Inclusion

🗺️ Where is your kid? 🗺️

📍Do you know where in your child’s IEP you can find information about how much time they spend in a separate special education classroom versus a general education classroom? Every school district does things differently, but there are a few places I look when I’m first getting to know a child.

📍I first look at the services page of the IEP. Each service, like specialized academic instruction (SAI), speech and language, and occupational therapy (OT), lists a location. The most common locations I usually see are separate classroom (a special education setting), regular classroom (a general education setting with typical, non disabled peers), and service provider location (this can vary between settings, or be someplace else like an office).

📍The educational setting page also lists the percentage of time and activities your child attends in either the general or separate environments.

         ✨One important detail to note:

              schools often count times like

               recess, lunch, and passing period in

               the total minutes calculated with

                general education peers.

📍As you review your child’s IEP, make sure to ask for clarification about the minutes and percentages you see. Where do those general education minutes happen? Are they meaningful for your child? How is your child supported during those times? Are there other times during the day when your child would benefit more from general education peer interactions? Does your child spend enough time with non-disabled peers?

📍You know your child best. If you feel he or she would benefit from more time with general education peers, don’t be afraid to speak up at your next IEP meeting! I’ve been pleasantly surprised lately with IEP teams who are willing to increase general education minutes and support.

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