PRESENTER,

MARK DAVIDSONDISTRICT 214

Student Self-Advocacy in IEP Meetings

What is Self-Advocacy?

Speak up for yourselfAsk for what you needTake charge of your lifeBe more independent

What is an IEP?It is an Individual Education ProgramUsed to meet the unique educational needs of

each studentIt helps the student, family and school know what

the student’s disability is and how the student learns best, and what services are provided to assist in the learning process.

What are some parts of the IEP?

Current updates on how the student is doing (Strengths and Weaknesses)

Academic and Functional GoalsSpecific learning stylesAccommodations and Modifications

Do you attend and participate in your own IEP meetings?

Why is it important to self-advocate for yourself?

Can you think of a time when you didn’t self-advocate for yourself and it was

problematic?

What are some self-advocacy strategies for participating in my IEP?

S it up straightH ave a pleasant tone of voiceActivate your thinking

Tell yourself to pay attention Tell yourself to participate Tell yourself to compare ideas

R elax Don’t look uptight Tell yourself to stay calm

Engage in eye communication

StrengthsStrengths Areas to ImproveAreas to Improve

• Reading Skills• Writing Skills• Math Skills• Study Skills• Social Skills• Career &

Employment Skills

• Complete Educational Worksheet

• Write my classes• Skills needed for

success• Skills to improve or

learn

Education Inventory

GoalsGoals Choices for LearningChoices for Learning

• Academic Goals• Social Goals• Career/Employment

Goals• Extra Curricular

Goals• Future Goals

• Helpful activities• Helpful materials• Learning

Preferences• Testing Preferences

Education Inventory (Cont’d)

Why are we completing this education inventory and learning about self-

advocacy?

• To learn how to speak for myself• To be prepared to participate in my IEP

meeting• To identify my strengths and weaknesses • To create goals that I want to work towards in

the future• To be able to inform my teachers of my

learning needs and preferences in the classroom

Actors / ArtistsActors / Artists AthletesAthletes

• Tom Cruise• Whoopi Goldberg• Albert Einstein• Tommy Hilfiger• Cher• Jay Leno• Vince Vaughn

• Terry Bradshaw• Bruce Jenner• Magic Johnson• Muhammad Ali• Greg Louganis• Nolan Ryan

Famous people with disabilities

• Beethovan• Walt Disney• President Roosevelt• George Washington• Woodrow Wilson• Leonardo Da Vinci• John Lennon

• Ernest Hemingway• Elton John• Abraham Lincoln• Mozart• Thomas Edison• Pablo Picasso• Robin Williams

More famous people with disabilities

What did these people do to become famous?

Bibliography

Van Reusen, A.K., Bos, C.S., Schumaker, J.B., Deshler, D.D. The Self-Advocacy Strategy. Edge Enterprises, Inc. Rev. 2007.

University of Kansas Self-Advocacy Video