PLP & Parent Attachment

The following brief example is just to give you the idea of how these documents work together.

"A Picture of Joanie:" Your own PLP

Joan is a happy, outgoing, 12 year old with an average I.Q. and a tremendous interest in art and a great love of animals. She attends to tasks reasonably well, and takes pride in a job well done. She has acceptable fine motor control, but does have serious difficulty with large motor control. Her awkwardness has caused her embarrassment in front of her peers who do not appear to understand her disabilities.

Her self-esteem is quite low and she worries about people staring at her. She's performing at the 4th grade level in math, having made a whole year's progress this year with the extra teacher assistance and computer-assisted assignments.

Her reading level is at 2nd grade level, with difficulties in decoding, encoding, but some strength in comprehension. She particularly enjoys social studies because there's more movement and less paperwork than in other classes. With more hands-on activities, she's not so pressured by her deficit in reading.

Oral assignments and oral tests have encouraged her also. Joanie dreams of one day owning her own car, having a job, and moving to an apartment. She would like to volunteer at a zoo and work with animals when she's grown up. She dreams of going to college and getting a degree in animal husbandry.

Sample Parent Attachment

Joan Doe's IEP Meeting, (Date)

These are our concerns regarding our daughter's education:

1. Joan's walking gait causes numerous problems physically. Request physical therapy continue, at least 1/2 hr./week.
2. Her self-esteem is poor, and we request special emphasis be placed on her area of strength which is art. We request the district actively support a mentorship for her next year in this area, either in school or in the community. We will support that program in any way we can.
3. We also request a counselor who can help Joan deal with peer teasing. Her obvious reading deficit also sets her apart from peers. We are asking for intensive instruction by a teacher trained in multi-sensory teaching who can help Joan make true progress in reading. If the district doesn't have someone with these qualifications, we ask the district to provide a qualified tutor to teach her reading during the school day.
4. We would like to offer our assistance in helping to put on a seminar for the whole student body on disability sensitivity. Public education will hopefully build support for Joanie and others with disabilities.
5. Joan's learning style is both visual and kinesthetic; however, we have yet to see these methods intensively employed in teaching her. Joan does learn differently, but she's entitled to a teacher who knows how to reach her. Multi-sensory teaching is good for all students and we believe it's a reasonable request and necessary for her academic success.
6. Joan's I.Q. is in the average range and there's no excuse for her not to be making measurable, substantial progress. We expect all short-term objectives will be tested with measurable instruments and progress will be reported to us on a quarterly basis. We are willing to take responsibility for reminding the teachers of these meeting dates.
7. Homework may need modification if the time involved is more than 1 1/2 hours a night.

Get the idea? Now you can go into the meeting armed with both a total picture of your child, reflecting all the strengths and needs. You also have a written list of requests that you have pondered over and had plenty of time to work on in an unpressured, non-stressful environment. You'll feel much more in control, as you can focus on these two papers in front of you. Be sure to ask the leader of the meeting, before it starts, to let you lead off by reading your Parent Attachment. Otherwise, it can get lost in the shuffle. Once you read it out loud, and every person has a copy in front of him, you can always come back to it later on.

Do not sign anything, or leave the meeting, until you can check off every point you have written down. Was each item addressed? Was a decision made regarding each item?

Sometimes, one of your items becomes moot when something grand and wonderful happens, and you can actually cross it off and initial as "no longer needed". (Yes, I actually see that happen.) In fact, once you start using this method you'll likely see a lot less resistance than before. These poor folks often see "irate" parents, and they know how to handle that, because an irate parent is not in control of the situation. When you can come into the meeting with your priorities written down in a businesslike manner, then you'll begin to feel in control and will know you are a driving force at that meeting.

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