Wait, what?
You are probably having that reaction to the title, but it is the law. A medical diagnosis – by itself – is not enough to qualify your child for an IEP or special education.
Let me give you some examples before I cite you the law.
Example 1: Tara is a 9 year old girl who is deaf. Now you might think because she is deaf, she automatically qualifies for special education, right? No, that is incorrect. Let’s see more about Tara.
She has been deaf since birth, but otherwise has had a normal development – walking on time; learning to read; social interaction; etc. In fact, she is learning how to speak as well. She is also very intelligent and seems to adapt to the classroom as long as her learning is primarily visual – books, chalkboard, computer. She can also lipread some. Her grades are good and she is progressing in the material. Other than the accommodation that her curriculum should be mostly visual, Tara doesn’t need special education. She may qualify for 504 accommodations, but it depends on how the curriculum is structured.
Example 2: 7 year old Christopher has Autism Spectrum Disorder. He has been diagnosed by a neuropsychologist at a well-respected hospital. Does he automatically get an IEP? Not necessarily.
Christopher is on the high functioning end of the spectrum and is highly intelligent. In fact, extremely so. He gets mostly As on his tests and report cards. He seems to understand the curriculum. He is not extremely social, but makes an effort. His behaviour is excellent in school and he has never been in trouble. He does, however, exhibit some behaviours towards his mother at home. He also doesn’t have many friends and believes one of his teachers doesn’t like him. Yet, Christopher does not meet the eligibility requirements under the law.
By now, you are either confused or angry or upset by these examples. So let’s look at the law and what it says (and how to look critically at the information you are getting from the school or the evaluations).
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) says the following:
If a U.S. State takes federal money under IDEA, it must provide every “child with a disability” within its state with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and certain procedural rights. 20 U.S.C. 1412. Similarly, if a public school district receives any of those federal funds, it has the same obligation. 20 U.S.C. 1413.
So you are probably saying, I know this. My child has a disability. Why is the school district denying eligibility of my child? Well, we need to look into what a “child with a disability” within the school context means.
A “child with a disability” is defined as “a child with [a diagnosis within one of the disability categories]; AND who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.” 20 U.S.C. 1401(3)(A) (emphasis added.)
That “AND” is the one most parents don’t know / remember / understand.
“And” is a conjuction (remember Conjunction Junction from Schoolhouse Rock?) which means it is a required part of the entire phrase. In legal terms, it means that if you have multiple requirements linked by “and”, they all must be satisfied. So, in the definition above, simply having a diagnosis is not enough. The child must also “need special education and related services.”
How do you know if your child needs special education and related services? Let’s look at what the law says.
IDEA states that “the determination of whether the child is a child with a disability as defined [above] and the educational needs of the child shall be made by a team of qualified professionals and the parent of the child . . . and a copy of the evaluation report and the documentation of determination of eligibility shall be given to the parent.” 20 U.S.C. 1414(b)(4).
Now here is where your skepticism might be important. Ask these questions: (1) who are the people making this determination? are they regular teachers or are they really “qualified professionals”? (2) did you, the parent, have input into this determination? (3) did you get copies of the evaluations upon which the eligibility determination is based? (4) did you receive documentation of the decision on eligiblity?
If the answers to any of these question is ‘no’ and you think that maybe your child was wrongly deemed ineligible, you might want to have an independent educational evaluation (IEE) and/or speak to a lawyer.