Is this really typical of an IEP?

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Hi folks,
My son is 5 years old and in reception. He has been on school action plus since september 2011 ( his old school, moved to new school in january 2012.)

We have had so many problems with teachers and ed psych that is far too draining and boring [for you all to read , I am sure] but suffice to say the ed psych of his last school refused to accept my son was on the spectrum as he ' smiled at someone and people on the spectrum don't do that' ( i kid you not!) his current school has great teachers with some experience of ASD's but he has had a) no ed psych involvement ( apparantly she is " like a ghost" ( this is despite the fact he was due a cognitive test in his last school- but was scheduled for the last day of term and it didn't take place.) b) no autism outreach involvement c) specialist SALT has been in and is " putting together a social skills package for him" - have wait to see that materialise too.d) I have never met the SENco before he started the new school I asked for her to ring me to have a chat when she had a second to keep the channels of communication open... but she didn't get back to me.I know her name but have never met her. My son has had no support at all and no IEP either in his old school or his new one. fair enough he is working academically very well BUT he can meltdown over sensory issues, handwriting and he does not interact with his peers. Totally fed up I asked for the schools SEN policy 2 weeks ago and was appalled reading how senco was ' a link for parents' about IEP's being done etc etc.

Now I may be being a little suspicious but very bizarrely , his teacher said to me today if I had seen his IEP. ( I think instigated by the fact i asked for the SEN policy!)Of course I answered ' no' as he hasn't had one! anyway she tottered off and brought it back. I will outline it below ( the only things missing are his personal details and school teacher's names and the pretty little icons that must have taken all of 2 minutes to add . Oh and who the IEP has been agreed by and my son's name is there and mine. :-

[b]Things I find difficult :- to play with children
My targets:- To play with two different children every day
What do I need to do? :- I need to choose two different children to play with every day.
Who's going to help me and when? Every morning I will tell my teacher who I am going to play with. They will help me play with these children every day.

[b]Then there is a review date before the end of term.

That is it. Is that typical? I have not been consulted about it. I thought an IEP was meant to include strengths too? There is nothing about consistent behaviour management or the little things ( but big things for my boy) like how he needs sunglasses on bright days and shoes on for PE as he hates bare feet on cold floors etc etc

I am just utterly appalled if this is what an IEP is... i thought there would be more information on there and thought i would have been involved? Am I wrong? Am I being too picky / fussy?

Any advice , greatly appreciated

Beth x

Is this a public school in the US? If so there are so many things wrong that I don't know where to begin. Short answer, what that teacher showed you is NOT typical of an IEP, it couldn't even be considered to be one AT ALL. Go to http://www.wrightslaw.com/
An IEP is a document that is written by a team of people involved in the student's education including the PARENT or GUARDIAN. THere can't be an IEP if you were not involved in creating it AND an IEP cannot be implemented until YOU have signed off on it. I think they really need to start over at square one with you and your son.

Check with your local government (usually at the state level in the US) to see if there is some sort of free or recommended advocacy service for parents of children with special needs. We got the same line of BS and it took until things ACTUALLY fell apart in 4th grade to get an appropriate IEP. Sometimes you can find it by searching your board of education's website, sometimes it's under the Department of Human Services. If you tell us a little bit about where you are, we can help figure it out.

Autism Speaks has some state-by-state resources and links to resources in other countries.

Bombaloo is right, they can't do it without you there and call it an IEP. For one thing, you have to sign off on it for it to be legal.

Holy cow! I agree with the previous post, that is not an IEP at all. While we recently received my son's Asperger diagnosis, we have had an IEP since Pre-K in school, it is a very involved process and you would know 100% about it. I agree that perhaps you should locate an advocate or local group to help you understand IEPs, they can be very intimidating if you are just getting started, we have had my son's in place for going on six years now, and I still get worked up when it is time to review and touch base on progress and goals. With some research, you can feel confident! If you do not have someone to help educate you on the IEP, there are many great sources online to help point you in the right direction.

Hi Folks,
many thanks for your replies and advice, I really appreciate it. Have looked up more information re:- IEP's here in the UK and am not happy about the info ( or lack of) in my son's IEP. Have a meeting soon with my son's school, so hopefully will get something sorted that is more appropriate.

many thanks,
Beth