Special Education Law and Advocacy
According to the American Psychological Association, 40-50% of marriages in the United States end in divorce. Of all children born to married parents this year, 50% will experience the divorce of their parents before they reach their 18th birthday. (Patrick F. Fagan and Robert Rector, “The Effects of Divorce on America,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, May 2000.) […]
A group of smart minds in the New Jersey world of special education gathered and put together an excellent guide to assist schools, parents, and providers in helping children with dyslexia. They recently issued “The New Jersey Dyslexia Handbook: A Guide to Early Literacy Development & Reading Struggles” (PDF) which is free to download from […]
If you are a parent of a special education student or advocating for one, do yourself a favor and . . . PRINT OUT THIS ARTICLE (or at least the plan below). Not only will this article save you time and lots of money, it will help you understand how best to help your child […]
When a parent disputes a decision made by a school district regarding the special education and/or services of their child, one option is to file a “Due Process Complaint”. [See Procedural Safeguards, 20 USC 1415(b)(6) and (c)(2).] When a complaint is filed, the state’s Department of Education assigns the case to an “Independent Hearing Officer”. […]
Sometimes you just need some quick tips to help you through the maze that is special education law. Fair enough. Here are my Top Ten tips for parents and advocates: 1. Put everything in writing! Document every single thing you do as it will only help your child and help if you find yourself in a […]
Recently, I was asked this (not so) hypothetical: “4th grade child has an IEP (high functioning Down Syndrome) and is placed in a life skills classroom. There is one special education teacher and seven aides rotating through the classroom. Reading and math instruction is being solely taught by an aide with the teacher touching base […]
Many parents are aware of their child’s diagnosis (or the symptoms of the diagnosis), but perhaps have never formally received a diagnosis for their child from a physician. Why is a diagnosis important? A child must have a diagnosis that fits within 13 categories of disability in order for that child to be eligible for […]
I filed a brief in a special education case recently opposing a motion to dismiss the case. Want to share the Introduction as it spells out my view of how school districts (and their insurance companies) are treating kids with disabilities: What is getting lost in the legal gymnastics of the pending motions to dismiss […]
Many of you probably don’t know there are laws that exist to protect the rights of disabled kids, but perhaps none more important than the special education laws. I’m quite sure that even fewer of you know that your tax dollars are being used to deny those disabled kids their lawful education and thereby violating […]
Since the 1980s, there has been a strong movement toward “alternate dispute resolution” of legal cases. Our court system is overloaded and, as a result, the U.S. Supreme Court has encouraged parties to try to resolve their battles somewhere other than in a courtroom. This is particularly true in special education matters. After parents are […]
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