A long and winding paper trail

Shannon Sankstone

When your child has a disability, or even a learning need, life becomes clogged with appointments, interviews, assessments, checklists, meetings, emails, conferences — and the list goes on and on. Every one of these events translates into at least one piece of electronic paper and, oftentimes, a volume reminiscent of a medieval library.  

If, when reading the paragraph above, you skimmed and scrolled and felt a wee bit uncomfortable — be grateful. Families of children in special education don’t have that luxury. They are baffled and overwhelmed, and their first question to me is usually, “What does this mean?” 

Long and winding paper trail 

Most educational programs for children with disabilities include standard documents: 

• Doctors’ letters, visit summaries and other medical records 

• Educational assessment reports 

• Eligibility and re-eligibility reports 

• Draft Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) 

• IEPs 

• Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA) 

• Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) 

• Progress reports 

• Prior Written Notices (PWNs) 

• Meeting invitations 

If you have been reading this column for any length of time, then your files will also contain: 

• Parent input forms 

• Parent agendas 

• Email communication 

• Responses to PWNs 

• Meeting notes 

• Progress Monitoring Data Collection Sheets 

And, sometimes, parents also have: 

• Harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB) reports 

• Disciplinary referrals 

• Incident reports 

• Safety plans 

• Outside therapy reports 

Managing the madness 

The first step in understanding all of these documents is to organize them. There are several strategies for doing so, and I’ll go over the two most popular methods below. Note: This can be done both electronically and with paper. 

Timeline 

The first method of organizing those messy files is to store them in chronological order, with the oldest first. As you work, don’t even look at the title of the document. Simply place the oldest document face down in a box and add documents according to their dates. 

When you are done with each year, read through them. Take notes. Write down questions. Chances are, patterns will emerge, such as goals repeating year after year, goals not met but changed, recommendations from therapy providers ignored — the list is endless. 

Typing 

The other popular way to organize files is to sort by type. For example, all finalized IEPS are grouped together, all therapy reports are grouped together, and so forth. I’ve also seen this done for each school or calendar year. Older documents are then saved in a filing cabinet. 

When reading through files organized this way, parents can quickly understand how a child is progressing in a specific domain, such as functional and adaptive behavior or academics. 

Electronic versus paper 

I encourage two organizations of files: Electronic and a binder. All files from birth through today go into electronic storage using folders and/or naming conventions to organize. For example, some parents have folders for each school or calendar year and then name files with YY.MM.DD_Type_Title as a naming convention.  

 The hard copy binder should contain everything you will need at a school-based meeting, separated by tabs. Trust me: When the director of special education can’t locate a document, but you can in seconds, it makes an impact. 

Logging the documents 

Regardless of how you organize your documents, it is wise to create a document log. I have a spreadsheet template I share with my clients. It looks like this: 

The why of it all 

Attorneys will tell you (repeatedly) that the best way to avoid due process and resolve conflicts satisfactorily, and early, is to prepare for due process from day 1. While this may be uncomfortable in the moment, I can say, without reservation, that taking these steps will improve your child’s educational program from the get-go. 

The online oracle says ... 

I’m sad to report that, unless you can redact every single piece of your child’s personally identifiable information prior to asking the digital demigod for help, then you should never ever use AI to help you organize your files. Uploading them will train the beast on your child’s information, and that is most certainly not OK. 

Next week 

On the other hand, there has been some internet buzz around an AI platform that may be helpful. Check back next week! 

This column is written by Shannon Sankstone, she is an Olympia-based special education advocate and the owner of Advocacy Unlocked. She may be reached at ShannonSankstone@theJOLTnews.com.