Record Keeping

Most families have a file, or a box, or a drawer into which they place important documents relating to their children. These can be birth certificates, report cards, even artwork or notes written by their kids. But, as parents of older or adult children can attest, after a while these artifacts add up and there can be the temptation on the part of some parents to toss them all out. Other parents keep everything - for sentimental reasons or out of concern that something will be needed one day. The larger the storage area of one's home and the longer between moves, the more boxes can accumulate. And families of students with disabilities -- medical issues, learning difficulties, or both -- have vastly increased number of medical and educational documents.

There has got to be a better balance. Just what should be kept long-term and what can/should be tossed out after a while?

There is an extensive and detailed list of items to be retained -- and created -- by parents of students receiving special education services, prepared by attorney Robert K. Crabtree, an attorney, on the Wrightslaw website "From Emotions to Advocacy." However, this list is an old one and while still quite helpful, doesn't take into consideration ways to digitize many of these records. Many of the documents you will need to keep, especially IEPs and  educational assessments, can run in the dozens of pages. Scanning and storing these and other records makes a lot of sense. Remember to create back up copies of all of these documents, and to index them in a way that will help you find them, probably by subject: "IEPs", "Test Scores", "Correspondence". Within that index you can list items by date, or author, or both.

Note that some documents are important long after they are created. We know of a number of young adults who needed to document their medical history or inoculations for school or work years after they left their pediatrician's practice.  Having a record of whether one has had chicken pox or when they last had a tetanus shot can be important long after the fact. Keep in mind that your child's physicians and school both will keep records, and physicians have legal obligations to retain records for at least several years after a child reaches adulthood. Still, while you may be able to get a record from the pediatrician or school, it is always easier if you have it at your fingertips.

Most documents, once digitized and carefully backed up, can be shredded. This will leave a few items still in paper format, but the reduced number of paper documents and the careful digital storage and indexing of most files means that when something is needed that it can be retrieved quickly and easily. It can be overwhelming to tackle your child's paper records, but the result can make things easier for years to come.


Photo credit: www.wdstorage.co.uk/via flickr.com