What Goes in the Letter to Request an IEP? (And More)

January 23, 2020January 23, 2020 helpmychildlearn_fnozeh 11194 Views 4 Comments

Applying for LD support is difficult, so it’s nice to know exactly what goes in the letter to request an IEP.

Writing a letter is just PART of the IEP process. We tell you how you apply here. This post simply contains sample letters.

During the LD support process, you will need to write letters to school administrators, asking for testing, support for your child’s LD, and more. For many people, writing letters like this is really hard, which is why there are so many sample letters floating around on the internet. At the bottom of this post, we’ll link to some.

If your child is having trouble in school, many parents suggest that you request testing for an IEP, even if you think that your child just needs a 504. That’s because as parents, we’re not trained in learning disabilities.

If your child is having trouble learning, it’s good to test and make sure that you identify the reason. As we describe in our comparison, here, requesting an IEP means that your child can receive a free, full educational testing. Requesting a 504 simply means that the teachers give your child accommodations. Accommodations, given incorrectly, can simply mean that your child is taught less than other children.

There is no consequence for requesting testing for your child, and having your child tested. If the school feels that there is no proof of an LD, they will ask that you provide proof.

For more information see:

What Letters Are We Providing?

We provide four different letters in this post.

Sample Letter 1: Simple Letter to Principal Requesting LD Testing
Sample Letter 2: More Detailed Letter Specifically Requesting an IEP
Sample Letter 3: Letter Requesting a 504 Plan
Sample Letter 4: Letter Requesting the District Pay For an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)

Sample Letter 1: Simple Letter to Principal Requesting LD Testing

Today’s date (month, day, and year)

Your name

Street Address

City, State, Zip

Your phone number

Name of your principal

Name of school

Street address

City, State, Zip

Re: Your child’s name, grade __, Teacher: name of teacher

Date of birth: xx/xx/xxxx

Dear [Principal’s name],

My name is [your name}, and my child [your child’s name] is in the __th grade in [name of teacher’s] class.

I am writing to formally request that [your child’s name] be evaluated for learning disability and given a full psycho-educational evaluation, including the areas of auditory processing, executive function, OT, speech & language, and reading disability. [Add any other disabilities that you are concerned about here.]

I understand that I need to sign a consent for so that the school can conduct the evaluation. If I do not hear from you in a week, I will call to set up a time when I can sign the consent form.

After testing, and 5 days before any meeting to discuss test results is scheduled, I would like to request that I get to review the test results and ask questions with the evaluator.

I understand that the school district has 60 days to complete testing and hold a meeting to discuss eligibility. I look forward to meeting with you on this date.

Sincerely,

Your Name Here.

Sample Letter 2: More Detailed Letter Specifically Requesting an IEP

Today’s date (month, day, and year)

Your name

Street Address

City, State, Zip

Your phone number

Name of your principal

Name of school

Street address

City, State, Zip

Re: Your child’s name, grade __, Teacher: name of teacher, Date of birth: xx/xx/xxxx

Dear [Principal’s name],

My name is [your name}, and my child [your child’s name] is in the __th grade in [name of teacher’s] class. I am writing to request that [your child’s name] be given a full psycho-educational evaluation, and be evaluated for services under the Child Find obligations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA.)

I understand that I need to sign a consent so that the school can conduct the evaluation. If I do not hear from you in a week, I will call to set up a time when I can sign the consent form.

As you may know, my child has been struggling with:

Reading
Writing
Paying Attention

[List the top things that are the most challenging. Include things like reading, writing, handwriting, paying attention, remembering.]

I have spoken with [name of teacher] about these concerns and I know she has tried the following modifications:[

Seating at front of the room
Keeping him in at recess
Special Help

Describe what the teacher did to support your child’s learning. Examples are: Seated at the front of the room, reminded to pay attention, modified assignments to require less work, kept in at recess to provide extra help and/or added to the RTI program.

I would like to talk with you about which tests you will be giving my child, before you do so, please.

After testing, and 5 days before any meeting to discuss test results is scheduled, I would like to request that I get to review the test results and ask questions with the evaluator.

I understand that the school district has 60 days to complete testing and hold a meeting to discuss eligibility. I look forward to meeting with you on this date.

Sincerely,

Your Name Here.

Sample Letter 3: Letter Requesting a 504 Plan

Today’s date (month, day, and year)

Your name

Street Address

City, State, Zip

Your phone number

Name of your principal

Name of school

Street address

City, State, Zip

Re: Your child’s name, grade __, Teacher: name of teacher

Date of birth: xx/xx/xxxx

Dear [Principal’s name],

My name is [your name], and my child [your child’s name] is in the __th grade in [name of teacher’s] class.

My child, [your child’s name], has recently been diagnosed with [if your child has received one or more diagnoses, insert them here]. This issue affects his/her ability to learn in the classroom.

My child has been struggling with [List the top things that are the most challenging. Include things like reading, writing, handwriting, paying attention, remembering.]

I have spoken with [name of teacher] about these concerns and the following modifications were tried:[Describe what the teacher did to support your child’s learning. Examples are: Seated at the front of the room, reminded to pay attention, modified assignments to require less work, kept in at recess to provide extra help and/or added to the RTI program. (For a description of RTI, see Chapter 7.)

I would like to request that you consider [your child’s name] for a 504 plan. I have a list of accommodations, suggested by our doctor [you can also say medical professional. It’s a VERY good idea to have someone other than the parent suggest the accommodations. Schools have a tendency to listen to professionals], that I would like to request for the classroom.

We look forward to hearing from you and meeting with the 504 team to set up accommodations that will help our child be more successful in school. Thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

Your Name Here.

Sample Letter 4: Letter Requesting the District Pay For an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)

This process is describe in Chapter 6.

Today’s date (month, day, and year)

Your name

Street Address

City, State, Zip

Your phone number

Name of your principal

Name of school

Street address

City, State, Zip

Re: Your child’s name, grade __, Teacher: name of teacher

Date of birth: xx/xx/xxxx

Dear [Principal’s name],

My name is [your name], and my child [your child’s name] is in the __th grade in [name of teacher’s] class.

My child, [your child’s name], was evaluated for special education services in [month/year.] I am writing to request that the school pay for an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) for the following reasons: [CHOOSE ONE OR MORE, or insert your own]

The school has refused to test my child, even though I have information showing that she is not able to learn [Describe what].
The evaluation given to my child was incorrect [Describe how].
The evaluation wasn’t done in my child’s native language, or with necessary accommodations. [Describe how]
The original evaluation was incomplete and additional tests are needed. [Describe how].

I would like to request that the IEE be completed as quickly as possible so that we can set up a program to support [child’s name] in school. Please respond as soon as possible and send me copies of the school and district’s guidelines for this. My daytime telephone number is: [insert number.]

Thank you,

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

cc: Your district’s Director of Special Education

Your district’s Superintendent (if you choose)