IEP Scenarios
Enter the Rogue's Gallery

You will enter the Rogue's Gallery here. Remember that the people described in these IEP adventures are fictitious characters, but the issues are real. These denizens lurk in and among the stars of the universes you will inhabit as you work to support children and parents in choosing a stellar set of goals. Some have powerful ships and personal destinations far from your sphere of influence. They seem to have access to galactic Power and their eyes set on distant goals.

Others are more like pirates, looking for ways to get their short cuts to their own ends accomplished at your expense. Some are just citizens, unclear about the dangers of space. Occasionally you will even come across those who own little comets that fly in a personal orbit. Highly invested in these orbits, they find it difficult to capitulate, even slightly, always fearing the worst.

Of course, some of the creatures you meet are unfocused. They have lived through catastrophic times - at least in their own eyes, and are hurting too much to believe in your sincerity of purpose. They are looking for a person of honor, but recent experiences leave them uncertain about how to tell the good guys from the enemy. Appearances can be deceiving! After all, we can tell, just by the music, that Darth Maul is evil -- from his bulging eyes to his double saber sword, we know he is a villain. We are not so certain about Senator Palpatine [does his silhouette match the bad guy in the shadow?]. . . and we are justly uneasy about Anakin. He looks like an innocent and precocious kid - but he has so many metacholorians in his system! It bears watching!

Fortunately, we have Troy to help us. Dogs in Space are magical. Like Wookies, they don't say much, but they can sense the bad guys!

Go now with Commander Troy. He will introduce you to the work ahead.

Commander Troy, dog in space, has some great games chosen to share. You can gain access to these games by completing the following exercise.

Choose two of the IEP scenarios. Using the tactics described in the online lesson, Commander Troy's Secret Files, create and describe a step-by-step process through which you would change the opinions and determinations of one of the members of the IEP team in five of the scenarios

Scenario One

This is the fourth school my son has been in and you guys are all alike. I don't even know what I'm doing at this stupid IEP meeting. You've kept me waiting for 20 minutes, my lunch hour is almost over and all you're going to do is what you want anyway. Give me the stupid papers, let me sign 'em and let me get back to work will you?

Solution: From your work on Community Building and Cohesion, you recognize defenses. You check off the following clues that show defensive thinking __________________________________________ and the following adjectives for defensive behaving also fit ________________________________.

Action plan:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Scenario Two

This is just not fair. None of my brothers or sisters have a kid with these problems. I don't even know how you can say he can't read. He's been reading since he was a baby. You are blowing this all out of proportion. Just because he doesn't sit still and work on these stupid papers, you want to place him in special education. He's a good kid. All I have to do is smack him and he sits still.

Solution: From your work on Communicating, you recognize that this person is sounding Angry or resentful. You cannot be sure why, and you do not know that the parent always sounds like this as a view of life, but you are pretty sure that is how things feel to him or her right now. You decide to work on building a better set of core beliefs about you, about the school and what it can do for the student with the IEP process and you try the following communication skills to help the conference go better

Action plan:
1.

Scenario Three

Don't you understand English? I want my kid to learn in the Resource Room. I don't want her out around the school with kids making fun of her. You aren't hearing me, apparently. I didn't come to this meeting to change my mind. This is the way it's gotta be or I'm getting a lawyer.

Solution: From your work on Compromise, you recognize that this person is very attached to the way he or she feels and believes that it is best for your student not to be in the regular school setting. At the same time, you know that the least restrictive environment is best for everyone. You know there are many ways to help a person come to a better decision than the first one so you come up with the following action plan.

Action plan:
1.

Scenario Four

Emily comes home every day crying. She says you call her ugly names and hit her. She sits at home and talks nonstop about Jason. I send her delicious lunches every day and she comes home with half the food uneaten. She is such a sweet little angel all weekend long and then she goes off to school where no one really seems to care about her. Why last week, her best frock even had marker stains on it. Who's looking after my girl here, anyway? Do you know what's happening to her all day long?

Solution: From your work on Effective Conversing, you recognize a communication style of the nurturing parent. You know it is important for a parent to nurture a child, and you also know that Emily is ten now. You decide to have the conversation with the parent. You implement an action plan to help you talk to the parent, adult to adult.

Action plan:
1.

Scenario Five

I'm Mel's mother. I am so glad to have a chance to meet you. I am just so upset. Have you noticed a change in Mel? Her father and I are going through a divorce. It has just been awful! You can't imaging how many sleepless nights I've had ---- Ten more minutes into the meeting, mom is still talking about her problems and no IEP has taken place.

Solution: From your work on Fight and Flight, you recognize the need to do some leveling. You decide to implement an action plan to get the meeting turned toward getting Mel's IEP done.

Action plan:
1.

Scenario Six

You find yourself ruminating again. [Yup that means chewing your cud, sort of -- going back over the same stuff, again and again.] As you get closer to the time when you will be telling the mother that you think her son has ADHD and may need to be tested, you get a queasy feeling in your stomach. How will she take it? Will she be angry? Will she question you and your background? How will the conversation go?

Solution: From your work on Group Development material, you remember that there are some great Trust Building tips. You decide to make a checklist of things you can do to help the mother feel more comfortable talking with you about her son.

Action plan:
1.

Scenario Seven

You are pretty worried about the way things are going for one youngster. You don't think he is getting a bath very often, you know that the lunches are not very well prepared and you see that he almost never matches. You feel you have to talk to the parents about the situation. You are wondering if he is being neglected. Little things nag at you like his super long toenails that could use a trim, his chopped up hair that makes the boy look foolish and get laughed at more than he needs, and you wonder if the kid ever got his eyes checked, something you asked the parents to do last year. Now it is time for the annual IEP and you decide to have an honest talk with the parents.

Solution: From your work on Honesty, you remember that there are some important things to take into consideration. You decide to make a checklist of points about honesty and then make an action plan for having a discussion.

Action plan:
1.

Scenario Eight

This is the third year you have had this student in your program. You realize that many of the people on the team have strong feelings about his abilities. You think he has a lot more ability than you he being asked to share. You want to escalate the goals, objectives, put him in regular classes more of the time and really accelerate his program.

Solution: From your work on Knowledge, you remember that there are some important tips for changing how we see things It goes along with the material on Judgment.. You decide to make a giant leap during the meeting and see if you can get others to see things as you see them. You decide upon the following action plan

Action plan:
1.

Scenario Nine

You really like IEP meetings, and you decide to build even better partnerships through the meetings this year. As your focus, you decide the most powerful thing you can do is to listen better. You tend to hear the first part of what people think and then formulate an answer. Sometimes, you have such a strong sense of what needs to be done that you realize, in retrospect, that you didn't really give others a chance to give their position. It makes the meeting go fast, but it doesn't really honor the true meaning of building a program together. Yes, things are going well, but you just want to take it to the next level.

Solution: From your work on Listening and Mutuality, you remember that there are some great Community Building tips. You decide to make a checklist of things you can do to make your IEPs even better.

Action plan:
1.

Scenario Ten

Every time you go into the classrooms to talk with the math teacher Mrs. Spencer, about Shelley, she seems uncooperative. Now the math teacher is coming to the IEP meeting along with the rest of the team. You are worried that Spencer and the team will not get along well. You have had nightmares, two nights running, about a big blowup over Shelley's special needs. You don't want anyone to get hurt and you know it is important for Mrs. Spencer to be part of the team.

Solution: From your work on Understanding, you remember that there are some great Feedback tips. You decide to make a checklist of things you can do to help the team work together better, and you also decide to chat with Mrs. Spencer about her feelings for Shelley and what she thinks would work best. First, however you review the materials so you will do better at understanding what Mrs. Spencer is trying to get across to you. You set up the following action plan to help you be a better listener and communicator.

Action plan:
1.

Go back to Assignment 3

E-mail J'Anne Ellsworth at Janne.Ellsworth@nau.edu

Course developed by J'Anne Ellsworth

Copyright © 2000 Northern Arizona University
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED