IEP Guide Free Resource

IEP meetings move fast. The language is technical. The professionals across the table have done this hundreds of times. You may be doing it for the first.

This free guide gives you the foundation you need before you walk in the room — what the IEP process is, what your rights are, and what to expect at every stage. Written in plain language by a special education case manager and parent of two children who receive special education services.

What’s Inside:

• What an IEP is and what it must include
• Who is on the IEP team — and what each person is actually responsible for
• Your full legal rights as a parent under IDEA and Illinois law
• What MTSS is and what you’re entitled to during the intervention process
• What documents you must receive before the meeting — and when
• What to expect at the meeting, from agenda to signatures
• Section 504 explained — including 5 common myths debunked
• All 14 IDEA disability eligibility categories in plain language
• 2 sample formal letters, ready to customize and send
• Key Illinois legal deadlines at a glance
• A glossary of the terms you’ll hear in the room

About the Author:

Paul Hartung, M.S. is a special education case manager and team lead in Chicago’s northwest suburbs with more than a decade of experience. He is also the parent of two children who receive special education services — one with a learning disability in writing, one with a 504 plan. He has attended IEP meetings as an advocate for other families, translating jargon in real time and helping parents prepare for conversations the school hoped they wouldn’t know to have.

This guide is what he wishes had existed when his family needed it.

Who This Is For:

• Parents new to the IEP process who want to understand what they’re walking into
• Families who have had IEPs for years but still feel uncertain or unprepared at meetings
• Parents in Illinois whose child is receiving MTSS interventions and wondering what comes next
• Anyone who wants to understand their rights before they need to use them

When you’re ready for the tools to navigate the process with confidence — the preparation checklists, the record-keeping system, the scripts for difficult situations, and 8 formal letters ready to send — that’s in the Complete Parent IEP Toolkit.