Are you the parent of a child with autism that has been trying to
advocate, for a specific educational service for your child? Are you
the parent of a child with learning disabilities, who feels that they
need an Orton-Gillingham based reading program, but have no been able
to convince special education services? Prior Written Notice (PWN) may
help you in your fight. This article will discuss what the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires as far as PWN, so that
you can use it to advocate for needed educational services, for your
child.

Prior written notice must be given according to IDEA, “whenever the
local educational agency (your local school district) a. they propose
to initiate a change or b. refuses to initiate or change, the
identification, evaluation or educational placement of the child, or
the provision of a free appropriate public education to the child.”

PWN must contain:

a. Description of the action proposed or refused by the agency;

b. An explanation of why the agency proposes or refuses to take the
action and a description of each evaluation procedure, assessment
record, or report the agency used as a basic for the proposed or
refused action;

c. A statement that the parents of a child with a disability have
protection under the procedural safeguards of this part;

d. Sources for parents to contact to obtain assistance in
understanding the provisions of this part;

e. A description of other options considered by the IEP team and the
reason why those options were rejected;

f. A description of the factors, that are relevant to the agency’s
proposal or refusal.

For example: You believe that your 7 year old with a learning
disability needs an Orton-Gillingham based program. You bring it up at
your child’s IEP, and the IEP team refuses to discuss it. You should
ask for PWN, which must include the above 6 items.

Once you receive PWN, you will understand why special education
personnel are refusing to give your child, an educational service that
they need. You can decide, whether you would like to file for a due
process hearing, to prove that your child needs the Orton-Gillingham
reading program.

While PWN can be difficult to understand, your taking the time to
learn about it, will be beneficial to your child.

By: JoAnn Collins