How to Make Your Voice Heard at an IEP Meeting: Parent Participation as a Strategy

How do you make sure your voice as a parent is truly heard at an IEP meeting? In this episode of The Collaborative IEP Podcast, I talk about parent participation as a strategy rather than something that just happens in the room. With so many of you heading into fall IEP meetings, I want you to start thinking about how you communicate before, during, and after the meeting, instead of walking in and simply responding to whatever the team brings up. I compare it to a real estate closing. Some people sign without reading, some read every word, and some ask a few targeted questions. Parents show up to IEP meetings in all of those ways, and each one shapes what you walk away with. In this episode, I explain: • Why parent participation starts well before the IEP meeting • How sharing your interests, values, and concerns in writing keeps meetings collaborative • How to decide how efficient and detail oriented you want your meeting to be • What you gain and give up when you only highlight a few discussion points • How to be an active contributor with your own observations, data, and ideas • How curious, disarming questions move the conversation forward • Why everything you contribute should serve the outcome you want Collaborative advocacy can look like soft skills, and it is, but it is also deeply strategic. Every question you ask, every point you raise, and the follow-up you send afterward can be chosen with one goal in mind: access to meaningful progress for your child. When you communicate with intention, you respect the team's time and still leave having heard what you needed to hear. Inside the Membership this month, Kara Ryska joins us for an Expert Talk on caring for the caregiver on October 26 at 11:00 AM ET. And if you work with an organization, there is room for two or three more organizations to join the Membership as a group, with office hours just for your members. Listen now to learn how to turn your communication into a real strategy at your next IEP meeting. Join The Membership: https://ashleybarlowco.com/the-collaborative-iep-membership