I met with a parent this week for a student who has a phonological disorder. It was an annual review meeting and previous goals were  reviewed. The previous goal was written in jargon that only a speech pathologist would know with no baseline results.  This made it difficult for me to measure progress, the parent, teacher  and school administrator did not understand the phonological processes jargon.

It made me reflect on the  importance that parents are on the same page with us especially in regards to the IEP (Individual education plan) goal writing process.  in various fields of study, especially speech-language pathology, we  often use speech jargon and professional terms that we learned in school, however we need to be able to transfer that knowledge into language that parents, school administrators and other members of the special ed staff.

When talking to a parent or teacher, it is important to remember to break down information into bits of information that is easy to understand.  This will help to provide a firm foundation of the intervention process and

what the parents can  expect and most importantly will allow them to actively participate in the intervention process.