Student-LED IEP: A Pathway to Important Life Skills

We are excited to share five essential skills that students with disabilities can learn/practice during their IEP process.  

Student-led IEPs offer students with disabilities a wide range of opportunities to work on communication skills: one-on-one conversations, email correspondence, and small group discussions.

In the weeks and months leading up to the annual IEP meeting, you may ask students to discuss information related to strengths, preferences, and needs. During meetings, students should be prepared to share their ideas. 

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not wait until the meeting and put the student on the spot with a question like, “Do you have anything to add?”  The student should have the same opportunity to feel prepared as everyone else at the table. 

If we regularly communicate with students regarding their IEPs across the school year, they will be stronger communicators during both planning and the meeting. Be sure to teach terms related to the IEP so that students are successful both receptively and expressively. 

If a student does not communicate verbally, be sure that they have a communication system that allows them to participate fully.

In my job, I get to collaborate with some amazing youth leaders who happen to have disabilities.  Occasionally, the topic of IEPs will come up, and I am always curious to hear about their experiences. 

Sadly, there is a common theme across all of their stories.  They began attending their meetings around the age of 14, but none of them knew what was going on or why they were there.

This is no good.  Not including students in their IEP meeting is wrong.  Even younger students can attend for at least part of their meeting.  Including students merely as a matter of compliance is also wrong.  We must invite our students, have a clear role for them, and help them to understand the role.  

Participation in the IEP process helps students with disabilities hone their self-advocacy skills. As youth learn that adults listen to them and value what they have to say, they will become more confident in speaking up.  Strong self-advocacy skills will serve our students well in life.

The IEP process is not always a collaborative endeavor.  The case manager writes the document, the parents sign some forms, and the student may or may not even be in the room during the meeting.

But, when done beautifully, the IEP document and meeting each benefit from the collective knowledge and experiences of all team members.  The student will learn about collaboration first-hand. 

The student can learn so much about collaboration by observing team members debating about accommodations.  They will also benefit from watching the case manager delegate tasks and noticing how the team members actively listen during meetings. Better yet, the student will learn by participating in the debates, delegation, and active listening!

As the student hones their collaboration skills, they will be able to take a larger leadership role each year.  Eventually, the student will lead the debate about accommodations, delegate responsibilities to team members, and actively listen to stakeholders during the meeting.

Student-led IEPs provide excellent opportunities for students to ask and answer questions.  And I’m not talking about the typical “wh” questions that we tend to ask. (Check out this previous post on effective questioning.)

The IEP process is full of situations where students can answer questions. We can ask them about their strengths, preferences, interests, and needs as they help us draft the IEP document.  It is important to ask lots of questions leading up to the meeting rather than waiting until the meeting to put the student on the spot in front of everyone.

When students are sharing their thoughts and ideas, we can ask a very powerful question: “Will you tell us more?”

Don’t forget that student-led IEPs are also good for teaching students to ask questions.  They can practice asking for clarification or asking questions that seek information.

If students aren’t inherently inquisitive, we can model how to ask great questions during instruction or in our planning discussions prior to the IEP meeting.  If a student asks a question, no matter how silly it seems, we must provide a thoughtful answer.  Otherwise, our students will be less likely to ask questions in the future.

The annual IEP meeting, or any student-led meeting, is ripe with opportunities for students to practice a number of social skills, including:

• Greeting others either verbally or with a handshake;
• Introducing self;
• Introducing other team members who might not know each other;
• Properly waiting for a turn to speak without interrupting;
• Politely excusing self to leave the meeting early if needed

A student-led IEP meeting is the perfect environment to practice these skills. If errors are made, the student benefits from being in a safe environment with caring adults.  If the student is successful, they will be highly motivated by praise in front of educators and family members.