IEP review season arrives in Dubai schools in November and December as the first semester approaches its end. For parents of children with autism who are also receiving ABA therapy, this meeting is an important opportunity to ensure that what is happening in therapy is aligned with what is happening at school, and that the goals being set for the next period reflect what your child actually needs.
Many parents attend IEP review meetings feeling underprepared, unsure of what to say or what to ask for. This guide gives you a specific, practical framework for going in ready.
Understand What the Meeting Is For
An IEP review meeting is not a report from the school about how your child is doing. It is a collaborative process in which you are a full and equal participant.
You have the right to question goals that do not feel appropriate. You have the right to ask how progress has been measured and to see evidence of that measurement. You have the right to propose goals that matter to your family and your child’s daily life. And you have the right to disagree with the plan and to request that it be revised before you sign it.
Knowing this before you walk into the room changes the dynamic. You are not there to receive information. You are there to participate in making a plan.
Gather Your Own Information Before the Meeting
Talk to your child’s ABA therapist or supervising clinician at least a week before the IEP review. Ask specifically which goals have been mastered in therapy over the past term. Which goals are actively progressing. Which goals are not yet moving. And what the clinical priorities are for the next period.
This information gives you a clinical baseline to bring into the meeting. If the school’s IEP goals do not align with what ABA has identified as the current clinical priorities, that gap is worth discussing.
Note your own observations from home. What has changed for your child since the last IEP review? What can they do now that they could not do before? What is still difficult in daily life? What matters most to your family for the next year? Write these observations down before the meeting so you have them clearly in mind rather than trying to recall them under pressure.
Questions to Ask at the Meeting
How was progress toward each current goal measured? You should hear a specific answer to this, not a general impression. If the answer is the teacher’s observation or the child seems to have improved, ask whether there is data to support that assessment.
Who has been working toward each goal and how often? A goal that was included in the IEP but was not actively worked on during the term should not be recorded as achieving progress.
How will the new goals be measured? Every goal proposed for the next IEP period should have a clear, specific measurement method attached to it. If you cannot see how you would know whether the goal had been achieved, ask for it to be rewritten.
How will the school and the ABA team coordinate on shared goals? If your child has both an IEP goal and an ABA programme goal that relate to the same skill, the two should be aligned and the progress shared between them. Ask specifically how this coordination will happen.
Writing Better Goals at the Meeting
If a goal is proposed that feels vague, you are entitled to ask for it to be rewritten more specifically. A goal should name exactly what your child will do, in what context, with what level of independence, at what level of performance, and over what time period.
Your ABA therapist or supervising clinician can help you translate clinical priorities into specific, measurable IEP goal language before the meeting so you arrive with alternative formulations ready if the proposed goals need to be strengthened.
If you have concerns about your child’s development, consult our BCBA or your pediatrician.
