You are in charge of your own destiny. Make dreams happen yourself!
Serving Southern California, Control IEP, Self-Determination is a team of professionals with over 40 years of experience in the field of Special Education. Our professionals are highly trained and skilled to train parents/legal guardians and consumers in the above fields. We strongly emphasize the importance of understanding, addressing, training, and implementing recommendations.
IEP
To effectively support (academically and behaviorally) students ( Pre-K to 12 grade) with disabilities, understanding the IEP process is crucial. To know the purpose of it, to familiarize yourself with the eligibility criteria, participate in the IEP team, review, and understand the assessment data, monitor progress regularly, and advocate for your child to ensure that his/her needs are met and rights are upheld throughout the process.
The responsibility of parents /legal guardians is to facilitate the generalization of skills across different settings, and ensure consistency in their child's behavioral interventions and the strengthening of social skills and independence.
SELF-DETERMINATION
Self-determination and quality of life are important constructs, particularly in designing supports that enable people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live, learn, work, and play in their communities. Being self-determined—that is, acting volitionally and making things happen in one’s life. Therefore, one means to enhance the quality of life of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is to promote and enable people to be self-determined.
Special Education
The Law Child's Find
School Legal Duty to Evaluate Children with Suspected Disability
You may not have heard of the CHILD FIND MANDATE. It’s a legal requirement for schools to find children who have disabilities and need services. Identifying these kids is an important first step toward getting them the help they need to succeed in school.
Child Find is part of a federal law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This law protects the rights of students with disabilities.
Federal Requirements for Child Find Systems
A Brief Overview
- Child Find is a legal requirement that schools find all children who have disabilities and who may be entitled to special education services.
- Child Find covers every child from birth through age 21.
- The school must evaluate any child whom it knows or suspects may have a disability
Remote Screening, Evaluation, and Assessment - Birth to Age Five
Assessment in Special Education Series
MORE INFO HERE:
IEP Eligibility vs Medical Diagnosis
Understanding the differences between a medical diagnosis and an educational determination of eligibility for special education services can help you become a better advocate for your child.
A medical diagnosis is made by a doctor or other specially trained clinician by using symptom criteria set in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a book published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
By contrast, educational eligibility is decided by a team comprised of various school professionals and a student’s parents. The team must find that the student qualifies for services under IDEA.
Who Qualifies?
Before a student can receive special education services, he or she must be evaluated for eligibility. Under IDEA, there are currently 13 categories under which a child can receive these services:
Autism - Blindness
Deafness - Deafblindness Emotional disturbance
Hearing impairment - Intellectual disability*
Multiple disabilities -Orthopedic impairment
Other health impairment -Learning disability
Speech or language impairment
Traumatic brain injury - Visual impairment
*ID has also been referred to as “Mental Retardation” (MR) in the past, and the term and its acronym may be used colloquially or in older documentation. It is not, however, a currently accepted practice to refer to individuals with intellectual disabilities as mentally retarded.
Special Education Evaluation
According to the Education Law Center, "before a child can begin receiving special education services, the child must be evaluated to determine if the child is eligible for these services. The evaluation helps determine if the child has a disability and needs special education services. The evaluation is also important to identify changes to instruction, services, and supports the child needs to succeed."
Special education evaluations determine if a student has a disability and requires specialized instruction and support. This involves a comprehensive assessment process, including gathering information from parents, teachers, and the student, as well as formal and informal testing, to understand the student's strengths and challenges. The results help determine if the student qualifies for special education services and guide the development of an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
The IEP & The Law - Timelines
An IEP is a legal document that identifies a child’s disability, necessary services to help the child achieve measurable goals, and a specific plan for measuring progress.
Once an IEP is created and agreed upon by all members, it is a legally binding document, and schools are held accountable for providing the services outlined in the plan.
it’s important for parents to be knowledgeable about special education and the IEP process—from the initial referral and evaluation meeting to the IEP development and progress monitoring—in order to increase their understanding, confidence, and ultimately, their ability to help their child be successful in school.
Make Your Resource Binder
We suggest you make a separate binder with copies of the following laws and forms. Use tabs to separate each document.
Individual Educational Plan (IEP) - The Process
The IEP (or Individualized Education Plan) is a document which outlines a child’s educational needs due to a disability, and the services they will receive to help them learn in their educational setting.
The individualized program involves several steps, beginning with pre-referral and ending with evaluation of a child's program.
Note that every person involved in the child's education is part of a TEAM. Each person, including the parent, has important information and skills to add to the team. We work together to make sure children are successful.
Look at the US Department of Education: A Guide to the Individualized Education Program
We recommend reading this article weeks before attending your child's IEP meeting.
50 Common IEP Meeting Questions
During an IEP meeting, we recommend you ask these questions:
10 Questions Every Parent Should Ask at an IEP Meeting
Special Education Advocacy
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees that each child with a disability who needs special education has the right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE).
SOS Ayuda Legal, LLC connects with families to guide them to identify, obtain, and maintain services that will enable their children to fulfill the IDEA requirements. The main focus is to collaborate with your child's IEP's multi-disciplinary team to maximize outcomes. We are qualified to support your child in the following areas:
- Academic records review
- Current levels of performance
- Goals Development
- Data collection systems
- IEP Meetings
- LRE
- Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)
- IEP Implementation
- Multidisciplinary team collaborations
- Placement
- Parent training
SELF-DETERMINATION
What is Self-Determination?
Self-Determination is based on values of human rights, interdependence, choice, and social inclusion. You direct your own services and support. We are here to help you to walk through the process and give you the key to control it 100%.
The Self-Determination Program is a creative type of program that is intended to put you in charge of your services and support.
- You have more control and responsibility.
- You find services and supports that fit your life.
- You decide how money is spent to meet your goals.
Your Personal-Centered Plan (PCP) is the foundation for your child's success and we are your Independent Facilitator with the expertise to initiate the process and train you to have control.
SOS Ayuda Legal, LLC is in connection with Yo Domino Mi IEP, which is an official and certified provider of Personal-Centered Plan (PCP) and Independent Facilitator services in California.
Why to select US as your Independent Facilitator?
SOS Ayuda Legal is a team of highly trained professionals certified as PCP and Independent Facilitators in California. We are Spanish natives, with over 40 years of experience in the field of special education, child development, applied behavior analysis (ABA), IEP process and educational advocacy, paralegal, mediation, program organization, and management.
We have been training, effectively, hundreds of families with children with disabilities to understand the law and the step-by-step special education process, and its institutions. In addition, we have been one of the initial self-determination professionals who successfully worked under the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) pilot families' program.
PROGRAMS THAT CAN HELP YOU TO EXCEL
We in Control IEP and Self-Determination believe in the importance of providing an effective and complete line of services to our clients, especially during these present times, where time optimization, reduced costs, and quality of services are as important as the outcomes. As a result, we have built a strong network of alliances with some leading companies to support you in effectively completing your legal and non-legal requirements. The following businesses are aligned with our program's core values of excellent service and trust.
- Local Self-Determination Advisory Committees, run by each Regional Center, where you’ll be able to meet the people involved with SDP in your community, including IFs and families currently enrolled. Undivided members can also ask their Navigator for our list of recommended Independent Facilitators.
- Each local Regional Center partners with hundreds of service providers – also known as “vendors” – to ensure that services and supports meet the needs of people with developmental disabilities to live safely and with dignity in our community.
How to Contact Us
Hablamos Español
Phone: 949) 326- 6612
Email: controlmyiep@gmail.com
Address:
600 W Santa Ana Blvd, Suite 206, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Hours:
Monday - Friday: 9 am- 5 pm
Control IEP & SELF-determination is ready to assist you. Give us a call at (949) 326-6612 or submit the contact form. ESTAMOS AQUI PARA USTED!
Control IEP-Self-Determination
Disclaimer
Communications between you and Control IEP-Self-Determination are protected by our Privacy Policy but not by the attorney-client privilege or as work product. https://control-iep-self-determination.com/ does not provide legal referrals. If you need to consult with an attorney, please contact the California Courts Self-Help Center near you. We ONLY provide self-help services at your specific direction. We are not a law firm or a substitute for an attorney or law firm. We cannot provide any kind of advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, or selection of forms or strategies. Your access to the website is subject to our Terms of Use.
Disclaimer: Control My IEP is not a law firm and is not and will not act as your attorney. We can only provide self-help services under your specific direction. Control My IEP cannot represent you in court in any matter, select legal forms, or give legal advice. Services are provided at your request and are not a substitute for the advice of a lawyer. If you need to consult with an attorney, please contact the California Courts Self-Help Center near you.