How to create "The Binder"

The Binder may be the most important tool you can have for your child. It can be useful at IEP/ARD meetings; doctor's visits; therapist's visits; interviews with new potential professionals; filing for SSDI; contesting an SSDI denial; and more.

You'll need a good 3" binder that you're comfortable flipping through. I really like the ones with the zipper on the outside but these can be hard to find larger than a 2". I repurposed one I'd had custom made for couponing to become ours; I obtained it on an Etsy alchemy listing.  (It says 2", but we went with a 3").

The black strap on the left lets me carry my netbook with me (this was before I got my iPhone), the entire thing zips up, and it has a thick webbed carrying strap on the spine so that I can wear it like a messenger bag. The best part is that since it's a cover, if the binder ever breaks all I have to replace is the actual binder.

Now, you want to put EVERYTHING that involves your special needs child within this binder.

• "Letter to a Stranger"
• Medical reports
• Psychiatric reports
• Testing results of any kind
• Report Cards, Progress Reports, BIP percentiles reports
• Letters from Teachers and Mentors about observed behavior 
• Print outs of all emails from Teachers or other related professionals
• Print outs of all emails from any medical professionals 
• ARD/IEP reports, updates, consents
• Any disciplinary sheets (like detention forms)
• Early Childhood Intervention reports
• if necessary, Birth Records from the hospital (APGAR scoring, etc)
• List of developmental milestones reached and at what age
• any writing, artwork, or school assignments that stood out to you as an example of something your child is seriously struggling with or seemed "off"
• A log of scheduled ARD meetings to refer back to, with a VERY brief synopsis of what was discussed or agreed to
• A list of accomodations in place
• A list of accomodations desired but not yet obtained
• A log of scheduled therapies with dates (your insurance may only cover a certain # of visits per year, so this is a good idea to keep track)
• A log of any attendance to events that your school's Special Ed department holds (Family Counseling, Love and Logic parenting courses, Emotion Coaching courses, etc). 
• Birth certificate and Social Security Card*

 I highly recommend making more than one Binder. I was able to make a complete copy of all the above paperwork for less than $10 at Kinko's. I keep the originals at home and a set of copies go with me to ANY meetings.

I use index tab divider pockets instead of just tabbed solid sheets. Smaller pieces of paper fit neatly into these for the appropriate sections. Or, for example, I put the log of our ARD meetings in the pocket for the ARD section for quick reference. Ditto therapies, etc.

*You don't have to include the last one, but I'm constantly suprised at how many times I'm asked to provide this information. Sometimes it isn't actually required, just requested; other times, such as when dealing with SSDI, it's required. If you do carry these items with you, guard them with your life!

It can be hard to organize at first, but then it becomes routine. You carry it to therapy, you open it up, you write down today's date on the log and close it back up. You receive new ARD paperwork, you throw it into the 3hole puncher, you put it in the ARD section. Etc.

As it gets full and possibly hard to find the things you want to refer to (ARD paperwork is notorious for this!), use Post-it notes, flags, highlighters - anything that will help you make it easy to use. I like Post Its because not only can they stick off the page like a tab, but I can write on them to remember what I was going to ask about that particular thing.