| Introduction
This material is intended not to be exhaustive in its review of the rights of the children and their parents, but rather gives an overview of the rights so as to encourage you the parents to dig deeper if you believe your rights and/or the rights of your children are being violated.
The IEP is the driving cog in the exceptional education wheel and is emphasized on this site. We also emphasize the importance of the team approach encouraging good communication, cooperation and parental assertiveness. Parents need to be focused on the "whole child" when planning for their children's education. These materials will bring many of you to a position of planning, which to this point you have felt unnecessary given the young age of your children. You will hopefully recognize that education prepares all children to live in the world. This education for life begins in preschool and ends only when the person ceases to exist on earth.
Use it to educate yourselves to become the best advocates you can be for your children. These materials can be used in workshops with other parents for advocacy training. Feel free to download them for you use.
Special Thanks:
Our thanks to the staff members from United Cerebral Palsy of Tampa Bay: Nancy Garcia, Debbie Long and Bulinda Brown for their assistance in helping us complete this revised edition.
Dedication:
We dedicate these material to the hundreds of parents already using them from our original books and to you parents who will use this material in assisting your children reach their optimal potential.
Best of luck on your journey into the ESE system with your children.
Sincerely,
Jim and Connie Messina
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