A plan, a purpose and a vision 

Shannon Sankstone

Individualized Educational Program (IEP) meetings can feel like a blur of goals, data collection, evaluation findings, service minutes, mysterious acronyms and educational jargon. Sometimes, in all that bureaucratic hullabaloo,  we lose sight of the most important question: 

Where is this all going? 

The plan has a purpose 

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) answers this question. According to IDEA, the purpose of special education, the whole reason it exists is:: 

“To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education … designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.”

This is the guiding purpose for every IEP, from preschool to graduation. For the duration of your child’s education, sharing your vision for your student’s education, career and independence in adulthood provides a framework for your child’s current education. 

The purpose is the vision 

A vision statement is a short paragraph that describes your and your child’s vision for life after high school in the areas of education, career, and independence. It gives the teaching and IEP teams a shared purpose beyond the annual checklist.

The vision statement is:: 

• A long-range vision that focuses on the child’s strengths and interests. 

• A reminder that the IEP is about preparing for life, not just school. 

• Dynamic, growing and changing with the child. 

Here’s an example from an elementary school IEP (shared with permission, name changed): 

“Ava is an animal-whisperer, and intends to pursue a veterinary career as an adult. She would like to live with a menagerie of pets near her sister’s family, never marry or have children, and be a support to the 50 nieces and nephews she expects her sister to have.” 

What Ava just taught the team 

Adorable, isn’t it? When Ava’s mother read her vision statement to the IEP team, the adults around the table visibly melted. I know I did, too.

More than setting the tone of the meeting, these few sentences taught us volumes about Ava: She intends to go to university, she wants to pursue her strengths and passions in her career, and she loves her sister — and family — a great deal.  

 With this context, Ava’s IEP changes in significant ways. The IEP team now knows that academic growth and achievement are paramount to Ava’s plans. Projects that might be challenging for Ava can be modified to include animal-related themes to increase motivation. 

A vision with a purpose for the plan 

Ava’s example illustrates the many benefits of the vision statement.

It can: 

• Guide meaningful IEP goals that build real-world skills. 

• Encourage inclusion by identifying the student’s strengths and interests. 

• Help teachers and therapists see the student as a whole person. 

• Give parents a clear, values-based way to advocate during meetings. And 

• Reduce conflict by aligning the IEP team around a shared purpose. 

Without a vision, teams may focus only on compliance, such as getting to class, turning in work and following directions. But if the goal is long-term independence, the IEP team needs to support skill development as part of the child’s growth. 

Advocacy strategies 

The best way to ensure a vision statement makes it into the IEP? Write one. 

Here’s how to do it: 

1. Talk with your child (as much as is appropriate for their age or communication style). 
2. Reflect on their strengths, passions, and needs. 
3. Draft a paragraph in three parts: education, career and independence. 
4. Share it widely. I have seen parents include it in their email signature line, in their parent input forms, and in the “parent input” section of the IEP. 

The online oracle says ...

Try asking the digital demigod to help you frame your thoughts. Here’s a prompt to get you started:  

Help me write a vision statement for my (age)-year-old with (disability). They love (interests) and are strong in [strengths]. They have shown interest in (career). I hope they will (insert hopes and dreams). The vision statement should align with IDEA, Section 1400(d) and be one paragraph of no more than 5 sentences. The paragraph should include a vision for my child’s education, career and independence after high school.