IEP Step 10: Summarize the Conclusions
How to end your child’s IEP or 504 meeting to ensure it results in productive accommodations and better learning with ADHD or LD.
It is a good idea to summarize the important points and accommodations before the IEP/504 meeting adjourns. Assuming you and the school agree on accommodations, you might say:
“I want to thank everyone here today for working to help my child. Just to make sure everyone is clear, the accommodations we agreed on are (list accommodations); each teacher is responsible for implementing these accommodations in his or her classroom. This will be done beginning tomorrow. From here on out, the teachers will communicate with me via (method), daily, weekly, or bi-weekly. We will meet again next year to review the accommodations and determine what worked and what didn’t work, and to determine accommodations moving forward.”
By saying this, you are making sure that everyone understands their responsibilities and your expectations. Sending everyone in attendance a short thank-you note for his or her participation is a nice touch. Include a brief summary of what everyone agreed to. You can’t say it too often.
[Free Guide: Easy Accommodations to Help Students with ADHD or LD]
Your child’s teachers should receive a copy of the IEP or 504 Plan. But that doesn’t always happen. Schools sometimes mistakenly believe that privacy laws forbid their distributing the 504 Plan or IEP. So an important step is to state in front of the team that you want to make sure that the teachers will receive a copy of the document.
Even if a teacher didn’t attend the meeting, he or she will be made aware by school officials of any accommodations that should be implemented in the classroom. It’s still a good idea to check with the teachers, as well.
