School & Education
IEP Meeting Prep Checklist for Autism Parents
The short answer
To prepare for an IEP meeting, request the draft IEP and any new evaluations in writing at least a week ahead, review current goals against your own home data, write down your top three priorities, bring a one-page profile of your child, and ask for everything agreed in the room to appear in the written document.
Educational information, not legal advice. This guide describes United States federal special education law. State rules and timelines vary, and your state's Parent Training and Information Center can help with specifics.
Two weeks before
- Email the case manager and ask for the draft IEP, any new evaluation reports, and progress data on current goals.
- Ask who will attend. If you want the OT, speech therapist, or your outside BCBA there, request it in writing now.
- Reread the current IEP and mark every goal as met, partly met, or not met based on what you see at home.
- Gather your own records: therapy notes, home logs, work samples, medical letters.
The week of
- Write your top three priorities in one sentence each. Three is the number people remember.
- Turn each priority into a concrete ask: a service, a minute count, an accommodation, or a measurable goal.
- Make a one-page profile of your child: strengths, what helps, what triggers distress, how they communicate.
- Decide who is coming with you. A second adult to take notes changes the whole dynamic.
- Check your state's rules on recording the meeting if you want a recording.
In the room
- Hand out the one-page profile first. It reframes the meeting around the child.
- Ask for the data behind any claim of progress, and for specifics, not impressions.
- If a service is denied, ask for the reason and request prior written notice.
- Say plainly: "Can we get that into the document before we finish?"
- You do not have to sign the same day. You may take the IEP home to review it.
Afterward
- Send a short thank-you email summarizing what you understood was agreed.
- Read the final IEP line by line against that email.
- Diarize the goal review dates so progress reports do not slip.
- Share the relevant parts with your outside therapy team so everyone targets the same skills.
IEP language is dense on purpose, and reading forty pages after a long workday is its own barrier. Translating it into a plain-language checklist, with dates attached, is exactly the kind of work BASE is being built to carry for families.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I bring someone with me to an IEP meeting?
- Yes. Parents may bring anyone with knowledge or special expertise about their child, including an advocate, a relative, or a private therapist.
- Do I have to sign the IEP at the meeting?
- No. You can take the document home to review before consenting, and you can consent to some parts while disputing others. Ask for prior written notice on anything the team refuses.
Sources
- Individualized Education Program (IEP) — U.S. Department of Education, IDEA
- Center for Parent Information and Resources: The IEP Team Meeting — CPIR
About the author
RachellLived experience
Co-founder, BASE
Rachell is a co-founder of BASE and a parent raising a child on the autism spectrum. She writes from lived experience coordinating therapy schedules, school communication, evaluations, and benefits paperwork across a large care team.
This guide has not been reviewed by an outside clinician. It is written from lived caregiving experience and cites the primary sources listed above so you can verify every detail yourself.