Updated Saturday, August 8, 2015A significant part of your child’s IEP is the goals and objectives which are set by the IEP team. To establish whether or not any progress is made on these goals, you must be able to measure them. If you can’t tell whether a goal or objective of the IEP is met, you won’t be able to tell if the IEP is working for your child. An ineffective IEP will not help your child. In the business world, managers recognize the importance of setting measurable goals and often apply a learning technique using the acronym SMART. Smart goals and objectives are ones which are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. This may […]
Persuasion and Advocacy
Updated Sunday, August 2, 2015The ability to persuade another person to do what you want is a critical skill for all advocates. Parents who are fighting overstretched health and education systems to get resources for their children with special needs must learn the art of persuasion if they are to be effective advocates for their children. It is important to point out that being persuasive doesn’t mean being aggressive. It is important that you have a good working relationship with anyone involved in your child’s health and education. The key is to be assertive not aggressive. I want to share with you an excellent article from Forbes which discusses persuasion. […]
Tips for writing better letters to help your child with special needs
Updated Saturday, August 8, 2015Letter writing is a great advocacy tool as it gives you time to think and analyse your thoughts before you put them on paper. Writing a letter on an important issue is a process that requires some planning. This post will help you write an effective letter when advocating for your child with special needs. Define your advocacy goal Your first step is defining your goal or objective. What do you want to achieve by writing this letter? You should have a specific goal or objective that you want to convey in the letter. Decide who you need to write to You need to decide who you need to send the letter […]
