I sent a letter the counselor and case manager a couple days before my domains meeting recently and it helped a lot. His real IEP is in the spring. They will be doing far more evaluations than they were intending to and putting more transition services in place for my son. I worked with an organization called Equip for Equality which helped me clarify my sons needs and put together the report. You may be able to find forms online that will help you prepare for the IEP and advocate better for you kid. You may also want to call your local autism society. This was the first time I had done this and I must say it felt a lot better than told by a bunch of bureaucrats trying to cover their butts what my son does and does not need. My son is a senior in HS and as far as I am concerned, the school system has failed him. It is easy to make a full time job out of having an autistic kid and being a warrior mom and I often feel guilty that I didn't fight harder for him, but being a single mom is hard enough so I do what I can do and hope he catches up.

If the only thing that bureaucrats do is say what's best for us, for our children, then we've become puppets in their theater.

When our children were born, we ceremonially touched their newborn feet to soil, washed them clean, then stamped their feet to OUR Birth Certificate, then theirs. It was to lay OUR CLAIM to be responsible first, then their safety net. After all, we have never seen civil government give birth to anyone. The Creator thru Parents give birth.

In our school district, it takes $10k per year to educate ONE child. A School Voucher system would go far to eliminate bureaucrats and poor educators. Excellence in Education would be rewarded, too.

The System looks out more for the System, Parents look out more for their children. Filing a Parent Report is an Idea that's Come Of Age, and should definitely be included. Vocation: an activity requiring a VOCal calling. Parents know their child better than anyone else.

Very good advise the psych report is very important because the school has a very hard time fighting that since none of them are doctors that specialize in the brain.

My son's school sends several pages of questions home about a month before the IEP. It usually covers everything I would put in a parent report. If it doesn't, I add a note. The IEP itself often quotes my answers and incorporates my ideas and concerns.

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Our district always calls a few days ahead of time to get an update on his health, how we think he is doing, and what we think he needs. I thought it was a legal thing that parents had to be able to have input. I know they have to be a part of the team, but I thought they had to be able to have input. And I agree with @EvelynRepass, wrightslaw.com is an AWESOME site.