Satisfaction With Individualized Education Programs Among Parents of Young Children With ASD

We examined parents’ satisfaction with multiple aspects of their children’s individualized education programs (IEPs). Parents ( n = 142) raising children ages 4 to 8 years old with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reported their satisfaction with four aspects of their children’s IEPs: (a) content of the IEP document, (b) services provided, (c) perceived level of agreement between the IEP document and the services actually provided, and (d) effectiveness of the IEP team. For each domain, just over half of families reported moderate to high satisfaction, whereas 61% of parents were dissatisfied with at least one of the four facets. Overall IEP satisfaction was positively associated with parent–school connectedness and family financial resources but was unrelated to child characteristics. Contrary to expectation, IEP satisfaction was negatively associated with teachers’ years of experience. Findings demonstrate the importance of parent–school relationships and highlight socioeconomic disparities in special education satisfaction.