However, the more skills you have and information you learn, the better you can advocate for your child. Over the past few years we have found that parents tend to make some common mistakes during the IEP meeting. The following is a list of ten common mistakes. Believing the professionals are the only experts It can be very intimidating to sit at a table with several educators and professionals. Though most parents do not have a background or degree in education, they have a great deal of knowledge and experience regarding their child.
Parents are the experts in their own right.
They provide historical information and the big picture from year to year. They know what works and does not work with their child and can be a great asset to the IEP team. Parents also have an intuitive sense as to what is appropriate for their child. After working with parents for nine years, we are still amazed at how parents are usually intuitively correct about what will work for their child. We encourage parents to follow their hunches, if something does not sound right, check it out.