Posts Tagged ‘Special Education Law’

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6 Parenting Tips To Help You Assertively Participate In Your Child’s IEP

December 30th, 2009



Are you the parent of a child with a disability in special education,
who would like parenting tips on how to be an equal participant
in your child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) development? Are
you afraid to give your opinion, because you are not a professional?
Then this article is for you; learn 6 easy to use tips that will help
you assertively participate in the process, for the good of your
child.

Tip 1: Ask a lot of questions. The process can be overwhelming;
The IEP meeting usually has 5-10 disability educators plus the
parents. Ask questions whenever you need to, so that you can
understand what is being said, by school personnel.

Tip 2: Ask the disability educator to slow down, and explain
something that you do not understand. Sometimes school personnel
speak very fast, and do not stop to explain what they are
talking about. This is especially true, when they are giving parents
results of a psychological evaluation. You should ask them to show
you the results of the tests and explain what the scores mean.

Tip 3: Bring a written list of items that you would like to discuss at
the meeting; it can be hand written or typed. Check off each item
as it is discussed. Leave space at the bottom of the list to handwrite
any new issues that come up at the meeting.

Tip 4: Consider bringing a parent input statement to your child’s IEP
meeting. A parent input statement is a one page document that states
what you believe your child’s needs are, and what special education
services your child needs. It should be typed, if possible, and ask
that it be attached to your child’s IEP.

Tip 5: Use the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to
support your position. Peter and Pam Wright have written several
books including Special Education Law; second addition. This book is
easy to read, and use as a reference at any school meetings.The book
can be purchased at http://www.wrightslaw.com.

Tip 6: Read the IEP document before you leave the meeting. What was
said at the meeting is not important, what is important is what is
written in the document. Make sure that any important discussions
about your child are included in the meeting notes, and that all
educational services promised are listed.

With these 6 tips, you are well on your way to learning to assertively
participate in your child’s IEP meeting. You know your child better
than school personnel, so you have a lot of valuable
information to share with the team. Good luck in your advocacy
journey!

By: JoAnn Collins

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10 Ways to Make Individual Education Plans Useful and Meaningful

December 1st, 2009



Settings goals, working to achieve them, celebrating success and learning from failure are all a fundamental component of life. As Dr. Samuel Johnson has stated, “Our aspirations are our possibilities.” When we hold ourselves to a higher standards and we take steps towards attaining those objectives we are far more likely to arrive at our destination. Whether we are thinking about the education of a 4 year old or a 40 year old, the essence of education is setting goals and objectives and the working to reach them.

This is especially true in the area of special education; goal setting and individualized planning is embedded into special education law in both Canada and the United States. Whether we call them individual education plans, program plans, or special education plans the foundation is the goal setting. In both countries, those students which require extra support due to significant learning challenges, modified curriculum and/or specialized equipment will have the benefit of an individual plan that sets goals, identifies supports and resources that are needed and identify effective teaching and assessment strategies in order to achieve those goals. These are usually created in September or when a student enters the school, reviewed once or twice and then tucked neatly away in the student records. It is such a shame to think that the value of the document is often lost!

Individual Education Plans are as useful as educators and parents make them! It is true that by simply completing the document, having parents sign it and reviewing it at the end of reporting periods we educators have accomplished what is the legal mandate. But, what too many educators don’t realize is that the individual education plan is an ethical responsibility as well. It is a tool that is intended to benefit the student. It is intended to be useful. It is up to us, as teachers and parents to decide to make the document useful. It is only as meaningful as we choose to make it.

- DECIDE to make it useful; parents should know what the goals are and take steps to support the attainment of those goals

- Keep a copy of goals and objectives in a binder on the teacher’s desk

- Post the current objectives on a chart

- When appropriate post the goals and objectives inside a student binder or on the student’s homework area at home

- Teachers could “pencil in” anecdotal notes as observations are made and data is collected

- Record dates and comments as objectives are achieved

- Record a note when it is observed that the objective needs to be broken down into simpler steps or modified in some way

- Add successful teaching strategies and resources as they are identified

- Create data charts or checklists that list each objective and find opportunities to collect and record the data (keep these on a clipboard or in a binder)

- Ask for the parent’s ideas and input and communicate with them informally and often about the student’s progress

The tool is the education plan. It is up to us, as parents and educators to make the tool what we want it to be.

Copyright©2007 Jennifer Krumins – All Rights Reserved

By: Jennifer Krumins

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6 Parenting Tips on Special Education Law and Transportation

November 24th, 2009



Are you the parent of a child with autism or a physical disability that needs transportation? Do you wonder what the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) states is the schools responsibility, to provide transportation for your child? This article will discuss what IDEA requires as far as transportation for your child with a disability. Also discussed are parenting tips that you can use, to help your child receive this important service.

Under IDEA transportation is considered a related service. A related service is transportation, developmental, corrective, and other services. . .as may be required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education. . .
What this means is that if your child requires transportation in order to benefit from their education, special education personnel are required to provide it.

Parenting Tips:

1. When advocating for your child, remember that; transportation not only means to and from school, but also in and around the school building, and any specialized equipment required by your child.

2. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prevents discrimination on the basis of disability. The law reads: No qualified student shall on the basis of handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any . . .transportation. . .or activity.

For Example: Your child with a physical disability is not allowed to go on a field trip, because the class cannot get the wheelchair bus. This would be a section 504 complaint, because your child is being discriminated against, on the basis of their disability. I have dealt with this situation, and the school district usually quickly fixes the transportation problem, if you tell them that you may file a Section 504 complaint. Section 504 is covered by the Office of Civil Rights in Washington, though each state has at least one office.

3. If your child requires an assistant in the classroom then you may be able to get a bus assistant, if your child’s disability requires it. The goal of transportation as a related service is to provide safe access to education. So if your child needs a bus assistant in order to get safely to school, school personnel are required to provide it.

4. If your school district is not providing needed transportation for your child, you can be reimbursed, for providing the transportation yourself. Make sure that your child’s IEP, states that they need transportation as a related service, and that you will be reimbursed.

A district may also be required to reimburse parents where:

A. Transportation is needed to provide FAPE and the district fails to meet its obligation.
B. The district doesn’t recognize the need for transportation.
C. The district makes inadequate provisions for transportation.

5. If your child’s extracurricular activity is related to their IEP goals and objectives, then transportation must be given. For Example: If your child has autism and needs to work on social skills, they can gain that from extra curricular activities. In that case transportation needs to be given by your school district.

6. School districts are not allowed to shorten your child’s school day due to transportation. Unfortunately it happens all the time, and you may have to stand up to special education personnel for the good of your child.

IDEA gives children with disabilities equal educational opportunity, which means a full school day. I have often said that if parents of children without disabilities found out there child was to leave school early for transportation, they would be outraged. But parents of special needs children are supposed to accept it. Do not accept it, stand up for your child.

This article has given you a lot of good information about transportation, that you can use to benefit your child’s education.

By: JoAnn Collins

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