Blind/Low-Vision IEP Preparation Checklist

1. Prepare around your child

An IEP should explain what your child needs, what the school will provide, and how everyone will know whether it is working. Start with your child's priorities and real experiences. The checklist items below are suggested family actions; the legal requirements are identified separately.

Gather the evidence

• Collect the current IEP, evaluation reports, progress reports, work samples and relevant school communications. Ask for records and accessible copies before the meeting.
• Write three priorities in plain language. For each, describe what happens, where it happens, what support is currently available, and the effect on learning or participation.
• Ask your child what is working, what takes extra effort, and what they want to learn or change. Use their actual words or preferred communication; do not fill in an opinion for them.
• Compare performance with and without adult prompting. Document access delays, fatigue, missed instruction, inaccessible software and opportunities the student cannot join.

Prepare the meeting

• Send your concerns and questions to the team. Ask for the teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI), orientation and mobility (O&M) specialist and other relevant evaluators to participate.
• Request the format, interpretation or communication supports you need to participate. Ask for proposed materials early enough to review them.
• Choose a way to track decisions: need, evidence, requested action, team response, responsible person and follow-up date.

Legal anchor

IDEA requires the team to consider the child's strengths, parent concerns, evaluation results, and academic, developmental and functional needs. Parents must have an opportunity to participate. [1, 2]

2. Check access and specialized instruction

Literacy and learning media

• Review evidence about reading and writing accuracy, speed, comprehension, endurance and future literacy demands across print, Braille and other appropriate media.
• Ask how Braille needs were evaluated. Useful vision, current print use, or good grades alone do not answer the individualized Braille question.
• In Colorado, check that the IEP contains a Learning Media Plan: selected mode(s) and reasons, integration into instruction, start date, instructional time for each mode, provider and expected competency. [3]

Technology, materials and mobility

• Identify the devices, software, accessible formats and training the student needs. Include staff and family training when needed for the child's program; plan repair and backup access.
• Ask who will prepare accessible assignments, diagrams, assessments and digital content, and when they will be available.
• Review O&M needs across actual environments: classrooms, lunch, playgrounds, transportation, unfamiliar spaces and community activities.
• Review all nine Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) areas with the team. Identify unmet needs and what assessment or instruction is necessary, rather than assuming academic progress covers everything.

Legal anchor

IDEA's Braille provision requires instruction and use unless the team determines, after the specified evaluation including future needs, that Braille is inappropriate. AT devices and services must be considered. O&M is a related service under IDEA. [1, 4, 5]

3. Make the plan specific

Goals and services

• For each priority, look for a usable baseline and a measurable goal. Ask what skill will be demonstrated, under what conditions, with what level of prompting, and how progress will be measured.
• Check the services, supports and accommodations needed to achieve the goals and participate throughout the school day.
• Confirm projected start dates, frequency, location and duration of services. Ask the team to clarify direct instruction and consultation where the distinction affects delivery.
• Ask how progress will be reported and what the team will do if progress is insufficient. A service log can document delivery; it does not establish the quality or adequacy of instruction.

Transition and participation

• Connect current skills to the student's own goals for education, employment and community life. In Colorado, transition content begins with the first IEP developed at age 15, no later than the end of ninth grade, or earlier if appropriate, and is updated annually. [3]
• Ask how the student will participate meaningfully. A presentation is optional; accessible choices, supported communication and discussion are equally useful.
• Identify any needed extended-school-year evaluation or discussion based on individual needs rather than a blanket program rule. [6]

Legal anchor

The IEP must include measurable academic and functional goals, progress measurement and reporting, and specified services and supports. Ask for details that make delivery clear; not every suggested checklist field is separately required by federal law. [7]

4. Leave with a next step

Before and after the meeting

• Summarize agreements and unresolved questions. Ask who will do each action and by when.
• Request the final IEP and compare it with your notes. If an amendment is used, request a revised copy with the amendments incorporated. [1]
• When the school proposes or refuses a change to identification, evaluation, placement or FAPE, ask for Prior Written Notice explaining the action, reasons, evidence, alternatives and other relevant factors. [8]
• Set a follow-up date to check implementation. Keep records of service interruptions and access problems, and request review when the plan is not meeting needs.

Suggested request

Please document the evaluation or service I requested, the team's decision, the evidence supporting that decision, and the next action and responsible person. If the district refuses the request, please provide Prior Written Notice addressing the refusal.

Sources and use

This family planning resource distinguishes legal requirements from suggested actions. Historical professional resources provide background; they are not binding law.

1. IDEA § 300.324 — IEP development and special factors. Binding law.
2. IDEA § 300.322 — Parent participation. Binding law.
3. Colorado ECEA, 1 CCR 301-8 — rules 4.03(6)(b) and (d), printed pages 47–48; effective May 15, 2025. Binding law; SOS current version checked September 12, 2026.
4. U.S. Department of Education — AT Myths and Facts (2024). Official guidance.
5. IDEA § 300.34(c)(7) — Orientation and mobility. Binding law.
6. IDEA § 300.106 — Extended school year. Binding law.
7. IDEA § 300.320 — IEP and transition content. Binding law.
8. IDEA § 300.503 — Prior Written Notice. Binding law.

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