids face early on,and whether or not they master
those skills or not.
That, of course, is kind of thetopic of our conversation.
(16:48):
Topic of our conversation.
But, um, there is a lot goingon early on in that, in that
they you can't, like you said,you can't know right away where
they're at, and so it'simportant to continually try and
continually um what's the wordI'm looking for?
(17:11):
Kind of investigate thepossibilities.
If it doesn't work thissemester, let's try it again
next semester.
If it doesn't work thissemester, let's try it again
next year.
But continually look to seewhat is it that the child or
that the student needs so thatthey can operate at their
optimum level, whatever thatlevel is.
(17:32):
You know, people hear specialeducation and their minds tend
to go one way or the other andtypically it's extremes.
(18:02):
But if we did, if we look at theresearch to see, if I can
remember it, 22-23 school year,15.2% of all students in public
schools were receiving servicesunder IDEA.
15.2%, that's somewhere in thearea of like 7.4 million give or
take students that arereceiving some sort of support.
(18:23):
Maybe it's in the self-containedclassroom and there's some more
severe hangups, that or somesevere barriers that teachers
and students and families aretrying to work through and
students and families are tryingto work through.
Or the student is just getting,say, speech services or just
getting ELA support or whatever,like you were talking about
earlier when you talked aboutthe different settings.
And so, with that being said,just because your student starts
(18:48):
, your child starts in oneparticular setting, doesn't mean
they have to stay there,doesn't mean that they have to
move, but it is a continuum.
Special education services area continuum that they will
continue.
You will use them as needed, aslong as needed, and so that's
one of the reasons why we talkabout parents really checking
(19:13):
out what's going on and whatkind of services are out there.
Now, what I'm really excitedabout is that we've been able to
reach out to some friends Ithink I said this before from
all across, like teachers,parents all kinds of different
providers, yeah, of differentservice providers.
It's going to be a lot of funwhen we can start having them on
(19:35):
and having these conversations,because, you know, I didn't
even realize until I got intothe education system just how
much is there.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
And the things that we can ask for and the questions
that we should ask, becauseit's one of those you know what
you know and you don't know whatyou don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
And so what the hope is in this little bit of
conversation about FAPE and IEPs?
Let me just kind of jump back.
So IDEA is the big.
That's the law that says thisis what every person deserves.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Out of that came FAPE , which is the Free and
Appropriate Public Education.
Part of that free andappropriate public education
comes the IEP, theIndividualized Education Program
.
That program is the plan, theguide.
(20:35):
It is what you tether to as faras your students' progress
through school right and thedifferent services that they'll
get in school.
And inside that IEP we haveaccommodations, modifications,
and there's there's a lot morethat we can talk about there.
(20:56):
But what is that?
With all that being said, whatis the one, what is the one
takeaway that anybody listeningto this can take with them?
What, would you say, is thefirst step in?
Here's all of this stuff.
Now, what, like?
What do I do with that?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I would.
Are we assuming that these andthat the student's last child
has already been?
it's been identified right therehas Identified has an IEP,
educating yourself, whetheryou're a teacher or a parent,
what services are provided inthe school that your child is
(21:40):
attending, I think would be thefirst.
Then you will know what they doand what they're for.
Again, there's OTPT.
You use those abbreviations alot and you might say, oh,
occupational therapy, my kiddoesn't have a job, and that's
not necessarily what it's about.
(22:02):
It's not because they do have ajob.
Their job is to go to schooland so when they're in school,
and occupational therapy is tohelp them do their jobs at
school.
And some schools have differentservices and different
(22:24):
arrangements, and so I wouldstart by saying finding out what
your child's school offers asfar as services.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
And understand that if your child has an IEP, then
you are part of an IEP team, andthat team is made up of
everybody that is serving yourchild at the school, right?
What that doesn't mean is youcan't ask questions, though.
If you have questions, ask yourteam.
Hey, listen, I see this goingon.
(22:59):
Is it a good idea to pursuespeech outside of school?
Is it a good idea to pursueoccupational therapy outside of
what they're getting at school?
Ask all these questions because, especially early on, because
the more you can get for themearly on, the better, the better
you're going to position themmoving into the future.
So ask questions.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Ask questions.
And if you ask a question andthey say I don't know, ask
somebody else.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Find out who can.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
If you got questions, shoot them to us.
Doesn't mean that we'll havethe right answer, but we can
find find somebody that does, orwe'll just make something up.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
That sounds really good no, we won't do that or not
that.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
We won't do that no, all right, so I think.
Did you have anything else thatyou wanted to add?
Speaker 2 (23:46):
I want to cover a little bit, as we're talking
about the fate, but what itdoesn't mean oh yeah, that's a
good idea.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
What it?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
does mean, and so we don't want there to be some
assumptions and when we talkabout services and programs and
whatnot, a school does not haveto have a specific or provide a
specific class or a program ifthey don't already have it at at
(24:16):
the school.
If you, you know, say that, youknow, I want my child to have
this type of classroom and andit's not offered at that school,
they don't.
That school does not have tomake that now.
They will have to find a placethat has that, if they qualify
for it, that has that program,if your child qualifies for it.
But they don't have to make aprogram at the school that you
(24:40):
want them to attend.
It doesn't mean that they'regoing to get.
You know they're.
This is going to sound bad,just hang with me.
They're not going to get thebest services to maximize their
potential.
I know that sounds bad.
However, they're going toreceive services that are going
(25:03):
to help them progress andservices that are going to be
reasonably calculated.
You know services that aregoing to be reasonably
calculated Because if they didthe maximum potential, then we'd
have to provide that to everystudent.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
I mean they try.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
I know that's.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Well meaning, not every student's going to have a
one like one to one teacher in aclassroom, right, like it's
just me and little Johnny andwe're working through everything
together, step by step, and sothat that's not going to happen
is what you're saying, but thereare certainly things in place
(25:43):
that will help.
Like you said, position thechild for progress, progress,
right.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
And it also doesn't mean that for extracurricular
activities or sports, that achild with a disability is not
guaranteed a spot on on theseactivities or in these
activities.
Now, they have an equalopportunity to participate, but
they're not guaranteed a spot ifthat makes sense, right.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
So, like you know, just because, again, little
Johnny likes football, doesn'tmean he's going to be a starter
on the team, doesn't mean, youknow, if they have tryouts.
If he can't do that, then hecan't do that.
And I get that, and as parents,you kind of you don't like that
, right, but it makes sense andI get that and, as, as you know,
as parents you kind of youdon't like that but but it makes
(26:37):
sense and that I think that'sabout it.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
I think so.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
I D E A I E PE.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I E, I O.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
D U N N DUNE.
No, yeah, all right, so we'regoing to go ahead and wrap this
one up.
If you have any questions,comments, concerns, please feel
free to email us atlifeinthieptribe at gmailcom, or
you can check us out on one ofthe many social media outlets
the Facebook, das Twitter oh,it's not called Twitter anymore.
(27:10):
What is it?
X, x, x or uh, what else isthere?
Instagram?
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Yeah, oh, and YouTube .
I think we're floating aroundYouTube somewhere too Cool.
So, hey, check all that out, Uh, send in any questions,
comments, uh or concerns.
Unless they're mean, then keepthem to yourself.
Again, I am Jared Curtis withmy wife, Laura, and we will see
you next time.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Have a good evening or day, or whatever.
It is the time you're listeningto this, that's right.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Whatever?
Speaker 2 (27:37):
it is yeah, yeah.
so welcome back to the life in the iep tribe
podcast.
My name is jared curtis and I'mhere with my fantastically
awesome full wife, laura curtis,and we are going to discuss
some things in this episode thatum could possibly be somewhat
(00:24):
overbearing.
However, I think through thecourse of our conversation,
we're going to be able to unpacksome things that might help us
to have a better grasp on what'sout there for our students,
what's out there for ourstudents with disabilities, and
how we can best support them.
How are you doing, laura?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I'm doing all right.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I'm glad to hear that .
Yeah, yeah, I think it's kindof weird.
So we decided to record thisafter a day of work, and I don't
know about anybody else in thespecial education field, but
when we get home and we walkthrough that door, I feel like
everything in me soul andeverything just kind of drops to
my feet and it's like I'm done,I'm tapping out.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, yeah, I get that.
Sometimes I feel that way If Idon't sit down, I'm okay.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Like if I start okay, I got to start this, or I got
to do this, and if I do all that, then I can stay pretty good.
But then as soon as I sit down,if I sit too long, I fall
asleep.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
To quote the great philosopher Dory just keep on
swimming.
There you go.
Isn't that Dory?
Yes, you know, I've seen thatmovie enough that I should
remember.
So one of the things that weoften talk about when it comes
to special education or raisinga child with special needs is
that, while there are a lot ofreally great experiences and a
(01:48):
lot of milestones that you getsuper excited about when you
reach them and and to see thekids progress, sometimes it's
hard like life is difficult whenworking with special needs
children, raising special needschildren, and there's nothing
wrong with saying that.
I think that's one of thosethings that we have to make as a
society.
Okay To say, hey, it's hard.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Right.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
And just because something's harder, you say
something is hard, Doesn't meanyou don't like it.
Doesn't mean you hate it,Doesn't mean you you, you know
are furious at the thought ofsomebody who's special needs.
It's okay to say things arehard.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It's okay to yeah.
It doesn't mean that it's aburden, it just means it's
difficult.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And, with that in mind, not only is the relational
side of it difficult, butreally the legal side and the
rights and what people can doand can't do.
And, like I mentioned before,you know, when Xander came into
this world, nobody gave me amanual telling me how to raise a
child with autism.
And then, when you starttalking about autism too, that
spectrum is so huge I meanthere's no telling where the
(02:58):
kids land on it, and that's whythey call it a spectrum now.
And so I think being able totalk about some of these things
and sort of chewing on them bitesize, I think, can help all of
us in moving forward as teachers, as parents, as maybe an aunt
or an uncle or a brother orsister, someone who has some
(03:20):
sort of special need,grandparents, grandparents
that's right.
See, I'm going to miss people,that's right.
And see, I'm going to misspeople all over the place.
Uh, and real quick, before youjump in, thank you so much for,
uh, the ones that have beeninteracting with us and asking
questions and bringing things umto us into conversation that we
can talk about, and there's alot of stuff out there.
(03:41):
I mean, one of the great thingsabout social media is it gives
us this kind of instant.
That's what I'm looking for.
We can have a conversation withsomebody and they don't have to
be anywhere near us and wedon't even have to be on the
phone, and that's good.
Because I can't stand talkingon the telephone.
I much would rather sit andpunch myself in the face six
(04:04):
times over than have aconversation on a telephone.
Can't stand it.
I don't know why that is.
I don't know if somethingtragic happened to me when I was
younger that now I have thisridiculous fear of telephones.
See, I think it bothers me thatI can't see people when I talk
to them.
So you don't know what they'rereceiving, or no, it feels like
(04:28):
I'm talking to a ghost, yeah,and so that kind of weirds me
out a little bit.
But back to what I was talkingabout.
What's really cool, though, isthat people can give advice and
information and direction, andwe've had some great
conversations.
We have people from alldifferent walks of life
listening, so, please, if youhave something that you want to
(04:49):
throw into the pot, do it.
Let's talk about thesedifferent, because we're going
to see things from differentperspectives and different
angles.
Like you and I, we teach in anelementary school setting.
A friend of ours that we usedto work with at another
elementary school, brenda, she,I believe, is at the high school
now.
I think that sounds right, andso that's a whole nother
(05:12):
perspective, and with our walkwith Xander, we're learning more
and more every year as the timegoes on.
So enough of my rambling, laura.
Where do we want to kick offthis evening?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
uh, we touched a little bit on the different um,
you know, we started talkingabout idea last week and what
that meant, and um, we touched alittle bit on fate, the free
and appropriate education, orfree and appropriate public
education.
Um, I think that we shouldrevisit that and talk a little
(05:46):
bit more about I think wequickly went over what that
means.
I'm not sure if we went overwhat it doesn't mean, just so we
have some clarity there andthen be able to have parents or
teachers know, give them alittle bit of some steps that
(06:07):
they can take, or just someideas to think about as how to
make sure that their child slashstudent students are getting
everything that they're supposedto get under FAPE, are getting
everything that they're supposedto get under under FAPE, and
and that's it's really importantto discuss because I know that
(06:30):
we have found just in our timeas educators that with every
child there's different needs.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Not every kid needs the same supports.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
We may have a child that needs maybe I don't know
help with speech or occupationaltherapy, and then you may, you
may just have someone that youhave, a student that just needs
a little bit extra help in mathor English, or you know,
whatever the case may be.
And so to talk about thepossibilities or the options
that are out there and then alsoto be able to focus it through
(07:03):
a lens of I'm going to use theword reality because I don't
know how else to put it, but letme, let me let me qualify that
and you're going to touch onthis in a minute is that not
every student is eligible forevery service, and it's hard
sometimes to find out what thebest ones are, and that's why it
(07:24):
is so important early on tostart digging, start asking
questions and start pushing tofind out what is available.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Right Definitely.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
So what do you got?
Go ahead, let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Okay, To recap the free and appropriate public
education.
The very first part of it isfree, so these services and
different aspects of yourchild's education should not
cost a thing.
It should be free and it'sbasically specifically designed
(07:58):
instruction for your child andthey can.
So they can go ahead and theycan get their the services they
need, the education, they needthe accommodations,
modifications and I know we'llgo into these a little more on
(08:18):
another day evening well, can we?
Speaker 1 (08:21):
can we just do kind of a quick vocabulary lesson on
when we hear modifications andaccommodations?
What are modifications andaccommodations?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Modification is you take that key word modifying you
change the way either theeducation or the materials being
presented or you change therequirements that the student
has doing 20 math problems andyou know that.
(09:03):
Okay, so they can.
If they look at these 20 mathproblems, they're going to
freeze.
But if we can offer them fivemath problems or 10 math
problems, then they're going tobe fine and you can typically
find out if they understandwhat's going on after those
couple of handfuls.
(09:23):
You don't have to overwhelmthem if it's going to be a
problem.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Right.
If a student understands how tomultiply 2 times 5, 3 times 4,
6 times 2, or understands whatit means and how to do it, and
can do it properly in fivequestions, they probably know
well enough to do 20.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah, so I agree.
So that would be a modification, like you said, right, modify
the presentation of thematerials, right.
And as far as the word we use,there is chunking, like saying
okay, instead of making them do20, let's do five and see where
we go there.
Now accommodation, what is thatand how is it different?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Accommodations.
These are kind of the root word.
You're doing things toaccommodate these students in
the classroom, and so whatyou're going to provide is
you're going to provide, excuseme, like rephrasing of
directions, repeating ofdirections.
We find a lot of times that ourchildren slash.
(10:31):
Students with disabilities havethat receptive language delay
where it takes them a little bitlonger to process what people
are asking them to do.
And so if you give them youknow wait time, or you repeat it
or rephrase it, if I want tosay, okay, johnny, I need you to
(10:55):
walk to the front of theclassroom and put this on the
board, and if he doesn't quiteunderstand what I'm saying, then
I might slow that down and say,okay, I need you to stand up
Now, walk over to the front ofthe classroom and put this on
the board.
So that's like rephrasing,repeating as necessary.
(11:18):
We like to have wait time, givethem that time to process that.
Some children with disabilitiesreally thrive on praise.
That could be an accommodation.
That, hey, when little Jimmygets it right, you're going to
throw a party for him.
(11:38):
Or some of them like stickers,some of them like gummy bears,
and we try not to do a whole lotof food-related, however.
So those are some of theaccommodations that you can use,
and then they also have testingaccommodations, different ways
that they have take theirstandardized testing.
(12:00):
If they take standardizedtesting or if they take
alternate testing, you haveextended time, they can have
read aloud, they can havefrequent breaks, and so it
really is almost endless theways that students can be
accommodated in their settings,ways that students can be
(12:23):
accommodated in their settings.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
So now, these accommodations and these
modifications, we find these inthe IEP that is a product of
FAPE Right All, right, now, didI totally throw you off course.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Outstanding because I threw me off course, so I'm
going to hand it back to youagain.
So where are we at?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Well mentioning the IEP right.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
I know, that's what I meant.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yeah, yeah, right.
Part of that, that FAPE, isthat an IEP is going to be
created and, as we've mentionedbefore, individualized.
So that's going to make youdon't want to just lump
everything Okay, these five kidsare going to get this, this and
this and they're going to workon this, this and this.
Now, do they typically havesimilar accommodations and
(13:13):
modifications?
Yeah, because although there'sa vast array of disabilities,
there are also a lot of toolsthat are similar that will help
our, our students.
And then, after a part of thatIEP is LRE, which we've touched
(13:35):
on a little bit also, I believe,least restrictive environment.
So that's going to say wherethey get their services, whether
it be in the gen ed classroomwith a co-teacher, a
collaborative teacher in thereto help them, whether you get a
paraprofessional in with them,or if they're in a small group,
(13:58):
and so that's where theireducation happens.
And least restrictive meansthat you start by assuming that
these children are going to bein the general education
classroom and work back fromthere, and typically the best
way to try to do that is thatthe only time they get a
(14:20):
separate class is when it'sreally necessary to meet some of
these unique needs that can'tbe met in the general education
classroom, whether that be formedical reasons or for
intellectual reasons, or there'sall kinds of different reasons.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
So if a child is placed, let's say, in more like
what we do with the adaptive,self-contained setting, if a
student starts their educationaljourney there, does that mean
that's just where they stay?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
It's like okay, well, this is where you started, this
is where you belonged in pre-Kor kindergarten, is it?
You just stay there untilthey're done with school?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
No, no, pre-k or kindergarten, is it?
You just stay there untilthey're done with school?
No, no, we, we constantlymonitor and assess and try to um
, you know, we, we joke aroundand say our, our plan and our
hope and our goal is to is toget rid of kids, and that means
being able to put them in in thegeneral education classroom
more and a lot of times.
Some of these kiddos just needsome maturing and some, you know
, some extra supports or learnsome techniques, and so just
(15:45):
because they start out in this,that environment, doesn't mean
that they'll.
That's where they're going tobe forever.
And that, I think, is one ofthe hardest part of of our job
at that elementary level isbecause it you know where they,
where they can go, is is,there's, there's I can't think
(16:07):
of the word.
I'm trying to say yeah, but it,but it's not endless
possibilities.
However, they're notpigeonholed right there, and so
trying to figure out how to bestserve the ones that are kind of
walk that line is, I think, oneof the hardest parts.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Well, there's a lot of learning at that stage, right
at that stage, I mean just yourtypical development learning to
talk and learning to toilet andall of these things that
everybody's kids face early on,and whether or not they master
those skills or not.
That, of course, is kind of thetopic of our conversation.
(16:48):
Topic of our conversation.
But, um, there is a lot goingon early on in that, in that
they you can't, like you said,you can't know right away where
they're at, and so it'simportant to continually try and
continually um what's the wordI'm looking for?
(17:11):
Kind of investigate thepossibilities.
If it doesn't work thissemester, let's try it again
next semester.
If it doesn't work thissemester, let's try it again
next year.
But continually look to seewhat is it that the child or
that the student needs so thatthey can operate at their
optimum level, whatever thatlevel is.
(17:32):
You know, people hear specialeducation and their minds tend
to go one way or the other andtypically it's extremes.
(18:02):
But if we did, if we look at theresearch to see, if I can
remember it, 22-23 school year,15.2% of all students in public
schools were receiving servicesunder IDEA.
15.2%, that's somewhere in thearea of like 7.4 million give or
take students that arereceiving some sort of support.
(18:23):
Maybe it's in the self-containedclassroom and there's some more
severe hangups, that or somesevere barriers that teachers
and students and families aretrying to work through and
students and families are tryingto work through.
Or the student is just getting,say, speech services or just
getting ELA support or whatever,like you were talking about
earlier when you talked aboutthe different settings.
And so, with that being said,just because your student starts
(18:48):
, your child starts in oneparticular setting, doesn't mean
they have to stay there,doesn't mean that they have to
move, but it is a continuum.
Special education services area continuum that they will
continue.
You will use them as needed, aslong as needed, and so that's
one of the reasons why we talkabout parents really checking
(19:13):
out what's going on and whatkind of services are out there.
Now, what I'm really excitedabout is that we've been able to
reach out to some friends Ithink I said this before from
all across, like teachers,parents all kinds of different
providers, yeah, of differentservice providers.
It's going to be a lot of funwhen we can start having them on
(19:35):
and having these conversations,because, you know, I didn't
even realize until I got intothe education system just how
much is there.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
And the things that we can ask for and the questions
that we should ask, becauseit's one of those you know what
you know and you don't know whatyou don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
And so what the hope is in this little bit of
conversation about FAPE and IEPs?
Let me just kind of jump back.
So IDEA is the big.
That's the law that says thisis what every person deserves.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Out of that came FAPE , which is the Free and
Appropriate Public Education.
Part of that free andappropriate public education
comes the IEP, theIndividualized Education Program
.
That program is the plan, theguide.
(20:35):
It is what you tether to as faras your students' progress
through school right and thedifferent services that they'll
get in school.
And inside that IEP we haveaccommodations, modifications,
and there's there's a lot morethat we can talk about there.
(20:56):
But what is that?
With all that being said, whatis the one, what is the one
takeaway that anybody listeningto this can take with them?
What, would you say, is thefirst step in?
Here's all of this stuff.
Now, what, like?
What do I do with that?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I would.
Are we assuming that these andthat the student's last child
has already been?
it's been identified right therehas Identified has an IEP,
educating yourself, whetheryou're a teacher or a parent,
what services are provided inthe school that your child is
(21:40):
attending, I think would be thefirst.
Then you will know what they doand what they're for.
Again, there's OTPT.
You use those abbreviations alot and you might say, oh,
occupational therapy, my kiddoesn't have a job, and that's
not necessarily what it's about.
(22:02):
It's not because they do have ajob.
Their job is to go to schooland so when they're in school,
and occupational therapy is tohelp them do their jobs at
school.
And some schools have differentservices and different
(22:24):
arrangements, and so I wouldstart by saying finding out what
your child's school offers asfar as services.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
And understand that if your child has an IEP, then
you are part of an IEP team, andthat team is made up of
everybody that is serving yourchild at the school, right?
What that doesn't mean is youcan't ask questions, though.
If you have questions, ask yourteam.
Hey, listen, I see this goingon.
(22:59):
Is it a good idea to pursuespeech outside of school?
Is it a good idea to pursueoccupational therapy outside of
what they're getting at school?
Ask all these questions because, especially early on, because
the more you can get for themearly on, the better, the better
you're going to position themmoving into the future.
So ask questions.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Ask questions.
And if you ask a question andthey say I don't know, ask
somebody else.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Find out who can.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
If you got questions, shoot them to us.
Doesn't mean that we'll havethe right answer, but we can
find find somebody that does, orwe'll just make something up.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
That sounds really good no, we won't do that or not
that.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
We won't do that no, all right, so I think.
Did you have anything else thatyou wanted to add?
Speaker 2 (23:46):
I want to cover a little bit, as we're talking
about the fate, but what itdoesn't mean oh yeah, that's a
good idea.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
What it?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
does mean, and so we don't want there to be some
assumptions and when we talkabout services and programs and
whatnot, a school does not haveto have a specific or provide a
specific class or a program ifthey don't already have it at at
(24:16):
the school.
If you, you know, say that, youknow, I want my child to have
this type of classroom and andit's not offered at that school,
they don't.
That school does not have tomake that now.
They will have to find a placethat has that, if they qualify
for it, that has that program,if your child qualifies for it.
But they don't have to make aprogram at the school that you
(24:40):
want them to attend.
It doesn't mean that they'regoing to get.
You know they're.
This is going to sound bad,just hang with me.
They're not going to get thebest services to maximize their
potential.
I know that sounds bad.
However, they're going toreceive services that are going
(25:03):
to help them progress andservices that are going to be
reasonably calculated.
You know services that aregoing to be reasonably
calculated Because if they didthe maximum potential, then we'd
have to provide that to everystudent.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
I mean they try.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
I know that's.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Well meaning, not every student's going to have a
one like one to one teacher in aclassroom, right, like it's
just me and little Johnny andwe're working through everything
together, step by step, and sothat that's not going to happen
is what you're saying, but thereare certainly things in place
(25:43):
that will help.
Like you said, position thechild for progress, progress,
right.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
And it also doesn't mean that for extracurricular
activities or sports, that achild with a disability is not
guaranteed a spot on on theseactivities or in these
activities.
Now, they have an equalopportunity to participate, but
they're not guaranteed a spot ifthat makes sense, right.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
So, like you know, just because, again, little
Johnny likes football, doesn'tmean he's going to be a starter
on the team, doesn't mean, youknow, if they have tryouts.
If he can't do that, then hecan't do that.
And I get that, and as parents,you kind of you don't like that
, right, but it makes sense andI get that and, as, as you know,
as parents you kind of youdon't like that but but it makes
(26:37):
sense and that I think that'sabout it.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
I think so.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
I D E A I E PE.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I E, I O.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
D U N N DUNE.
No, yeah, all right, so we'regoing to go ahead and wrap this
one up.
If you have any questions,comments, concerns, please feel
free to email us atlifeinthieptribe at gmailcom, or
you can check us out on one ofthe many social media outlets
the Facebook, das Twitter oh,it's not called Twitter anymore.
(27:10):
What is it?
X, x, x or uh, what else isthere?
Instagram?
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Yeah, oh, and YouTube .
I think we're floating aroundYouTube somewhere too Cool.
So, hey, check all that out, Uh, send in any questions,
comments, uh or concerns.
Unless they're mean, then keepthem to yourself.
Again, I am Jared Curtis withmy wife, Laura, and we will see
you next time.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Have a good evening or day, or whatever.
It is the time you're listeningto this, that's right.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Whatever?
Speaker 2 (27:37):
it is yeah, yeah.
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