Parents of young children with disabilities go through several program changes during the preschool years but the most important, and often the most stressful, is the transition from preschool services to kindergarten. If your child will be leaving the preschool program this year, it is important that you start planning for that transition NOW!

      In most cases, the school system will be starting the process in May. Parents, however, need to begin thinking about the process now. Because this can be a major transition in your lives and the life of your child with a disability, you take the time to start reflecting on what your dreams are for your child. It is important that you go into the school setting focusing on the "possibilities" not the "problems". In some ways, this can set the stage for future experiences with the school system.

      This can be a very emotional time in your life and it is important for you to know that other parents have gone through these emotions. It can also be very scary wondering what to do but good planning can help lessen the fear and give you tools to manage the emotions.

      Sometime this spring, you will receive an invitation to a Preschool Individualized Education Program Team meeting. At this meeting, you will be asked to work with the team to write the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for your child and to decide the placement for his or her first year in school. This is an extremely important meeting and you should take time to prepare.

Before the Meeting

1. Complete a Positive Student Profile for your child. This planning tool is available from the ECAC office (1-800-962-6817) and will help you focus on your child's strengths, successes and challenges. It will give you the opportunity to think about and write down your dreams for your child. It will also help you identify what supports may be needed to reach those dreams.

2. Review your child's current IEP and ask the preschool teacher what has been completed and what needs more work. Use that information along with your Positive Student Profile to make a list of goals you think are important for next year. You don't have to write the goals or need to know special education jargon. It is just important that you know what is, in your opinion, most important for your child to learn, for example, self-help skills such as dressing, reading, or communication skills, etc.

3. Spend some time thinking about where you feel your child should spend most of his or her school day. This could be:

• a regular kindergarten classroom especially if your child has been in a typical preschool setting;
• a combination of part of the day spend in the regular classroom and some time being educated in a special education "resource" classroom;
• a separate special education classroom where your child spends all or most of the school day. You should remember that all students including those separate classes should be given the opportunity to have some time such as lunch, PE, special classes with typical peers.
• a special education separate school, home, or hospital.

4. Write down any questions that you may have. Take this list and your suggestions for IEP goals to the meeting. Make a priority list &emdash; organize your goals in order of importance to you.

The Meeting

1. Make sure enough time has been scheduled for the meeting. You don't want to feel rushed and you need to make sure that everyone that is needed to make good decisions for your child has scheduled enough time. If you have been given a 30 minute meeting and you don't feel this is enough time, ask the team to reschedule.

2. Be assertive. You have important information to share so speak up. Remember that the other team members may know more about special education but you know more about your child!

3. If you have questions or do not understand something, do not hesitate to stop the meeting and ask for information.

4. Don't hesitate to ask WHY. Sometimes people make decisions based on the usual or what they know. Sometimes they don't like to try new things. Make sure you understand why something is being recommended or refused. You can try to turn "we have never done it before" into "this is going to be an exciting new challenge".

(5) Take someone with you. You can have anyone you wish at the meeting for your support.

(6) Always remember that the IEP is what drives the placement. No placement decisions can be made without an IEP and all the decisions need to be made with you during the IEP meeting. Your child's placement and services are based only on the needs of your child and not on existing services in your school system.

     Finally, don't forget the hopes and dreams you have for your child. Teach the team about those dreams while you negotiate an IEP and placement that supports your child's "possibilities". This is often easy but occasionally you will have difficulty and being prepared will make your job easier. Remember an appropriate educational program for your child is worth the effort!