Requesting a Full Individualized Evaluation: Time, Prep & Participation in IEPs

Parents often feel rushed, dismissed, or unprepared when it comes to IEP meetings—but under IDEA, you have rights that guarantee your time, preparation, and full participation.

In this episode of Special Education Boss®, Karen Mayer Cunningham breaks down what she calls the TPP of IEPs:

✨ Time – Why IEP meetings must be scheduled at a mutually agreed upon time, not just whenever the school decides.
✨ Preparation – How to request a full draft IEP ahead of the meeting so you can make informed decisions (and why withholding a draft is misinformation).
✨ Participation – What federal law says about parents as equal team members, and how your concerns must be written into the IEP—not sidelined into deliberations.

Karen also walks you through sample emails you can send to schools, explains the difference between “team membership” and “meaningful participation,” and connects it all back to the Supreme Court’s Endrew F. decision on meaningful progress.

📘 Don’t miss Karen’s new book, The EPIC IEP™—your playbook for navigating the special education process. Available now at TheEpicIEP.com
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🔗 More Resources:
👉 Join The Academy: https://www.skool.com/special-education-academy/about

👉 Pre-order The EPIC IEP™ Book: https://theepiciep.com

👉 Email us: advocate@specialeducationacademy.com

💬 Do you know your rights? You don’t know what you don’t know—but you need to. Let’s train everyone at the IEP/504 table to navigate and negotiate successful student outcomes.

“When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody.” — Karen Mayer Cunningham