long term substitute question

[LisaPunk]

hello 

my daughter is having a fantastic year after a complete horror show dumpster fire last year. and of course we just learned the teacher is pregnant and will be going out on maternity leave in February.

i feel like ive read in previous posts regular subs (ie for the day) dont really have access to IEPs because of privacy issues but may get a heads up from a teacher on strategies that work or whatever. for a long term sub (6 weeks) what do they get for IEP kids? my daughter had a terrible year last year because they were honestly just kind of mean. there was a lot of "you're in 3rd grade now you should know how to do that" (to a disabled child with a mile long IEP). this resulted is a ton of school refusal and missed days. she's in a new building this year and the 4th and 5th grade building has been WONDERFULLY supportive but now Im terrified whatever warm body they get as a sub (because let's face it given the staffing crisis it may be just a literal warm body) will be not so great.

what can i do ahead of time to make sure the sub is on the right wavelength (im not talking about in terms of whom they hire as i know i have no say in that). in theory i would think the teacher would leave behind notes but the teacher though very kind seems massively checked out this year. my daughter is autistic with a PDA profile and tons of underlying anxiety so reacting to her in the wrong way or trying to lay down the law with her does.not.work. and little things can set her off into refusal mode but she also can't communicate what they are so i want to be proactive rather than reactive.
there's a lot of high needs kids in this class with IEPs and i feel like the boat that is floating nicely along right now is going to be massively rocked. there is a classroom aide who apparently is very nice who i imagine will stay the same and my daughter gets pullout with the SPED teacher who is fabulous 2x a day and that wont change so at least that will help.

 

my daughter, though autistic, usually does fine with subs even though it's a change, and i believe they are being told next week so they'll have plenty of prep before she leaves so that part itself doesnt worry me. it's more how the sub will be. (can you tell i have my own control issues).

 

for 6 weeks how much access will they have to individual IEPs? because that's 6 weeks of teaching not just covering a sick day. i also know that is a TON of stuff for someone to be dumped into. they group the IEP kids into 3 classrooms here for staffing and pullout ease to coordinate logistics so my daughter's class is heavy on IEP kids so that's a sub who may just be a warm body getting 17 new students and 5-7ish of them with high needs and IEPs. that's a lot to digest and im not sure what they are even given access to.

thank you!

[JSD24]

6 weeks does sound like a long term position where the sub would have access to the IEP.  I would cover this wager by asking:  Will the sub have access to my child's IEP during teacher's maternity leave?  I'd also ask:  Can I see the portion of the sub notes that you have written about what accommodations and SDI my child gets when there is a sub in the classroom.  I'm suggesting this because, with a pregnancy, anything can happen where the teacher might need to be out longer plus they will likely take 1/2 days for doctor appointments related to the pregnancy because odds are all appointments cannot be scheduled outside of school hours.

[Backroads]

In my experience, long-term subs are more than just regular subs, usually requiring a proper degree. It's likely the sub will have access to the IEP, though I recommend directly asking.