What to Put in Your Child’s IEP Before the School Year Starts: The August Checklist Every NJ Autism Parent Needs

Key Points

• Under IDEA, NJ parents can request an IEP meeting at any time, including August. The weeks before school starts are the most powerful window to review, update, and strengthen your child’s plan before the new year begins.
• An IEP that was appropriate in June may already be outdated by August. Children change over the summer. New goals, new sensory needs, and new school placements all require that the document reflects the child who is walking through the door in September, not the child who left in June.
• The most common IEP gaps for autistic children are in the sensory accommodations section and the social-emotional goals section. Both are frequently underdeveloped, and both have an outsized impact on day-to-day school functioning.
• DIR/Floortime principles can and should be embedded into IEP goals, particularly in the communication, social-emotional, and related services sections. This blog shows you exactly how.

In school districts across New Jersey, August is the month that most parents spend on autopilot, buying school supplies, adjusting bedtimes, and mentally bracing for September. But for parents of autistic children, August is also something else: it is the most powerful advocacy window of the entire school year, and most families do not know it.

The Individualized Education Program is a legally binding document. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, it governs everything your child is entitled to receive at school: the services, the supports, the accommodations, and the goals. It is also a living document, meaning it reflects your child’s current needs, not the needs they had when it was last reviewed.

Here is the problem: most IEPs are written or updated at the annual review meeting, which typically happens in the spring. By the time September arrives, several months have passed. Summer has happened. Your child has changed. The teacher named in the document may no longer be their teacher. The classroom described may no longer be their classroom. And yet the document that governs your child’s entire school experience is sitting unchanged in a file somewhere, reflecting a version of your child and a version of their school that no longer exists.

This is the August IEP problem, and it is one that IDEA’s own provisions address directly. You do not have to wait for the annual review to update your child’s IEP. You can request a meeting at any time, for any reason, and the school must convene one within a reasonable timeframe. August is the right time to use that right.

This blog gives you a complete, practical checklist for what to review, what to add, and what to push back on before your child walks through the school door in September.

Why August Is the Best Time for an IEP Review

The Summer Gap

Developmental changes that occur over summer are frequently not captured in the spring IEP. A child who made significant progress in speech-language therapy over June and July may have goals that are now too easy. A child who experienced a significant regression during the unstructured summer months may have goals that are now too ambitious without additional support. A child who was just diagnosed with a co-occurring condition, such as anxiety or ADHD, may need entirely new areas of focus. Research by Burke et al. (2010) in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found that parents of autistic children consistently report significant discrepancies between the goals documented in their child’s IEP and the child’s actual current functioning, particularly following periods of transition or change. August is the moment to close that gap before it becomes September’s problem.

The New Placement Reality

If your child is moving to a new classroom, a new school, or a new grade level, the IEP needs to reflect that reality. A document that references Room 12 when your child is now assigned to Room 24, or that lists a teacher’s name who is no longer your child’s teacher, has already lost some of its practical relevance. More importantly, an IEP that was designed for one school environment may need to be modified to reflect the sensory and structural realities of a new one.

The New Teacher’s Right to Know

As we explored, the new teacher-child relationship is one of the most significant variables in how the first term unfolds. The IEP is the primary formal mechanism through which the school communicates your child’s needs to a new teacher. An IEP that is vague, outdated, or incomplete is not just a paperwork problem. It is a practical barrier to your child receiving the support they need from the first day of school.

The August IEP Review Checklist

Work through this checklist before your August IEP meeting. Bring it with you. Check off each item as you confirm it is current, accurate, and adequate.

Section 1: Present Levels of Performance

The Present Levels section is the foundation of the entire IEP. Everything else, the goals, the services, the accommodations- must flow from an accurate description of where your child currently is. Review this section first.

• Is the present levels description current? It should reflect your child’s functioning as of this school year, not last year. If it references assessments that are more than a year old, or describes a level of functioning that no longer matches your child, flag it for update.
• Does it include both strengths and areas of need? A good present levels description is not a deficit list. It should describe what your child can do, how they learn best, and what conditions support their best performance, as well as where they need support.
• Does it describe your child’s sensory profile? Many NJ IEPs omit or understate the sensory processing differences that have the most significant impact on daily school functioning. If your child’s sensory profile is not described in specific, observable terms, this needs to be added.
• Does it include input from the parent? Under IDEA, the parent’s perspective is a required component of the present levels. If your input is not reflected in this section, you have the right to add it in writing.

Section 2: Annual Goals

Annual goals are the heart of the IEP. They set the direction for the entire school year. Review each goal against the following criteria.

• Are the goals measurable? A goal that says ‘the student will improve social skills’ is not measurable. A goal that says ‘the student will initiate a joint attention bid with a peer in four out of five observed opportunities across three different settings’ is measurable. If any goal cannot be evaluated with a clear yes or no at year’s end, it needs to be rewritten.
• Are the goals ambitious enough? The Supreme Court’s ruling in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District (2017) established that IEP goals must be reasonably calculated to enable a child to make meaningful progress, not just minimal advancement. If your child’s goals look the same as last year’s and last year’s were largely met, the new goals should be more ambitious.
• Do the goals reflect the child’s current developmental level? Goals that were appropriate in June may need updating to reflect summer progress or regression.
• Are there goals in the social-emotional domain? Many NJ IEPs focus heavily on academic and communication goals while underaddressing the social-emotional and regulatory foundations that make academic learning possible. If your child’s IEP has no goals in the social-emotional domain, this is a significant gap.
• Are there DIR/Floortime-aligned goals? Goals that reflect the DIR/Floortime developmental milestones, such as joint attention, circular communication, shared problem-solving, and emotional regulation, can be written in fully IDEA-compliant measurable language. Examples:

• The student will initiate two or more back-and-forth communicative exchanges to express a need or interest with a familiar adult in four out of five observed opportunities.
• The student will use a learned regulation strategy independently during a transition in eight out of ten observed opportunities with no more than one verbal prompt.
• The student will demonstrate joint attention with a peer during unstructured play in four out of five observed opportunities across two different settings.

Section 3: Special Education and Related Services

This section specifies exactly what services your child will receive: the type, frequency, duration, location, and provider. Review every service listed.

• Is every service that your child needs listed? Common related services for autistic children include speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, counseling, and parent training. If your child is receiving any of these privately and the school is not providing them, this is worth raising at the IEP meeting.
• Is parent training listed as a related service? Under IDEA, parent training is a recognized related service. If you are working with a DIR/Floortime therapist or parent coach, you can request that this be formalized as a related service in the IEP. This can in some cases support reimbursement or school coordination.
• Is the frequency and duration realistic? A child who receives speech-language therapy once a week for thirty minutes in a group of four is receiving a very different level of support from a child who receives individual sessions three times a week. Review the frequency and duration of every service and ask whether it is sufficient to enable the child to meet their annual goals.
• Is the location appropriate? Services delivered in the classroom look different from services delivered in a pull-out room. Both have their place, but the location should be chosen based on what best serves the child’s learning and regulatory needs, not what is most convenient for the school.

Section 4: Supplementary Aids, Services, and Accommodations

This is the section most directly related to your child’s day-to-day experience of the school environment. It is also the section most frequently underdeveloped in NJ IEPs. Go through it carefully.

• Are sensory accommodations specific and current? Vague accommodations like ‘sensory breaks as needed’ are not implementable by a new teacher who does not yet know your child. Specific accommodations look like: ‘student will have access to noise-canceling headphones at all times and may use them during whole-class instruction, transitions, and lunch.’ Review every sensory accommodation for this level of specificity.
• Is the cafeteria addressed? As we explored in our earlier blog on the cafeteria as a sensory environment, the lunchroom is frequently the most challenging space in the school for autistic children. If your child struggles at lunch, this should be explicitly addressed in the accommodations section, whether through an alternative dining arrangement, a designated seat, permitted headphone use, or pre-lunch and post-lunch regulatory breaks.
• Are transition supports documented? If your child struggles with transitions between activities or between environments, the specific supports they need during transitions should be listed. Examples: five-minute verbal warning before all transitions, visual schedule posted at the child’s desk, individual transition card, trusted adult accompaniment during hallway transitions.
• Is the homework load addressed? For many autistic children, the after-school regulatory cost of homework is disproportionate to its academic benefit. If your child consistently experiences significant dysregulation around homework, you can request an IEP accommodation that modifies homework quantity, format, or timing.
• Is the testing environment addressed? Accommodations for assessments and standardized testing should be listed, including extended time, reduced distraction environment, separate setting, and any assistive technology your child uses.

Section 5: The Safe Person and Crisis Protocol

This is the section most likely to be missing entirely from your child’s IEP, and it is one of the most practically important.

• Is there a named safe person? Every autistic child’s IEP should name a specific, trusted adult at school that the child can go to when they are overwhelmed. This person should be identified by name and role, and the child should know who they are before school starts.
• Is there a behavior support plan or crisis protocol? If your child experiences meltdowns at school, the IEP should include a behavior support plan that describes the early warning signs, the preferred de-escalation strategies, what the child needs during a meltdown, what should not be done, and who should be contacted. If no such plan exists, request one.
• Does the crisis protocol match what actually works at home? The most effective school crisis protocols are informed by what the family knows works in practice. Share your home de-escalation strategies with the school and ensure they are incorporated into the plan.

How to Request the August IEP Meeting

Requesting an IEP meeting is straightforward. Here is exactly how to do it.

• Send a written request. Email the school’s special education coordinator or your child’s case manager directly. Written requests create a documentation trail.
• State the reason clearly. ‘I am requesting an IEP review meeting in advance of the new school year to ensure that my child’s plan reflects their current needs and the new school placement.’ You do not need to justify the request beyond this.
• Request a specific timeframe. Ask for the meeting to take place before the first day of school. While schools are not legally required to hold the meeting before school starts, many will accommodate a reasonable August request, particularly if framed as a transition support need.
• Confirm who will attend. Under IDEA, the IEP team must include the parent, at least one regular education teacher, at least one special education teacher, a school administrator who can commit resources, and any relevant related service providers. If the new classroom teacher has been assigned, request that they attend.
• Bring support if you need it. You have the right to bring any individual with knowledge or special expertise regarding your child to an IEP meeting. This can include a DIR/Floortime therapist, an independent advocate, or a trusted family friend who knows your child well. Inform the school in advance that you will be bringing an additional participant.

What to Do If the School Pushes Back

Some NJ school districts will push back on an August IEP meeting request, citing staff availability, summer schedules, or the view that the current IEP is adequate. Here is how to respond.

‘The Current IEP Is Fine’

If the school asserts that the current IEP does not need updating, you can respond by providing specific, documented examples of why it does. This might include written notes on summer developmental changes, private therapy reports, or observations of new sensory or behavioral patterns. You are not required to accept the school’s assessment of adequacy. You are a full and equal member of the IEP team, and your input is legally required to be considered.

‘We Cannot Schedule a Meeting Until After School Starts’

If the school cannot schedule a pre-September meeting, request confirmation in writing and ask for the earliest possible date after school starts. In the meantime, send a written summary of your concerns and requested updates to the special education coordinator so that there is a documented record of your requests. You can also contact SPAN NJ, New Jersey’s federally funded parent training and information center, for free guidance on how to navigate scheduling disputes.

‘Your Child Does Not Qualify for That Accommodation’

If the school denies a specific accommodation request, ask them to provide the denial in writing and to explain the specific basis for the denial. Under IDEA, accommodations must be provided when they are necessary for the child to access their education. The Endrew F. standard requires that schools provide more than a minimal benefit. If an accommodation is necessary for your child to make meaningful progress, the school’s inability to staff or fund it is not a legally valid basis for denial. Consider consulting a special education attorney if you face repeated denials of reasonable requests.

Embedding DIR/Floortime Into the IEP

One of the most powerful things NJ parents who work with Direct Floortime can do is ensure that the principles of the DIR/Floortime model are reflected in the school IEP. This does not require the school to adopt DIR/Floortime as its official approach. It requires that the goals, strategies, and supports documented in the IEP are consistent with and supportive of the developmental work happening in DIR/Floortime therapy. The Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) provides specific guidance on translating DIR/Floortime’s Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities into IEP goal language that is fully compliant with IDEA’s measurability requirements.

Specific areas where DIR/Floortime principles translate directly into IEP language:

• Joint attention goals. Goals targeting the child’s ability to share focus with a peer or adult, initiate a communicative bid, and sustain a back-and-forth exchange.
• Emotional regulation goals. Goals targeting the child’s ability to identify internal states, use a regulation strategy independently, and recover from dysregulation within a specified timeframe.
• Social problem-solving goals. Goals targeting the child’s ability to engage in collaborative problem-solving, negotiate with a peer, and maintain a shared play activity across multiple turns.
• Parent training as a related service. Requesting that parent coaching in DIR/Floortime principles be listed as a related service formalizes the carryover work that is essential for real-world generalization of school-based gains.

FAQs

My child’s IEP annual review is not until February. Can I still request an August meeting?

Yes, absolutely. The annual review is the minimum required meeting frequency. Under IDEA, you can request an IEP meeting at any time. The annual review date does not restrict when additional meetings can be held. Your August request is fully within your legal rights regardless of when the annual review is scheduled.

The school says they need two weeks to convene the IEP team. Is that normal?

Yes, this is a common and generally reasonable administrative timeframe. If you submit your meeting request in the first week of August, a meeting in the third week of August or the week before school starts is achievable in most NJ districts. Submit your request as early in August as possible to allow for scheduling.

Can I bring my child to the IEP meeting?

Yes. While there is no requirement for the child to attend, many families find that including the child, particularly older children and teenagers, is valuable. The child’s perspective on what works and what does not at school is clinically important information. If you include your child, prepare them in advance for what the meeting will involve and give them a clear role, such as sharing one thing that helped them last year and one thing they would like to be different this year.

What if I disagree with something in the current IEP?

You do not have to sign an IEP you disagree with. You can consent to some components while declining others. If you disagree with the school’s evaluation of your child’s needs, you have the right to request an Independent Educational Evaluation at the school’s expense under IDEA 34 CFR 300.502. You also have the right to request mediation or file a state complaint with the NJ Department of Education’s Office of Special Education if you believe the school is not meeting its legal obligations.

How do I know if my child’s current IEP goals are good ones?

A good IEP goal meets four criteria: it is specific, it is measurable with a clear evaluation method, it is ambitious enough to represent meaningful progress, and it directly addresses an area of need identified in the present levels section. If you are unsure whether your child’s current goals meet these criteria, bring a copy of the IEP to your next Direct Floortime parent coaching session. We can review the goals alongside your child’s current developmental profile and help you identify where the document needs to be strengthened.

August Is Your Window. Use It.

The IEP is the most powerful legal tool available to NJ parents of autistic children. It is also, too often, a document that sits unchanged from one school year to the next while the child it is supposed to serve grows, changes, and develops needs that the document no longer reflects.

August is the month to change that. It is the month to read the document with fresh eyes, to compare it against the child who is in front of you right now rather than the child who left school in June, and to request the updates and additions that will make September genuinely safer, more supportive, and more consistent with your child’s actual developmental needs.

At Direct Floortime, we support NJ families not only through therapy and parent coaching but through IEP advocacy. We can help you identify the DIR/Floortime-aligned goals that belong in your child’s plan, prepare you for the IEP meeting, and ensure that the document your child walks into September with is the strongest possible reflection of who they are and what they need. Research by Pajareya and Nopmaneejumruslers (2011) in Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice confirms that children whose families are actively engaged in both therapy and school advocacy show significantly better developmental outcomes than those who receive only one or the other. The IEP and the Floortime work are not separate tracks. They are two parts of the same plan.

Contact Direct Floortime today to learn how our parent coaching program can help you prepare for your August IEP meeting and build a school year that genuinely supports your child’s development.