Special Education Law Blog
A special education legal resource discussing case law, news, practical advocacy advice, and developments in state and federal laws, statutes and regulations. Postings include insight and sometimes humor from Charles P. Fox, a Chicago, Illinois attorney who is also a parent of child with special needs, and other guest authors.
The Department of Education recently released the new Civil Rights Data Collection that analyzed equities and disparities in educational opportunities in our nation’s schools during the 2009-2010 school year. Data were gathered from 72,000 schools, or roughly 85% of students. Among the data examined was the frequency with which students were secluded or restrained. Almost 70% of the 38,792 students who were restrained during the past calendar year had disabilities, although students with disabilities comprise only about 12% of the student population. African-American males, who make up only 21% of the student population with disabilities, represented 44% of those students restrained. And finally, although approximately half of students with disabilities are male, 70% of students with disabilities who were restrained were male. According to TASH and other disability groups, the data are sobering. TASH characterizes the use of restraint and seclusion as an issue of “national significance,” which leads to “traumatic physical and emotional harm, and even death.” In a press release, Barb Trader, the executive director of TASH, states, “Our students need equitable access to education and protection for their personal safety under the law, and clearly that’s not happening for students with disabilities or those from diverse backgrounds. […]
Like many parents with a child diagnosed on the autistic spectrum, I’ve been following the controversy over the proposed revisions for the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) 5. Under the proposed new revisions, the categories of autism, PDD-NOS, and Asperger’s syndrome would all be collapsed into the label “Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Criteria for this new diagnosis, which are much more stringent than those used in the previous DSM IV, are causing the autism world to buzz with concern that many higher functioning individuals could “lose” their diagnoses. Dr. Fred Volkmar of the Yale Child Study Center, who had been a member of the panel involved in the rewriting of the DSM before his resignation, recently reported his results of a study in which he claimed that up to 45% of individuals on the higher ends of the spectrum would no longer be diagnosed with a spectrum disorder. Somewhat speciously, Dr. Volkmar in a New York Times article heralded the “end of the autism epidemic.” Specifically, Dr. Volkmar and colleagues examined the case records of 1000 children diagnosed with autism in 1993, identified 372 of the highest functioning children, and then applied the proposed DSM 5 criteria […]
It is that time of year that many high school students dread–ACT/SAT test taking time. These standardized tests are used to gain admission to colleges and graduate programs and to obtain certain professional licenses. These exams, which are designed to predict either the test taker’s future academic success or to test his or her knowledge of certain areas, are designed to be administered under uniform conditions and with time limits. However, these constraints may make taking the tests difficult for persons with disabilities. Without accommodations, the tests may instead reflect the individual’s disability, and not his or her aptitude.
I was asked to write an article on preparing for your next IEP meeting for the website specialneeds.com. Here is the article that I hope will be useful this IEP season.
Although there have been recent complaints that both actors and characters with disabilities are underrepresented on television, two excellent documentaries about disabilities have aired in the past year. Journey into Dyslexia, which appeared on HBO in May of 2011, profiles students and adults who have dyslexia. According to the HBO web page, many of the adult professionals who struggled to learn in school now consider their dyslexia a gift and a defining reason for their successes. Critics called the straightforward interviews with the persons with dyslexia, including children, the most powerful part of the documentary, which was made by Academy-award winning filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond. Among those interviewed are a professor at Johns Hopkins University, inventors, entrepreneurs, and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich. Additionally, the HBO website accompanying this documentary is rich with information on dyslexia. Another documentary from the Sundance film festival on dyslexia is called The D Word.
The “Keeping All Students Safe Act,” which was introduced in the U.S. Senate last December, would limit the use of physical restraint and seclusion of students who are out of control or may pose harm to themselves or others. According to Senator Harkin, the Democratic sponsor of the bill, “Every child should be educated in a supportive, caring, stimulating environment in which they are treated as an individual and provided with the tools they need to succeed. They should never be subjected to abusive or violent disciplinary strategies or left alone and unsupervised. This bill will set long-overdue standards to protect children from physical and psychological harm and ensure a safe learning environment for teachers and students alike.”
Predetermination at IEPs is a frequent charge against school district but often very hard to prove. In the recent case out of Arizona, Deer Valley Unified School District, 111 LRP 71612 (November 1, 2011) case the school district informed the parents in writing what the placement would be, but the team was prepared to hear the parents' position as to why the placement was wrong, and in that way the parents were allowed to "participate" and in the school's view they had not predetermined the placement. The ALJ wryly rejected this argument stating: "One wonders what Respondent School District would think if, at the beginning of a hearing, the Administrative Law Judge announced that he has reviewed the exhibits and made a decision for the parent, but will keep an open mind and reconsider his decision upon presentation of further evidence at the hearing." While most school district's are not so brazen as to publish their predetermination, it does happen on occasion, and parents should be on the look out for such statements that are clearly indicative of predetermination. In most cases more inferential arguments on the issue of predetermination are not likely to succeed.
There has been an ongoing shortage medications in this country from cancer medications to other critical medications. There is now a shortage in some part of the country for some ADHD medications. CHADD is soliciting information to better help address this medication shortage.
The annual “Where We Are on TV” report issued last September by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) indicates that characters with disabilities are almost invisible on scripted primetime television (ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox, and NBC). Of 647 regular characters who appear on these networks, only five (less than 1%) have disabilities. In addition to regular roles, three recurring characters on primetime television have disabilities. Cable networks have done comparatively better providing more regular and recurring characters with disabilities. In contrast, the American Community Survey from the US Census Bureau reported that 12% of Americans (36.4 million) have disabilities. Christine Bruno, co-chair of the Tri-Union I AM PWD campaign which promotes inclusion of persons with disabilities in the arts and helped conduct research for the GLAAD study said, “We look to our stages and screens not only for entertainment, but to hold a mirror up to society. Our industry has a responsibility to its artists and the viewing public to accurately reflect what we see on our streets and in our communities.”
Some years back, The Onion, a satirical publication, announced in a headline, “Miracle of Birth Occurs for 83 Billionth Time.” At our older son’s Bar Mitzvah, my husband used this article to explain that we perhaps take for granted the milestones our children reach. We forget that each and every birth, and each and every event in that child’s life, is unique and special. Each bris, each first communion, each first tooth, each first day of kindergarten are all miraculous. We’ve somehow lost our wonder in the ordinariness of life. And yet, how much greater is the miracle when it is a child who has been ill, or who has a disability, or whom for whatever reason there was doubt that he or she would reach a particular milestone?