The women I interviewed *****, an American Indian mother of a freshman boy, --------, who was born deaf. -------- used to be completely deaf, however, now after many surgeries, he is hearing but still finds problems with speech and concentration. -------- was born and raised in (City). -------- has had an IEP since he was in First Grade. When asked about an IEP process that ***** thinks would be relevant for my assignment, she wanted to reflect on the most recent meeting they had five weeks ago.-------- now attends (HS Name) High School and their Special Education Program is a new implemented program. The Special Ed students are not completely mainstreamed. Currently, ***** is not sure ...view middle of the document...
She said his English and Math teachers seem to be great. However, she feels --------'s World History teacher doesn't even know who he is because the class size is so big and -------- just sits quietly in the back of class and tries to comprehend what is taking place in class.***** said that it has been interesting to see how the IEP meetings have changed through the years and she has seen how the schools priorities have changed. She said that in --------'s earlier days in 1993, the first IEP meeting was very easy with little paper work. Now she says that there is extensive paperwork and the meetings go longer. It bothers her that there is so much paperwork these days. With her latest IEP meeting, she said it went well and felt like the team accomplished a lot. She said the team made her feel welcomed and wanted her opinion. She feels that -------- is going to be able to succeed through High School but she apprehensive about the mainstreaming. Like any other parent, she just wants the best for her son. She hopes for her son to attend college, get a satisfying job and become successful in life as a whole. She said she know that the team is aware of her expectations and hopes for --------'s future and they are striving for all this to be possible.From what ***** mentioned to me, it seems like the IEP Team Meeting went very well and there would be no way to make the experience for her better. She felt like there was adequate support for her son and with the program the High School has, there is no other way to give the family more support. It will be interesting to see if the mainstreaming program works for these students.