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 Diagnostic Statistical Manual 4th edition ("DSM-IV") may not be a text that is familiar to some parents, but it is considered one of the primary texts to determine whether a person has depression, ADHD or other psychological issues that are defined in the text. Very often determinations in special education are based on the application of criteria found in the DSM-IV or near verbatim copies of the text embodied in state law. It is THE standard that influences many decisions both clinically and educationally. It now appears that the yard stick may not be perfectly objective.
This is a followup to a series of posts about the substantial breakdown of the special education system in Baltimore. With plenty of finger pointing going around and the prospect of jail time for contempt of court, the Baltimore school officials moved to appeal the federal court’s orders. After nearly 22 years of litigation, the parties appear to have finally reached a resolution of sorts and have moved to dismiss their appeal. Download Schools To Drop Appeal.doc
I was recently at an IEP meeting at a local high school and the school staff said something that stopped me in my tracks. "Self cutting behaviors are common and are not a real red flag of serious mental health issues." I was amazed ! As I probed and protested that this statement could not be right, they dismissed my lack of credulity as being an inter-generational lapse. In effect self cutting was a fashion statement. Since that meeting these statement have been on mind. My research reveals that, just as I suspected, self cutting is an indicator of serious mental health needs and should be taken very seriously; no fashion statement here.
The National School Board’s Association ("NSBA") has noted a recent trend that students are being included on school boards. In at least one school district, Davenport, Iowa, at least one student who is on the school board is required to be a student with an IEP. On the whole it appears that most student who are allowed a role in school governance are based upon popular vote or other criteria that generally will not favor a student with special needs being included on the local board of education. For instance, in Tennessee, 4 students are to be included on the board two each from the "college track" and "technology track." Download School Governance.pdf
In the nearly 10 years that I have been representing children with special needs, the question that comes to mind most often is–why do schools act the way they do ? Mostly the mental question is an effort to probe the myriad ways that schools conduct themselves in violation of the law, but paradoxically believe, often sincerely, that they are acting in accord with the law. The answer is that custom more than IDEA, 504, or any state law or set of regulations determines the schools actions. Which is not to say that real promulgated laws do not intrude on the actions of the school because that would be untrue. Custom, however, transcends any revisions in the law and continues to explain, at least in part, the actions of schools.
This blog post comes from the Intelligence Testing blog an incredible resource on issues relating to testing, learning disabilities, current research on testing which also injects some very funny cartoons. A new instrument called the School Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory (SMALSI) was introduced at the National Association of School Psychologists’ (NASP) convention. This instrument has the potential to "to tap some important non-cognitive aspects of a child’s academic aptitude," according to Dr. Kevin McGrew, the author of the Intelligence Testing blog. If the SMALSI is validated and widely accepted, it could reveal important data for designing more effective IEPs. As with most innovative concepts, parents will likely have to inquire and advocate for the application of this instrument, if applicable.
A retinal implant which is solar-powered could restore sight in some cases of blindness. This new technology allows nerve impulses to be transmitted to the brain despite damage to the retina. The recent development from Professor Laxman Saggere of University of Illinois at Chicago is that this eye "prosthetic" is solar-powered avoiding the risk of heating retinal cells from the application of direct electricity, and the need for external batteries. This article was published in New Scientist, a very readable new magazine covering developments in science.
It’s IEP season, and rage is all the rage.
Mislabeling students as mentally retarded is rampant in Fitchberg, Massachusetts according to the State Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education. [Download Mislabeled_Students.doc] Nearly one-fourth of all students in the district have been labeled mentally retarded which is nearly four times the state average. One investigatory report concluded the number of students who were mislabelled was "extraordinary."
Paraprofessionals play an essential role for many children with disabilities under IDEA. Personally, my son has had a great paraprofessional for many years. She has had just the right balance of being supportive and backing off. She has been an advocate for him and a team player (in the non-negative sense) with the other school personnel. In a word she has been a crucial and wonderful part of my son’s education. However, the question is to what extent do schools overuse paraprofessionals as a quick and inexpensive "fix" instead of providing a certified teacher to teach students. This question is addressed in a set of guidelines and worksheets from the University of Vermont’s Center on Disability and Community Inclusion as part of Project Evolve.