The IEP Process for Writing Goals and Objectives – Define what your child will achieve:

There are seven common areas of need which may require specialized instruction. Not every child who requires instruction in any of these areas is considered a child with a disability. Only children who meet IDEA defined criteria for having a disability receive specialized instruction in these needed areas.

If you are in an IEP meeting, then your child IS a child with a disability. Through the IEP process she can receive instruction in any or all areas of need, as agreed upon by the IEP team.

Areas of instruction an IEP team can develop goals for during the IEP process are:

– Assistive Technology Usage
– Behavioral / Emotional Modification
– Daily Living Skills
– General Curriculum and Instructional Content
– Occupational Therapy
– Physical Therapy
– Speech-Language Therapy

Not every child has needs in every area. A child who has needs in every area may, or may not, require every area be addressed. Therefore IEP goals should only be developed for areas the child will actively work on during the next year.

You should know from your child’s Eligibility determination, and the type of difficulty your child is having, which types of assistance your child will require.

When going through the IEP process to develop your child’s IEP goals, you may need to ask if specific goals need to be developed for assistive technology. You may need to ask about specific skills your child needs to learn in order to participate successfully in his school.

While “Supports and Services” and “Assistive Technology” are required to be considered in the IEP process, sometimes goals are not put into place. Goals are often necessary to insure the child learns how to use specific equipment or skills as aids in the classroom.

For More info about Assistive Technology in the IEP Process

You may want to go visit the Learning Abled Kids Assistive Technology Site to see what kinds of A/T could help your child. The main goal of Assistive technology is to give your child EQUAL ACCESS to the curriculum in areas of reading, writing, and math. That is why it is critical for A/T to be considered during the IEP process.

For example, if your child can’t YET read, then he should have audio versions of all of his school books.. ALL of them. That will provide your child equal access to the book’s content in relation to his classroom peers.

If your child has a poor working memory and can’t calculate math problems in his head, he should have a calculator. A calculator allows your child to advance in his math reasoning skills while his working memory is being improved through cognitive enhancement. During the IEP process, cognitive enhancement should be considered as a viable IEP goal too.