1. What is “Special Education?”

Special Education is instruction that is specifically tailored to meet the needs of children with disabilities. Before the 1960’s, special needs children were generally barred from attending school; there were no laws to protect their rights to an education.  However, during the Civil Rights Movement, parents, educators, and law-makers began to see this lack of protection as a civil rights issue and, in fact, much special education law is modeled after civil rights law.  In 1977, the first version of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was passed and now children with disabilities have the same rights to an education that non-disabled children do.

2. What does it mean for a child to be “classified?”

For a child to be classified as eligible for special education, he/she must be referred for a full evaluation by the school district.  Your approval is required for all evaluations. After appropriate tests are administered, the law requires that a team composed of parents and qualified professionals makes a decision about eligibility.  If this team determines that your child meets the requirements for classification, then the school district has to provide your child with a F.A.P.E. in the L.R.E..

What does this mean? According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (or I.D.E.A.), all children with special needs have the right to a Free, Appropriate, and Public Education (F.A.P.E.) in the Least Restricted Environment (L.R.E.). “Free” means at no cost to you.  “Appropriate” means that your child must have an equal opportunity as all non-disabled students to an educational program that enables him/her to learn in a way that is suited to his/her individual needs. “Public” means that the district is not required to provide private education unless the child’s needs can’t be met in the public schools.

“Least Restrictive Environment” means that your child must be educated in a place that is as close as possible to that of a “typical” child. In most cases this means in the public school in a “regular” classroom where the child has access to all the services and accommodations he or she needs to be successful. There is a continuum of placements that runs from a standard classroom all the way to a residential placement with many steps in between:  pull-outs for Resource Room, self-contained classrooms, private school placements, etc.. The point is that the team supervising your child (of which you are a member) is required by law to educate your child with as few restrictions and in as normal a setting as possible.

3.  What are the different categories under which a child can be classified?

When children are classified, they receive a label for their particular disability/ies. The Individual with Disabilities Education Act (I.D.E.A.) lists the following categories of disability:

a. Autism

b. Deafness

c. Deaf-blindness

d. Hearing impairment

e. Mental retardation

f. Multiple disabilities

g. Orthopedic impairment

h. Other health impairment

i. Serious emotional disturbance

j. Specific learning disability

k. Speech or language impairment

l. Traumatic brain injury

m. Visual impairment, including blindness

4. What is a “Child Study Team?”

The Child Study Team is the group assigned to your child at the beginning of the referral process: the Team supervises and/or performs evaluations, decides on classification, and monitors your child’s progress.  Members of the team include: you (the most important member as you know your child best), a social worker, a learning consultant, and a psychologist.

In Lawrence Township each of the seven public schools (4 elementary schools, an intermediate school, a middle school, and a high school) has a Child Study Team that serves the children in that particular school.  The High School has just been given approval for a second Child Study Team.  If your child is placed out-of-district, then his or her Child Study Team is the team connected with the school where he or she would go to school if educated within the district.

5.  What is a “Case Manager?”

Your case manager is the primary District person responsible for your child’s education, and is a member of your Child Study Team.  This is first person you go do with problems, suggestions, ideas. It is your Case Manager’s job to get to know your child and his or her particular educational needs.  If for some reason you have difficulty communicating with your Case Manager or other problems arise, you have the right to request another one.

6. What is an Individualized Education Plan (I.E.P.)?”

An I.E.P. is an extremely important document that contains the District’s plan for educating your child. By law, the I.E.P. must contain your child’s Present Levels of Performance (P.L.O.P.), which is what your child can do now, and an often lengthy set of goals, which is what your child should be able to do by the end of the year. Everything derives from this document: your child’s placement, your child’s services, your child’s accommodations. The school district is required to provide your child with whatever he or she needs to meet the prescribed goals.

Writing I.E.P. goals is a difficult task; often, parents feel that goals supplied by school systems (usually computer-generated) are vague or not measurable or not ambitious enough.  It is important to remember that when you receive the I.E.P. from your Case Manager (either before or at your I.E.P. meeting) that this I.E.P. is only a draft. You are free to suggest any changes you think are appropriate.  You may write your own goals.  You may eliminate others.  As your child’s advocate, you are responsible for insuring that the final I.E.P. goals are specific (describe particular behaviors or skills), measurable (can be assessed: you know when that skill is mastered and by what means the skill will be measured), and time-limited (that there are specific milestones to be reached at specific times). You should never sign the I.E.P. until you fully satisfied that the document has all the goals and objectives that you believe are appropriate for your child. You have the right to bring anyone you want to your I.E.P. meeting – a friend, an advocate, a grandparent – and you have the right to tape-record the meeting for future reference.  It is considered a courtesy to let your Case Manager know if you are planning on doing any of these things.

Lawrence must review your child’s I.E.P. at least once a year, and must do a complete reevaluation of your child every three years.  But you can request an I.E.P. review whenever you feel it is necessary if your child’s needs have changed.

7.  How does the school district decide what services my child gets?Who decides on my child’s placement?

Remember: everything derives from the I.E.P..  If your child needs Occupational Therapy or Speech Therapy to meet the goals described in the I.E.P., then the district must provide that therapy. Your child’s placement works on the same theory.  If, in order to meet the goals and objectives of the I.E.P., your child needs to be in a class which uses, for example, a specific sort of reading instruction or particular form of behavioral intervention, the district must supply that program.  In some cases, a school district does not have that sort of classroom or intervention available. In that case, the district is required to either create the environment your child needs or pay tuition for your child to attend another school, usually a private special education school or a public school in a neighboring school district.

If you feel that your child’s I.E.P. goals cannot be met in your child’s current situation, you have the right to ask for additional services or a different environment that enables your child to meet his or her goals. As with all disputes related to special education, you have the right to due process if you and Lawrence cannot come to an acceptable agreement on placement or services.  This means that if you have exhausted all means of reaching an acceptable solution, you have the right to mediation – having an impartial, qualified person try to resolve the impasse – and the right to a due process hearing by an administrative law judge.

8.  Is Lawrence responsible if my child doesn’t meet all the goals in his or her I.E.P.?

No. Lawrence is required to provide all the related services specified in the I.E.P. and to make a good-faith effort to help your child achieve the goals and objectives that the I.E.P. has designated.  If the goals are not reached, you can express your concerns to your Case Manager and the particular school, and you can call another I.E.P. meeting to ask for different services and/or revised goals.

9.  What kinds of services are available to my child with a disability?

If the I.E.P. team decides that certain services are necessary for your child to meet the goals and objectives of the I.E.P., then Lawrence is responsible for providing those services at no cost to you.  I.D.E.A. (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) mandates that all school districts must provide the following services to eligible children:

a. Transportation

b. Speech-language pathology

c. Audiology services

d. Psychological services

e. Physical therapy

f. Occupational therapy

g. Recreation (including therapeutic recreation)

h. Early identification and assessment of disabilities in children

i. Counseling services (including rehabilitation counseling)

j. Orientation and mobility services

k. Medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes

l. School health services

m. Social work services in schools

n. Parent counseling and training

10. What is a “504?”

504 is a portion of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is different from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (I.D.E.A.).  It is essentially a civil rights law that says that people cannot be discriminated against because they have a disability. In schools, it is used for children who are not eligible for protection under I.D.E.A. but still need certain modifications to the curriculum.  504 does not require that the child receive an individualized education plan.  It requires that the child receive accommodations to participate in an educational setting with children who are not disabled. While 504’s are completely appropriate for some children, this category offers less protection for the child and less rights for the parent.

11. What’s with all the testing?

As part of the evaluation process when your child is first referred to a Child Study Team for possible classification, Lawrence will conduct a series of test to determine if your child has a disability and how that disability is affecting his or her education. Your permission is required for all tests.  You have the right to request specific tests if you feel that they are more appropriate for your child. For more information on specific tests, go to the Test Locator website, http://buros.unl.edu/buros/jsp/search.jsp

Every school district is also required to do a Triennial Review, a complete assessment every three years to determine if your child is still eligible for special education.

You have many rights associated with testing: the right to disagree with the evaluation, the opportunity to provide input, the right to non-biased tests, the right to have copies of all results, the right to have your child tested by a specialist familiar with the particular disability.  You also have the right to an independent evaluation: if you disagree with the testing results or the manner in which the testing was administered, Lawrence must pay for an independent evaluation by a tester who is mutually acceptable.

12.  What can I do to be an effective advocate for my child?

a) First of all, be part of A.S.K.! We’re a wonderful resource for information and support from parents who are on the same journey as you are.  Come to meetings, join our Steering Committee, work with us so that we can help Lawrence Township develop the programs we need for our children.

b) Knowledge is power. Learn as much as you can about your child’s disability so you can be a full partner in this process.  Learn as much as you can, also, about the way special education works, both in general and in Lawrence. Know your rights under I.D.E.A., and also know all the options available in Lawrence for your child’s specific disability, the best occupational therapist in your child’s school, etc. by reading, talking to other parents, checking out information on the internet. It’s an unfortunate fact that pushy, informed parents get better services for their children.  Find your inner lion/lioness.

c)  Keep records of all phone calls, correspondence, testing and evaluations from the school district.  Many parents find it helpful to keep a log or journal in which they record all communication between themselves and their child’s teachers, therapists, district personnel, and outside evaluators. 

d) Be prepared to compromise, but know what you and your child can’t live without.  Most disputes can be resolved amicably – the idea here is that everyone involved really wants what is best for your child. Be a problem solver: offer reasonable solutions, suggest other alternatives, be realistic about what Lawrence can and cannot do for your child.  At the same time, fight for things that are really worth the fight. You may prefer an extra ten minutes of speech therapy, but it’s probably not worth making enemies to get it.  On the other hand, it may be worth pulling out all the stops for a substantive change that will really affect your child’s ability to learn.