Making a Complaint About Your Child’s Special Education

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Your child is not receiving the attention or services he or she needs in school. As a result, your child is doing poorly in school. You’re not even sure of the cause of the problem, but you know something is wrong. What do you do? If you are the parent of a child with special […]

Tales from the Front – Actual (Illegal) Statements Made by School Personnel

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I did a seminar recently. My seminar was on what to expect at an IEP/504 meeting. Here are some of the comments I heard from parents spoken to them by school districts: “We are at our quota of eligible disabled students already. We can’t have more.” “Evaluations must be done in the summer time.” “Your […]

Stop the Bullying Madness – That Means YOU, Parents!

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On January 6, 2011, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law one of the toughest anti-bullying civil rights laws in the United States.  As with most laws, the creation of the law was the easy part.  The difficult part is the enforcement.  Most states have anti-bullying laws (some, like New Jersey apply to cyberbullying) […]

I love teachers! . . . (really, I do!)

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There is a bad reputation out there for special education lawyers, advocates and parents of special education kids.  The reputation is that we hate all school teachers and those who work in the schools and we are simply out for vengeance. I’m going to focus this post on the misrepresentation that I must hate teachers […]

A Huge Problem in Special Education: Teacher Unions

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There have been many recent, well-publicized incidents of teachers and school staff doing horrible things to kids – and not just any kids, special needs kids.  Here are just a few examples: In Cherry Hill, NJ, a dad of a special needs child wired his kid for sound and audio recorded verbal abuse by the […]

What’s a FERPA letter?

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For those of you who are new to education law or are in a battle with your school district to make sure your disabled student is getting a “Free Appropriate Public Education”, you may have heard the term “FERPA” or been told to send a “FERPA letter“.  And you’re probably wondering “What the heck is […]

The Law on Independent Educational Evaluations (IEEs)

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Evaluations of your disabled child are critical to your child’s success in school and life.  If done properly, they can provide insights into services, therapies and accommodations that your child needs to access a “free appropriate public education” or FAPE.  But if not done properly, it can prevent your child from ever getting a proper […]

What Everyone Should Know About Special Education Funding

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There has been a rush to judgment lately, by those without disabled children and those without children at all, that the increase in costs for special education is the fault of the parents of disabled children demanding too many services for their children.  Aside from the natural anger towards the attitude that disabled children don’t […]

Playing (and Winning) the School District’s Game of Chicken

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[Appeared previously on Special Education Advisor blog] Probably the most frustrating part of being the parent of a child with a different ability[1] is the response from the very organization you hoped you could trust the most to do right by your child – your school district.  After all, teachers and administrators are trained to […]