Meet with the team that develops the IEP, which includes the student and the people involved in the student's education. Make sure that all team members are present at the meeting where you determine new IEP goals each year.
Listen carefully to the reports offered at this meeting, including general reports from teachers and state assessment evaluation results. These update the IEP team about the child's current status and help lay the foundation for all IEP goals.
Review the IEP long-term goals and short-term objectives. Each IEP sets forth these goals to aid the student in his total education. Reviewing these objectives makes it easier to identify what assistive technology goals are appropriate to those long-term achievements.
Agree on a goal for each IEP category, one item at a time. GreatSchools.org warns that a big problem with IEPs is setting too many goals. It recommends creating one goal for each big area of concern. For example, there may be one math goal and one reading goal.
Write the goal into the IEP, making sure it's measurable and includes information about who will carry it out. Write in information about the use of adaptive technology in this section of the IEP. For example, ABC Advocacy suggests a sample literacy goal of "using a pre-programmed VOCA, S will identify the main events of the plot, supporting details and conclusion with ___% accuracy ___/___times." The adaptive technology is the pre-programmed VOCA (voice-output communication aid), but the goal is the measurable educational literacy goal.