Special Education

Are you the parent of a child with a disability receiving special education services? Are you considering filing for a due process hearing on procedural violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)? This article will explain the changes to IDEA that occurred in 2004 when it was reauthorized, in the area of procedural violations, and explain what you as a parent need to know, about this change.

A procedural violation means that the school district did not follow the specific procedures that are required in IDEA. For example: IDEA requires that parents are equal participants in the Individual Educational Plan (IEP) meetings for their child. If special education personnel refuse to allow the parent to give input, this would be a procedural violation. Or if timelines are not followed for testing this would also be a procedural violation.

Before IDEA was reauthorized in 2004 when a parent filed for a due process hearing, the hearing officer could find that a child was denied a Free Appropriate Public Education if procedural violations occurred. Things you must know about the change:

1. IDEA now states that any procedural violations must be substantive or in other words substantial. The procedural violation must rise to the level of preventing the child from receiving a free appropriate public education (FAPE).

2. There are 2 ways that a school districts procedural violation rises to the level of denying the child FAPE. They are:

A. The violation significantly impeded the parents opportunity to participate in the decision making process regarding the provision of FAPE to the student or

B. The violation caused a deprivation of educational benefit.

I would like to discuss each of these:

1. Many school districts have tried to convince courts that parents have participated in the IEP process if they just simply attended the IEP meeting. But a few courts have stated that it is not enough for the parent to just attend the IEP meeting, they must have “meaningful participation!” One court was extremely clear that if a district rejects a specific recommendation for placement or services need by the parent, regardless of evidence that the placement and services are appropriate for the child, and will meet the child’s educational needs, this may result in a procedural violation that denies the child FAPE.

In a well known special education case the school district refused to provide a child with Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), even though there was a lot of evidence that the child required it. Special education personnel were ecstatic with the child’s progress with the private ABA program, but they refused to pay for it. The court in that particular case stated that the school district was not going to agree with the parents request for ABA, no matter what. Therefore the parents were prevented from having meaningful participation in the development of their child’s IEP, and this denied their child FAPE; which made the school district liable for paying for the program.

2. Denial of educational benefit is a little harder to prove, but I think it is doable. If the school district refused to listen to parents about a related service that their child needed, and it prevented FAPE, then this would be a deprivation of educational benefit.

Another example would be if a parent had an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) that stated that their child needed a Multi sensory reading program for 1 hour 5 days a week with a trained teacher, and the school district refused to listen to them. This would deny the child educational benefit and could be a denial of FAPE.

While this change has made it a little more difficult to prove denial of a free appropriate public education at due process, it makes it a little more clear for parents as they are preparing their case. Good luck and remember your child is depending on you!

If your child suffers from a learning disability, he or she may thrive more in a special education class. A special education teacher is trained to handle a group of children who each learn in a different way. When you want to create a positive learning environment for your child, you need to work with your child’s special education teacher to become partners in learning.

Hold an official meeting that you and your child’s teacher can go over everything that you want your child to learn from the classes in that school year. The more you work together, the more successful your child will be. If you work with your teacher to determine how and what your child will be taught then you can enhance the lessons in the home during the evenings.

When a child suffers from a learning disability he or she can still learn but in a different way. There are many learning techniques that can be used in order to improve your child’s education. For example, if your child is learning to count to ten, most teachers will use a simple method of counting out loud and writing down the numbers on the board however if a child has a learning disability, it may be necessary to teach the child by placing a visual in your child’s hand so the receptors that run to the brain can carry the images from the eyes to the brain and comprehend and confirm the number. If your child sees one red teddy bear in his hand, he relates the number one to the one object in his or her hand. When the child gets home, he or she can further learn how to count by you and him or her sitting down at the table with one cup of cereal and one empty cup. Teach your child to count as they pick up the pieces of cereal one at a time and place them into the empty cup.

There are other ways to work with your special education teacher in order to help your child learn. Visit your child’s class one day a week and volunteer in order to show your child that learning is a positive thing. When your child sees you interacting in the same way that he or she is made to then it won’t be such a bad place to be.

Sometimes a child who has trouble learning feels that their environment is also negative and they set their minds to the fact that they cannot learn like that. When this happens it takes more energy to get turn this negative into a positive then it does to reinforce a positive environment from the beginning. This will take a constant working relationship between parent, teacher, and student. When you meet with the teacher, include your child in the meeting as well so they feel as though they are a part of the team and not a project for the team.

Be sure to ask your child’s opinion on many things along the way. When your child learns something, acknowledge it and show him or her praise so they know that you are proud of them.